Category: Teacher Resources

Heifer International: Game for Change

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Heifer International: Game for Change3598 views

Picture 1

What it is: Heifer International works with communities to end hunger, poverty, and care for the earth.  Heifer International does not give hand-outs, they offer hand ups.  Transforming lives of hunger and poverty, into sustained lives of hope.  Using gifts of livestock and training, Heifer International helps families improve nutrition and generate sustainable income.  I have written about a program that Heifer International has before, called Read to Feed.  I highly recommend that you take a look at the Read to Feed program if you haven’t seen it before.  Heifer International has partnered with BeaconFire and ForgeFX to create an interactive 3D game that teaches students about hunger and poverty in a virtual world.  Through Heifer International: Game for Change, students will learn about real world conditions of poverty and how communities can create sustainable solutions.  Through game play, students will learn about sustainable options for help.  In the game, students take on the role of a 12 year old Nepalese girl in a village that struggles with poverty and hunger.  There are four tasks/missions that students must complete in the current (beta) version of the game.  Each task offers an activity that teaches a core principle.  One example is a task where students learn about deforestation that makes it more difficult to collect firewood used to cook dinner.  The lessons in the game mirror real-life happenings in Nepal with Heifer International’s partners.  The game is currently in Beta version and the creators are asking for suggestions here.  

How to integrate Heifer International: Game for Change into the classroom: Heifer International: Game for Change is an excellent way to offer your students global education, awareness, and encourage them to action.  Students will learn important lessons about issues like poverty and environmental degradation in a real, hands on, manner.  Start out with a geography lesson, encouraging students to find Nepal on a map or globe.  Use Google Earth or Scribble Maps to put a place marker on Nepal and a place marker where they live.  Talk with students about issues of poverty and hunger, exploring the Heifer International site for students where they can watch videos, do experiments, and play games.  Next, allow your students to step into the story by taking the role of a Nepalese girl living in an impoverished village.  Students should work to complete all 4 tasks in the game and keep a journal (online or off) of their thoughts as they complete the game.  Was it hard to find food, wood, water?  There are a lot of lessons packed in here, from geography and social studies, to reading and following directions and character education.

As an extension activity, students could create VoiceThreads or Animoto videos about Heifer International.  Tie in the Read to Feed program so that your students can get hands on with Heifer International.  Use their completed VoiceThreads or Animoto videos as “advertisements” for the Read to Feed program.

If your students are anything like mine, they will have definite opinions about the game.  Why not take advantage of that, and have them offer suggestions and praise that can be used by the creators?  Have students craft their ideas and send them here.

Tips: If you haven’t signed up for the Read to Feed program, it is an outstanding program.  It includes free DVD, leaders guide, poster, storybook (Beatrice’s Goat), brochures, bookmarks, student rewards, and standard based curriculum.  Get your students excited about reading and involved in their global community, it is never too early to get your students thinking about others!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Heifer International: Game for Change in your classroom.

Grammaropolis

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Grammaropolis6259 views

Picture 1

What it is: Grammaropolis is a fun find that helps students learn the parts of speech.  In Grammaropolis, all of the characters are a different part of speech.  Students will “meet” Adverb, Linking Verb, Pronoun, Adjective, Preposition, Slang, Noun, Conjunction, Interjection, and Action Verb.  Each character is personified with personalities inspired by their grammatical roles in a sentence.  The characters interact with each other the same way that parts of speech interact in a sentence, brilliant!  Each character has a character card that tells a story about them.  Students can watch short Grammaropolis videos starring the characters (parts of speech) that live there.  Students can take Grammaropolis quizzes, complete word sorts, and color the characters of Grammaropolis in an online coloring book in the games section.  Students will enjoy the fun Grammaropolis song featuring all of the characters of Grammaropolis.  Coming soon, students will be able to read a book series starring the Grammaropolis characters.  

How to integrate Grammaropolis into the classroom: Visual learners will absolutely love this site that personifies the parts of speech.  All learners will appreciate the stories about the parts of speech.  We learn best through story.  Story gives us a framework for our understanding of new concepts and helps us to use those new concepts.  Grammar is often a subject that is taught purely through memorization of rules and drill and skill exercises.  This makes it difficult for students to really understand grammar.  Grammaropolis is an excellent solution to this problem.  Use the Grammaropolis character cards to introduce students to new parts of speech.  Watch the videos and listen to the song as a class to delve deeper into the character traits that each part of speech has.  The books on Grammaropolis are coming soon, while students await these, why not encourage your students to write their own stories that include the characters of Grammaropolis?  Do you have older students that could use a parts of speech refresher? Have them create stories using the characters for younger students.   The characters have already been developed for them!  Print out the character cards and post them around the classroom.  This will help your visual learners, when you talk about “Pronoun” they will be able to associate it with a character and story.  Set up the Grammaropolis games on classroom computers as a literacy center that students can visit to practice their understanding of the parts of speech.

Tips: Grammaropolis is currently holding a contest.  Helping Verb is lost, students can draw what they think Helping Verb should look like.  Submissions will be accepted until March 31, 2010 (so start this contest with your students today!).  Five finalists will be posted on the Grammaropolis blog on April 7 with a winner announced April 22.  The winner will recieve a gift pack, there character drawn by a professional and added to the Grammaropolis team, and receive a 20″x30″ poster featuring their character singed by the Powerhouse animators that make the Grammaropolis videos.  The winning character will debut in Action Verb’s book in the book series.

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

Stories of Learning: Story #2

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Stories of Learning: Story #22542 views

Picture 5

Megan Palevich (@mrspal) was nice enough to share a Story of Learning with me yesterday.  Her story is entitled “To Kill a Mockingbird Meets the 21st Century”.  This is learning her students will remember for years to come.  I have a feeling that they will always have a special place in their hearts for the characters that they met on this social networking journey.  Thank you for sharing with me Megan!

Read the story here.

Megan has an excellent blog called Middle School 101, a great addition to your RSS reader!

Scribble Maps

Kelly Tenkely8 Comments on Scribble Maps9644 views

Picture 2

What it is: Sometimes I use a website and recommend a website so often in my own corner of the world, that I forget to share it with all of you.  Scribble Maps is one of those websites.  Jonathan Wylie posted about Scribble Maps on his blog, Educational Technology Blog, last week and it made me wonder if I had ever posted here about it.  A quick search revealed I had not.  That sent me on a search through my blog of websites that I use most often with my students, and many of them have been overlooked here.  I guess I assume everyone knows about them because I use them so much.  You know what they say about people assuming things…  So, I will sprinkle in blog posts of some well known tools (in my classroom) as I realize they are absent!   Scribble Maps is a website that lets you scribble, draw, and annotate over Google maps.  Scribble Maps even lets you print your maps, save them, embed them on your website, blog, or wiki or save them as jpeg images to your computer.  Sweet, huh?!  In addition to annotating over maps, you can also add place markers with titles and descriptions, and add images to the map.  Maps can be viewed as regular maps, terrain maps, hybrid maps, or satellite maps making it pretty ideal for every classroom need.

How to integrate Scribble Maps into the classroom: The days of bulky pull down maps taking up space in your classroom are over.  If you have an interactive whiteboard or computer with projector, Scribble Maps is all you need.  (You couldn’t write on those expensive maps anyway!)  Scribble Maps is perfect for your every map need.  Whether it is a quick reference or an in depth geography lesson, Scribble Maps is easy to use, save, and print.  Use Scribble Maps in literature or history and drop place markers with descriptions on a map as students read.  Students will have a better idea of what is happening in story when they can visually see places mentioned marked out on a map.  Scribble Maps would be a great tool for those Flat Stanley projects that elementary classrooms across the country do each school year.  Create a map and plot all of the places that Stanley traveled, attach pictures of Stanley, with those he visited, on the map.  Play map games calling out geographical places and having students find them on the map and tag them with the information they know.

Scribble Maps lets you share maps via Facebook, in the high school classroom create a class page that students can become fans of and post homework help, links to educational websites, etc.

My Technology Tuesday tip of the week is for Scribble Maps.  Check out Quick Tip 14 here.

Tips: As a side note, if you are not reading Jonathan’s blog, it is one to add to your RSS reader!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Scribble Maps in your classroom.

Stories of Learning

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Stories of Learning4308 views

Picture 2

Stories of Learning is another new blog I am launching this week.  I interact with teachers every day who are innovative, creative, and doing transformative things in education.  We need to collect these stories in one place.  Stories of Learning is (I hope) a place where we can record all of these.  Write a guest post, cross post something that you have already written, I would love it all!

Webspiration Wednesday

Kelly Tenkely14 Comments on Webspiration Wednesday5296 views

Today I instituted Webspiration Wednesday at my school.  I have noticed over the years that second semester seems to be lacking motivation and morale January through March.  Maybe it is because winter is STILL dragging on, maybe it is because it feels like a long stretch before spring break, or maybe it is because the complaints of the year are really settling in.  I have noticed this phenomenon in all the schools I have been in.  During last weeks #edchat on Twitter, I learned that low morale is a common problem that most schools face.  As we talked about ways to boost morale, I thought about the ways that my amazing PLN boosts my morale every day.  They encourage me, give me new ideas, and reignite my passion with the great links they share.  I wanted to bring some of that to my school.  I wanted teachers to have a chance to laugh together, and enjoy each others company, and get away from the teachers lounge which can end up being a place to gripe about everything that has gone wrong that morning.

Last night, in a moment of divine inspiration, I decided that it was high time for Webspiration Wednesday.  So, this morning I sent out invitations to the entire staff to join me for Webspiration Wednesday lunch in the library.   Teachers trickled into the library, lunches in toe, and we sat down and watched a TED Talk together.  I chose “Sir Ken Robinson Says That Schools Kill Creativity”.  It was a great Ted Talk to start Webspiration Wednesday with, not only is Sir Ken Robinson inspiring, he also has a great sense of humor.  He had us laughing together (which as it turns out is a great stress reliever) and thinking about school and our students in new ways.  After the video had ended a spontaneous and lively discussion ensued about those kids that we have in our classrooms that we are stifling.  We offered each other ideas for giving them room to be creative.  It was fantastic.  We all left are short 25 min. lunch feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.  I wonder if the students noticed a difference in teacher attitudes after lunch?  I plan to hold Webspiration Wednesday every week and have asked my PLN on Twitter to join in using the hash tag #webspirationwednesday if they come across inspiring articles, videos, lessons, stories, etc.

Now a disclaimer, I did not ask permission to start Webspiration Wednesday.  I just did it.   Sometimes I think it is better to ask forgiveness (if need be) than to ask permission.  In our #edchat discussion, we talked about who should have the responsibility to boost morale in a school.  My answer was everyone has that responsibility.  I decided to take my own challenge and be the one who tried something new, something different.  Will you be that person at your school?  What boosts your morale? What have you seen work well in the school setting?

Below is the TED Talk that we watched together, I believe you will find it inspiring.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, my PLN (Personal Learning Network) on Twitter has been a great source of joy, encouragement, and friendship.  I have never met 98% of my PLN in person, and yet they are always there for me, cheering me on and offering suggestions when  I fail.  If you haven’t made the leap into the world of Twitter, I highly recommend it.  If you are looking for a top notch group of educators to follow, may I suggest the Edublogger Alliance group?  Once you are on Twitter, be sure to join in on #edchat.  There are two #edchat conversations that take place every Tuesday.  I can feel myself getting smarter as I learn from the BEST educators in the world every Tuesday.  Just follow the hash tag #edchat and be sure to add it to the end of your Twitter messages to participate.  I can promise that you won’t be disappointed.

If I am speaking Greek to you, take a look at @shellterrell’s posts about #edchat and PLN’s.  She will have you joining in the conversation and fun in no time!

Amazing Race Staff Meeting

Kelly Tenkely18 Comments on Amazing Race Staff Meeting6711 views

Picture 2

Staff meetings are generally very dry affairs. Often they become reiterations of the email memos that have been sent out.  In an effort to make our staff meetings more worthwhile experiences, I suggested that we use our March staff meeting to show teachers a different way of learning.  I didn’t just want to tell teachers about the benefits of constructivist learning, I wanted them to experience the benefits first hand.  I proposed holding an Amazing Race competition with our staff.  We would split the staff into teams, give them tasks, clues, detours, and road blocks.  The first team to complete the tasks would receive a “sweet million” (a King sized Hershey bar with a Starbucks gift card attached).

Tasks: These were things that the team had to do together.  For example one of our tasks was to count all of the biographies in the library, and subtract the sum of biographies that were less than 100 pages.  (Our 3rd grade students are required to read biographies that are more than 100 pages, the idea was to get teachers looking through the biographies, realizing the small number of appropriate biographies that meet their requirements).  Some of our other tasks included, stopping somewhere in the building and taking a silly team picture with a camera stationed there, searching United Streaming for an Animal Cracker (idioms) video, filling out a Google Form that asked questions about previous tasks, and using search tricks in Google.

Clues: These pointed the teams to the next task. We had route markers throughout the rooms and halls to point the way.

Detour Clue: These are random tasks.  Example: Find a maintenance form, substitute form, and reimbursement form and write who should receive each at the top of the form.

Road Block: These are completed by only one member of the team. For example: jump rope and have a teammate take a picture.

We started our Amazing Race Staff Meeting by giving each team colored bandannas, a school map, a bottle of water, pen, and notebook.  Before the race began, we watched a CHC Amazing Race video.  Our teams were off, teachers were running down the hallway and shouting directions to each other.  They were working, learning, and having fun together.

You can see our Amazing Race video and Google form here.

The meeting was a huge success.  Morale was boosted, staff bonds were strengthened, and teachers participated in a different kind of learning.  It was fun! I had NO idea how competitive our staff is.

What creative staff meetings have you been a part of?  What kinds of staff meetings do you find most useful?

Crocodoc

Kelly Tenkely3 Comments on Crocodoc3676 views

Picture 1

What it is: Crocodoc is a new online tool that is quickly becoming a go-to application in my technology  toolbox.  Crocodoc lets you easily share and review documents online including pdfs, Word documents, and PowerPoint slides.

It is as easy as 1-2-3

1. Upload the document from your computer or a URL (no registration required!).

2. Mark up the document using the built in highlighter, sticky notes, strike out, and text.

3. Share the unique URL of your Crocodoc with others.

This is an easy way to collaborate on projects, edit student work, and critique written works.  Since Crocodoc was released last week, I have used it to share numerous documents with my students, edit a technology grant, send a lesson plans to teachers with notes about how to use them, and added my suggestions to a PowerPoint presentation.  It is SO easy to use, and since it doesn’t require registration, it is perfect for the classroom.

How to integrate Crocodoc into the classroom: Crocodoc is sure to become a favorite in the classroom setting.  Students can submit their work to you using Crocodoc.  You can add notes, highlight, and edit the document and “send”  the revisions back to the students.  Share documents with your colleagues using Crocodoc, this is an easy way to collaborate on lesson plans, educational articles, and presentations.  Students can use Crocodoc to collaborate on group projects.  It is simple to go back and forth on a document adding notes, text suggestions, highlight, and strikeout. Many free e-books can be viewed as PDF files, upload the e-book to Crocodoc and share the URL with students.  Students can highlight and add virtual sticky notes to the text as they read.  If you teach using PowerPoint slides, upload the presenations to Crocodoc to share with students who were absent.  The absent student can review the presentation, add notes, and type questions that they may have about the learning.

Tips: Crocodoc is free to use, there is no registration or sign up required.  Each document is stored securely and given a unique URL that you choose to share.  Crocodoc also offers premium pro accounts for documents that need to be password protected, priority tech support, and searchable document histories.  The paid option has some nice features, but the free option should handle everything that students and teachers need it to.

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

National Geographic Young Explorer

Kelly Tenkely10 Comments on National Geographic Young Explorer5787 views

Picture 1

What it is: National Geographic has fantastic resources for the classroom.  Their Young Explorer online content is not to be missed in the primary classroom.  This is an online magazine specifically for kindergarten and first grade student (I think second grade students would also benefit).  The site lets students listen and read the latest stories from National Geographic Young Explorer.  The photographs are breath taking and the reading is very accessible to beginning readers and English language learners.  Each portion of the text has a speaker next to it that allows students to listen to the text.  Click on the “More Issues” button to access past issues.  In the “For Teachers” section, you will find print versions of the teacher’s guides complete with lesson plans, discussion questions, accompanying worksheets, and more.  There is a very helpful story planner that gives you upcoming themes.  These may be helpful when planning upcoming lessons.  

How to integrate National Geographic Young Explorer into the classroom: It can be hard to find quality, accessible informational reading for primary students.  National Geographic has solved this problem with Young Explorer.  I am amazed that National Geographic is offering these online for free!  Struggling readers can listen to the text read to them and read along.  English language learners receive support for their reading of the text.  The photographs and images are nothing less than excellent.  The teacher materials that are included will help you to utilize the magazines and stories effectively.

Read and discuss Young Explorer stories as a class using a projector or interactive whiteboard.  Teach your students how to read informational text, and the comprehension strategies that will help them to understand what they are reading.  Set up Young Explorer on the classroom computers as a reading center for students to visit during reading time.  Take a look at the Young Explorer archives to see if any of the past issues will support the learning you are doing in the classroom.

Tips: In the “For Teachers” section, you will find a link to interactive whiteboard content.  This is a link to National Geographic’s premium content that can be found on Promethean Planet.  These flipcharts are fantastic and include a teachers guide, printable blackline masters, teaching notes, and offline materials.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using National Geographic Young Explorer in your classroom.