Category: Fun & Games

Kerpoof

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What it is: Kerpoof is a free online creativity center where students can create their own pictures, stories, and movies. The Kerpoof studio provides students with scenes, characters, and props. Students use these tools to create stories that can be printed out or movies that they write and direct. These can be saved right on the website so students can revisit their picture, story, or movie.

How to integrate Kerpoof into the classroom: Kerpoof is the creativity tool that can bring your students stories to life. Use Kerpoof as part of your publishing center. Students can use Kerpoof to illustrate their stories, or to create a real movie out of their own writing. Kerpoof would also make a fun writing prompt center in the classroom. This site also provides students with basic movie making skills and would make a nice precursor to an iMovie lesson. Students could plan out their movies on Kerpoof before they begin filming and editing with iMovie.  Kerpoof can also be used to teach character education, have students create stories or movies that show emotion and solve problems. Teach the life cycle of a butterfly during science using Kerpoof’s butterfly pavilion scene.  User Kerpoof to create life cycle scenes.   Students will create a unique login so that they can revisit their stories and movies. Allow students to visit each other’s work during reading time.  The site would be best utilized in a computer lab one to one setting. The stories and movies will take too long to just set up as a center in your classroom. If you don’t have access to a computer lab for this activity but have a projector, create an ongoing story or movie as a whole class.

Tips: Be sure to visit the teacher area of Kerpoof for some outstanding lessons and ideas for using Kerpoof in the classroom. You can also print out coloring sheets from the teacher area.

P lease leave a comment and share how you are using Kerpoof in your classroom.

Big Huge Labs: Magazine

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What it is: Big Huge Labs: Magazine is an online magazine cover creator. Students can create custom magazine covers from photos on Flickr or photos uploaded from the computer.

How to integrate Big Huge Labs: Magazine into the classroom: This would be a great tie-in to a persuasive writing unit. Discuss with students why magazine covers need to be persuasive. Students can create a custom cover for a multitude of projects. This might be a fun Mother’s day/Father’s day gift as well!

Tips: Set up a class Flickr account and link to Big Huge Labs for easy access for your students.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Big Huge Labs: Magazines in your classroom.


Class Tools

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What it is: Class Tools is possibly the most impressive, easy to use tool that I have reviewed to date! This allows teachers (even those who aren’t incredibly tech savvy) to create interactive Flash diagrams and games for learning and revising material. It is FREE! All diagrams created can be saved as data files or web pages to host on your school website or intranet. Quiz creators allow you to input up to 25 questions and answers an then choose a game to test student knowledge. Games include Matching Pairs, Manic Miner, WordShoot, and Cannon Ball Fun. Learning templates that teach and support chronological awareness include Time Line and Living Graph. Categorization tools include Post it, and a Target diagram. Linkage tools include Venn diagrams, and The Learning Puzzle. Priortization tools include Diamond Nine and a Priority Chart. Sourcework Skills tools include Lights Out and Source Analyzer. Essay skills tools include Fishbone and Hamburger diagrams. WOW!!

How to integrate Class Tools into the classroom: Class Tools may be one of the most versatile tools you can use in the classroom. Teachers and students can create learning diagrams together and upload to the school website for later study. Teachers, you can create games for your students to play focused on any specific curriculum. The sky is the limit for Class Tools in the classroom.

Tips: Print out a copy of the Class Tools Flyer, having a description of the tools handy is a must!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Class Tools in your classroom.

Christmas Tree Puzzle

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What it is: Christmas Tree Puzzle is a fun game where students have to light up a Christmas tree by connecting all of the wires to a power source. This requires critical thinking and problem solving but is a lot of fun!

How to integrate Christmas Tree Puzzle into the classroom: This is a wonderful Christmas math game for students. All ages will enjoy this puzzle game, younger students will play with trial and error while older students will use some math strategy and planning to light the tree. Have tree lighting contest where students race to light their tree first or with the fastest time. This is a great activity for the last week of school when students are wound up!

Tips: Set up Christmas Tree Puzzle as a center that students can visit throughout the day or as part of a Christmas party.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Christmas Tree Puzzle in your classroom.

Elf Yourself

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What it is: Elf Yourself is pure fun! Turn yourself or your students into dancing elves.

How to integrate Elf Yourself into the classroom: Use Elf Yourself as a holiday greeting for your class. Create your elf and use a projector to share your “Elf Self” with your students. They will love this in place of traditional cards! If you have a classroom camera students can Elf themselves as well. Elves can be sent to parents via email as a holiday greeting. This is a fun site that students of all ages are sure to love, it also acts as a platform to teach students how to upload a picture/file.

Tips: Set up an “Elf Yourself” station that can be used during the classroom party. This is where a Mac’s built in camera comes in handy!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Elf Yourself in your classroom.


Build a Snowman

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What it is: Build a Snowman is a part of the Highlights for Kids website. This activity encourages kids to build their own snowman complete with funny hat, scarf, feet, and more.

How to integrate Build a Snowman into the classroom: Build a Snowman is a fun interactive sites. You will hear giggles coming from the computer for this activity. Build a Snowman is a fun site for kids to practice mouse manipulation. You can also use Build a Snowman as part of a writing center. First, students create and print out their snowman. Use this silly snowman as a story starter or writing prompt.

Tips: This site could be used in the one or two computer classroom OR in a lab setting.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Build a Snowman in your classroom.


Gingerbread House

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What it is: Gingerbread House is a part of the Highlights for Kids website. This interactive site encourages students to create their own gingerbread house complete with icing, candy, food, as well as some less traditional items. The kids can’t get enough of this site that allows them to change the size, rotate, and flip the candy and other items to fit their wishes.

How to integrate Gingerbread House into the classroom: Gingerbread House is a lot of fun for kids to play with, they will ask to play and interact with this site year round. When creating a real gingerbread house is not practical in the classroom, this provides the perfect alternative. It is a great site to use in conjunction with Jan Brett’s Gingerbread Baby book. The site provides excellent practice for mouse manipulation and creativity. Set up as a holiday center or use the fun site for indoor recess fun.

Tips: The eyeballs in the “stuff” section follow your mouse wherever it goes. The blocks in the “stuff” section have arrows on them so that students can change the letter on the block.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Gingerbread House in your classroom.


Email Santa

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What it is: Email Santa lets your students email Santa directly. The best part…Santa emails the students right back! This site is completely safe, it is all web based and does not require email at all. Students fill in a letter form to send Santa and he sends back an appropriate response. They are each a little different and unique.

How to integrate Email Santa into the classroom: This site is best used with students who are believers in Santa. The older kids are not so impressed! This is a nice activity for that last week of school before Christmas break. It requires students to read and follow directions. For struggling readers, pair with a strong “helper” who can assist. The students really love this! Students can even write letters to Rudolph from their pets.

Tips: Set up Email Santa as a center during the last day before break when the kids are wound up and ready for break. Students can also check the naughty or nice list for their name, get Santa’s autograph, vote for the reindeer who should lead the sleigh, watch the Rudolph cam, read elf jokes, and play some other fun Christmas games.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Email Santa in your classroom.

Do-a-rain-deer

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What it is: Do-a-rain-deer is a reindeer orchestra. Students “squash” the noses of the reindeer or type the numbers on their shirts to play different musical notes. Students can free play and make up their own songs or choose a Christmas song to play with the site guiding them.

How to integrate Do-a-rain-deer into the classroom: Do-a-rain-deer is a fun site that students will enjoy interacting with. This is a great Christmas/winter activity because of the play along songs. The site is more than just fun and games though, use Do-a-rain-deer to practice touch typing numbers. It is a great number touch type motivator because students want to play the songs at the speed they are meant to be heard. This site could also be used in a music class as a fun, easy activity during the busy Christmas pageant season!

Tips: As your students learn to touch type the numbers, invite them to put on a “concert” for fellow classmates.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Do-a-rain-deer in your classroom.

Make-a-Flake

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What it is: Make-a-Flake lets kids ‘cut out’ virtual snowflakes. This is a fun site for the winter season!

How to integrate Make-a-Flake into the classroom: Make-a-Flake is one of those sites that is fun for all ages. Students cut out a snowflake (no two are ever alike) and then they can send their snowflake creations to a parent via email. Students snowflakes are also featured on the first page of the site as falling snow. This is a fun way to create snowflakes without all of the little paper mess. The site is great for younger kids who are still learning to manipulate the mouse, but it is fun for older kids too. Set up a snowflake station in the one or two computer classroom where students can stop and make snowflakes as they finish work early.

Tips: Gather your parent email addresses at the beginning of the year for communication purposes as well as fun creations like Make-a-Flake.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Make-a-Flake in your classroom.