We Give Books: Read digital picture books online for free
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Integrating technology in the classroom
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Tips: Share these resources with parents. They often hear reports that emphasize the negative aspects of online behavior and, instead of teaching students how to properly manage their freedom, restrict it all together. This is okay for the short term but does nothing that is beneficial for students long term!
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Tips: Thank you, Gord! We love the books and are enjoying problem solving and exploring!
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Currently Zoo Whiz is in public beta. There are still some areas that are being developed and released. There are two versions of Zoo Whiz: a free account and a premium account that provides students with additional content and abilities within the game. In the public beta, both versions are free. While the site may have curricular material for students up to age 15+, I’m not sure a 15 year old student would spend any amount of time on this site. It is definitely more geared for the under 10 crowd.
Tips: I learned about Zoo Whiz from iLearn Technology reader, Tania. Thank you Tania! Zoo Whiz looks like a fun addition to the classroom. Be sure to let parents know about Zoo Whiz, this could be a fun way to continue practice at home.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Zoo Whiz in your classroom!
Tips: I’m impressed with the quality and organization of Learn Zillion. Be sure to take some time to explore some lessons and dream up how you might use it with your students or even as a learning tool for yourself.
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It is almost December again, which means the beginning of Advent. Advent calendars are a fun way to reveal information and “surprises” for your students to look forward to each day in December leading up to Christmas. Last year I thought I would make an advent calendar of my own using Wix. I created a Web 2.0 advent calendar by choosing 25 of my favorite web 2.0 tools for the classroom. Each day you can check out a new one. (I’ll let you in on a secret, you can cheat and look at them all by clicking on the bird to get back to the calendar page…shh don’t tell anyone!) You and your students can create your own custom advent calendar like I did using Wix. Students can create an advent calendar of pictures of their school work, trivia for their parents, special audio notes, or anything they are learning. To create your own Wix advent calendar, choose a template, add shapes to the template to create your calendar pieces, add 25 pages to the site, add links to those pages. You could also create an advent calendar of your own using Glogster. Create a customized advent calendar for your students with fun surprises, quotes, video clips, sound bites, etc. It can be related to the learning they are doing in your classroom, suggestions of books to read, or reveal special rewards like extra computer time, time playing a favorite game, time for reading, etc. Be creative! I’m hoping to make a new advent calendar this year…we will see if I can find the time to make that happen! In the mean time check out these other great calendars to use with your students!
Woodlands Jr has a great online advent calendar every year that tests students knowledge about Christmas around the world. The Woodlands Jr. 2010 advent calendar is a fun one, I am hoping that they come out with one for 2011 in a few days. 🙂 This is a fun way for students to test their knowledge and learn about the ways that Christmas is celebrated all around the world. As an extension, plot the places around the world that they are learning about on a world map.
BBC Radio has a fabulous Bach advent calendar. Each day your students can listen to a story about Bach or music.
The National Museum of Liverpool has an advent calendar that reveals a piece of art from the museum each day.
The Dirt Dirt advent calendar is purely fun, each day click on a number and an animation will be added to the tree.
For those of us who are app inclined, you can download a free app for your iDevice every day from Appvent Calendar!!
Below you will find my interactive advent calendar finds from last year. You are bound to find one that is a perfect fit for your class!
What it is: It is December! This means the beginning of Advent along with the anticipation and excitement that it brings. The Internet is full of interactive advent calendars that you can use in your classroom to teach about how the Christmas season is celebrated all around the world. These advent calendars reveal fun facts, interactive activities, and stories.
Santa’s House Advent Calendar– This advent calendar tells a fun story. Each day reveals another secret about what goes on inside Santa’s home on the 24 days leading up to Christmas. In each picture, there is a little mouse hiding. When students click on his ears, he jumps out.
Christmas Around the World Advent Calendar– Each day students click on the date to reveal a fun fact about how countries around the world celebrate Christmas. The facts are accompanied by great illustrations and pictures. This site shows up very small inside my Internet browser (Firefox). To remedy this problem, click on “view” in your menu bar and choose “zoom”. You may need to zoom in several times.
Christmas Mice Advent Calendar– This calendar tells the story about a mouse family who celebrates Christmas. Each day a little more of the story is revealed. Each picture includes some animation.
Santa’s Advent Calendar– On this advent calendar, each day reveals a new song or activity for students to complete. There are some fun Christmas themed mysteries to solve, stories to read, and activities to work through.
French Carols Advent Calendar– This is a French advent calendar. Each day contains a new French Christmas carol sung by children. This advent calendar would be a fun one to include in a study of Christmas around the world.
Christmas Around the World Advent Calendar Quiz– This advent calendar tests students knowledge about how other cultures celebrate Christmas. Each day students are asked a question and given hints to help them answer. When the answer is revealed, students can click on links to learn more about the Christmas celebrations in that country. This site also includes great activities and teaching resources for Christmas.
Christmas Advent Calendar– Follow the adventures of Zac the elf as he tries to find a Christmas present for Santa. Each day a little more of the story is revealed.
Christmas Activity Advent Calendar– This advent calendar has fun little games and activities to play each day. The games and activities are quick and easy to complete, building mouse and keyboard skills. This advent calendar would be a good one for the classroom computers as a center activity.
How to integrate Interactive Advent Calendars into the classroom: The season of Advent is always filled with eagerness and expectancy. Build some of that anticipation into your school day by allowing students to unlock a new secret on the advent calendar each day. Use these advent calendars with the whole class on an interactive whiteboard or projector, or set them up as a quick center activity that students can visit. Use the advent calendars that reveal a story to practice looking for foreshadowing clues, using context clues to guess what will happen next, or as story starters for students own stories. The Christmas around the world advent calendars are wonderful for teaching students some of the history of Christmas and the way that other cultures celebrate the familiar holiday.
Tips: Each of these advent calendars has some fun goodies and hidden surprises, find the one that best fits your classroom needs.
Leave a comment and share how you are using Interactive Advent Calendars in your classroom.
How to integrate Tag My Doc into the classroom: My mind is racing with the possibilities of Tag My Doc in the classroom. I can envision middle and high school teachers using Tag My Doc to share documents with students. In the land of mobile devices, Tag My Doc makes a whole lot more sense than endless paper copies that get lost on the way home. Post the QR codes from Tag My Doc next to your door, as students leave the classroom they can scan the code for the evenings homework, study guides, rubrics, etc.
Students can use Tag My Doc to keep a record of all the digital documents created throughout the school year. Each document can be uploaded to Tag My Doc and an accompanying QR code can be printed and put in a physical portfolio. No more worrying about where a document was saved and if students transferred it to a flash drive or CD at the end of the year. Everything is kept in the cloud and easily accessed.
Back to school night and parent teacher conferences are a great time for parents to gather information about what is happening in your classroom. Instead of making paper packets, hand out a business card with your contact information on one side and a Tag My Document QR code on the other side. Parents have all of the information they need without the paper clutter at home. Awesome.
Tag My Docs is fantastic for staff meetings, conferences and meetups and anywhere you are sharing documents.
Tips: Tag My Doc supports the following file types: jpg, tiff, png, bmp, gif, doc, docx, ppt, pptx and pdf.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Tag My Doc in your classroom!
How to integrate Admongo into the classroom: Advertising is all around us, Admongo helps students identify the ads that they are surrounded by every day and prompts them to think deeply about the purpose and aim of advertising. Students at Anastasis are currently completing an inquiry block all about advertising. A look at advertising can introduce students to persuasive writing, the effect of different music, colors and mediums, critical thinking and problem solving.
I like to have students to consider both sides of advertising. First, what does it mean to be a consumer and how does advertising play into that? Second, how would you create an advertisement that reaches a target audience? Advertising asks students to carefully consider their audience, the objective, and the tools that they use to spread a message. You can also tie advertising to history by asking students to look at World War II posters. Students can analyze the purpose of the poster, the call to action, the colors used, the intended audience and the message being “sold”. Students will need to do some digging to find out why the posters were successful and what events were occurring that made the posters necessary. After students explore actual World War II posters, they can plan and create their own.
There are so many places to go with an advertising unit and Admongo is a great starting point. Students can go through the game independently on computers or use an interactive whiteboard/projector-connected computer to take turns navigating through the game. Stop and discuss each question that pops up as a class.
Tips: Be sure to check out the “Teacher” section for lesson plans, print materials and videos.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Admongo in your classroom!
How to integrate Quixey into the classroom: If you or your students use ANY of the above platforms, Quixey is a must! Hunt down the exact app you need quickly and easily. Have a mixed platform classroom? Quixey makes it simple to see where app crossover is possible for the classroom. This is one handy search engine!
Be sure to bookmark Quixey on classroom computers for easy access to an anytime search. When you find an app you are interested in, click for more information, screen shots of the app and a link to the app store. You can even tweet the app out or share it on Facebook!
Tips: When you click on an app, Quixey will even redirect you to the appropriate app store for download!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Quixey in your classroom!