Category: History

2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book

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What it is:  Curriclick is a site that I have mentioned before that provides free and low cost curriculum for download and use in your classroom.  Today they released a 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book for download.  After the speech today it would be great to download and use some of the reading and activities in your classroom.   

 

How to integrate 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book into the classroom:  I don’t know about you but I found that many of my students still didn’t “get” president Obama’s Inauguration speech even after viewing it.  Use this free lap book download to help your students understand the history behind the Inauguration speech.  Watch the speech again as a class or read the transcript of the speech.  Help your students understand this historic occasion with the help of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book.  I wish that they had released this one sooner!

 

Tips: This is a 40+ page guide.  Download the pdf version and only print out the pages you are going to use in your classroom.  NOTE!  I tried to access this site just a few min. ago and could not get to it, probably because of the flood of traffic.  Try back later today if the links in this post don’t seem to be working.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how your students responded to the speech.

Obama’s Inauguration Speech

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What it is: Barak Obama’s inauguration speech is taking place tomorrow morning!  Make sure that your students (regardless of age) are a part of this historic moment.  Wouldn’t it be neat if your students remembered sitting in your classroom watching and discussing the speech?  Hulu is going to host the speech live.  Because traffic to Hulu is bound to be heavy, I am also going to embed the speech right here on iLearn Technology.  Feel free to come here and watch the speech with me!  

 

How to integrate Obama’s Inauguration Speech into the classroom:  It isn’t every day that you can watch history in the making live in your classroom!  This is a historic moment that every student should be a part of.  Come back to iLearn Technology or Hulu to view the speech live.  It might be fun to make up a speech bingo card and see how many of the words students can pick out of the speech.  I’m sure a ready made bingo card will pop up somewhere!  If it does, I will update this post with the link.  

 

Tips: It will be interesting to see what people are saying about the speech via Twitter! 

 

Leave a comment and tell us how your students responded to the speech.

Inauguration Speech Generator

Kelly Tenkely3 Comments on Inauguration Speech Generator3072 views

What it is: With President Obama’s Inauguration speech looming on the horizon, this site is worth a look.  Inauguration Speech Generator is like a mad lib, fill in the blank that generates a speech for President Obama to say.  🙂   Students enter words in the blanks according to the part of speech that is requested and then read the speech they have written for our soon to be president.  

 

How to integrate Inauguration Speech Generator into the classroom:  This is  a great lead in to teach students about the Inauguration of President Obama.  It is also a fun way to practice those parts of speech!  Students can fill in the blanks individually and share with a partner, or a speech can be generated as a whole class.  This would be a fun thing to do right before the inauguration.  Save the students version of the speech.  They can compare and contrast their speech with the actual inauguration speech after viewing it.

 

Tips: The inauguration is supposed to be live on CNN, it would be fun to watch live but I suspect that Internet may be slow that day!  Those of you with cable in the classroom take advantage!!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Inauguration Speech Generator in your classroom.

Prezi

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Prezi3197 views

 

What it is:  Prezi is a unique online presentation builder that seems to be popping up a lot lately all over the web.  It is getting so much attention because of its new approach to online slide shows.  Prezi has some unique features like zooming presentations that grab and hold viewers attention.  Prezi lets you create a sort of walking path through your presentation.  The finished product is engaging and impressive looking.  The tools in Prezi are different from other online presentation builders but are easy to use and figure out.  The tutorial will have you and your students creating in minutes.  

 

How to integrate Prezi into the classroom:   Because of Prezi’s unique zooming feature, it would be a good tool for students to use for vocabulary.  Students can type in the word to be defined and then zoom in on the definition.  Building vocabulary presentations would be good for review and study.  Prezi would also be a neat way to explore and display information from history (display a date, place, or person in history and then zoom into facts and details that are related), timeline information (create paths from different dates in Prezi), literature (create a sort of interactive character map of any literary character), science projects (use Prezi’s path to lead through the scientific method), foreign language (type a word in another language and zoom to translate), geography (zoom into details around a map), math, and much more. 

 

Tips: Be sure to check out the tutorial on Prezi, it will have you up and creating in no time!  Check out the inspiration to see the amazing things that others have used Prezi to create.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Prezi in your classroom.

Picasa

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Picasa2394 views

 

 

What it is:  Picasa is a free download from Google that helps you organize, edit, share, and create using photos.  The edit feature allows you to fix red-eye, crop, and fix any blemishes or scratches.  Picasa lets students create turning photos into movies, collages, and slideshows.  Picasa also makes it easy to upload albums to the web to share.  Picasa has been around for a while as a Google tool but the big news this week is the release of the beta version of Picasa for Macs.  The neat thing about the Mac Picasa release is its integration with iPhoto.  The features are pretty neat and definitely worth a look for either platform but with the announcement of iPhoto ’09 yesterday, they aren’t as impressive.  HOWEVER, Picasa is completely free while iPhoto ’09 is not.

 

How to integrate Picasa into the classroom:  Picasa  is a great way to organize photos you are taking of your classroom in action.  Create a web album, parents always like to see the great things their kids are learning.  Students can use Picasa to organize images they find online or pictures they take on a field trip.  These pictures can then be used to create a movie, collage, or slideshow directly in the Picasa software.  Students could create a class story in pictures, create a movie out of it and share it with other grades.  Students can also collect historical images, scientific images, etc and easily create a movie or slideshow displaying their knowledge.  

 

Tips:  Picasa is available for Macs in beta version and Windows and Linux based in alpha.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Picasa in your classroom.

Museum Box

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What it is:    Museum Box is a website that I heard about through a tweet on Twitter a few weeks ago that is really impressing me today (that is saying a lot since today is MacWorld and they are announcing big things!).  Museum Box is based on the work of Thomas Clarkson who collected items in a box to help him in his argument for the abolition of slavery.  He collected items in a box to demonstrate to others the fine craftsmanship and abilities of the African culture.  He used his box as a sort of travelling museum to aid him in his debate.  The Museum Box website provides a place for students to collect information and arguments in a virtual museum box of their own.  They can collect items to provide a description or add to an argument of a historical event, place, or time period.  Students can add images, text, sounds, video, external links, etc. to each compartment of the box helping them form their own virtual museum.  The Museum Box can be shared as a presentation, saved, or printed.  After a box has been created, students can view one anothers boxes and leave comments about the box.  You really have to check this one out!  So neat for history and literature classes!

 

How to integrate Museum Box into the classroom:  Use Museum Box as a medium for students to learn about and collect information about a historical event, person, or time period.  Because students can upload their own content to Museum Box, you might also have them create a box all about them.  This would be a great way for students to get to know each other at the beginning of the year.  Museum box is a neat way to share information about geography, students can make a box all about a place including items in their box that are unique to that place.  The ability to incorporate text, sounds, images, video, and uploaded items makes Museum Box especially impressive!  After students have created boxes, spend time viewing other’s boxes and leaving comments about the box.  This is kind of like a science fair atmosphere for history, geography, and literature.   Yet another tool I wish I had in school!

 

Tips:  Introduce Museum Box to your students by learning about Thomas Clarkson, he is a very interesting historical figure that I had never heard of!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Museum Box in your classroom.

Share Tabs

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What it is:   Share Tabs is a simple, but very neat, website that allows you to share several links with one web address.  Teachers can enter a list of websites they want students to visit into Share Tabs.   After entering the links, you create one Share Tabs URL that will open all of the links as separate tabs in a web browser.   So cool!

 

How to integrate Share Tabs into the classroom:  Share Tabs is an awesome way to save time in the classroom when using multiple websites.  Instead of waiting for kids to type in several URL’s to get to the days activities, they type in one URL and share tabs does all the work.  I know in my classroom, I don’t want to spend 15 min typing in web addresses.  I would rather that students have that time to spend on the web activities.  Share Tabs is perfect in the computer lab setting or any time that you want students to visit multiple websites for a lesson.  Use Share Tabs for virtual field trips through cyber space without spending time creating a webquest.  Share Tabs also makes sharing sites with colleauges a snap.  As you are finding resources for a lesson, put them into Share Tabs and send one link.  Your colleagues will thank you!

 

Tips:  Use Share Tabs on Twitter instead of updating 5 times with each separate URL you are exploring, update once with a Share Tabs link!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Share Tabs in your classroom.

Aviary

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What it is:  Aviary is a website on a mission to make creativity more accessible.  They do this by making powerful image software available online (no download required) and with free versions of the online software.  Aviary has four different offerings: Peacock, Phoenix, Toucan, and Raven.  Because each tool does something different, I am going to break it down into four posts.  Phoenix is an image editor and the first Aviary tool I will review.  Phoenix is an image editor that allows for basic image editing or complex effects, it has many of the same features as that expensive software suite (Adobe) but has the benefit of being based online and free! 🙂  There is a rich tool set with features familiar to graphics and image programs like brushes, and blend modes.  Just like the more expensive software, Aviary allows students to work on projects in layers with an intuative, easy-to-use, drag and drop interface.  Images can be imported from other popular sites like Flickr, Facebooks, and Picasa.  Any creation in Phoenix can be imported and used in other Aviary tools.

 

How to integrate Aviary into the classroom:  Aviary Phoenix is an awesome tool for classroom image editing.  This is a great alternative to expensive image editors, but looks and works enough like the ‘big dogs’ that students who learn how to use Aviary will be able to easily transfer the knowledge if and when they need to.  Aviary currently has 62 Phoenix tutorials.  Students can work through the tutorials and teach themselves the program.  I like this method of self discovery and teaching,  it is an important skill for students to learn that we don’t teach enough in the classroom.  Ask students to create brochures, advertisements, or other graphic media to illustrate concepts in the classroom using digital art.  Aviary is a nice introduction into graphic arts and digital media.

 

Tips:  It is fun to look through creations that others have made and try to figure out how they used Aviary Phoenix to create.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Aviary Phoenix  in your classroom.

Secret Builders

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Secret Builders3397 views

 

What it is:  You have undoubtedly heard of virtual world Second Life and its growing popularity in the education realm.  Second life has some amazing educational opportunities for older students (students must be 13 years or older to have an account) but nothing for the elementary age student.  Enter Secret Builders, an enchanting virtual world designed specifically for elementary age children.  Virtual worlds like this are highly engaging for all ages and allow students to interact with each other in new ways.  Secret Builders can be used to supplement different topics including literature, arts, science, and humanities.  One of my favorite features, is the ability for students to interact with historical figures like Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Alice in Wonderland, Galileo, and more!  Students can visit these historical figures homes and ask them questions.  There is a magazine in Secret Builders called The Crooked Pencil where students can submit writing to be published.  There are learning games to play that, like Free Rice, donate to a charitable cause for correct answers.  Students build up points by completing quests and can use the points to purchase things in Secret Builders.  

 

How to integrate Secret Builders into the classroom:   Secret Builders is a really neat site, students will love the online world and ability to connect with other students online.  Secret Builders is more than just a ‘game’ sort of site though, there is a lot of learning to be done here!  Students can build netiquette skills, computer skills, and learn about humanities, arts and literature all in Secret Builders.  Students can write stories in Writers Block, go on a quest which requires logic skills and weaves in arts and humanities, perform a play in the Theater, solve puzzles, and interact with others.   This is a really neat alternative to worksheets and traditional story writing.  I think that the opportunity for students to interact with historical figures and tour their virtual home is fantastic!  I hope that they continue to add historical figures, I would have loved this sort of history environment! The ability for students to play games and earn real money for charities is a wonderful motivator for students and great for building character education.

 

Tips:   Secret Builders encourages student and teacher suggestions, if you have an idea, let them know…you may just add the next cool feature to the Secret Builders world!  Take a look at the Teacher page for some great classroom tie-ins and features.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Secret Builders in your classroom.