Social Studies – Page 10 – iLearn Technology

Wiglington & Wenks Virtual World

January 13, 2010February 25, 2010Kelly Tenkely20 Comments13688 views

What it is: I absolutely love when I learn about a new site, especially those that I immediately know will be a winner with students. You know the sites that have incredible graphics, are easy to use, and involve kids in the story (instead of just drill and practice). Wiglington & Wenks is one such site. One of the creators of the site @aldricchang alerted me to the new site today via Twitter.

Students are dropped into the middle of a story where they become world travelers to places around the real-world, meeting historical characters, playing brain games, building culture inspired houses, exploring secret locations, and solving ancient mysteries. There are 100 educational real-world and imaginary places for students to visit from the past, present, and the future. Wiglington and Wenks was originally a children story book series written by Johan Bittleston. It has exploded into an online world where students can learn and explore.

Wiglington and Wenks is so much more than your standard virtual world, it has a rich story line with well developed characters, plot, mystery, and quests. Students are dropped into the story and invited to participate, learning through exploration, problem solving, and critical thinking. The world highlights famous real-world landmarks, historical figures, inventions, culture, nature, and wildlife. Students are motivated to learn more about each as they complete a series of quests.

The story behind the virtual world is about two water rats from England, Wiglington and Wenks, who are in search of a legacy left by Wiglington’s great explorer ancestor. A series of magic maps guide them as they travel through time and space. Through a series of events, a time portal was accidentally created that transported famous figures from the past to the future. All of the historical figures seem to have forgotten who they are. Students embark on a quest to help Wilington and Wenks find the famous missing characters and recover their lost memories.

Wilglington and Wenks are the main characters of the story. They are the heroes. There are a host of other characters that further enchant students as they solve the mysteries of this virtual world.

Carto is the map creator who created the magic maps that keep track of geography, cultural evolution, and climate change over time. Fragments of the map piece together to form a complete real-world map.

Sir Ordy Nace is the curator of the maps at the British Museum.

Filo rat is the head of the Traveling Academy in the town. He is an inventor, code breaker, and skilled strategist- a genius in every way. He loves a challenging game of sudoku or master mind.

Scuttle Butt is a search engine. Ask him a question and he provides a useful list with the most relevant information at the top. He is Filo Rat’s assistant. (This is an awesome way for students to familiarize themselves for using search engines to solve problems!)

Chacophonous is a crab who also happens to be a conductor. He is reportedly connected by an ancestor to Beethoven. He introduces students to classical music.

Walpole the whale makes cross-ocean transportation possible. He has a terrible sense of direction so students have to give him directions and help guide him.

Every story needs a villain and the Count is the villain of this story. He is known for using his knowledge of the magic maps for the destruction of the environment along with his side kick Warrior Wolf.

Historical figures include Thomas Edison, Alexandar Graham Bell, Cleopatra, Confusious, Copernicus, Damo, Emperor Quin, Galileo Galilei, Issac Newton John, Marco Polo, John Rolfe, Nostra Damus, Pocahontas, Wilber Wright, Orville Wright, Vlad Dracula, and many more.

How to integrate Wiglington & Wenks Virtual World into the classroom: The rich storyline alone makes this site one to bring into your classroom. Students can do character studies, learn about plot, mystery, and suspense. Use this site to teach your students about environmental issues such as global warming, forest preservation, protection of marine life, and endangered animals. This is an immersive learning environment where your students will learn by doing. As students travel the virtual world, they will learn geography, cultural differences, history, and inventions. Students are encouraged to think creatively to solve the issues facing the world today. Wiglington & Wenks would be a great site to introduce to students at the beginning of the year that is used throughout the year for learning. Make it your goal to solve the mysteries of the magic maps before the end of the year. Throughout the year students can visit the virtual world, learn about historical figures, famous inventions, and geography. Hang up a world map in your classroom and keep track of the places that have been visited. Encourage students to create character cards as they learn about new historical figures, and story characters. Each student can have their own account but keep track of progress as a class. Create PSA posters for the classroom as students learn about environmental issues. Explore more about the inventors and inventions that students come across in the virtual world. Have students keep a journal of discoveries (on or offline) as they discover new clues. Have students write newspaper articles about the happenings of the virtual world and it’s characters. This site can be tied into your curriculum for the year in a variety of ways.

I love the way this site encourages discovery of knowledge, teamwork, and critical thinking. This site will have your students excited about learning the whole year through. Fridays would make a great day of discovery each week and give students something to look forward to. Create a single class account and explore Wilington and Wenks as a class each week (or a little each day) using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Give each student the opportunity to be the navigator of the world. The other students can take observation notes in a journal about what they see and learn. If you have classroom computers, cycle your students through the virtual world as a center activity. In this model each student can have an account. If you have access to a 1 to 1 environment (one computer for each child) or a computer lab setting on a regular basis, students can each have their own account and solve the mystery individually. Form small groups where students can discuss their findings and give each other tips and tricks. (Hint: these groups will form whether or not you create them…it is that engaging!)

Wiglington and Wenks is the way that learning should be!

Tips: Read the Wiglington & Wenks books (Amazon link) as a class…the tie into the virtual world will have your students eager to read these books to learn more!

Your students will catch on to the virtual world environment quickly and know more about the characters, games, etc. than you could ever hope to learn. There is a great guide that will clue you into everything the world offers so that you can keep up with your students. Check it out here.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Wiglington & Wenks Virtual World in your classroom.

National Geographic Image Collection

December 11, 2009December 11, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3710 views

What it is: National Geographic is known for their poignant images. Now, those images can be viewed online in the National Geographic Image Collection. There are more than 11 million images that chronicle the world from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century. Students can also view the history of photography from daguerreotypes to digital through an interactive time line. The image collection includes images related to exploration, wild life, people and cultures, and science and climate change.

How to integrate National Geographic Image Collection into the classroom: The National Geographic Image Collection is an impressive set of images from around the world. The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” proves to be true. These images are indeed worth a thousand words or more. Use these images to help you tell the story of our world as you teach students about history, science, wild life, and world culture. These images will help to connect your students with learning in ways that a textbook can’t. Use the Image Collection for creative writing prompts. Allow your students to choose an image from the collection to tell a story about. The interactive time line can be used to teach students about the history of photography.

Tips: I learned about this site from a Tweet by @McTeach a few weeks ago on Twitter, thanks Karen!

Leave a comment and share how you are using National Geographic Image Collection in your classroom.

Liberty Kids

December 10, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment2892 views

What it is: Liberty Kids teaches about Colonial life in America through a variety of educational activities. Students can explore the animated “Now and Then” segments which compare and contrast various lifestyles, cultural, technological, and health issues from the Revolutionary War period and life in the 21st century. The Liberty News Maker lets students create newspapers that include headlines, stories, and pictures. Students can engage in games and activities that allow them to discover important information about how the United States was founded. The Revolution Archive allows students to learn more about historical figures of the Revolution. Here students will find artists renderings and historical facts about important people, places, and events from the time period. The site also includes a great teacher section that includes ideas for making the Colonial period relevant to your students, on and off line activities for students to complete, and scripts for short plays that students can perform where they will hear the voices of slaves and free men, American Indians, women, and a poor immigrant.

How to integrate Liberty Kids into the classroom: My 5th grade students LOVE Liberty Kids. They especially enjoy watching the “Now and Then” video clips together as a class. (In fact, their homeroom teacher has started using these clips as a reward in her classroom.) This site bring history to a kid level and helps them understand history as it relates to them. Students get a great view of what life was like during the Revolutionary War as well as learn about key events, people, and places of the Colonial period. Use the play scripts to connect your students to the lesser known voices during the Revolutionary War. Let them explore the site individually on classroom computers or explore as a class with an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. The animated video clips and Revolution Archive can be used with the whole class but the games are best for students to play individually on their own computer. After students have a good understanding of Colonial Life, they can create and print out a newspaper cover that they create.

Tips: There are some CBS advertisements on this site that will be very appealing to students. Make sure that they know which portions of the site are advertisements and which are part of the Liberty Kids website. This is a great opportunity to teach students about how to spot an advertisement and why websites use advertising.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Liberty Kids in your classroom.

Secret Builders Update

December 8, 2009December 8, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3211 views

What it is: I have reviewed Secret Builders virtual world before, but some new additions and features deserve another post. Secret Builders is a virtual world for kids (8-12) that introduces them to fictional characters from history and literature. Secret Builders has added a host of new historical characters that students can interact with including: Jane Austen, Bach, Alexander Bell, Emily Bronte, Confucius, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Hafez, Magellen, Omar Khxyam, Motzart, Issac Newton, Rumi, and Lao Tzu just to name a few. Students can actually visit the historical figures house, learn more about them, interact with them by asking questions in a virtual chat (answered as the character would answer), and take a quiz to find out how much they know about the historical figure. Secret Builders allows kids to get up close and personal with history in ways not previously possible. It allows them to gain a better understanding of historical figures than a textbook offers. Secret Builders has additional school friendly features like areas for students to write, collaboratively draw and share, and play educational puzzle games. Secret Builders also has a great Internet safety quiz that tests students on their knowledge of what online behavior should look like. Secret Builders has just added a Teacher’s Console where teachers can add and manage their students from one central location. Teachers can also set up an online reward system for students where they can unlock special Secret Builder features by completing “quests” that you assign. For example, you may be studying Thomas Edison in class. You could send students on a quest to find and learn about Thomas Edison and give the reward to those students that correctly complete the quiz.

How to integrate Secret Builders into the classroom: Secret Builders is an excellent way to bring history to life for your students. They will understand historical and literary figures better as they interact with them in this virtual world. Secret Builders is best in a lab setting where every student has access to a computer. Be sure to sign your class up under a teacher account where you can control and monitor what students are expected to do in Secret Builders. Encourage students to interact and “interview” the historical figures that they encounter. They can then write an article about the historical figure for the Secret Builders virtual newspaper. Secret Builders is a great first stop for learning about important figures in history. It will leave them wanting more and excited to learn more about these interesting people in history.

Tips: Secret Builders also has a program that is connected called “One for All” students can raise money for their school by answering math, logic, geography, and vocabulary questions.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Secret Builders in your classroom.

Animated Atlas: The Growth of a Nation

December 7, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment2284 views

What it is: Animated Atlas: The Growth of a Nation is an animated video that teaches students about American expansion. The video allows for interaction as it plays. Students can click on any state to learn more about when and how it became a state. There is also a great interactive timeline at the bottom of the animation that students can explore more in depth. I really like the look of this website, it makes me nostalgic remembering the computer activities I used as a kid. I can’t guarantee that our students will get such a kick out of the graphics. 🙂 The ten minute presentation takes students from the original 13 states and shows them the gradual expansion. At any point students can click on a territory or state for more information. The timeline pointer moves along with the presentation but students can click on a date for more information. The interactive timeline goes from 1790 to 2000.

How to integrate Animated Atlas into the classroom: This interactive is a good one for helping students to visualize the expansion of the United States from the original 13 colonies. The site is packed full of information with the ability to learn more about a time period, state, or territory. Use this site as an overview of the growth of America. If students aren’t loving the graphics, have them gather information and create a 2009 (almost 2010!) version of the site. This site could be used whole class with an interactive whiteboard but I think it would allow for more exploration as a center activity or individual computers.

Tips: When you play Animated Atlas you have several options: play all the way through, 1789-1853, The Civil War, and Post Civil War. This makes it easy to chunk the lesson or split students into groups.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Animated Atlas: The Growth of a Nation in your classroom.

Interactive Advent Calendars

December 1, 2009Kelly Tenkely8 Comments11216 views

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.

BrainPop Jr.: Thanksgiving

November 23, 2009November 23, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3578 views

What it is: BrainPop is usually a paid service. This week, BrainPop Jr. is offering their Thanksgiving with Annie and Mobi for free. The video teaches students about the first Thanksgiving and includes plenty of facts about the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag, and the famous harvest feast. The video includes several discussion and dig-deeper questions throughout. The questions appear on a notebook next to the video. You can pause the video when the questions appear for a class discussion or for independent reflection in a journal. You can print out an accompanying notebook page that lists all of the questions from the video. At the end of the video, you can choose to “learn more” about the first Thanksgiving with additional activities, crafts, games, suggested reading, drawing, writing, interactive word wall, and quizzes.

How to integrate BrainPop Jr.: Thanksgiving into the classroom: The BrainPop Jr. Thanksgiving video is a fun way to teach about the history of Thanksgiving to younger students. The video is about 4 minutes long and includes multiple opportunities for discussion and check points for understanding. There are also additional follow up activities. Some of the activities are for print (a Thanksgiving “what I’m thankful for” turkey), and some are to be completed on the computer. Watch the video as a class with an interactive whiteboard or projector. Set up your classroom computer with the “learn more” activities for students to complete as a center activity. Alternatively, students could watch and complete the activities independently in the computer lab setting. The interactive word wall is a great way for students to learn some of the vocabulary associated with Thanksgiving.

Tips: Print out the Thanksgiving Notebook for your students to fill out as they watch the video. Thank you to @mrscoggin for sharing this freebie on Twitter!

Leave a comment and share how you are using BrainPop Jr.: Thanksgiving in your classroom.

Track My T

November 19, 2009Kelly Tenkely5 Comments28372 views

What it is: Track My T is a truly impressive website that I learned about from @dianadell on Twitter. Track my T lets students type in the unique lot number on their t-shirt and then go through an amazing interactive journey tracking their t-shirt from its very beginning as a cotton seed on a farm, to every step before they bought it. Students can track their actual t-shirt or choose a random t-shirt to follow. On their journey students will learn about picking cotton, the cotton gin, yarn spinners, textile mills, cut and sew factories, and distribution centers. This is an incredible journey that teaches students the process that goods go through before they end up in the local store. Each stop on the journey includes video, images, and information about what happens during that part of the t-shirt creation process. In addition, students will learn about and encounter historical figures like Eli Whitney. At the end of the journey students can check out their custom T tag, learn more about the screen printing process, and learn how to reduce their carbon footprint.

How to integrate Track My T into the classroom: Track My T is an amazing site. From beginning to end your students will be engaged and enthralled with this website. The ability to track their actual t-shirt is really something! Use this activity as a whole class with an interactive whiteboard, as a center activity in the classroom, or individually in the computer lab setting. As a follow up activity, have students put placemarks on a Google Earth map on the location where their t-shirt/pants/shoes were made. This activity could easily be expanded to the geography classroom (perfect for national geography week which is this week!). Students could do additional research about the country where their t-shirt originated from. To expand the activity even more, have students Tweet about their findings, see if they can get a response from someone that lives in that country.

Tips: Be sure to take a look at the accompanying lesson plan on Track My T. The lesson teaches students all about fair trade.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Track My T in your classroom.

Scholastic’s The First Thanksgiving

November 18, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4898 views

What it is: Scholastic has amazing resources all year long but the interactive on The First Thanksgiving is topnotch! Students learn about how the Pilgrims reached America, and what daily life was before the First Thanksgiving. Students can take a tour of the Mayflower, take the virtual journey to America, compare and contrast modern life with when the Pilgrims lived (housing, clothes, food, chores, school, games), and the Thanksgiving feast. There is a great slideshow and play a webquest feature where kids can learn more about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag and the famous harvest feast. The site includes audio for every page and activity. This is great for younger students.

How to integrate Scholastic’s The First Thanksgiving into the classroom: The First Thanksgiving is a collection of great activities for students to learn about Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims. Students can use this site independently as young as first grade because of the audio features on The First Thanksgiving. The site can be used as a center activity that a few students can explore together, independently in the computer lab setting, or as a whole class with a projector or interactive whiteboard. The webquest at the end of the activity checks for student understanding with a quiz. Increase students participation further with some The First Thanksgiving bonus features and extras. Print out a Thanksgiving Readers theater, door signs, a fact hunt, a vocabulary quiz, and some letters from historical figures. There are also research and historical fiction journals that students can continue learning with. These range from a Plymoth Colony research starter to Our America: Colonial period.

Tips: Check out Scholastic’s Teaching resources for The First Thanksgiving as well as the literature connections that are available.

Leave a comment and share how you are using The First Thanksgiving in your classroom.

Investigating the First Thanksgiving

November 18, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3474 views

What it is: Investigating the First Thanksgiving is a fun interactive where kids are the historians. Students explore all the clues to learn about the first thanksgiving (really a harvest festival). This site provides great primary source material for kids to sort through. First they explore a section called Fact vs. Myth where they match pictures and descriptions. Each section includes an expert video that talks students through the section and explains a little about the first Thanksgiving. In the next section, students explore the Wampanoag people and learn about their different celebrations and traditions throughout the year. Then, students visit an English Colonist village and learn more about life for the pilgrims. Students can then learn about the events that happened prior to 1621 and what led up to the harvest celebration. The timeline in this section clearly shows what events were happening from the colonists point of view and what events were happening from the Wampanoag point of view. Finally, students can share what they have learned on a virtual informational poster where they can type the text of the poster. Students can print their completed poster at the end.

How to integrate Investigating the First Thanksgiving into the classroom: Investigating the first Thanksgiving is an outstanding activity that involves students and makes them the historian. Use this site to teach students the history of Thanksgiving but also how history changes. This site does a great job of teaching students the difference between “the past” and “history”. It makes the distinction that the past is always true but history (the way we interpret the past) can change based on additional information and resources. You can go through the Investigating the First Thanksgiving interactive as a class on the interactive whiteboard, inviting student “historians” to come up and help guide the class through the activities. Or as a center or individually on classroom or lab computers. Finish the posters together as a class, filling in information, or each students can complete the final project. If you do complete as a class, give a copy of the final to each student.

Tips: There is a great teacher guide that accompanies this site and offers great ideas for using the interactive in the classroom.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Investigating the First Thanksgiving in your classroom.