Category: Resource type

Aviary

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Aviary2497 views

 

 

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.

App Shopper

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on App Shopper2059 views

 

What it is:  The iPod Touch has opened up a whole world of portable education to schools.  Several of the Applications in the iTunes Application store are free!  App Shopper is a website that makes it simple to find free education applications for the iPod Touch (or iPhone).  Select your category, free, and enjoy browsing through great, free applications for your students!  

 

How to integrate App Shopper into the classroom:  Use App shopper to easily find free applications for your classroom iPod Touch(es).  I like the way that App Shopper shows an icon of the program and gives a description of the application.  Applications can be downloaded right from App Shopper or from iTunes…these are free to use, who doesn’t appreciate free classroom tools?!

 

Tips:  The second edition of the iLearn Ezine is coming soon with a great section on iPods in education and a review of the best free education apps.

 

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

The Week in Rap

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on The Week in Rap2723 views

 

 

What it is:  I remember being forced to pay attention to current events when I was in high school for class assignments.  I know that my teachers were trying to get me to pay attention to what was happening in the world; but, to be perfectly honest, I hated watching an hour of news.  My mind would wander and local news left a lot to be desired (why did I care about the dog who dialed 911 for its owner?).  The Week in Rap brings students current events on their level in a fun and entertaining way.  Every Friday a weeks worth of news is posted in video form.  The entertaining piece comes in the way that the recap of the weeks headlines is presented, in the form of a rap.  The videos will hold your students attention while they keep up to date with what is happening in the world.  The lyrics for each rap are posted below the video.  This free website was created by Flocabulary which makes rap videos about a number of subjects.

 

How to integrate The Week in Rap into the classroom:   The Week in Rap is a good way for your students to get involved with current events.  Use the videos as a launching point for further discussion, a beginning point for research, or have students write a blog post in response to the video.  Students can read more about each story mentioned in the weeks rap by clicking on the link for the news story in the lyrics.  The few that I clicked on brought me to PBS.  

 

Tips:  Since current events are posted every Friday, this site might make a good end of the week fun activity.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Week in Rap in your classroom.

Secret Builders

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Secret Builders3389 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.

Speakaboos

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Speakaboos4196 views

 

What it is:  Some websites are so impressive that I immediately spam all teachers in my address book with them.  Speakaboos is one of these sites for me.  I learned about the site from the Free Technology for Teachers blog (I highly recommend it for middle and high school teachers).  Speakaboos is a collection of online children stories read by celebrities (although this is not what impresses me).  Each story is read aloud with flash illustrations and the words on each page for read-along.  The stories are captivating and include popular titles like Arthur and Curious George.  This highly engaging website has some other features that make this one of my favorite website finds of the year.  When you sign up for a free membership, Speakaboos offers a free story download.  The download is a swf (flash) file but can be converted with a site like Zamzar to make it iPod ready (aka mobile learning!).  They plan to add more free downloads throughout the year.  Parents can also purchase individual stories iTunes style for $0.99.  Speakaboos  has a feature coming for parents, students, grandparents, teachers, etc. to record their own stories!  Speakaboos offers several activities for students including a diary to write in, a place to create their own story, games, ecards, and printable coloring pages from their favorite stories.  Speakaboos is in beta version right now so some of the above features are not yet  active.  

 

How to integrate Speakaboos into the classroom:   Speakaboos stories and activities are a fun and engaging way to develop students reading, writing, and speaking abilities while learning basic computer skills.  The Record your own Story feature is a wonderful way for students to practice fluency, it is also a great feature for struggling readers who can listen for mistakes that they make during reading.  Older students could make recordings for their younger reading buddies to enjoy.  The ability to download select stories for free is amazing for an iPod reading lab.  Speakaboos is a great reading or writing center for students to visit in the one or two computer classroom.  It would also make a nice whole class read along using a projector.  Speakaboos offers free story guides for teachers to help lead discussions on each story.  The guides come complete with themes to help reinforce the story message and offer questions to check general comprehension, discussion, and personal extension.  There are also printables that you can use with your class in conjunction with the Speakaboos site.

 

Tips:   Membership on Speakaboos is free and provides access to the free downloads.

 

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

Wikipedia School

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Wikipedia School13441 views

 

What it is:  Wikipedia is often the first place students head when faced with a research project.  While Wikipedia can be an excellent resource, content can be vandalized and is not always student appropriate.  Wikipedia School is a free, hand checked, non-commercial selection from Wikipedia.  It has about 5500 articles and is the volume of a twenty volume encyclopedia.  It will fit on a DVD and can be downloaded for free thanks to the SOS Children’s Villages website.  Topics were chosen that would be of interest to students and in accordance with the UK National Curriculum (but are appropriate for any English speaking country).  

 

How to integrate Wikipedia School into the classroom:  Wikipedia School is a nice alternative to using the Wikipedia website in a school environment.  The ability to download Wikipedia School to DVD means that it can be used on computers that don’t have Internet access.  Students can search freely and you will have the peace of mind knowing that with Wikipedia School, students won’t stumble on inappropriate content.  Subjects for search include: art, business studies, citizenship, countries, design and technology, every day life, geography, history, information technology, language and literature, mathematics, music, people, portals, religion, and science.  There is an outstanding selection of articles and pictures for each subject!

 

Tips:  Wikipedia School can be accessed online or offline when downloaded.

 

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

NORAD Tracks Santa

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What it is:   Who knew that NORAD Tracks Santa?  They do!  In partnership with Google Earth, now your students can track Santa live starting December 24th.  In the mean time, students can enjoy other fun holiday activities on the NORAD Tracks Santa site.  There is a count down to Christmas clock, Santa videos, information about Santa (including some history of the original St. Nick), Santa FAQ’s, Santa snack ideas, and Santa’s village where students will find fun Christmas themed games like light the Christmas tree (a logic puzzle), and Christmas memory.  Students can also learn about why and how NORAD tracks Santa.  This is a fun site for students to explore!

 

How to integrate NORAD Tracks Santa into the classroom:  Because this site uses Google Earth to track Santa, this may be a good time to teach your students how to use Google Earth and some map skills in preparation for tracking Santa.  The information pages about Santa and NORAD are great reading and discussion material for the holiday season.  Set up your classroom computers with Santa’s village countdown and let students take turns completing the light the Christmas tree challenge over the next few weeks.  

 

Tips:  The NORAD Tracks Santa site is available in seven languages!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using NORAD Tracks Santa in your classroom.

Northpole.com

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Northpole.com2565 views

What it is:  Northpole.com is a fun Christmas themed website for kids pre-k through 3rd grade.  Students can work on fine motor skills with activities like connect the dots, connect the dashes, and mazes.  You will also find great Christmas time activities to help build letter recognition, sound recognition, vocabulary, numbers, ordinal numbers, right and left, and size.  Students can practice writing skills with a letter to Santa or a holiday postcard.  Northpole.com has printable awards and diplomas for students who complete the activities.  Northpole.com also has a number of online Christmas stories that students can read on their own or have read to them.  My favorite feature are the personalized stories.  Students fill in their name and some other information and Northpole.com creates a story with the student as the main character that they can immediately read online!  

 

How to integrate Northpole.com into the classroom:  Use the outstanding activities on Northpole.com during the holiday season to teach and reinforce fine motor skills, alphabet, numbers, reading, and writing.  Set up your classroom computer as a personalized story generator.  Throughout the week, allow students to read a story about themselves during silent reading time.  

 

Tips:  The teacher page at Northpole.com gives a great break down of the site so you can find exactly what you are looking for.

 

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

Kids’ Science Challenge

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Kids’ Science Challenge2723 views

 

What it is:  Kids’ Science Challenge is a nationwide competition for 3rd- 6th graders to submit experiment ideas and problems for real scientists and engineers to solve.  Teachers or after school science programs can enter their classes for this contest that will inspire students to find the fun in science.  The deadline for entry is January 31st, 2009 so get this one in before the holiday break!  The grand prize winner will win a visit with the scientist or engineer to work with them to solve the question or problem proposed, along with possible appearances in Kids’ Science Challenge videos and Pulse of the Planet radio programs.  Other prizes include: a tour of the flavor lab, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream party, science kits, Kids’ Science Encyclopedia and Science books, visit to the SETI institute, telescope, personal planetariums, celestial seeker, a visit to a skateboard engineering workshop, a visit to your school from a pro-skater, a week at camp Woodyard, a skateboard, a physics workshop, a research cruise, kayak, handheld digital microscope, and more!  If that isn’t incentive to give it a try, I don’t know what is!  The first 1000 entrants get a free science activity kit.  The Kids’ Science Challenge website is a great place to explore even if you won’t be able to participate in the challenge.  Students are introduced to real scientists through video, can play science games, and find additional activities including downloadable science projects.  

 

How to integrate Kids’ Science Challenge into the classroom:  Invite your students to explore the Kids’ Science Challenge website and then journal some original questions, problems, or experiment ideas that are related to one of the four fields of science including flavor science, water quality, skateboard engineering, and the search for life in outer space.  This is a great opportunity to use technology creatively to present the questions and problems that students have and want solved.  Think blogs, websites, video, or podcast.  

 

Tips:  Be sure to check out the great lesson plans for the k-12 classroom to use for each of the scientific fields explored on this site.  The lesson plans are aligned to National Science Education Standards.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Kids’ Science Challenge in your classroom.

Picturing America Summer Program

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Calling all history teachers…check out this amazing opportunity!

NEH Encourages School Teachers to Apply for
2009 Summer Programs in the Humanities

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 3, 2008)—American educators across the country are encouraged to apply now for 2009 summer study opportunities in the humanities.  Each summer, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports rigorous national, residential seminars, institutes, and workshops located in the United States and abroad.  Program participants receive stipends to help defray travel and living expenses.

For 2009, 31 Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers are being offered.  Interested school teachers must apply by March 2, 2009.  Educators can apply to no more than one program.  Seminars and Institutes are 2-6 week programs that take place in the United States and abroad.  Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers provide K-12 educators with a means to deepen their understanding of important subjects in the humanities.

For the summer of 2009, 20 Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops are being offered to K-12 educators.  Interested school teachers must apply by March 16, 2009.  Educators may apply to and participate in no more than two workshops.  The Landmarks workshops are 1-week workshops that take place at sites of historical or cultural significance across the nation and provide educators with the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture.

For more information about the 2009 summer programs in the humanities for teachers, including eligibility and application information and details about each of the seminars, institutes, and workshops offered, please visit http://www.neh.gov/projects/summer09.html.