Category: Grade Level

Xtranormal Text-to-Movie

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What it is:  Xtranormal Text-to-Movie is another outstanding site that I learned about from @danreeve on Twitter.  This site lets students create and direct their own animated movies.  Students can choose a set, actors, and music for their videos.  Xtranormal allows students a huge amount of control of exactly how their movie will look, they can choose camera angles, animations, expressions, looks, points, and sounds.  The site is very intuative and user friendly for students in third grade (with a little guidance) and up.  I was able to create a movie without reading any instructions in about 5 min.

How to integrate Xtranormal into the classroom:  Xtranormal is a great way for students to express what they know creatively.  Students can use Xtranormal to create mocumentaries on any subject, students could interview historical figures, report on geographical occurances, or create public service announcements.  Xtranormal would be an excellent alternative to the traditional book report.  Students could interview one or several characters from the book or create a little review show about the book.  The Xtranormal interface is intuative enough that the focus will be on the learning, not on the tool.

 

Tips:  Xtranormal is a great way for students to create movies.  Many times schools are restricted from putting videos featuring students online, this is a great way for students to put their creations online without their actual picture being out there.

 

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

Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime2248 views

What it is:   Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime is an incredible look into the life of Benjamin Franklin.  I learned about this awesome site from @kylepace on Twitter (a great educator to follow if you aren’t already).  Students can play, listen, watch, observe and have fun learning about Benjamin Franklin’s life and legacy.  Students can explore Franklin’s life by different  themes such as Franklin’s character, B. Franklin Printer, Franklin at Home, Doing Good, Franklin at Home, and World Stage.  This feature breaks Franklin’s life down into manageable pieces for students and provides a well rounded understanding of who Franklin was and why he is an important figure in American history.  As students explore the timeline, they will find quotes, stories, videos, and audio about Benjamin Franklin.  I wish there was an interactive timeline of every historical figure like this one!  History would have been so much easier for me to understand.

How to integrate Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime into the classroom:  This interactive timeline would be great for use with a whole class and Interactive whiteboard.  Students could take turns visiting the whiteboard to ‘discover’ a new fact about Benjamin Franklin.  Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime could be set up on classroom computers for students to visit as a center during a unit on Franklin.  In a computer lab setting, students could be assigned a theme or time period of Benjamin Franklin’s life to explore and share later with the class.  Make it even more fun by creating a time machine atmosphere where students can travel back in time to learn about Franklin…stamp their time travelling passports as they ‘journey’ from one period of Franklin’s life to another.  This site is an outstanding way to capture students interest in Franklin and American history. 

 

Tips:  Show students the help/tips section for a key to understanding the different symbols on Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime in your classroom.

Artopia

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Artopia3394 views

What it is:  Artopia is an interactive website that lets students learn more about and interact with different mediums of art virtually.  “Students can closely examine important works of art and take part in activities that teach about styles, principles and processes of each art form. They can write about the artworks online, collect art cards in a virtual portfolio and view videos of professional artists at work. Teachers may exhibit their students’ artwork in a virtual gallery and both students and teachers can communicate with other artists in an online message board.”  Artopia teaches students about dance, media arts, music, painting, sculpture, and theater.  This is an outstanding addition to an art classroom!

How to integrate Artopia into the classroom: Artopia is a nice addition to any classroom.  The site can be used to develop a greater appreciation for the arts.  Students can be recognized and encouraged in their own art in the sites online art gallery.   Artopia introduces students to important works of art and teaches them how to think about art.  This site would be wonderful for working on critical thinking skills, creativity, and innovation.  

 

Tips:  Check out the Teacher Resources for lesson plans using Artopia in your classroom.  Pass this site on to an art teacher, they will be thankful you did!

 

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

The Hobby Shop

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on The Hobby Shop2475 views

What it is:  The Hobby Shop is an amazing interactive site where students can learn about science.  Students can learn about a compound microscope, dissecting microscope, catapults, chemistry, and rockets.  Each section of the hobby shop is completely interactive and has students discovering learning through virtual experimentation.  Students can look through microscopes, each step of the way they are taught how to do things like prepare petri dishes, and clean up properly afterward.  In the chemistry lab students can create an ingredient found in chalk, make a chemical used in photography, make liquids change colors, or test chemicals for electrical conductivity.  Students are led through each step of an experiment just as they would do it in an actual lab.  There is an interactive periodic table of elements that students can use to learn about different elements.  Students can create their own rocket in the rocket lab choosing the body, nose cone, and fins of a rocket and then test it out.  Students can also test out catapults with water balloons.

How to integrate Hobby Shop into the classroom: Hobby Shop is a wonderful place for students to experiment and interact with science in preparation for doing the experiment in class.  It is interactive enough to take the place of experiments where the science budget doesn’t allow for a class set of materials.  I am SO impressed with the way that this site leads students through each step of the process to complete an experiment.  Use this site with the whole class using an interactive whiteboard, invite students to come up to the board and conduct the experiment.  This site is also perfect for use as a science center in the one or two computer classroom or for individual use in a computer lab environment.  

 

Tips:  Check out the Teacher Resources for standard alingment, correlating worksheets, and other pdf files.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Hobby Shop in your classroom.

Gullah Net

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What it is:  Gullah Net is a site that was designed to introduce students to the Gullah culture and language.”Located on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia are communities of people who are the descendants of enslaved Africans. They have a unique culture that is directly linked to West Africa. In South Carolina, this group of African-Americans and the language they speak are referred to as Gullah (Gul-luh). In Georgia, they are called Geechee (Gee-chee). Native Islanders is another term that refers to the Gullah and Geechee people.  Many historians believe that the word “Gullah” comes from Angola, a West African country from which many of the slaves came. Another idea is that “Gullah” is from the Gola, a tribe found near the border of Liberia and Sierra Leone, West Africa. Although the exact origin of the word is not known, most historians agree that the Gullah people and their language have African roots.”

In addition to a history of Gullah, students can listen to and read along folktale stories read by Auntie Pearlie Sue.  These are fun little stories with a great message. Gullah music introduces students to the evolution of African music in America.  The site is set to have a Gullah cooking section soon.

How to integrate Gullah Net into the classroom:  Gullah Net is an excellent place for students to learn about other cultures within the United States.  The read along folktales are excellent and would be a good place for students to practice reading skills.  Gullah music would be a nice tie in for Black History month (in fact the entire site would be great for this).  Gullah Net has some great teacher resources and lessons to use in your classroom.  My favorite section on Gullah Net is Gullah Tales, these are colorful, fun stories that will keep your students engaged in reading!

 

Tips:  Gullah Net has field trip resources for those of you in South Carolina.

 

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

School Tool

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What it is: School Tool is a collection of free administrative software for schools.  This is a student information system that includes demographics, gradebook, attendance, calendaring and reporting for primary and secondary schools.  It also provides a framework for building customized applications and configurations to meet the needs of your school.

How to integrate School Tool into the classroom:  School Tool is an excellent alternative to expensive information systems.  This open source solution is a great way to save some educational technology dollars to spend on additional hardware or infrastructure.  If your school is looking at implementing a new comprehensive information system, definitely take a look at School Tool.  

 

Tips:  School Tool has documentation to help with installation and setup, an administrators handbook, a developers handbook, and a glossary of usage.  These documents should have you up and running in no time!

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

Book Wink

Kelly Tenkely7 Comments on Book Wink3320 views

What it is: Book Wink is an absolutely incredible site to motivate students in 3rd through 8th grade to read.  Through podcasts and web video Book Wink introduces students to books that will help get students excited about reading.  Video book talks are about 3 minutes in length and introduce students to a topic, and the additional read-alikes that can be found on the Book Wink website.  Books can be searched by grade, subject, author, or title.  Subscribe to the video podcats to automatically receive the newest book talks.  This months book talk introduces students to the heist.  Check it out, it is fantastic!

How to integrate Book Wink into the classroom:   Book Wink is an outstanding way to excite and motivate students to read.   Use Book Wink with a projector and introduce your whole class to a book talk.  The book talks are engaging and will have your students wanting to check out books on the subject for silent reading time.  Each book talk gives a related list of books along with their age appropriateness.  This makes it simple for your students to find a book that will capture their attention and help them gain a love of reading. Check out the Book Wink archives to find a genre or topic that fits with your current curriculum.  Topics include: heists, World War II, Sharks, 19th Centrury, Love, Mythology, Volcanos, Mermaids, Museum Mysteries, Sea Adventures, Parallel Universes, Popularity, South America, and Endangered Animals.  A new book talk is added each month, this should have your students excited about reading year round!  Book Wink would be a great site to have bookmarked or set as a homepage in the school  library.  After your students have become familiar with the book talk format on Book Wink, encourage them to host and record their own book talks.

 

Tips:  Book Wink is free to use.  You can support Book Wink through purchases from their online store or through a donation.

 

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

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!2452 views

What it is: This week (May 4-8) is teacher appreciation week.  To show their appreciation, Learning A-Z is holding an open house to their fantastic collection of learning resources.  This means that for one week you can access all online resources for free from Raz-Kids, Reading a-z, Science a-z, Writing a-z, Vocabulary a-z, and Reading Tutors.  Raz Kids is a student centered website where students can listen to and read books online independently.  Reading a-z is filled with thousands of printable and projectable resources including books, activity sheets, and assessments.  Science a-z includes multilevel books, activity sheets, process activities and more.  All are categorized by grade and topic.  Writing a-z is a collection of resources to help teach basic writing skills.  Vocabulary a-z is a website with a word bank of more than 8,000 words.  The words are categorized by content area, functional, and resource.  With this site teachers can build vocabulary lessons with activities for multiple exposures to words that leads to word mastery.   Reading Tutors provides online resource packets for those tutoring kids in reading.  It covers key reading areas from phonics to comprehension.

How to integrate Learning a-z into the classroom:    The collection of resources accessible in Learning a-z is incredible. Take advantage of this teacher appreciation week freebie and start using Learning a-z materials in your classroom.

 

Tips:  Sign up for a free pass during this open house week.  Enjoy!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Learning a-z  in your classroom.

The Children’s University of Manchester

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What it is:  The Children’s University of Manchester is a site created by the University of Manchester that has some excellent mini-lessons and interactive lessons for students on a variety of science, history, literacy, and art topics.  Topics include the body and medicines, energy and the environment, ancient Egypt, the earth and beyond, teeth and eating, micro organisms, the brain and senses, talking textiles, and words.  Each lesson is like an interactive text book where students are engaged in and discover learning.  Each lesson includes an interactive lesson, downloadable resources, educational games, and videos.  The level of interaction is outstanding for helping students to learn about each topic.

How to integrate The Children’s University of Manchester into the classroom:    The interactive lessons on this site are perfect for instructing whole class using an interactive whiteboard.  During the interactive lesson, students can be called on to interact with the material.  Most lessons will have enough opportunities to involve the whole class.  The site is also ideal for individual instruction in the computer lab setting.  Introduce students to a new topic with these mini lessons, videos, and educational games that can be expanded on as part of a larger unit.  These mini-lessons begin with a bio of a scientist, historian, etc. in the field of the topic.  Read these bio’s together as a class and discuss these real-world applications to the topic being studied.  

 

Tips:  Computers will need Flash installed to display The Children’s University of Manchester lessons, games, and interactive activities.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Children’s University of Manchester  in your classroom.

Popling

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Popling3190 views

What it is:   Popling is a free website and desktop application.  Their motto is “Learning without Studying”.  The idea is to make your own Poplings (flash card sets) and every few minutes (you determine the amount of time) while you work at the computer, a window pops up on the screen with your question.  Click on it to see the full question.  That is all there is to it, studying without really studying.

How to integrate Popling into the classroom:   Popling is a little goodie that could help students in their learning.  Set up classroom computers with Poplings about any subject.  As students are working they can also be practicing math facts, vocabulary, geography, etc.  Better yet, have students create the Popling sets!  In the computer lab setting, create Popling flash cards that will quiz students about Internet safety, terminology, or short cuts while they work.  It is like sneaking in extra learning, gotta love that!  Encourage students to use Popling as a study tool at home…they can study for tests for weeks without it feeling like studying.  Install Popling on your interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer.  As you are teaching, have related questions popup.  This will keep your students engaged watching for the next Popling.

 

Tips:  Tell parents about Popling, they are always looking for great ideas for helping their kids with studying.

 

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