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eField Trips

September 12, 2009Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2227 views

What it is: eField Trips are a neat idea for students to ‘travel’ virtually to learn about the world. These virtual eTrips are composed of 4 parts. The first part is a pdf called the Trip Journal. Teachers download and print out the trip journal to guide students on their journey and to give them a place to record what they are learning on their trip. Second is the virtual visit, this is a flash video where students go on the actual trip at their own pace. Generally trips take about 15 minutes to complete. Third is a form where students can ask experts questions they have about the trip they took. Actual experts will respond to the question in 1 to 2 days. The fourth is a live chat. These chats allow students to interact with the experts in a live session at a scheduled time. Available eField Trips include: Pearl Harbor, bats, underwater ecosystems, brown vs. board of education, butterflies, western exploration, caves, climbing Denali, desert dwellers, Dred Scott, Earthquakes, mountains, and glaciers, fires roll in an ecosystem, Glacier Bay, Grand Tetons, invasive species, whales, renewable energy, sea turtles, mammals of Denali, manatee, reptiles and amphibians, wetlands, and more. I would categorize eField Trips more like a webquest than a virtual field trip. These are great webquests!

How to integrate eField Trips into the classroom: These eField Trips would be an excellent extension (or replacement) for text book reading. Students can work through the eField Trip at their own pace in the computer lab setting. I like the Trip Journals that guide students on their journey and keep them thinking critically about what they are encountering. For younger students, take an eField Trip as a whole class using a projector or an interactive whiteboard. Each student could still fill out a Trip Journal as the class goes on the journey. Because the etrips require reading, struggling readers may be paired up with confident readers or a helper. I really like the interaction that students get with experts after the field trip. As students are going on their journey, they are bound to come up with additional questions. Students always love sending and getting mail, eField Trips gives students the opportunity to do both.

Tips: One thing that I don’t love about this site, it is hard to navigate back to the homepage. This isn’t a problem for students completing the trips, but it is a little frustrating as a teacher planning a trip.

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

The Carbon Cycle Game

September 12, 2009September 12, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1879 views

What it is: The Carbon Cycle Game is a free online game that teaches students about how carbon cycles through the Earth system. It is appropriate for 4th-9th grade students learning about the carbon cycle. As students play the game, they will learn that carbon cycles naturally through living and non-living parts of the Earth system in a complex, non-linear way, that burning fossil fuels adds carbon to the cycle, the impact of additional carbon dioxide on global warming, and that carbon is essential for living things. Students will travel around the game as a little carbon atom. They will stop at key places on the game board and get a pop-up of information about the carbon cycle. At any point students can click on key words in the pop-up and will be directed to a page with additional information. Students will also land on question marks that pop-up questions testing students about what they have learned so far. When students answer questions correctly they earn game points.

How to integrate The Carbon Cycle Game into the classroom: The Carbon Cycle Game would be best played individually in the computer lab setting or on classroom computers in groups of two. The site says that this game is appropriate for grades 4th-9th but I found the vocabulary and reading to be a little advanced for fourth grade students. If using the site with younger students, I would recommend visiting it in pairs of students or as a whole class using an interactive whiteboard. If you play the Carbon Cycle Game as a whole class, split your students into two teams so that each team can take turns answering the questions in the game. The Carbon Cycle Game is a good way for students to learn about the Carbon Cycle and the questions ensure that students are understanding the reading.

Tips: Check out the teacher section for some great lesson plan ideas using the Carbon Cycle Game.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Carbon Cycle Game in your classroom.

Keyboard Climber

September 10, 2009Kelly Tenkely7 Comments3911 views

What it is: Keyboarding is a necessary evil in the computer classroom. I say this because truly mastering touch typing takes practice, a lot of it. However, I don’t want to spend all my class time in the computer lab teaching kids to type. There is SO much more that our brand new iMacs can do. To use them as typewriters feels ridiculous. Combine that with my 35 minutes once a week with students and keyboarding really becomes a necessary evil. In my classroom, I focus on typing practice very little. I encourage my students to practice keyboarding at home with fun online typing games. Keyboard Climber is one of these games. It is a fun little game that helps students build those touch typing skills in or out of the classroom. In Keyboard Climber, the goal is to help a monkey climb up a tree and score bananas by typing letters. If the student types the incorrect letter, a coconut falls on the monkey’s head and he falls down to a lower level. There is fun music and sound effects that accompany the game, kids love it, I find it a bit too monotonous. The only other thing that I don’t love about the game is that all of the letters are displayed as capital letters. However, students never have to actually type a capital letter (with shift or caps lock).

How to integrate Keyboard Climber into the classroom: Keyboard Climber is a fun little game to help students practice typing. Use it in the computer classroom as a short warm up and see how many points students can accumulate in a set amount of time. Hopefully this number will increase throughout the year. Encourage students to play Keyboard Climber at home to practice typing. I have students take a screen shot of their highest level and points to post on one of my bulletin boards.

Tips: I learned about Keyboard Climber from @techfacil, thanks for the tip Julie!

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

Science Bob

September 9, 2009Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2646 views

What it is: Science Bob is a great resource library for the elementary science classroom. It is an excellent place for students to explore science concepts. Students can get some fun science fair ideas, experiments (that can be done offline), research helpers, science questions/answers, and science videos.

How to integrate Science Bob into the classroom: Science Bob is a great anticipatory site to use with students. Videos can be watched as a class to introduce a new science topic or just to build a little excitement in the science class. Let students explore the experiment section and choose an experiment to perform. Each student can choose a different experiment to test at home. Hold a class science day where students can share the experiment with the class. Let them be the science ‘expert’. As students conduct experiments, they can practice going through the scientific method. Science Bob is a great stop for parents and students looking for science fair projects. Start each science class with a fun science fact in the science question and answer section. This is a great site to get your students excited about science and ready to learn more.

Tips: The “research” section of Science Bob is packed full of other amazing science websites. They are organized by topic for simple searching.

I am often asked where I learn about all of these educational websites. I have a variety of sources (RSS feeds, searches, books) but my favorite source is my OUTSTANDING PLN on Twitter. If you aren’t on Twitter, I highly recommend it. I have created a page where you can see all of the wonderful people in my PLN on Twitter. This is a great place to start your own Twitter powerhouse.

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

Meet Me at the Corner

September 8, 2009Kelly Tenkely4 Comments1701 views

What it is: Meet Me at the Corner is an inventive site that seeks to take students on virtual field trips through videos created by students. The site started with video podcasts of the history and people of New York City. As the site grows through student submissions, people and events of other towns, cities, and nations will be highlighted. Currently there are video podcasts from Colorado, California, North Carolina, Texas, and Maryland. Through the Meet Me at the Corner videos, students can learn about people, jobs, and places around the country and soon around the world. Students can also submit videos from their corner of the world. Meet Me at the Corner also has video book reviews that can motivate students to read books they may not have considered.

How to integrate Meet Me at the Corner into the classroom: Meet Me at the Corner is a great new resource for introducing your students to the wider world. Students can take a virtual field trip to different states through videos, learning about people, their jobs, and where they live. These videos give your students a better understanding of the world they live in. Meet Me at the Corner encourages student video submissions. Consider creating a class video about your city/state/school to submit to Meet Me at the Corner. It would be great for students to get a first hand look at schools and students from around the world.

Tips: Meet Me at the Corner has a contest section with contests that students can take part in. These contests are updated regularly so be sure to check them out.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Meet Me at the Corner in your classroom.

Storybird

September 8, 2009Kelly Tenkely5 Comments20171 views

What it is: Storybird is a fun new collaborative storytelling website. Storybird makes it easy to create and tell stories digitally. Students and teachers can create stories together by combining imaginative artwork and text. The final product can be printed, watched on screen, played with like a toy, or shared in an online library with the world. “Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence.” Creating, sharing, and reading Storybird stories is free.

How to integrate Storybird into the classroom: Storybird is an excellent way to get your students enthusiastically writing. The imaginative artwork will have your students creating stories in no time. Storybird stories are meant to be collaborative. Students can work together in teams to create stories. This type of learning through play reminds me of the “lets pretend” stories that students create on the playground. Students will feed off of each others ideas, creating more creative stories and learning together. Storybird is also a fantastic place to create a classroom story, each student can contribute pages to the story. The final product can be easily shared with families and friends in the online library. Storybird can be used by teachers to make ‘special’ stories for students. They can include students as characters, emphasize classroom themes or curriculum, and be created for specific reading levels. Encourage your students to create and share their stories on Storybird, open up your classroom computer during DEAR time for students to read stories their classmates have created.

Tips: Storybird is currently in an open Beta version. Right now all features on Storybird are free. Storybird plans to keep story creation, reading, and sharing as free features. Premium (pay-for) features will be added.

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

Math Mania Back to School Challenge

September 1, 2009September 9, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment2204 views

What it is: Math Mania Back to School Challenge is a FREE 48 hour math competition hosted by Voyager. Voyager also holds the World Math Day competition each year, Math Mania is a similar competition. Students compete against other students in real time using the Vmath Live math program. This challenge is limited to 2nd through 8th grade students in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas who are registered by September 14th. Other Math Mania challenges will follow (different dates depending on US state) so if your school isn’t in a state listed above, check out the Math Mania website to find out when your challenge will take place. Although the official competition is September 15-16, students can begin practicing on VmathLive as soon as they are registered. Prizes include student and school trophies and plaques, on-site pizza parties, visits from Vbot, and a champion hall banner awarded to the top overall performing school. Awards will be given to the top 10 students overall, the top 5 classes, and the top 3 schools.

How to integrate Math Mania Back to School Challenge into the classroom: You have never seen students so excited to practice math facts! Students face off with other students from around the world practicing their math facts. The live competition with students from around the world is highly motivating and has students asking “can I play this at home?” When have you ever had students ask to practice their math facts?! Reserve a computer lab for September 15th and 16th so that your students can take part in the competition. In the mean time, students can be practicing for the competition by playing on VmathLive in a computer lab setting or as a center activity on classroom computers.

Tips: If your state is not listed above, be sure to visit the VmathLive site to find out when your Math Mania challenge will be held. Print out the fliers from the VmathLive and post around your school to raise interest and excitement about the competition.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Math Mania Back to School Challenge in your classroom.

Make 5

August 30, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1753 views

What it is: Make 5 is a fun interactive tic-tac-toe type game (it actually reminds me of Connect 4) that I learned about this morning on Twitter from @annemarie80. This game is a great way for students to practice math facts and to recognize relationships between numbers. Students are given a target number, they choose an equation on the grid that equals the target number. The goal of the game is to get 5 squares on the grid in a row in the least number of tries. The game has several play options; students can play the game with one or two players, set up the game to get 5 or 3 in a row, and can play to practice addition, subtraction, or multiplication.

How to integrate Make 5 into the classroom: Make 5 is an excellent little game that students can play to practice math facts. Use Make 5 as a math center on the classroom computers. Students can visit the center in groups of two and play the game together. In the computer lab setting, students can play Make 5 individually. Make 5 would be a fun whole class game using an interactive whiteboard. Split the math class into two teams. Students take turns coming to the board as representatives of their team. Give teams 30 seconds to plan their move before sending up their representative. Make sure that every student has the opportunity to be at the board (you may have to play more than once).

Tips: Send this site home to parents, this is a great way for students to practice their math facts at home, too!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Make 5 in your classroom.

My English Images

August 26, 2009August 30, 2009Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3350 views

What it is: My English images is a great site that I learned about from @larryferlazzo. This site was designed for English teachers and English teachers working with ESL and EFL students but it is a great site for any literacy classroom. The site has images and worksheets that are available for download that can be used to catch student’s attention, spice up lessons, and illustrate difficult language concepts. My English Images provides pictures that illustrate conversation, grammar, basic English, pronunciation, and vocabulary concepts. New content is added to the collection monthly.

How to integrate My English Images into the classroom: This site is ideal for the ESL/EFL classroom. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and that is definitely the case with this site. Students will be able to look at the pictures and understand the language concepts with the help of visuals. The pictures can be downloaded and used in PowerPoint presentations, interactive whiteboard lessons, and any lesson that you are teaching that would benefit from visuals. Visuals are the first thing that people associate with a concept. They help students recall more quickly, and the concepts get stored in permanent memory because students have an easier time making connections with things they already know. My English Images has some fantastic offline games that can be played with English language learners. You can download and print rules and a certificate of excellence as students complete the games. Grammar concepts are often difficult for any student learning them for the first time. My English Images makes it easier for students to understand how the English language works. This site should be used in any English speaking/learning literacy classroom!

Tips: Take a little time to explore My English images, it is a treasure trove of resources! My English Images was created by English language teacher F. Michael Kloran based on what he uses with his students.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using My English Images in your classroom.

Kideos

August 23, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1555 views

What it is: Kideos is a collection of kid friendly videos. Each video featured on Kideos has been carefully screened by the Kideos Video Advisory Council (made up of a select group of parents and educators). The videos are categorized by age range (from 2 to 10) and by category. Categories include Baby Einstein, Barney, Book Characters, Cartoon Characters, Cute Animals, Disney Channel Programs, Disney Movies, Dr. Seuss, Educational Videos, Fairy Tales, Kids, Mickey Mouse and Friends, Muppets, Nursery Rhymes, Sesame Street, Songs, Teletubbies, Trains and Machines, and Wiggles. If you register with Kideos, you can set it up to only view your own selection of ages and characters. The videos are streamed from You Tube and placed inside a Kideo player .

How to integrate Kideo into the classroom: Kideo is a great elementary alternative to YouTube. While Kideo streams YouTube videos, you can be rest assured that your students will not be exposed to inappropriate content. Because Kideos can be set up for a specific age group and category, it would be simple to create a Kideos channel specifically for your class. You may choose your students age range and limit videos to educational and book characters only. Many of the videos would be appropriate in the classroom as an introduction to learning or part of a center activity.

Tips: I am continually amazed when my first grade students come in telling me about a YouTube video they watched (on YouTube). Suggest Kideos to parents as an alternative to YouTube for their little ones. Kids will be able to find all of the content they are looking for without any of the inappropriate comments and suggested videos.

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