puzzle – Page 2 – iLearn Technology

Fantastic Contraption

October 14, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2132 views

What it is: I love Twitter, not just for the ability to keep up with what everyone is doing at any given time during the day, but also because I learn about cool technology like Fantastic Contraption from my PLN (personal learning network). Fantastic Contraption is a fun online game/puzzle, that teaches kids some physics basics. Essentially students are trying to get a ball from one box to another using different tools to do so. The puzzles get increasingly difficult with obstacles between the boxes. This is an addicting puzzle and logic game!

How to integrate Fantastic Contraption into the classroom: Even if you are not teaching your students physics, Fantastic Contraption should definitely make an appearance in your classroom. Even students who have never had a physics class can play this game (3rd-12th grade) because knowledge of physics is not necessary to work out the puzzles. Students can figure out the puzzle through trial and error. What I love about the game is the way that it teaches students how it works through step by step directions on the first two logic puzzles. This is a great exercise to get your students thinking outside the box and using critical thinking and logic skills. Use Fantastic Contraption as a year long go to game for free time, snow days, and brain warm up before math or science. Your students will love this one!

Tips: If you aren’t currently using Twitter, join today and find some other educators to follow…you will get all kinds of great ideas for your classroom! Follow me at twitter.com/ktenkely.

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

Jigsaw Planet

August 20, 2008August 21, 2010Kelly Tenkely1 Comment15726 views

What it is: Well, it is the first week of school which for me means that it is rules week. Every teacher has to go over the rules at some point and it is usually met by major groans from students. This year I approached rules week differently. I used an awesome site called Jigsaw Planet to turn my rules into jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaw Planet is a site that makes it simple to create custom jigsaw puzzles. Just upload a jpeg image to the site, choose how many pieces you want, what shape you want the pieces to be and Jigsaw Planet does the rest. You instantly have a custom interactive puzzle for your students to play! The puzzles can be saved for your own account, shared with students via a url, or embedded into your classroom website for easy access.

How to integrate Jigsaw Planet into the classroom: Jigsaw Planet puzzles are AMAZING to use with an interactive whiteboard! Each puzzle is timed as you put it together, split students into teams to see which team can complete the puzzle the fastest. Instead of the typical PowerPoint type presentation to teach students facts, create a puzzle for them to put together and have them read the fact once the puzzle has been completed. Turn your classroom rules into a series of jigsaw puzzles for students to put together. Honor your star student of the week by creating a puzzle of that student, just take a picture of the student and upload to Jigsaw Planet. Put the puzzle of the student on your classroom website to honor them. Students can use Jigsaw Planet to create their own puzzles. This is a great place for them to study, they can upload spelling words, math facts, maps, etc. Students will love creating their own jigsaw puzzles, if they have their own blog or website they can embed the puzzles right into their online space. If you have a projector or an interactive whiteboard, have students create a puzzle all about them. They can create a collage of things they like in a presentation program, take a screen shot of it, and upload the puzzle to Jigsaw Planet. Students can put together each other’s puzzles and guess who the student is based on the pictures. This would be a great getting to know you activity!

Tips: I split students into two teams. Each team would complete a puzzle using our new Mimio interactive whiteboard, the fastest time was the winner of that round. When the puzzle was completed, students would read the rule and we would discuss in depth. This made rule day fun for the kids and much more enjoyable for me!

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Leave a comment and share how you are using Jigsaw Planet in your classroom.

Generation Cures

July 14, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2777 views

What it is: Fable Vision launched a new website today called Generation Cures. It is directed toward 8-12 year olds and their parents. The website helps teach kids about compassion and giving through engaging online games, animated webisodes, and kid directed videos. The site is completely free to use. The goal of Generation Cures webisodes and games are to get kids to look outside their own lives and understand that they can make a difference in the lives of others. They also learn a lot about science and medical research while building critical thinking, logic, reason, and creativity skills. Because this site is partnered with the Children’t Hospital in Boston, there are places for families to come together and donate for a common cause. Kids helping kids- it is a very neat idea and I hope that it catches on quickly!

How to integrate Generation Cures into the classroom: In a society where everyone is so self-involved, it is great to see a site like Generation Cures that helps students think about others. The site requires that students sign up with permission from their parents. This would be a great class-wide (including families) project for the school year. During science and computer time throughout the year, students can play the Generation Cures games and watch the webisodes. Parents can get onto the Generation Cures website to learn more about it and decide if they want to get involved as a family. Don’t have the time or energy to put toward Generation Cures? Why not just watch the webisodes as a class and let kids know about the game they can play online at home. Challenge them to try to be the first one to finish the puzzle/logic game, Caduceus. Even if you can’t devote the time to it in the classroom, this is a very worthwhile site for students to spend time on. The stories and games are very engaging…they had me hooked!

Tips: Check out Generation Cures for yourself. The first 50 sign ups win a Generation Cures pack 🙂

Leave a comment and share how you are using Generation Cures in your classroom.