Google Lit Trips

 

What it is: Google Lit trips is a new way to teach literature. Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place. This is interactive learning at its best! Google Lit Trips include books such as By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleishman, My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, Traveling with P.G. Wodehouse, The Aeneid by Virgil, Candide by Volatire, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Night by Elie Wiesel, The Odyssey by Homer, and Blood Meridian by Comac McCarthy.

How to integrate Google Lit Trips into your classroom: Use these virtual trips to make literature come alive for your students.

Tips: These Google Lit Trips are best used for upper elementary through high school.

 

Geni

 

What it is: Geni is a genealogy family tree site.

How to integrate Geni into your classroom: Encourage your students to learn more about their family. Students can gather information about their family and create a family tree using Geni’s easy to use tools. Parents can collaborate with their students on this project easily. The Geni family tree can be printed out and emailed to other family members.

Tips: Encourage parents to collaborate with their students on this easy to use site.

 

Mindomo

 

What it is: Mindomo free web-based mind mapping tool that delivers the capabilities of desktop mind mapping software in a web browser with no software to install or maintain. Students can create, edit, and share mind maps with teachers and other students.

How to integrate Mindomo into your classroom: Students can use Mindomo to create mind maps for all subjects. Students can create character diagrams, comparison charts, story diagrams, vocabulary word diagrams, timelines, effect of events, experiment maps, food pyramids, scientific processes, life cycles, and more. This tool will be valuable for your visual learners!

Tips: Students have to sign up for a free account to use Mindomo they will need a email address to complete registration process.

 

 

Vocabulary

 

What it is: Vocabulary is a website where students can build spelling, reading, phonics, and vocabulary skills while playing games. The word games provide a motivation to manipulate, examine, and interact with the core building blocks of communication. There are six games to play and hundreds of options for each game. Games include: Hang Mouse (like hangman), Crossword Puzzle, Word Search, Vocabulary Quiz, Picture Match Game, and Word Scramble.

How to integrate Vocabulary into your classroom: Use the Vocabulary website to introduce new units, during phonics or center time, or as practice during a unit. The Vocabulary website offers multiple levels of each game and many themes.

Tips: Search this site for vocabulary words that tie in with your specific classroom and school themes. The site is appropriate for first through eighth grade. Find the levels that are most appropriate for your students.

 

 

The Story Starter

 

What it is: The Story Starter provides 345,935,040 creative ideas for writers of all ages. The Story Starter randomly generates writing prompts that will help students start stories.

How to integrate The Story Starter into your classroom: Have one or two of your classroom computers set to this site during writing or journaling time. Students can click on the random story starter button and get the beginning of a story that they can add to. This is a wonderful creative tool for students who are learning to write fiction.

Tips: Bookmark this page for easy access during writing time.

 

 

Hands on Banking

 

What it is: Hands on Banking is a free, fun financial education program that presents the basics of smart money management in an easy to use format game. Topics include budgeting, the importance of saving, bank accounts and services, borrowing money, establishing credit, investing, and more. The curriculum is appropriate for 4th through 12th grades.

How to integrate Hands on Banking into your curriculum: Use the Hands on Banking site as an extended learning activity for the economics or math classroom. Activities can be customized for each age group. The site works best in a computer lab setting because it takes time to get through the entire game. Use this activity at the end of an economics or money unit as a culminating activity.

Curious George

 

 

What it is: PBS Kids Curious George website features several games featuring the popular Curious George character for kindergarten students. All games encourage growth in math and science. Students will use counting skills, observation skills, listening skills, logic skills, basic engineering skills, measuring skills, basic addition and subtraction, color creation, mouse manipulation skills, categorizing skills, and recording skills.

How to integrate Curious George into your classroom: Use the Curious George website during math and science time as a center. Students can stop by the center individually if you have a classroom with several computers, or in small groups in the one to two computer classroom. The site has 13 wonderful games that can be used as extended learning activities in math and science class.

Tips: Visit the Teacher section for Extended learning activities, lesson plans, and related video clips. Be sure to bookmark this page for easy access. Because there are so many games, this may be a site you use often to reinforce skills learned in the classroom.

 

 

Kidoons

 

What it is: Kidoons brings time-honored, universally recognized stories to life. Stories include tales from the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, Thorton Burgess, and more. Kidoons offers both online stories and games for kids developing literacy skills.

How to integrate Kidoons into your classroom: Offer students the opportunity to use Kidoons during silent reading time, or during a unit on one of the time-honored authors listed above. The online books are not read for the students, so it is best used with independent readers.

Tips: Visit the teachers section to join the Kidoons teacher’s resource newsletter. Kidoons will alert you of any new games, stories, and ideas for your classroom.

Kidoons does have advertisements on it, use this as an opportunity to teach kids about how to spot ads on the Internet.

 

 

Our Timelines

 

What it is: Our Timelines is a free web tool that lets teachers and students create and print timelines. Students can click on any entry in an already created timeline that is underlined as a link to a page that provides additional details on the event.

How to integrate Our Timelines into your classroom: Allow students to create timelines on Our Timelines. The timelines can be a 5 to 140 year span. Students fill in the time period, the event description and the event type. Students can also see a timeline of events that happened on their birthdays. This is a great resource for teaching kids about timelines and visualizing history. Use for history lessons, literature timelines, personal timelines, etc.

Tips: Be sure to click the printable check box in the timeline form so that the timeline can be printed.

 

 

Safety Land

 

 

What it is: Safety Land is an interactive city that teaches Internet safety. Students help the Safety Land super hero catch a bad Internet character. Students search different buildings and answer Internet safety related questions. They receive feedback on their answers (right or wrong) along with an explanation about why the answer was right or wrong. When all questions have been answered, the bad Internet character is captured.

How to integrate Safety Land into the classroom: Use Safety Land to practice and assess Internet safety. Because students have to go through a series of questions to get to the end of the game, this is a wonderful game to use to check for understanding. The site should be used throughout the year to reinforce Internet safety rules.

Tips: Teachers can print out the entire game (all questions, answers and responses).