Category: Grade Level

eyePlorer

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on eyePlorer2719 views

 

 

What it is:  eyePlorer is a really cool site that allows students “explore and process knowledge.”  Student type in a word or words to research.  eyePlorer pulls information from Wikipedia and puts it into a color wheel of information.  When students hover over the different areas of the color wheel, they get a sentence or two about their subject.  There is a notebook where students can drag and drop facts that they want to remember.  Students can drag facts to the notebook and rearrange them as they need to.  Students can click the “i” button under the search box to get a quick summary of their topic, click on the “+” button to add search parameters, and click on the paper button to go to a Google search.  The idea behind eyePlorer is to improve the way “users interact with knowledge and information online.”  The goal is to provide innovative, interactive, visual methods for working with and discovering facts and information.  I think the result is pretty amazing and perfect for the educational setting!

How to integrate eyePlorer into the classroom: This is a truly unique way for students to research and explore new information.  Students quickly get a visual guide to their inquiry and can drag and drop what they are learning into a notebook.  This is a fantastic tool for research projects but would also be amazing for use with an interactive whiteboard.  As students are learning about a new concept, they can type the subject into the search and as a class decide which information they want to save in the notebook for later.  What a great introduction to any new material.   This site will definitely help wet students appetite for learning!  Make sure to bookmark this site on the classroom computers as a classroom research center.

 

Tips:  eyePlorer was created in Germany so the home page information is all in German, once you start a search you can choose to search in German or English.  When I searched “shiba inu” it automatically searched in English for me.

 

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

Scotch: Science Fair Central

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Scotch: Science Fair Central3188 views

 

What it is:   Scotch Science Fair Central is a website collaboration between Scotch brand products from 3M and Discovery Education.  The site is a wealth of free resources for creating innovative science fair projects.  The site leads students step by step through creating a science fair project starting with choosing a project idea.   Students can search through multiple science topics in life sciences, earth science, or physical science.  Within each of these topics is several subcategories and then ideas based on a testable question, what is tested, and what data is collected.  This site is very comprehensive and will have your students thinking like a scientist in no time!  The site then leads students through the steps of differentiating their project between investigations and inventions so they can choose the appropriate project type.  Step two actually leads them through the investigation or invention process depending on which project type was chosen.  Step three takes students through the process of creating the actual presentation portion of the science fair project.  There is a great section of parent resources as well as a section for science fair coordinators.

How to integrate Scotch: Science Fair Central into the classroom:  Science fair projects have the potential to teach students a lot.  They learn organization, responsibility, the scientific process, observation, testing, inquiry, problem solving, and critical thinking.  Science fair projects are extremelly worthwhile when they are accompanied by a quality process that students can follow.  I remember years when the science fair meant quickly pulling something ‘scientific’ together (two cans with a string in between to show sound travel) with very little gained from the project.  This was due in part to being assigned a science fair project without understanding the basis of how scientists work and think.  Scotch: Science Fair Central solves this dilemma because students are led step-by-step through the scientific process and along the way learn how a scientist thinks.  Before you assign a science fair project, spend a day in the computer lab with students and let them go through this site and begin to plan their science fair project.  I love how this site is organized into different types of science because it gives every student the opportunity to find a project that they are interested in and motivated by.  If you don’t have access to the lab, set up a science fair planning center on your classroom computers or guide your students through the site with a computer and projector.  If you are a science teacher, take a look at this great resource and use the planning guide to plan a school science fair.

 

Tips:  Be sure to send this site home to parents, they will appreciate the parent section as they help their child at home.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Scotch: Science Fair Central in your classroom.

Ideas to Inspire

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Ideas to Inspire2655 views

 

What it is:  Ideas to Inspire is a truly wonderful site and wealth of resources for teachers.  On this site you will find a collection of Google Doc presentations that include a number of ideas for engaging lesson activities in a variety of curriculum areas.  The collection comes from inspiring teachers from around the world.  You can find Ideas to Inspire on Writing, Interactive Math, Incredible Science, Amazing Art, Marvelous Music, and learn interesting ways to use Google Docs, Pocket Video Cameras, Interactive Whiteboards, Google Earth, Twitter, Netbooks, Webcams, and Visualizers.  Ideas to Inspire also has great tips for non-techy teachers (I remember being one of those once-upon-a-time).  Ideas to Inspire is very easy to navigate and each presentation is jam packed with truly inspiring ideas.

How to integrate Ideas to Inspire into the classroom: It happens to the best of us, we get settled in our ways and fall into a teaching slump where we can’t come up with a creative lesson idea to save our lives.  Sound familiar?  Ideas to Inspire is the place to go, here you will find inspiration, helpful tips, and get those creative juices flowing again!  Take a few minutes and look through some of the presentations, you will be happy you did. 🙂

 

Tips:  This is my last post for the day, head over to Ideas to Inspire and be inspired today!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Ideas to Inspire in your classroom.

cl1p

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on cl1p3040 views

 

What it is:  cl1p is a great little web tool that you and your students are going to love.  cl1p lets you copy and paste between computers in three easy steps making it simple to share things between home and school or when working with a partner.  The first step is to create a url that starts out with http://cl1p.net.  Then click “Show me my cl1p” and you can add images, text, and even upload files that can be saved for 8 days and viewed on any other computer straight from the web browser.  Think of cl1p as a web based clipboard where you are copying and pasting from one computer to another.

How to integrate cl1p into the classroom:  If you work in a computer lab, library, or anywhere there is a computer, I’m sure that you have heard the words “I forgot my flash drive” or “can I print this out, I don’t have time to read it now?”  cl1p is a handy little tool that can be used from any web browser where students can quickly copy and paste text, images, or url’s  and access them easily later from another web browser.  This is handy for getting a lot of information from the school computer to the home computer without having to remember to bring home the flash drive and bring it back the next day.  It perfect for students doing research as a group, each group member can add content and access all research from a shared point at their cl1p url from any web browser.  This is also a great site for teachers to send things between the home and school computer and making it easily accessible to colleagues.

 

Tips:  The only downfall of cl1p?  Your url is only good for 7 days, so for long-term research projects or those times when you don’t intend to use the information right away, this isn’t the best tool to use.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using cl1p in your classroom.

Story Top

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Story Top4314 views

 

What it is:  Story Top is a simple comic strip creator.  Students can create an account on Story Top where they can save, share with classmates, and print out comic strips that they create.  Students can choose from a set selection of backgrounds, images, and text bubbles (they aren’t able to upload their own images).  Using the Story Top clip art and backgrounds, students can create a fun comic strip about almost any topic with a simple drag-and-drop interface.

How to integrate Story Top into the classroom:  Comic strips are an outstanding way to get your reluctant writers writing (especially boys!)   The comic format usually isn’t as daunting as a blank piece of paper.  With just a little guidance, your students will be writing and creating comic strips in no time!  Use Story Top as a classroom computer writing center where students can take turns publishing their own comic strips (these are fun to use in a class newsletter home at the end of the week or on a classroom website).  In the computer lab setting, give students a topic and have them create a comic strip based on the topic.  Story Top would also be excellent to use with a projector or an interactive whiteboard.  Instead of giving your students a bulleted list of notes to copy down on a subject, why not make it fun and create a comic strip that includes all of the notes.    Comics are a fun way to mix up the classroom routine and students are much more likely to remember the material if it is presented this way.  Happy creating!

 

Tips:  To use your comic strips on your classroom website or in a newsletter, take a screen shot of the strip to save it as a picture file on your computer (on a Mac it is command+shift+4). 

 

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

Auto Motivator

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Auto Motivator2973 views

 

What it is:  Auto Motivator is a site where you can create custom motivational posters for your classroom.  You can choose a picture from the Auto Motivator site, upload a picture from your computer, or use a picture from the web.  After you create your poster (in two easy steps) you can save it as the desktop for your computer, save it as a picture file that you can print out, or purchase a poster size print from the Auto Motivator website through Zazzle.com.

How to integrate Auto Motivator into the classroom:  Motivational posters are perfect for the classroom setting but sometimes it is hard to find one that captures the motivation that you want to offer your students.  Maybe you have a class saying, or a specific motivational need, Auto Motivator is a wonderful place for you to create a poster that fits your classroom needs.  I love that you can use the motivational words as the desktop image on computers, these would make a fabulous background for classroom computers or computer lab computers.  Because you can save the image to your computer, you could create motivational postcards to hand to your students when they are struggling as encouragement.  The ability to get your custom poster printed by Auto Motivator through Zazzle.com is a nice option for those motivational posters you want to use year after year.  Encourage students to make their own motivational posters, these would be nice to print out and create a wall of motivation out of.  Students could also exchange motivational posters with peers as encouragement.

 

Tips:  If you are using this site with students, please note that there are Google Adwords on the Auto Motivator website.  Use this as an opportunity to teach your students to spot advertisements and discuss their purpose.

 

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

Send Your Name to Mars

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Send Your Name to Mars3089 views

 

What it is:  This is your chance to send your students to Mars!  Okay, maybe not literally but you can send their names to Mars.  NASA has done this before, you may have sent your names to the moon in the past.  Now you and your students have the opportunity to send their names to Mars by way of a microchip on the Mars Science Laboratory rover heading to Mars in 2011.

How to integrate Send Your Name to Mars into the classroom:  This is a great way to get your students excited about a space unit!  Students can start the space unit by sending their name in to be put on the microchip going to Mars and print out the “official” certificate.   Follow up this activity by exploring the NASA website or NASA Kids to learn more about the Mars Science Laboratory rover and the mission.  If you don’t have access to a computer for each student, you could send your class name to Mars and explore the NASA site as a class using a projector.  As an extension activity, you can have students write about what they think it would be like to go to Mars.

 

Tips:  Take a look at the participation map, it is interesting to see who is going to Mars!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Send Your Name to Mars in your classroom.

Shahi

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Shahi2497 views

 

What it is:  Shahi is a mashup of Wiktionary (a Wikipedia type dictionary) and Flickr.  This visual dictionary is a great way for students to look up definitions and get a visual representation of the word.  Students can choose for the images to come from Flickr, Google, or Yahoo.  I find the most reliable image results come from Flickr.

How to integrate Shahi into the classroom: Shahi is a neat mashup of two tools.  Having a visual dictionary is great for every student but especially useful for your visual learners.  Beyond using Shahi as a dictionary, this is a perfect site for teaching your students the parts of speech.  Because pictures acompany the definitions, students can “see” that a verb is an action word.  Use Shahi as the base for a part of speech game with the whole class and a projector.  Choose a word from reading, spelling, etc. and have students ‘guess’ the part of speech based on the pictures.  This is a great way for students to learn the parts of speech through inquiry and problem solving.  Shahi would also be a useful tool for ESL or ELL students.  Bookmark Shahi on your classroom computers as a resource during reading/writing time.  Look up a spelling word on Shahi and have students journal about one of the accompanying pictures.  This site could be very useful for writing prompts.  Shahi would also be wonderful in the science classroom, students can look up difficult words or concepts and immediately have a good visual representation to aid in understanding.  In the geography classroom, students could search places and get a  collection of images that will provide them with additional insight into the place.  Cool!

 

Tips:  I learned about this site from activeducator  on Twitter.  If you haven’t yet, sign up for Twitter today, it is a great way to network and learn about education (or anything you are interested in).  Don’t forget to add me as a friend, ktenkely!  A word of warning with this site: sometimes images will be inappropriate on this site because of the tags people put on their pictures in Flickr.  For example “berry” brings pictures of fruit berries but also scantily dressed women named “Berry”.  For elementary students, pre-search words you will be using with the class for appropriateness. 

 

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

Mind 360

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Mind 3603168 views

 

What it is:  Mind 360 is a website version of the Nintendo DS game Brain Age.  The games on Mind 360 are aimed toward sharpening memory, increasing focus, build logical reasoning skills, increase alertness and awareness, boost productivity, and exercise the mind.  Each player gets a virtual personal brain trainer that helps build up brain function.  Students (or teachers) can play games and increase mental fitness by strengthening key cognitive functions including memory, attention, executive functions, thinking and reasoning, and visual perception.  Mind 360 has teamed up cognitive psychologists with game designers to boost mental health while having fun.  The brain training programs are tailored to the individual user.  Students also have the option to play against other students while building their mental strength.   The games are split up into the skill that it is building.  There are memory, attention, logic and reasoning, virtual perception, and exectutive function games.  In the training section, students can choose a student fitness program to help boost grades by “enhancing those cognitive skills required for overall better learning including attention, memory, thinking & reasoning, and more.”  The virtual personal coach will guide students through the program with constant personal feedback.  What I like about the Mind 360 website is the break down that each game and skill comes with.  Each game shows which cognitive skill it is improving, how to improve brain health, scientific studies, FAQ’s, and a glossary.  For teachers, this makes it simple to quickly find a game that meets your individual learners needs.

How to integrate Mind 360 into the classroom: Mind 360 would be an excellent way to start each day.  Many of the games take 3-5 minutes to complete (not including all the levels) making it ideal for a brain boosting start to the school day.  In the computer lab setting Mind 360 is a great site to bookmark for students to work on as they finish work.  Many times my students will ask to play on Addicting Games, Mini Clip, YouTube, etc.  This is a great game site that students will enjoy but is serving the greater purpose of increased learning.  Mind 360 is also a great site to bookmark on classroom computers.  Students can take turns visiting Mind 360 throughout the week so that each student gets to exercise their brain at least once a week.  These games are  a lot of fun and when students start keeping track of their progress, they will want to continue play using their account at home.  I am of the opinion that if students are going to play games, they should be games that increase learning in some way!  

 

Tips:  Mind 360 is currently in Beta, right now you can register and play the games for free but it looks like they may eventually charge for some of their games or features.  Mind 360 says that it is appropriate for high school and college students, however I think most of the games are appropriate for even primary grades.  For primary students, I would create a few classroom accounts for students to play on so they don’t each have to sign up for accounts.  Be sure to sign up for your own account, this is a great way to keep your brain in shape too!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Mind 360  in your classroom.