Category: Fun & Games
Ekoloko
What it is: Ekoloko is a virtual world for kids. In Ekoloko students discover the world, both real and virtual, through fun games and quests. As they play in Ekoloko, students learn and build values, character qualities, knowledge and skills that help them become more responsible and involved individuals. Students learn to respect each other and the environment in the safe online community. While students are in Ekoloko, they are faced with dealing with other characters that are interested in exploring the resources of the world for their own personal benefit.
How to integrate Ekoloko into the classroom: This safe virtual world is a great place for students to practice their netiquette in a controlled environment. In Ekoloko, character qualities are valued, leadership and responsiblity are encouraged. This is a great way for students to learn how to be good online (and offline) citizens. Along the way, students can also practice being good stewards of the environment. Ekoloko reminds me of and would be another great site to introduce to students in preparation for Earth Day. I really appreciate the character values encouraged by this site.
Tips: To view the site in English, select English as the language in the bottom right corner of the site.
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Ekoloko in your classroom.
A LONG 3 Days!
iLearn Technology has been down for 3 LONG days. I was so happy to see the problem resolved this morning, I have a lot of new sites to share! The big news over the weekend was that my iPhone app was approved by Apple. It is called Pickn’ Stix here is a review by TUAW:
Fun for kids and adults: Pickin’ Stix
Pickin’ Stix (click opens iTunes) took me back to my childhood in the early sixties, when I had a little cylinder filled with colorful plastic “Pickup Sticks”. You’d toss ’em in a pile, and then try to pick them up without disturbing the other sticks. Not only was it a great way to stay engrossed for a while, but it was also teaching me and my friends manual dexterity, as well as how to use our depth and relational perception to figure out how to move a stick without moving any others.Now Jonathan Tenkely has come out with his iPhone version, just the thing to pass to the kids when they’re bored and you want to keep them out of trouble. Jonathan’s wife Kelly is an educator who runs the great iLearn Technology blog, so it’s not surprising that his first iPhone app is a combination of fun and learning.With the US$0.99 Pickin’ Stix, you shake the iPhone to “toss” the sticks, then use a finger to “pick them up”. The better you do at tapping on the top sticks, the faster you’ll get done. You lose points for tapping on sticks that are partially under other sticks.The only complaint I have is that Pickin’ Stix, currently in a 1.0 release, has no way to keep your best time or score, or to compare your time to others. I’d also like to see an advanced mode with more sticks to pick up for an additional challenge, and a way to pause a game. And if Tenkely can figure out a way to get a kid to give the iPhone back to you after you’ve let ’em play for a while, he’ll have it made!What other childhood favorites would you like to see on the iPhone and iPod touch? Let us know in the comments.So that is exciting! If you do download Pickn’ Stix, please be sure to leave a review in iTunes.
Geo Greeting
What it is: Geo Greeting is a fun little site that lets you type in a message and send it to a friend or preview the message in a separate window. When the message is opened it is spelled out one letter at a time through pictures embedded on a map of the world. The pictures are of buildings around the world that are the shape of letters in the alphabet. The effect is really neat! Each picture is accompanied by the name of the location and the name of the building.
How to integrate Geo Greeting into the classroom: Geo Greeting would be a fun way to display a morning message to your students using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Just type in your message and copy the URL into a browser to play the message for students. This site is also a fun place for students to practice their spelling words. They can type in their words and then click on the preview button to watch the word being spelled for them. Geo Greeting is a great way to interest students in geography, type in a message and discuss the places that pop up as a result.
Tips: These greetings can be embedded as an e-card, sent as an email, or just copy and paste the link in a browser.
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Geo Greeting in your classroom.
Xtranormal Text-to-Movie
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.
Artopia
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
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
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.
Book Wink
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.
The Children’s University of Manchester
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.