Interactive Whiteboard – Page 32

Crick Web Literacy Resources

October 3, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2142 views

What it is: Crick Web Literacy Resource is an excellent collection of interactive games for language development and practice in students. The resources are excellent for individual student play, literacy group student play, or whole classroom play with an interactive white board. Games include hangman, alphabetical order, collective nouns, compound words, sticky letters, matching pairs, street scene labels, seaside postcard, spelling checker, story sequencer, instruction sequencer, verb links, word dice, spelling word tester and word selector. Yes, it is a treasure trove of literacy activities!

How to integrate Crick Web Literacy Resources into the classroom: The Crick Web Resources can be easily integrated into your current literacy curriculum as an enrichment. The activities fit right along side lessons you are already teaching but make them interactive for students. I really like the Word Dice activity because students (or teacher) can add their own words to the dice to roll them. The dice would be great for teaching nouns and adjectives (or any part of speech) on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. The dice are also outstanding for playing games unique to your classroom (maybe one that you created!) The Sticky letters lets students create their own word wall or can be used with a projector for a class word wall. I was also very impressed with the Spelling Rule Tester which helps students learn the rule for making singular nouns plural. Students can input their own singular nouns and type what they think the plural is and then click on the tester to see if they are correct. Take a look at the activities and see how they fit into your curriculum… my guess is that you will find at least one keeper in the group!

Tips: If the Crick Web Literacy Resources look too difficult for your students, click on the Key Stage 1 tab at the top of the site for additional resources for younger students.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Crick Web Literacy Resources in your classroom.

Shidonni

September 23, 2008September 23, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment6402 views

What it is: Shidonni is a really intriguing new web application for kids. Shidonni is an imaginary world that kids create. It provides a virtual universe where kids can create their own imaginary world, play, and share games and interact with each other in a safe environment online. Kids can create their own animals or characters online and make them interactive. Their characters actually move and interact with the kids (no programming required!). They can create a world for their character, feed their character, and play games using their character. Watch the video on the Shidonni website for a good idea of how the program works.

How to integrate Shidonni into the classroom: Shidonni is an amazing way for kids to express themselves creatively. They will LOVE the interaction that this site provides. I am really in awe of this site and its capabilities. The site is simple enough for kindergarten students to use but will keep even 5th grade students intrigued. For classroom use the site is a great way to let younger students practice interaction with the computer and mouse manipulation. It is also a great introduction to drawing programs. Students can use Shidonni as a place to start digital storytelling. They can use the site to illustrate stories that they are creating in writing class. Shidonni can also be used to create “living” dioramas for the classroom. This is a great place for students to learn by trial and error. I like to introduce programs like this and then let students teach themselves how to use new technology through exploration.

Tips: Shidonni requires that you download a plugin for your Internet browser. Be sure to do this on all computers before you roll it out for the first time in class. 🙂

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

Flowgram

September 18, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3053 views

What it is: Flowgram is a website that makes it easier to teach your students online. Flowgram has a simple platform that makes is easy for anyone to package and share anything on the web. Flowgram can combine slideshows, documents, pictures, screencasts, websites, audio, video etc. with your voice narration. This makes it simple to teach any concept using the web. Flowgram requires no download, it runs directly from your Internet browser. Recipients of the Flowgram can fully interact with anything that is on the Flowgram (webpage links, video, etc.). Flowgrams can be sent via email, linked to, or embedded in a blog or website for viewing.

How to integrate Flowgram into the classroom: Flowgram is a wonderful way to create interactive tutorials for students learning any technology concept. Beyond that, Flowgram makes it easy for you to take your students on virtual field trips on any subject. What I love about Flowgram, is that it meets individual student needs. Students can work at their own pace and interact with any part of the Flowgram as many times as they need. It would also be a great place to create reviews for tests, and perfect for students who have missed school. Teach your students to make Flowgrams and start your own library of student created tutorials on any subject. Students teaching students is powerful! Because you can narrate Flowgrams, they are wonderful to use with students who struggle with reading and navigating the Internet on their own…it is like having you sit right next to them, leading with your undivided attention.

Tips: I have started creating a weekly Flowgram for teachers at my school called Tenkely’s Tips. I will be creating a new page with a collection of the weekly Flowgrams. Feel free to check them out!

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

The Great Plant Escape

September 16, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3812 views

What it is: The Great Plant Escape is a wonderful interactive website created by the University of Illinois Extension for fourth and fifth grade students. Every school that I know of teaches a plants unit at some point in the curriculum. This is a great way for your students to interact with their learning in science class. Each lesson in The Great Plant Escape introduces students to plant science. Activities engage students in math, science, language arts, social studies, music and even art. The Great Plant Escapeincludes six mystery cases that students must help solve. They do this in a variety of ways depending on the activity. This site can be played in English or Spanish making it great for your ESL or ELL students as well as those kiddos learning Spanish as a second language!

How to integrate The Great Plant Escape into the classroom: The Great Plant Escape offers a lot of flexibility depending on your classroom setup and student abilities. Students can work individually in a lab setting or in groups as a center in the one or two computer classroom. This site would also be appropriate for whole class instruction with a projector or interactive whiteboard. Each activity has an accompanying teacher section that will familiarize you with the material covered in that “case”. Be sure to check out the Links page for some excellent resources for additional lessons and websites dedicated to teaching kids about Plants and life cycles. This site is sure to add a lot of interest to your plant unit in science. My students have really enjoyed it!

Tips: Visit the Teacher’s Guide for a free poster for The Great Plant Escape for your classroom.

Leave a comment and share how you are using The Great Plant Escape in your classroom.

Lite-Brite

September 3, 2008September 3, 2008Kelly Tenkely4 Comments3661 views

What it is: Some websites just make you smile. Lite-Brite is one of those sites for me, I am a child of the 80’s so the Lite-Brite holds a special place in my heart! The site is exactly what you would expect, an online version of Lite-Brite. No fancy moving flash animations, sound effects, etc. Just 9 different color pegs to choose from and a Lite-Brite board.

How to integrate Lite-Brite into the classroom: Lite Brite may not appear to have much educational value upon first inspection, but being that I love Lite-Brite, I knew there had to be a way to use it in the classroom. In the primary and secondary classroom, the Lite-Brite would be a great place for students to practice “writing” their spelling words using the colored pegs. Any time you can give students a new medium for practicing spelling words or math facts, it is a good thing. Write out math problems using the Lite-Brite and students can take turns solving the facts. Create a class picture using an interactive whiteboard. Keep points on the Lite-Brite when playing a class game. I think even older kids could appreciate the Lite-Brite from an art perspective. It just gives one more medium for students to express themselves. I have yet to find a kid who uses the Lite-Brite site and doesn’t leave with a smile 🙂 Kindergarten students can practice “writing” the alphabet by forming letters with the colored pegs.

Tips: The Lite-Brite site doesn’t have a save option so make sure that for the true creations, you have a printer hooked up to memorialize them.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Lite Brite in your classroom.

ict Numeracy Games

August 25, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1708 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.

Jigsaw Planet

August 20, 2008August 21, 2010Kelly Tenkely1 Comment15471 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.

Count Us In

August 14, 2008August 14, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1752 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.

Flowlight

July 30, 2008July 30, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment2041 views

Well, it is taking me longer than expected to blog my recent vacation to California where I visited Apple, Google, Exploratorium, The Tech Museum, and Napa. Sorting through 800+ photos and embedding them in a virtual tour is taking FOREVER! So, in the meantime I thought I would give you a glimpse into the future. Meet the Flowlight, essentially a blackboard with lasers. I read about this concept on Gizmodo last week and I have to say, I think this ‘blackboard’ could hold students attention. Basically, “a base station would focus a laser beam 100 times a second into a point in space, creating small plasma points that glow in mid air. Users could then use the pen to draw and write, making doodles look like some sort of fantastic light show.” While I don’t think this will be in your classrooms in the forseeable future, it may be a glimpse into classrooms to come.

Capzles

July 22, 2008July 22, 2008Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2610 views

What it is: Capzles is another interactive timeline maker. I really love all the little extras that Capzles has! With Capzles teachers and students can add photos, videos, audio, and text to their timeline. Themes, colors, backgrounds, and background music can be added to the timeline making it unique and personalized. Capzles also provides options when sharing your Capzle, it can be private with a specific list of who can view the Capzle or made public for the world to see.

How to integrate Capzles into the classroom: Obviously Capzles is a great way for students to create timelines about any subject. The web 2.0 collaborative aspect of Capzles makes it very appealing to students. I think Capzles could also be very valuable in the primary classroom. Students probably won’t be creating their own timelines in Capzles at this age, parent helpers paired with students to create simple timelines would be appropriate. Becasue Capzles has the capability of adding audio, photos, and text, it would be the perfect place to record students reading throughout the year. As you assess student reading through reading records, record the students using a program such as Gabcast, Gcast, Audacity, or Garageband. Take a digital picture of the student reading. Througout the year, you can make a Capzle for each student. This is an excellent motivator for students, especially your struggling readers. Students can see their growth throughout the year in pictures, and hear their reading progress made throughout the year. You can share the Capzle with parents (they will go crazy for this keepsake!) and with the students future teacher. How much would you love getting a timeline of your students from the previous year? You would have a jump start on their struggles and strengths in reading as you quickly flip through their timelines. Cool huh?!

Tips: When assigning students to create a timeline, direct them to concentrate on the “meat” of the timeline first. Then they can go back and design their timeline with themes, colors, and backgrounds. If you don’t specify they will spend all of their time tweaking the look and run out of time to add the content.

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