Category: Grade Level

EdWeek Maps Website

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on EdWeek Maps Website2028 views

 

 

What it is: I heard about EdWeek Maps Website just after writing my post “Up On My Soap Box”.  The Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (that is a mouth full!) launched a feature of its EdWeeek Maps Website that allows you to access and download a detailed report and map on high school graduation rates for every school district in the United States.  You can look at individual districts, their graduation rates and trends, and compare it with state and national figures.  It is VERY interesting to browse.

 

How to integrate EdWeeks Maps Website into the classroom: This may be a good site to share with students starting in middle school.  Open up for discussion why students think the graduation rates are what they are.  Take the opportunity to show your students how important education is and more importantly how critical it is that they learn to learn.  If our students can be life long learners we have reached our goal!  

 

Tips: Share this site with fellow teachers, administrators, community members.  Lets come up with a way, together that we can change education so that we live in a community where education is valued.  

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using EdWeek Maps in your classroom.

WizIQ

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on WizIQ2868 views

 

What it is: WizIQ is a virtual classroom platform where you can teach and learn.  You can teach for free or earn money teaching.  The WizIQ is free to use, has no downloads (it runs in your web browser), and works on Macs, Windows, and Linux.  WizIQ provides a place to find, share, or upload PowerPoints on educational subjects and topics.  The sessions are intuitive to use and can be scheduled for individal students or a group.  The virtual classroom provides a place to teach and learn live online.  Everything launches in a few clicks with…NO downloads!  With WizIQ you can network with students or teachers, send a personalized invite to your contacts right from WizIQ.  Share educational content in the form of slideshows, pdf, and online.  When you start a session with students, you have access to a shared whiteboard space, live audio, video, or both, flash file sharing, and text messaging.  Sessions can be recorded and saved for students to view again and again.  

 

How to integrate WizIQ into the classroom: WizIQ is a great place to start experimenting with virtual classrooms.  It has a simple to use interface, requires no downloads, and is free.  Record lessons that you are doing with your class so that they can go back and review the lesson online at their lesiure.  This puts students in control of their own learing.  Interact with students during live virtual sessions.  WizIQ is also perfect for students who were absent, have a long term illness that prevents them from being at school, or students who know they will be attending your school for half of the year.  

 

Tips: You can make money by setting up and teaching in a virtual classroom (and lets face it, we could all use a little more of that!)  Your classroom will be visable by search engines and open to students from accross the world.  Don’t let the technology scare you, this is simple to use (even my fellow elementary teachers can get in on this one!)

 

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

ict Numeracy Games

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on ict Numeracy Games2533 views

 

What it is: ict Numeracy Games are created by educator James Barrett.  These flash games are excellent for primary and beginning secondary elementary students to practice math.  You will find game themes for number facts, counting, bridging through ten, time, shape and measures, greater than and less than, multiplication and rounding, money (this is UK money), addition, subtraction, odd and even, place values, doubles, and equivalence.  Each math or numeracy theme has several games to play for practice.  Each is interactive and has instructions for integrating the game into the classroom.  All great ideas!

 

How to integrate ict Numeracy Games into the classroom: The ict Numeracy Games are perfect for use with an interactive whiteboard or projector and whole class instruction.  Several of the games are also great practice for students working on individual computers.  The games are all very engaging.  They teach and provide practice for basic math skills.  This is a great stop when you are looking for an interactive activity to practice a math concept.  The descriptions next to the game are very helpful and you are bound to find new ideas for integrating technology into your classroom.  

 

Tips: There are advertisements on this site but they are unobtrusive, your students probably won’t even notice.  The games are high quality enough that this shouldn’t be a deterrent.  

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using ict Numeracy Games in your classroom.

 

EdWeb 2.0

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What it is: EdWeb 2.0 is web hosting designed with teachers in mind.  Teachers can create a free teacher website in an hour or less!  With EdWeb 2.0 teachers can create a classroom site with multiple blogs, podcasts, quick polls, videos, files, forms, announcements, calendars, add photo albums, separate information by subject area, and so much more.  The sites can be customized with your own theme, or choose from one of EdWeb’s ready made themes.  A classroom website is a great place to communicate with families, give students a place to go when they have questions outside of your classroom, and keep yourself organized.

 

How to integrate EdWeb 2.0 into the classroom: Post all of your class announcements, important dates, homework assignments, links, podcasts, videos, copies of papers sent home, etc. on your class website for a convenient way to stay in contact with students and families.  The site is simple to create and takes no time at all.  This is a great hour long weekend project that you and your students will appreiciate all year long.  

 

Tips: EdWeb 2.0 sets you up with a fully functional demo account first.  This allows you to play around and see if you like EdWeb 2.0, if you decide you want to use the website for your classroom, you make the site live (this is free).  This saves room on EdWeb’s servers for those who just want to take a look but don’t end up using EdWeb.  

You will see an option for pricing on the EdWeb site, this is an upgraded account with some additional features.

 

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

KidZui

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on KidZui2943 views

 

What it is: KidZui is a web browser made just for kids.  It has access to over 800,000 websites, pictures, and videos that are reviewed by teachers and parents who don’t just approve content, but also categorize it for age appropriateness and by topic.  Kids will be able to get to all of their favorite sites (and more) in a safe, engaging environment that rewards learning and teaches independent learning skills.  Parents and teachers can get weekly emails that keep you up-to-date with what kids are searching on KidZui.  KidZui is free for the basic account, they also offer a membership account that gives some nice additional features.  KidZui is available for both Windows and Mac operating systems.

 

How to integrate KidZui into the classroom: KidZui would be a great web browser to have on classroom computers in the elementary school setting.  Students would be able to easily access all the information they need online without being exposed to inappropriate content.  The interface is very user friendly and teaches students great search skills as well as teaching great learning skills.  

 

Tips: I often have parents asking me what they can do at home to keep their kids safe online.  KidZui is an excellent recommendation, the parent reports are a great way to keep parents involved in their children’s online activities.

 

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

 

Jigsaw Planet

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Jigsaw Planet16584 views

Computer Lab Rules4 - online jigsaw puzzle - 9 pieces

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.

Maggie’s Earth Adventures

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Maggie’s Earth Adventures3719 views


What it is: Maggie’s Earth Adventures is an incredible site for teachers and students.  First the amazing tools for you… Every teacher has wished for a lesson that takes little time for teacher preparation or explanation, can be used as a center activity, is a filler for students who finish their work early, serves as extra credit, is a ready made homework assignment, or can be an emergency plan for a substitute teacher.  Maggie’s Earth Adventures Teachers Lounge is the place to go!  Sign up for free weekly activity packets in subjects such as math, reading, science, and social studies.  Weekly activity packets are sent based on age levels (emergent reader, primary, and intermediate) and a different subject area is sent each week.  These are high quality teaching materials!In addition to the free weekly activities, Maggie’s Earth Adventures also features an excellent lesson plan resource, you can get an entire theme unit or a few lessons.  Some lessons even have free PowerPoint presentations to accompany the lesson.  The site is available in English or in Spanish making it perfect for the ESL classroom. Maggie is not just for teachers, you will find outstanding interactive games for your students too!  Kids can watch cartoons that tie in directly with the lesson plans.  The cartoons are packed with teaching and are interactive.  In the postcard section students can choose a picture and then choose an activity to accompany the picture.  Students can create a story clock, news article, description web, or postcard.  In the games section students can choose from games to improve math, spelling, reading, geography skills, language skills, proofreading skills, and science. Students can also download free books (these download as a printable pdf).
How to integrate Maggie’s Earth Adventures into the classroom: These high quality lessons and activities are ideal for having on hand for students who finish work early and are looking for extension activities.  They are also ideal for extra credit, homework practice, or emergency substitute plans.  Use the games as practice for important skills students are working on in language arts (spelling and punctuation) and math.  This is a great place for students to hone a newly learned skill.  The postcard maker (which actually makes much more than postcards) is a great place to send students for story starters and creative writing assignments.  This is one of those sites you will want bookmarked on your classroom computers!

Tips: Sign up to receive weekly activities and lessons from Maggie.  I know you sign up for a million things throughout the year, this is one that you will really use!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Maggie’s Earth Adventures in your classroom.

Thinkfinity

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Thinkfinity4710 views

What it is: This is a one stop shop for the beginning of your school year but will keep you coming back all year long. Thinkfinity is “the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation’s literacy, education, and technology initiatives.” The site is completely free to use and has outstanding content for educators, students, and parents. Find amazing lesson plans, interactive activities, and other quality online resources. Thinkfinity has over 55,000 standards-based k-12 lesson plans, student materials, interactive tools, and reference materials that are reviewed by the nation’s leading education organizations to ensure the highest quality content. You will find great primary source material, interactive student resources, and even grade specific research lists to tailor materials and searches to meet your needs. Thinkfinity also provides free training and professional development. Some professional development options are online, you can search for Thinkfinity professional development opportunities near you.

How to integrate Thinkfinity into the classroom: Thinkfinity is a one stop shop for standards based lesson plans, interactive games and resources for students, maps, activities, book lists, and much more. Use Thinkfinity to support any of your lessons, themes, or current curriculum. Search for materials by subject (arts, social studies, literacy, mathematics, reading and language arts, science, and geography), by theme, by grade, or resource type. There is also a wonderful keyword search. Start out your year with lessons based on the Olympics in Beijing. Students can learn about the history of the games, sports, athletes, and even the history of Asia. This is a great site for students to complete research on. The sources are accurate and reliable and it is organized well for searching.

Tips: Content partners for Thinkfinity inlcude other top educational sites including Arts Edge, Econ Edlink, Edsitement, Illuminations, Literacy Network, Read Write Think, Science Net Links, Simithsonian National Museum of American History, and National Geographic Xpeditions.

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

Count Us In

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Count Us In2504 views


What it is: Count Us In is a fun basic math skill site with 15 interactive games that teach kids basic math skills. These include counting, patterning, counting, ordinal numbers, representing number with words, addition, subtraction, sorting and grouping, time, numbers, chance, halves, length, and volume. The flash based games can be played online or downloaded to a Mac or PC for offline play.

How to integrate Count Us In into the classroom:
These are great games to teach kids basic math concepts. The site is good for individual use in a computer lab, or center group use in a classroom setting. Students can work at their own level, going onto the next game after they have mastered one. The games can be used to help teach concepts or as review and practice for math skills. The site is best for k-1 students or struggling math students in second grade. The site is also perfect for an interactive whiteboard. Call students up to the board to interact with the games individually or split your class into teams to play the games.

Tips: Visit the “other activities” section of the Count Us In website for some great teacher resources including well thought out activities to use with the games on the website.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Count Us In in your classroom.

Web Tools 4U2 Use

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Web Tools 4U2 Use3597 views


What it is: Web Tools 4U2 Use is an incredible wiki created for school library media specialists to learn about cool new web tools, learn how they can be used in school library media programs, and share ideas and success stories. The links, tips, and information on this site are valuable for school library specialists but also for classroom teachers. Many of the ideas and tools on this site are ideal for classroom integration as well. The wiki is well organized and easy to navigate. Each section of the wiki gives “Five to Test Drive” giving the top 5 resources in each category and then “More to Explore” which gives additional resources and ideas on how they are being used in library media centers. You will also find links to tutorials and more information.

How to integrate Web Tools 4U2 Use into the classroom: Are you in need of some inspiration for your classroom? Looking for tools to help increase productivity? Need to make some brownie points with your school library media specialist? Web Tools 4U2 Use is a great site to share with colleagues, particularly your school library media specialist. Use this wiki as a place to be inspired, share with others, and learn. The wiki has excellent tools for you professionally to grow, as well as ideas for using web tools in your classroom.

Tips: Definitely send this site along to your school library media specialists, they will love it!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Web Tools 4U2 Use in your classroom.