Literactive

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Literactive4825 views

What it is: Literactive is an outstanding website for reading material for pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade.  The program is made up of leveled guided readers, comprehensive phonics activities, and supplemental reading material that is aimed at developing reading skills in a sequential, motivating manner.  To use and view the site is free.  To download material you are required to register but registration is also free.  The guided readers are fully animated and each comes with a breakdown of every word in the stories.  The Road to Reading is an interactive journey for students that moves them sequentially though pre-reading activities, alphabet awareness, letter sounds, short vowels, CVC word blending, initial blends, long vowels, and various phonic activities.  There are over one hundred learning activities that can be used for individual or whole class use that can be downloaded for free.  Worksheets are available in pdf format that correlate with each reading skill.  An ESL version is offered for each guided reader, stories can be translated with the click of a mouse.  E-picture books tell traditional tales for early readers and e poetry is a collection of interactive poetry including poems by Rober Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allen Poe, Edward Lear, and more.  The Literactive website is packed full with reading activities for primary students that will have them on the road to reading!  

 

How to integrate Literactive into the classroom:  Literactive is a complete reading program that should be included in any primary classroom.  I am amazed at the comprehensive list of activities, stories, and scope and sequence of this program.  Because activities are downloaded, after having downloaded them your computer does not need an Internet connection to use them.  Use Literactive as a daily reading center, individually in the computer lab setting, or for whole class instruction and reading.  The activities on Literactive are highly motivating and provide an excellent foundation for reading.  

 

Tips: Register for free today and transform your classroom into a reading-rich environment for your beginning readers!  Thank you to @annemarie80 who sent a Tweet about this site!

 

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

Soshiku

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Soshiku16798 views

In an effort to clear out some bookmarks (I am up to about 890) I am going to do a marathon of posts today.  I don’t usually like to load you up with too many in one day because I know how busy you teachers are, and I want you to have time to really look at the cool tool I have found.  My hope is that with the 3 day weekend you will get a chance to shuffle through these!

 

What it is: Soshiku is a web tool for students that helps them manage their assignments.  Soshiku keeps track of when assignments are due and can notify them by email or SMS.  With each assignment students can save notes, manage tasks, attach files, and share messages with assignment partners.  Soshiku is perfect for partnered assignments because it gives students a place to share files, chat, and more.  

 

How to integrate Soshiku into the classroom:  I think that organization is one of those important life skills that we don’t teach enough of in schools.  Introduce your students to Soshiku as a method of school orginization.  The email and text messaging features to notify them when assignments are due will appeal to your students.  If you have younger students, secondary elementary or middle school, encourage parents to be there Soshiku partner to help them keep track of assignments.  

 

Tips: Use a day in the computer lab to sign students up for Soshiku and teach them how to enter assignments, add notes, attach files, and share messages with a partner.  Your students are on their way to a more organized school life!

 

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

Wordly Wise 3000

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Wordly Wise 30003017 views

 

 

What it is:   Wordly Wise 3000 is a vocabulary curriculum that can be purchased, any time I see a website mentioned as part of curriculum, I always take a look.  While the Wordly Wise 3000 curriculum costs, the website activities are free!  Students are told to choose their vocabulary book (I just choose the appropriate grade level).  Students can go through a word list that says each word, gives a picture, the part of speech, the definition, and a sentence using the word.  They can read this information or have it read to them.  Then they review the word with a mini quiz review.  The audio from the website can be downloaded and saved on a CD to be used in class without computers.   After students have learned the words, they can play games that reinforce the vocabulary learned.  Games include concentration, flashcards, hangman, matching synonyms, and word searches.  Wordly Wise 3000 has vocabulary units for second through twelfth grade.

 

How to integrate Wordly Wise 3000 into the classroom:  Wordly Wise 3000 is a great site for your auditory learners to learn vocabulary.  It is also a great addition to ESL and ELL classrooms, the written and auditory output is a nice feature.  The site combines auditory, visual, pictures, and hands on games making differentiated instruction for vocabulary easy.  Wordly Wise 3000 can be used individually by students, as a vocabulary reading center, or for whole class instruction with a projector or interactive whiteboard.  Wordly Wise 3000 can help build a vocabulary base for your struggling readers.  This would be a great site to use for learning a new word or two each day as a class.  Studies show that students who have a solid vocabulary base to pull from are better readers.  

 

Tips: I have not seen the actual Wordly Wise 3000 curriculum but based on their web activities, it looks like it may be a good one to check out.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Wordly Wise 3000 in your classroom.

Pic Lits

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Pic Lits6455 views

 

What it is:   Pic Lits is a really neat creative writing site that provides pictures and a word bank for students to create a enriched sentence or sentences about the picture.   “The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.”  Students can choose to only drag words from the word bank to create their sentence or compose a sentence freestyle. 

 

How to integrate Pic Lits into the classroom:   Pic Lits is a great way to get students to think creatively and critically about writing.  Students can choose any picture and then use the word list to create a sentence.  Pic Lits is complete with punctuation and any word can be capatalized.  Students can use Pic Lits individually on computers, as a whole class with a projector, or as a creative writing center in the one or two computer classroom.  When using Pic Lits as a class, choose a picture for the day and have students write their sentences on paper using words from the word bank.  Take turns sharing to hear the combination of words and the different meanings that students gathered from the picture.  This is a great writing exercise to use  in your classroom every day!  Here in Colorado, we often have indoor recesses for bad weather.  Use Pic Lits with an interactive whiteboard and invite your cooped up students to choose pictures and create sentences.  

 

Tips: Students can sign up for a free account and save each Pic Lit they create.  At the end of the year, each student can create a book of their Pic Lits to take home for creative inspiration. 

 

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

Readicide

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Readicide2862 views

What it is:  Readicide is a new ebook from Kelly Gallagher about how schools are killing the love of reading.  It is being made available here Jan. 13 and 14 as a free download.  I downloaded Readicide earlier today and am loving it.  The ebook reminds me of what made me love reading, the times when I hated reading, and how my students feel about reading.  It is inspiring and may just give you the jolt you need to shake up your reading program and make your classroom the place where students fall in love with reading again (or the very first time).

 

How to integrate Readicide into the classroom:   Download Readicide ASAP!   Then send to your administration and fellow teaching staff to read.  Open up communication about your reading program at the next staff meeting, be critical.  Lets start a reading revolution!!

 

Tips: Download today while the ebook is free 🙂  I vote “readicide” to be considered as a new word for Webster to add to the dictionary.

 

Leave a comment and tell us what you think of Readicide and your ideas for bring a love of reading into your classroom.

FETC Virtual Conference ’09

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on FETC Virtual Conference ’097686 views

 

What it is:  Save the date!  FETC is having a free virtual conference on April 23, 2009.  The virtual conference is ideal for k-12 educators and technology staff exploring the most important issues related to 21st century skills.  Topics will include career and technical education, the Obama administration’s global workforce development agenda, and digital teaching methods and tools.  You will learn about the latest in 21st century skills from engaging speakers.  FETC Virtual Conference is offering a virtual networking lounge to expand your network of k-12 educators and technology experts, access to other participants through instant messaging, and free content downloads and presentation to go.    You will also be able to virtually attend technology product and service demonstrations and Q&A sessions with technology experts!  This is a completely FREE event, you can go as a staff!

 

How to integrate FETC Virtual Conference ’09 into the classroom:   FETC is one of the leading technology conferences in the country.  With budget cuts this year, you may not have the option to attend the full FETC conference.  This free virtual conference is an outstanding opportunity, be sure to take advantage of it!  You will learn from some of the best educators and are sure to get practical technology integration tips, tools, and ideas.  See you there!

 

Tips: Register today at http://virtual.fetc.org.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us if you will be attending FETC Virtual Conference.

Prezi

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Prezi3195 views

 

What it is:  Prezi is a unique online presentation builder that seems to be popping up a lot lately all over the web.  It is getting so much attention because of its new approach to online slide shows.  Prezi has some unique features like zooming presentations that grab and hold viewers attention.  Prezi lets you create a sort of walking path through your presentation.  The finished product is engaging and impressive looking.  The tools in Prezi are different from other online presentation builders but are easy to use and figure out.  The tutorial will have you and your students creating in minutes.  

 

How to integrate Prezi into the classroom:   Because of Prezi’s unique zooming feature, it would be a good tool for students to use for vocabulary.  Students can type in the word to be defined and then zoom in on the definition.  Building vocabulary presentations would be good for review and study.  Prezi would also be a neat way to explore and display information from history (display a date, place, or person in history and then zoom into facts and details that are related), timeline information (create paths from different dates in Prezi), literature (create a sort of interactive character map of any literary character), science projects (use Prezi’s path to lead through the scientific method), foreign language (type a word in another language and zoom to translate), geography (zoom into details around a map), math, and much more. 

 

Tips: Be sure to check out the tutorial on Prezi, it will have you up and creating in no time!  Check out the inspiration to see the amazing things that others have used Prezi to create.

 

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

Ology

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Ology1852 views

 

What it is:  Ology is an outstanding free website from the American Museum of Natural History where students can learn about archaeology, astronomy, biodiversity, earth, Einstein, genetics, marine biology, water, and paleontology.  The site is user friendly for kids and has an attractive interface that students will enjoy.  Each subject has polls, inside stories on the subject, experiments, book lists of related books, interactive games and activities, “make it” ideas, interviews, a snapshot of scientists at work, and more.  

 

How to integrate Ology into the classroom:   I like to uses sites like Ology for scavenger hunts.  I give students a list of facts that I want them to find while exploring the website and have them take part in a virtual scavenger hunt following the clues.  Activities like this build research skills.  This is a great site for using in any science class.  The online reading is wonderful and the suggestion for books related to the subject is a nice addition.  Students can explore the site during science and share what they learn with the class.  The experiments and make it ideas would be fun to learn about and create as a class.  Ology is an excellent addition to any science class!

 

Tips: Does your school hold an annual science fair?  Share this site with parents for suggestion of science experiments and as a launching point.  

 

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

Custom Guide

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Custom Guide4374 views

 

What it is:  Custom Guide is a website that offers free quick reference cheat sheets for using technology (operating systems and applications).  The guides are two sided and remind me of Cliff Notes.  Custom Guide allows you unlimited distribution rights and they make great support handouts. References include: Microsoft Access, Excel, FrontPage, Internet Explorer, InfoPath, Office, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, SharePoint, Visio, Windows, Appleworks, Mac OS, Entourage, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop, Elements, and Firefox.   My one problem with Custom Guide is that it is REALLY outdated for Mac guides.  I suppose that for some schools this would be okay since it can take a while to adopt newer technology and some of us are working with dinosaur computers and software, but for me it is no good.  Custom Guide also offers free online learning with interactive tutorials and you can even create your own custom courses.

 

How to integrate Custom Guide into the classroom:  Custom Guide would be very useful for the computer lab setting.  Print out and laminate the most used applications and operating system sheets.  Bind with a single ring and keep next to each computer.  As students have questions or issues, they can consult their cheat sheets for the answers first.  This is also nice for non-computer teachers who are using the computer labs or classroom computers with students.  The cheat sheets give them an added level knowledge quickly and easily.  If you are a computer teacher or a teacher who is known for using technology in your classroom, you undoubtedly get frequent questions about how to use applications from your colleagues.  I don’t always have time to sit down and give mini lessons, having these cheat sheets on hand could be a big help for those times.  

 

Tips: Even though the Mac Custom Guides are a bit outdated, the guides they do have are very handy.  When you sign up for a free account, you can ask for updates to be sent to you when they add a new guide.  In the mean time, Apple has some great support guides for their products.

 

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

Picasa

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Picasa2394 views

 

 

What it is:  Picasa is a free download from Google that helps you organize, edit, share, and create using photos.  The edit feature allows you to fix red-eye, crop, and fix any blemishes or scratches.  Picasa lets students create turning photos into movies, collages, and slideshows.  Picasa also makes it easy to upload albums to the web to share.  Picasa has been around for a while as a Google tool but the big news this week is the release of the beta version of Picasa for Macs.  The neat thing about the Mac Picasa release is its integration with iPhoto.  The features are pretty neat and definitely worth a look for either platform but with the announcement of iPhoto ’09 yesterday, they aren’t as impressive.  HOWEVER, Picasa is completely free while iPhoto ’09 is not.

 

How to integrate Picasa into the classroom:  Picasa  is a great way to organize photos you are taking of your classroom in action.  Create a web album, parents always like to see the great things their kids are learning.  Students can use Picasa to organize images they find online or pictures they take on a field trip.  These pictures can then be used to create a movie, collage, or slideshow directly in the Picasa software.  Students could create a class story in pictures, create a movie out of it and share it with other grades.  Students can also collect historical images, scientific images, etc and easily create a movie or slideshow displaying their knowledge.  

 

Tips:  Picasa is available for Macs in beta version and Windows and Linux based in alpha.  

 

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