For Teachers – Page 56 – iLearn Technology

The Road to the Capitol

June 10, 2010Kelly Tenkely4 Comments3115 views

What it is: The Road to the Capitol has to be one of the coolest sites I have seen to help kids understand government and the campaign and election process. Students are immediately greeted by a newspaper headline “Congressman Retires: who will represent the US on Capitol Hill?”. Students are then taken to a TV ad of one of the candidates running for congress, Roberta Glass. Roberta thinks that kids have too much freedom and should be banned from freely accessing media like movies, TV, video games, and the computer. Students are offered the opportunity to run against Roberta Glass in the election. Students must register as a candidate in the election and are then introduced to their campaign manager. Students make 5 campaign stops in their local congressional district. At each stop, it is their job to help citizens understand the importance of protecting freedom. Students can stop at campaign headquarters at any time to get briefed for each campaign event. At the Campaign Headquarters, students click on important topics to get briefed on such as: Justice and Equality, Rights to Privacy, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Expression, and Freedom of Religion. When students choose a topic, they are taken to subtopics that lead them to rich resources where they can delve deeper into the topic and learning. Along the campaign trail, students have to make their own commercial, give a speech, talk to students about the freedom of expression, answer questions in a press conference, and debate Roberta Glass head to head. I can’t stress enough what an awesome interactive site this is. Every webquest should involve kids in the story and process the way this one does!

How to integrate The Road to the Capitol into the classroom: This is an incredible self-guided learning experience. Students will learn about our democratic system in depth by completing this activity. The Road to the Capitol is really best experienced by individual students in a computer lab setting where they have plenty of time to research and complete each stop along the campaign trail. If you don’t have access to a computer lab, the activity could be completed as a whole class using an interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer. To make The Road to the Capitol a more in-depth project, have students take campaign notes along the way in a word processing program. They can later sum up what they learned and recorded in their notes by copying the notes and pasting them into a word cloud program like Wordle. Students could create short campaign commercials based on the commercial they created in the game. These can be recorded with PhotoBooth on a Mac or with a video camera. Students could also create a campaign poster using a word processing or publishing program.

At the beginning of this interactive, you will see the campaign commercial of Roberta Glass. The commercial talks about taking away kids freedoms, I imagine that some passionate discussion about the commercial could follow.

Tips: Really, go check out this website. You won’t be disappointed! Press the “Stop” button on the game to get the teacher/parent pdf guide.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using The Road to the Capitol in your classroom.

Eco Kids: Build a Food Chain

June 9, 2010Kelly Tenkely5 Comments23836 views

What it is: Eco Kids is a website with a great collection of ecologically focused games and activities. Students can complete interactives on wildlife, climate change, energy, the North, water, waste, land use, and more. I was hunting down a good interactive for students to learn and practice the food chain. Build a Food Chain has students order the elements of a food chain. Along the way, students learn why each animal within a food chain is so important. In addition to learning the basics of a food chain, students will learn about bioaccumulation.

How to integrate Eco Kids: Build a Food Chain into the classroom: Build a Food Chain is a fun way for students to learn about and practice building a food chain in an interactive environment. First students are led through the process of a food chain. The interactive helps students to understand the job of each animal or element in the chain. Students can then put their understanding to the test by putting together a food chain of their own and testing it. Students receive immediate feedback on the chain. If the food chain is broken or won’t work, students are given an additional clue and opportunity to try again. Build a Food Chain could be used as a whole class with a projector connected computer or interactive whiteboard. Choose students to be guides at the board as they navigate through the parts of a food chain. Then, call up a student to put the first element or animal of the food chain in place and pass on play to another student until a working food chain has been constructed. Build a Food Chain can also be used as an independent learning activity on classroom computers as a center or in a lab setting. Because the site provides students with feedback as they construct the food chain, students can navigate the activity easily on their own.

Tips: Before you begin the game, you will notice a box labeled “More About This Topic”, here you will find additional resources, printables, and games that are related to food chains.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Eco Kids: Build a Food Chain in your classroom.

TED Talk Tuesday: Bring on the Learning Revolution

June 8, 2010Kelly Tenkely13 Comments3369 views

Since I won’t be with the CHC staff hosting Webspiration Wednesday lunches, I thought I would institute TED Talk Tuesday and share an inspiring TED Talk each Tuesday with all of you. TED has a great tag line “ideas worth spreading”. This non-profit brings together people from Technology, Entertainment, and Design. (The scope of the talks is actually much, much wider.) TED.com is a free collection of the very best talks with new talks are being added all the time. TED believes “passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.”

Todays TED Talk Tuesday is dedicated to Sir Ken Robinson. You may remember this Webspiration Wednesday sharing of Sir Ken’s Schools Kill Creativity. This is Sir Ken Robinson’s newest TED Talk, Bring on the Learning Revolution.

Sir Ken Robinson has such a way with words, the message he shares is profound. I agree with the summation that reform is of no use, the evolution of a broken model isn’t going to get us where we need to go. We need a revolution where education is transformed into something else entirely. I have watched this video several times since its release, about a month ago, and each time I am struck by something new. This time what stood out most for me was the talk about innovation. Innovation is hard because it means doing something that is challenging, it isn’t the easy or obvious solution. It challenges what we take for granted, things that seem obvious. Just before beginning this post, I read an excellent article by Blogging Alliance member Chris at EdTechSwami. He writes: What Educators Can Learn From Steve Jobs. I think Chris makes some excellent points in his post, it all comes back to innovation. Apple doesn’t usually do the expected, in fact sometimes they purposefully step away from what is expected and what seems logical. The reason is that they are finding new solutions and even creating new problems. They are looking to the future and anticipating what is coming next. Sir Ken helps us to see that innovation is difficult because there are so many things in this life that we take for granted. We don’t even think about them any more because they are the way that we expect them to be. It is only when someone comes along and points out a new way of doing something that we realize we have been taking it for granted. In schools we take for granted that there is a linearity to education. We start in kindergarten and move through until we reach the 12th grade, at which point we are encouraged to attend college. What else do we take for granted in education? Classrooms, grades, tests, desks, handwriting, curriculum, blackboards (IWB’s), policy makers, NCLB…

Today I was able to join in on the midday Twitter #edchat discussion. The topic was reform in education and how teachers could be a louder voice. The discussion was a great one with a number of good ideas. I wonder if we are approaching the topic in an innovative enough way? We tend to frame our answers with what we think might be possible. We frame our answers so as to play nice in the policy makers game. What if we didn’t do things their way? What if we came up with a new way? What if we taught kids how to be advocates for their education and learning and gave them a voice? I threw this out there during the #edchat and @bliarteach reminded me of the big push there was for learning about recycling in school. Kids became passionate about recycling and saving the earth, they took it home with them. Soon families were recycling and changing their garbage habits. This worked. I was one of those kids who made my mom wash every piece of aluminum foil so that I could bring it to school and add it to our big ball of recycled foil. I was the kid who was adamant about separating plastic, glass, and paper. I became the adult who still does this. Involving kids in advocating for their own education and learning has the added benefit of helping them to realize the importance of their education. Suddenly they aren’t learning because we tell them to, they are learning because they believe in learning. They have a pride and ownership in their own education. The great thing about involving kids in the discussion is that they don’t take so much for granted. They ask questions and challenge the way that we think.

So, lets figure out all the things we take for granted in education. When we have a clear picture of those things, lets work together to find new solutions. Lets revolutionize education together, lets make the revolution viral. If you can think of something that we take for granted, leave it in the comments below.

(Raise of hands, how many of you are wearing a wrist watch?) 🙂 Yeah, me too.

BBC Science Clips

June 3, 2010Kelly Tenkely6 Comments3462 views

What it is: The BBC has excellent educational games, activities, and resources. The BBC Science Clips are a collection of science related activities and games for students who are 5 to 11 years old. Students can grow virtual plants, experiment with pushes and pulls, hearing and sound, forces and movement, electricity, rocks and soils, simple machines, light, solids and liquids, friction, habitats, life cycles, changing states of matter, reversible and irreversible changes, forces, and much more. The site is organized well, by age group, and has several activities at each level.

How to integrate BBC Science Clips into the classroom: BBC Science Clips has a little of everything science. It is sure to have some great interactives that correspond to your science curriculum. Each of the interactives is high quality and lets students experiment with new concepts that they are learning. The activities are short enough to be used as a science center on classroom computers where a few students complete the interactive as part of a rotation. The activities can also be used for whole class demonstration and experimentation using an interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer. If you use the interactives with the whole class, have the scientists who are observing take down some observational notes in a special science journal. Often, real life experiments can be too quick moving for young students to write or draw observations as they are happening. This site lets them work on those observational skills at their own pace. This is also great for those experiments that may take too long to observe in a classroom setting. Each activity includes a short online quiz that students can go through to check understanding. The quiz can be read independently or students can click on the speakers to have the quiz read to them. This is a great feature for struggling or non-independent readers. A “what’s next” button at the bottom of each activity encourages students to keep exploring. Students can self level by choosing an activity that is a little easier, harder, or the same.

Tips: Check out the resources for teachers page. Here you will find online and offline lesson plans related to the activities, an accompanying worksheet, activity and quiz.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using BBC Science Clips in your classroom.

Trick.ly

June 1, 2010Kelly Tenkely11 Comments4143 views

What it is: There are several url shortening tools out there that let you shrink down a cumbersome url into something more manageable for sharing. Trick.ly is a url shortener with an added feature: it can be password protected. When you share the url, you can add a clue and a password that has to be used in order for the shared website to be accessed. You may be wondering why you would want to password protect a url in the classroom, I’m glad you asked…

How to integrate Trick.ly into the classroom: I am constantly sharing shortened url’s with my students, it makes it easy to get all my students to the same website quickly. Trick.ly adds the ability to password protect the url. This could add a layer of learning and fun to accessing websites in the classroom. Give your students a Trick.ly shortened url with a secret clue that helps students “unlock” the website. For example, if you are using National Geographic Maps website with your students, don’t just send them to the website, give them a clue that is related to the website such as “Capital of Colorado”. Students have to correctly solve the puzzle to unlock access to the game. The password “Denver” would provide students with access to the website. Create Trick.ly shortened url’s with math, geography, history, spelling, vocabulary, science, or foreign language problems built in. Make the clue to solve related to the end website that students will access. Kids enjoy solving problems, adding a puzzle to a website gives students a sense of anticipation for the activity they will be completing. Trick.ly urls take just seconds to create, they are a fast, easy way to direct your students to a website.

Tips: Trick.ly would be a great way to share websites and web pages that you create for your classroom. We have a school Facebook and Twitter account. If I wanted to share pictures I took of our school carnival, I could share them with Trick.ly, adding a layer of protection.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Trick.ly in your classroom.

National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure

May 26, 2010Kelly Tenkely3 Comments5522 views

What it is: National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure is the best everything-map site I have seen. The site was created by the Children’s museum of Indianapolis. Maps are presented as the keys to adventure. Students learn to use maps to find their way, share information, look at patterns, and solve problems. There are six excellent interactive games for students to practice putting their math skills to use. Students can explore a pyramid by guiding a robot to hieroglyphs, find sunken treasure, explore Mars, go on an adventure, see GIS in action, and visit Adventure Island. I love the realistic feel of these games, as students explore and guide robots, they get a “live” video feed of where they are navigating. On the National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventures site, you will find information about the Indianapolis exhibit, how to use maps, related map links, and lesson plans. This is one of those websites that my description just won’t do justice to, be sure to check it out!

How to integrate National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure into the classroom: This website is packed full of fantastic resources, games, and activities involving maps. This is THE website to use when you are teaching students map reading skills. As students navigate through the games, they will learn how to read a legend, practice following written directions, learn about different types of maps, practice giving directions, and problem solving. The games provide an authentic way for students to learn how to use maps. Lessons in the “For Educators” section are wonderful and incorporate the online games. National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure is ideal as a center on classroom computers or as an individual activity for the lab setting. It could also be used as a whole class activity with an interactive whiteboard or projector, allow each student to take part in the navigation process at the board.

Tips: Be sure to check out the Related Links for more map adventures, games, and activities, you will find fun extras to build map skills.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure in your classroom.

Math Doesn’t Suck

May 24, 2010Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2947 views

What it is: Danica McKellar (also known as Winnie Cooper of The Wonder Years) has written a book called Math Doesn’t Suck. Danica makes her love for math contagious and helps middle school girls to realize that Math Doesn’t Suck. On the Math Doesn’t Suck website, students can take a fun quiz called “Do You Hide Your Smarts (especially around guys)”, access a full solution guide to accompany the Math Doesn’t Suck book, learn more about the book, and get news and book signings.

How to integrate Math Doesn’t Suck into the classroom: There is a large population of girls (particularly in middle school) who believe that they are no good at math, they have already convinced themselves that girls are not as good at math as boys. They may believe that it isn’t cool or fashionable to be good at math. Danica aims to change these perceptions with her fun book Math Doesn’t Suck. If you teach girls in middle school math, start the year off with the “Do You Hide Your Smarts” quiz. It could give you great insight to what your girls believe about themselves in relation to math. Start a book club or assign Math Doesn’t Suck as reading to start your year. The book is a fun read that girls will connect with. Help transform your students perceptions of math and begin the year with girls who believe that they can be successful and good at math. The book includes

A unique Troubleshooting Guide to help students get “unstuck” and overcome their biggest challenges
True stories from Danica’s own life as a terrified math student, confident actress, and everything in between
A math horoscope, math personality quizzes, real-life testimonials, and more!

Tips: In the trouble shooting section, students will find solutions to these common math problems:

“Math bores me to death.”
“When it’s time to do Math, I get scared and try to avoid it.”
“I get confused and lost during class.”
“I think I understand something, but then I get the wrong answer in my homework.”
“At test time, I freeze up and can’t remember anything.”

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Math Doesn’t Suck in your classroom.

Math-A-Thon

May 24, 2010Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3371 views

What it is: Math-A-Thon is an excellent math site with a good cause. “Math-A-Thon is a volunteer-based fundraising program for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The program includes a free math curriculum supplement for grades K-8 that students complete after obtaining sponsorships from family and friends.” Students work on math and comprehension skills, age appropriate math problems while building empathy and character. By practicing math, students can raise money and awareness for St. Jude patients who are battling cancer and various other childhood diseases. In addition to the free curriculum and math fun books, Math-A-Thon has entertaining online math games and math character profiles. The Numerators are a math superhero team that is made up of Minus, Symmetry, Octagon and Fraction. The characters have math super powers that will help students as they solve problems in their Funbook and work at defeating evil robots. Each character has a fantastic character description (these remind me of the characters on Grammaropolis). Games on Math-A-Thon include Add Like Mad, Subtraction Action, and Bubble Bugs. Bubble Bugs is an enchanting game where students catch bugs inside bubbles, they practice counting, mouse control, and fine motor skills.

How to integrate Math-A-Thon into the classroom: Math-A-Thon is a website that will help get your students fired up and excited about math and helping others. The games are available for play whether or not you sign up for the full Math-A-Thon challenge. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade can work together to help other kids by working on their math skills. Challenge your class or whole school to raise money for other kids using math as the vehicle. Add Like Mad and Subtraction Action would be fun games for a math center on classroom computers or as a whole class game using an interactive whiteboard. To play either game with the whole class, divide your students into two (or more) teams. Team 1 lines up at the IWB, the first person in the line completes the first problem and then passes play to the next student in line relay style. Teams try to clear the tiles in the least amount of time. After Team 1 has a final time, Team 2 tries to beat it. My students love this kind of friendly competition.

Use the Numerators team characters to learn about math concepts and vocabulary. There are four members of the current team, encourage your students to add to the superhero team with additional math team members. Students can create character profiles and back stories about their math operation superhero. Students could create individual baseball trading cards of their math superhero team member.

Tips: Download a free Funbook sample, these are high quality math workbooks that will have your students problem solving and having fun with math.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Math-A-Thon in your classroom.

Chess Kid

May 17, 2010May 17, 2010Kelly Tenkely4 Comments3292 views

What it is: Chess Kid is a fantastic way for kids to learn to play the game of chess and then practice their game against kids from around the world. The Chess Kid environment is safe and secure for kids, students have no contact with strangers. A parent or a teacher manages all access and friendships online and can easily monitor all activity. On Chess Kid students learn the rules and strategies of chess and work to improve their game, memorization skills, patience, and sportsmanship. Students can train with tactic puzzles and exercises, view video lessons, practice tactic against the computer, or read chess articles. Chess games can be played online against other kids from around the world, in online tournaments, blitz chess, or against the computer.

How to integrate Chess Kid into the classroom: Chess is a great game that is packed full of skills that help students in other disciplines such as math. Students must use problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, deductive and inductive reasoning, and the ability to make accurate judgments and estimates as they play. Chess makes for a great mental workout and develops skills necessary for solving other problems. Chess Kid is a place where students can learn how to play the game of chess, and then practice through play with kids from around the world or the computer. Chess Kid can be used with the whole class for lessons and learning the how-to aspect of chess on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Students can then play on classroom computers, as a math center, or individually in a computer lab setting.

Tips: The American Chess Foundation published that chess can improve a child’s visual memory, attention span, spatial reasoning skills, capacity to predict and anticipate consequences, and the ability to use criteria to drive decision making and evaluate alternatives.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Chess Kid in your classroom.

Goldburger To Go: Rube Goldberg Machines

May 14, 2010May 14, 2010Kelly Tenkely7 Comments8996 views

What it is: I am always finding fun activities on PBS kids site, today I ran across Goldburger to Go! Rube Goldberg designed machines that made simple, every day, tasks into complicated activities with the help of his contraptions (think Wallace and Gromit). The students task is to design a machine that will help serve lunch. The machine isn’t working properly and students must discover which pieces of the machine need a little tweaking. As students complete the machine, they can test it out and get hints and clues about could be keeping the machine from working.

How to integrate Goldberger To Go: Rube Goldberg Machines into the classroom: Students are fascinated with machines that work together to perform tasks. Goldburger to Go is a fun way to challenge your students to think about cause and effect and to consider how all the working parts operate together. The puzzle game is a good way to get your students thinking about and discussing different types of energy. Use this website with the whole class using an interactive whiteboard and discuss the types of energy as they occur. Walk your students through the scientific process as they hypothesize what is going to happen and experiment with adjusting the machine accordingly. The website also lends itself nicely to studying different kinds of simple machines. The built in hints help guide stumped students in their thinking. Goldburger to Go would make a fun center activity or even to play individually in a computer lab setting. This is one of those thinking games that my students could spend hours playing.

Tips: Students can create and build their own real-life Goldberg machines with fun activities and suggestions found here.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Goldburger to Go: Rube Goldberg Machines in your classroom.