IWB – iLearn Technology

3D Toad- 360* images worth more than a thousand words

April 16, 2012Kelly Tenkely1 Comment2952 views

What it is: 3D Toad is a site I learned about from @rmbyrne‘s fantastic blog, Free Tech for Teachers. This is like hitting the lottery of educational image libraries. It goes beyond your typical image library and has 3D images that students can spin all around and explore from every angle. Stinking awesome! Even better? (Yes, it gets better.) It works on mobile iDevice browsers! There are great images to explore on a variety of educational topics including: dissections, animal skeletons, human skeletons, music, geology, dental hygiene, coral, yoga, ballet positions, fossils, history, chemistry, emergency preparedness and computer networking.

Our students are learning all about earth systems right now so the fossils, geology and coral are especially exciting!

How to integrate 3D Toad into the Classroom: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If a regular picture is worth a thousand, these 3D images are worth at least 360 times more. The 3D images on 3D Toad let students examine all 360* of an image. Students can examine, discover, and analyze images from various angles. 3D Toad helps students really visualize learning in new ways.

Use 3D Toad as a visual glossary on classroom computers. Students can visit this “visual glossary” center to explore objects and new vocabulary that they are learning. It would also be great on an interactive whiteboard or classroom computer where students can examine objects together. 3D Toad has a video on their site that shows a teacher using 3D Toad with students. I don’t love their example because the teacher is at the center of a review time before a test. The best use of this site would be to let students loose on it so that they can explore the images on their own.

3D Toad would be a great place for students to practice their observation skills. Each student could choose an object to explore in depth, write a detailed description and observation of the object. Working with a partner, they can describe their object and see if their partner can identify the image from the description alone.

These 360* images can be used for introducing new concepts, as a visual aid for students who are presenting learning, and as a place for further exploration of a topic or object.

Tips: Double click to zoom-in on an image. ***Some of the images have alternate 3D views that can be viewed with 3D glasses! The Giraffe skull is a good example of this. How cool would it be to outfit your students with some cheap 3D glasses for this lesson? I’ve asked local theaters to share leftover glasses in the past, they are usually very willing/happy to help out!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using 3D Toad in your classroom!

Wordia

February 27, 2012Kelly Tenkely3 Comments4215 views

What it is: Wordia is a site that has been around for a little while, I recently took a look at it again and was pleasantly surprised with the updates. Wordia is game-based platform that helps expose students to a variety of words and vocabulary. The Wordia platform uses a dictionary as its foundation and blends learning games with interactive videos that teach vocabulary. Using Wordia, students build “Word Banks” as they engage in some friendly competition with classmates and other schools. The games in Wordia focus on spelling, grammar, oracy, auditory and phonics. This update has included some helpful goodies with schools and classrooms in mind. Games have been developed for educator led one-to-many scenarios that can be played on an interactive whiteboard or or projector connected computer with the whole class. One-to-one games are perfect for the classroom, computer lab or home. Word lists and lesson plans are available with both options for some great ideas for whichever situation best meets the needs of your classroom.

Wordia keeps track of student progress through a series of badges. Students work to build their own word bank and collect badges.

How to integrate Wordia into the classroom: Wordia is a great place for students to build and practice vocabulary and word knowledge. The games are fun to play as a class or individually and beat a vocab worksheet hands down. Wordia has a pretty impressive search engine. It would be an excellent site to keep bookmarked on classroom computers as a resource center in the classroom. Any time students run across an unfamiliar word, they can immediately run a search that brings them the definition, a video, a game, and related words. If a video doesn’t already exist, your students can record and contribute their own video! The same option exists for games. You and your students can easily build a game on Wordia to share. Just upload a word list, select a game type and voila!

Why not share spelling and vocabulary words every week by building a game from the word list? Much more fun than the boring word list that gets lost on the way home anyway.

Tips: You (the teacher) will have to create an account before your students can save their progress in Wordia. Searching the site and viewing content can be done without a login.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Wordia in your classroom!

NASA Eyes on the Solar System: 3D interactive solar system

September 28, 2011October 31, 2011Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3904 views

What it is: It is no secret that I am a big fan of NASA…I may, in fact, be a space nerd. It is all so fascinating, mysterious and beautiful. Whenever I do a space unit with students, I find that I have many kindred spirits. Space seems to have that effect on all kids. Recently I learned about a new 3D interactive solar system that NASA has introduced thanks to @rmbyrne and his ever-full-of-useful-ideas-blog, Free Technology for Teachers. Eyes on the Solar System is a 3D environment students can explore that has actual NASA mission data included inside. Students can ride along with the Juno mission to Jupiter. The Juno mission seeks to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter and our solar system. In the Explore Juno mission, students will learn more about the science, the spacecraft, and the mission with a 3D interactive. Students can also explore the solar system on their own.

How to integrate Eyes on the Solar System into the classroom: Eyes on the Solar System is a super awesome way for students to explore our solar system. Students can choose to join the Juno mission or explore the universe on their own. This is a GREAT site to share with the whole class on a big screen (projector-connected computer or interactive whiteboard).

With young students, explore the universe together on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students prepare for their space mission and do a launch count down as a class. Students can take turns being mission astronauts by interacting with the 3D solar system. Other astronauts can take “official” mission notes and observations at their seats as they wait for their turn as mission first in command.

Eyes on the Solar System makes a great center activity on classroom computers. During a center rotation, students can each explore a planet or feature of our solar system and then report back to Mission Control (the rest of the class) with their findings. Assign (or let students each choose) a different feature to study. When the students come back together as a group, the whole solar system will be represented. I have had students create “baseball cards” of everything from composers to planets. Eyes on the Solar System would be a great place for students to start their exploration and research to gather “stats” about a planet. Students can take a screen shot (on a Mac command+shift +4) of their planet for the front of the card and add the stats to the back of the card using a word processing or publishing program. Print out a class set of each card and let students trade and collect all of the planets (and special features) of the solar system.

Turn student exploration of the solar system into a creative writing project. Students can go through the Juno Mission to Jupiter and write a fictional story from Juno’s point of view. Do you have hesitant writers? What about having students create a graphic novel or comic book about Juno’s adventures through the solar system?

Tips: Be sure to check back to Eyes on the Solar System periodically, new features, tours and news are being added. “Just like the universe, ‘Eyes on the Solar System’ is expanding.” 🙂

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Eyes on the Solar System in your classroom!

Lucky Star Game Show for SMART boards

October 8, 2010Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3527 views

What it is: Cyberchase is an animated math series on PBS Kids. Now, Cyberchase is making math even more fun with an interactive game show called Lucky Star. The game show is a free download for the SMART Notebook software. Lucky Star was designed for kids in 3rd-5th grade. The game show has kids competing for top scores while building important math skills. Lucky Star has 150 questions that focus on problem solving, algebraic thinking, number and operations, geometry, measurement, and more. The game show includes an on-screen think pad (a drop down area where students can work the problems with the pen. The game show also includes some great virtual manipulatives that students can interact with on the interactive whiteboard. Want more? Create your own questions tailored to your curriculum using the Cyberchase characters and props. You can customize the game for your students needs.

How to integrate Lucky Star into your curriculum: Lucky Star is a fun way for your students to practice math. The ability to create your own questions that are tailored to your math curriculum means that this is game can be used all year. The game show makes for a great math warm up to get those brains thinking math. Use Lucky Star as a fun class competition, split your students into teams for a little friendly math competition. Your students will love the game show feel that Lucky Star has. Any time I play games with my whole class, I really play it up. Act the part of Game Show host and get into the game with your students. Hold weekly competitions or semester long competitions to see who can get the top score. Hold a fun math themed party for all of the “contestants” at the end of the competition. When I taught second grade this meant bringing out all of the kids favorite math games and calling them by their class number all day instead of their names. To mix it up, I might call on student number 10 by saying “I need 5+5 to line up third in line”. It was a fun way to have fun with math and celebrate the hard work of all of my students.

Tips: I couldn’t get the Lucky Star Game Show download to open in ActivInspire (for Promethean) even using the Smart Notebook option. I also couldn’t get the download to open in SMART Notebook’s interactive viewer. If anyone has a trick or luck with either of these let me know and I’ll update the post accordingly!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Lucky Star in your classroom!

BBC: Magic Key

July 9, 2010Kelly Tenkely4 Comments3026 views

What it is: The BBC is a constant source of excellent classroom interactives and games. Today I ran across Magic Key while working on supplementing MacMillan Mcgraw Hill’s Treasures curriculum for first grade. Magic Key is based on a cartoon in the UK, even if your students aren’t familiar with the cartoon, they are sure to enjoy the website adventures. Magic Key has fun literacy games for kindergarten and first grade students. The games help students practice full stops (sentence endings), sentence order, questions, character characteristics, capital letters, seeing patterns, figuring out new words, descriptions, and words that make sounds. The games are age appropriate, include fun characters, and help students practice and understand important literacy skills. In each game, students enter an adventure where the goal is to collect the Magic Key.

How to integrate BBC: Magic Key into the classroom: The Magic Key games are short and sweet, they give students the opportunity to practice new skills independently. I like to use games like these as a center activity. These types of short games make a great center because they provide students with immediate feedback and are self leveling. Set Magic Key up on your classroom computers as a literacy center for students to visit independently or in small groups. Don’t forget that the interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer can also be a center station! These games are a great alternative to the worksheet (you didn’t really want to grade one of those anyway) and will provide your students with an opportunity to practice what they are learning.

Tips: Check out the teacher section of Magic Key for a description of each game, the curriculum tie in, and (I hesitate to mention) worksheets.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using BBC: Magic Key in your classroom.

Eco Kids: Build a Food Chain

June 9, 2010Kelly Tenkely5 Comments23816 views

What it is: Eco Kids is a website with a great collection of ecologically focused games and activities. Students can complete interactives on wildlife, climate change, energy, the North, water, waste, land use, and more. I was hunting down a good interactive for students to learn and practice the food chain. Build a Food Chain has students order the elements of a food chain. Along the way, students learn why each animal within a food chain is so important. In addition to learning the basics of a food chain, students will learn about bioaccumulation.

How to integrate Eco Kids: Build a Food Chain into the classroom: Build a Food Chain is a fun way for students to learn about and practice building a food chain in an interactive environment. First students are led through the process of a food chain. The interactive helps students to understand the job of each animal or element in the chain. Students can then put their understanding to the test by putting together a food chain of their own and testing it. Students receive immediate feedback on the chain. If the food chain is broken or won’t work, students are given an additional clue and opportunity to try again. Build a Food Chain could be used as a whole class with a projector connected computer or interactive whiteboard. Choose students to be guides at the board as they navigate through the parts of a food chain. Then, call up a student to put the first element or animal of the food chain in place and pass on play to another student until a working food chain has been constructed. Build a Food Chain can also be used as an independent learning activity on classroom computers as a center or in a lab setting. Because the site provides students with feedback as they construct the food chain, students can navigate the activity easily on their own.

Tips: Before you begin the game, you will notice a box labeled “More About This Topic”, here you will find additional resources, printables, and games that are related to food chains.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Eco Kids: Build a Food Chain in your classroom.

Poetry Idea Machine

April 5, 2010Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4008 views

What it is: April is national poetry month, the Poetry Idea Machine is sure to help you infuse your classroom with some inspired poetry writing. Students learn about different kinds of poetry by selecting from Haiku, Limerick, Cinquain, or Free Verse. The Poetry Idea Machine takes students through the steps of making each type of poetry. The Poetry Idea Machine makes an excellent introduction to types of poetry and will have your students writing their own in no time.

How to integrate Poetry Idea Machine into the classroom: The Poetry Idea Machine does a fantastic job of introducing students to different kinds of poetry. After students learn about the poetry, they have a chance to create their own poem with the Poetry Idea Machine interactive. In my classroom, I use the Poetry Idea Machine with the whole class using the interactive whiteboard or projector. I invite students up to create their own poems as we talk through the process. Choose one type of poetry each week so that students have an opportunity to practice writing the poems. During the week, give your students time to write their poems, allowing them access to the Poetry Idea Machine on classroom computers as an idea center. Let students work in small groups to create unique poems using the Poetry Idea Machine.

Tips: Read poems by Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin, and Jean Marzollo for inspiration. Ask students to determine which type of poem each is based on what they have learned with the Idea Machine.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using the Poetry Idea Machine in your classroom.

Jackson Pollock Whiteboard

February 10, 2010February 10, 2010Kelly Tenkely12 Comments15073 views

What it is: Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and a big name in the abstract expressionist movement. Recently, I was reminded about the Jackson Pollock Whiteboard interactive from the wonderful Techie Classroom blog. This website allows students to create Jackson Pollock-esque virtual paintings. Students click anywhere on the screen for splatters of paint, drops, and dribbles. As they are “painting”, students can press any key on the keyboard for a different background color, erase using the space bar, press alt+ any key to change the color of the drip, or use numbers 1-0 or left, right, up, or down arrow to change the color of the drip or background. Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas is also an iPhone and iPod Touch application.

How to integrate Jackson Pollock Whiteboard into the classroom: This site is just plain fun! Students will enjoy creating abstract works of art by clicking and moving around the virtual page. Obviously this would be a great way to introduce students to abstract art and to Jackson Pollock, students could start by creating here, and then study Jackson Pollock and his famous paintings. Put the Jackson Pollock website up on your interactive whiteboard and let your class create a Pollock masterpiece throughout the day. Take a screen shot of the finished painting at the end of the day/class period. This could be done every day over a week or month. At the end of the week/month collect all of your classroom virtual paintings into a slide show. Do the finished paintings convey the emotions of the days? The slide show of paintings could also be used as a backdrop for information that students learned on their Jackson Pollock study.

Students Pollock masterpieces can be used for adding some color to the classroom walls, as a desktop picture or screen saver, or as thank you notes for classroom helpers.

Tips: In the iPod/iPhone version of the Jackson Pollock Whiteboard, multi-touch capabilities are built in for even more fun!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Jackson Pollock Whiteboard in your classroom.

iboard: A Day at the Park

December 29, 2009Kelly Tenkely5 Comments7209 views

What it is: A Day at the Park asks students to position characters at a park and then construct sentences about their placement or movement. Students can construct the statements by using a word bank, or the word bank can be hidden. This is a great activity for students to practice describing words.

How to integrate iboard: A Day at the Park into the classroom: A Day at the Park was created to be used with an interactive whiteboard. To use it with an interactive whiteboard or projector, invite students up to manipulate the characters in the park scene. Then ask other students to describe their positions and movements by constructing sentences below the scene. This would also make an excellent literacy center activity. Send students to the classroom computers in pairs where they can take turns placing characters and describing their positions.

Tips: iboard has a variety of activities for the interactive whiteboard that can be purchased. A Day at the Park is one of their freebie samples.

Leave a comment and share how you are using iboard: A Day at the Park in your classroom.

iboard: How Far Away do You Live?

December 27, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1629 views

What it is: iboard’s How Far Away Do You Live? is an excellent interactive activity for the interactive whiteboard or for use with a projector. Students create labels with their names and pin them on a graphic chart to depict how close they live to the school. Students can also add places to the graphic such as restaurants and stores. This is a great way to begin discussions about distance and introduce some new math language. When students have finished placing themselves on the graphic, they can compare the results on a block graph.

How to integrate iboard: How Far Away Do You Live? into the classroom: How Far Away Do You Live? is a neat interactive to teach students math language about distance, how to read a graph, and how to describe objects in relation to each other. Begin by defining what it means to live close to the school. What does it mean to be “very close” is that one block away, around the corner, less than a mile, a 5 minute walk, closer than the shop on the corner? Define what each distance will mean on your chart. Then, invite students to the board to add a sticky note where they think their house falls on the chart. After everyone has been added to the chart ask questions such as: “Who lives closest to the school?” and “Who is the furthest away?” Finish by looking at the block graph and discussing how many students fall into each category. This is a great way to teach your students to create and read informational charts and graphs.

Tips: iboard has a variety of activities for the interactive whiteboard that can be purchased. How Far Away Do You Live? is one of their freebie samples.

Leave a comment and share how you are using iboard: How Far Away Do You Live? in your classroom.