Category: Primary Elementary

Disk Inventory X

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What it is: Summer is approaching and things are winding down on the school front. I don’t know about you but things are also slowing down on the computer front toward the end of the school year too. I always know when summer is approaching because my machine starts to run slower. I have downloaded hundreds of open source applications to try, pictures, fonts, and videos to my machine and I have created HUGE files of tutorials, videos, and lessons for my students. Normally I spend days sorting through all of the folders trying to find the culprits of my slow down and save them to disk or trash them all together. This week I learned about an awesome tool to help me speed things up from iJustine over at Tasty Blog Snack. Disk Inventory X is a disk usage utility for Mac OS X (sorry PC users, I am sure something similar exists) It shows the sizes of files and folders in “treemaps” (a graphical representation). Disk Inventory X helps solve the mystery of where all of your disk space has gone. Disk Inventory X gives detailed search results and you can delete files directly using the program…it updates live so you can see your disk space free up right before your eyes. The cost of this awesome little goody? Absolutely free!

How to integrate Disk Inventory X into the classroom:
Take a little time to free up your computer before the end of the school year. Clean your computers up for a fresh start in August. If you don’t have tech support that re-images your classroom computers, go ahead and run Disk Inventory X on them too. You are going to feel so speedy!

Tips: As a side note, if you are working to get your girls interested in technology introduce them to iJustine…she will have them amped on technology in no time! 🙂

Leave a comment and share how many Gigs you were able to free up with Disk Inventory X.

XOXO 2.0 Laptop

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on XOXO 2.0 Laptop2906 views

Normally I only post ideas that you can implement into your classroom today, but the newest version of the XO $100 laptop is too cool to pass on. Be forewarned, the new XOXO 2.0 laptop won’t be available until 2010. I have a feeling that when they are available, they will be popping up in classrooms all over the country and making one to one more of a reality. The new XOXO 2.0 will be controlled by the touch, with a very simple user interface. It looks like it is perfectly kid sized and is said to be very durable (it will have to be in a school setting!) You can read more about the XOXO 2.0 Laptop on TED. Now, if only we could install Leopard on it, it would be perfect! 😉

Send your name to the moon!

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What it is: Join NASA’s Return to the Moon by sending your name to the moon. Names are being collected online by NASA and will be placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its next mission to the moon. Students who sign up will receive a certificate showcasing their support of this historic mission back to the moon. The purpose of LRO is to map out safe landing sites, locate potential resources, collect data on the radiation environment, and to demonstrate new technologies.

How to integrate NASA’s Return to the Moon into the classroom: This project is a short and sweet one, it literally takes 10 seconds for students to sign up and receive their certificates. The project is sure to generate student interest in the LRO mission as well as space travel in general. Use NASA’s Return to the Moon as a jumping off point for further exploration of NASA and the space mission. The NASA kids site is a great place to continue exploration after your students have sent their names to the moon. The certificate of participation looks very important and official…students will love it!
Tips: The deadline for sending your name to the moon is June 27, 2008 so hop to it!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using NASA Kids in your classroom.

Shelfari

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What it is: Shelfari is a virtual bookshelf that you create to show off books that you have read and recommend. It is a Web 2.0 site that allows you to connect with students, other teachers, and parents around books. Shelfari is a great way to discover new titles, discuss books, start an online book club, and show others what you are reading. You can show off your Shelfari bookshelf on your blog, classroom website, or other social networking site of choice. Really cool!

How to integrate Shelfari into the classroom: As summer break approaches, we teachers start thinking about how far we have come during the school year with our students. We also dread that they will be on their own for the summer and may or may not be reading. Shelfari would be an excellent resource to create today and introduce your students and parents to before summer break. Build a bookshelf of age-appropriate reading for your students. Post the bookshelf on your classroom website and encourage students to continue reading with you over the summer. Because Shelfari allows for you to create online book clubs and discussions, students can keep their reading and comprehension skills in tip top shape with you! Shelfari is also an excellent resource for parents who may feel overwhelmed when they enter a library with their child. They often aren’t sure of their child’s reading level and age-appropriate books. With Shelfari, they can visit your shelf before the trip to the library for some great suggestions. Shelfari is also ideal throughout the school year as a place for you and your students to connect over reading…reading is so much more fun when you have someone to share and discuss what you are reading with! Students can create their own bookshelves to show off what they are reading. Teacher to teacher book clubs on Shelfari are also a lot of fun! Connect with other staff members over books that you are reading (they can be school related or not.) Maybe in place of the traditional book report, students start a discussion on Shelfari about their reading. Where have you been all my life Shelfari? 🙂

Tips: Use Shelfari in conjunction with Book Adventure for some real reading fun!

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

Kids in the House

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What it is: Kids in the House is a great website for kids to learn about Congress, how laws are made, about the Clerk, and the history of the House of Representatives. This interactive site includes great links, definitions, explanations, and games. It also features a section called “Tools for Learning” where teachers can find educational resources and a lesson plan library.

How to integrate Kids in the House to the classroom: Take a break from the text book for this one. Kids in the House will help your students understand how Congress works, how laws are made, and the ins and outs of the House of Representatives. This is a good one to use before our election in November. Kids in the House uses kid-friendly language and cartoons that will really help your kids understand what can be a difficult subject to get a handle on. Use the site over several days as a sort of webquest. The Time Traveler section will teach them about the history of the House of Representatives, then take a virtual field trip of the Capitol Complex, the House Chamber, and the National Statuary Hall Collection, finish up the mini unit with games that reinforce what students have learned on Kids in the House. As a side note, this is way better than the way I learned (or didn’t) about the House of Representatives! This site could be used by the whole class in a lab setting or set up as a learning center in the one or two computer classroom.

Tips: The glossary on Kids in the House is a great one, as students are exploring the site, the glossary changes based on the key terms of the page. Students can look up words as they are working.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Kids in the House in your classroom.

Computer Lab Favorites

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What it is: Computer Lab Favorites is a collection of 50 one stop learning activities created
by Scholastic. The activities are self contained and interactive.
Students can play Dude the Dog, Scientific Labeling, Human Body Math
Hunt, Around the World, Mapman challenge, Puzzled States, Classify
This, Moon Olympics, Pick the Perfect Word, Choose a Word, and many
more. Students can spin a virtual game wheel to play a game. The site
is broken down by subject and also by grade levels k-2 and 3-5.

How to integrate Computer Lab Favorites into the classroom:
As the school year winds down, allow your students to review all they
have learned over the course of the year by playing these great
interactive activities. Students can spin the game spinner and have a
game selected for them or choose a specific subject or topic of play.
Save this site for next year, it is the perfect way to introduce a
topic or put some life back into reviews! The games are content rich
and a lot of fun to play!

Tips: This would be a good site to set as the home page on your classroom
computers. It has enough games and content to keep you coming back all
year long!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Computer Lab Favorites in your classroom.

Guest Post: Kid Vid

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Guest Post: Kid Vid3500 views

Kids’ Vid: Classroom Video Production

Creating videos in a classroom setting can be an exciting way to encourage children to learn and create. However, this form of technology can be intimidating to newcomers. Both teachers and students can learn how to create, edit and share videos with Kids’ Vid.

Although there are many video resources on the Web, few are available that cater to those in a K-12 environment. Video hosting sites are often a source of objectionable material and corporate software sites are often too technical for laypersons. Kids’ Vid, however, is created specifically with teachers and young students in mind.

The video tutorials on this site are offered in four stages:

1. Scripting – The Scripting area of Kids’ Vid offers advanced storyboarding tools and tips for writing a classroom-friendly screenplay.
2. Making – The Making section covers all aspects of capturing the video, from operating the camera to lighting the video shoot.
3. Editing – The Editing area offers tips on pulling all the elements together and adding special effects.
4. Showtime – The Showtime section explains the various ways to share a video once it is edited, which includes CD-Rom, DVD and broadcasting on the Web.

Both teachers and students can benefit from the four areas above, which explain detailed techniques in an easy-to-grasp format. There is also a special area for educators that offers tips on how to integrate video production with a curriculum. Furthermore, children will enjoy the Kid Advice section, where they will learn helpful hints from their peers.

Young adults are more acclimated to video technology than ever before. Indeed, this is the “YouTube generation” and many children are very curious about how to make their own videos. Not only can you appeal to your students in a cutting-edge fashion with Kids’ Vid, you will find this medium to be very conducive with education in general.

Heather Johnson is a regular commentator on the subject of top online university. She welcomes your feedback and potential job inquiries at heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

Read the Words

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What it is: Read the Words is a free website that offers an audio player that will read anything you want. The Reader on the audio player can be listened to online, downloaded to a mp3 player, broadcasted as a podcast, or posted on a website or blog. The first step to creating your reader is selecting what you want read, this can be uploaded from a PDF, MS Word, HTML file, or input manually, cut and pasted, through RSS or URL. Step 2 is selecting a reader for your purposes, there are 14 readers to choose from. The readers speak English, Spanish, and French. Each reader has unique voices and some have accents. You can control the reader’s speed and pitch. Best of all it takes approximately one minute to generate an hour long recording.

How to integrate Read the Words into the classroom: Read the Words would be an excellent way to guide a webquest for students, create a reader to steer students through each activity in the webquest. If you have mp3 players available for checkout, create a reader for guided reading. These can be used in class during silent reading time or checked out for home use so that the student learning day can be extended. The readers would be excellent for history or science reading where vocabulary can be challenging. Read the Words is perfect for your auditory learners and because you can have text that is already in your lesson read, the differentiation for these students is short and sweet. Read the Words would also be great for English language learners or for English speakers learning Spanish or French.

Tips:
Take some time initially to listen to each of the readers. Choose the one that is easiest for your students to understand and best fits your purposes.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Read the Words in your classroom.

Leon Math Movies

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What it is: Leon Math Movies is a part of the I Know That website that I have posted about in the past. After introducing this to a new set of second graders today I knew I needed to write about this specific part of I Know That. The kids absolutely love Leon Math Movies and it helps them practice their math skills (truly they will play this one at home without being asked). It is a great way to reinforce math facts and give some great math fact practice. Best of all it can be adapted to whatever math skill they are learning. They can practice counting, skip counting, all levels of addition, all levels of subtraction, multiplication, division, and a mix of addition and subtraction. Leon is a chameleon that goes on adventures (think Indiana Jones), as the cartoon plays, students have to solve math problems on the on screen PDA to help Leon during his adventures. The storylines and graphics are really well done and fun. Students can choose from 3 math adventure movies and any combination of practice they need. When they finish an adventure they can print out a certificate showing their math fact progress. So much fun!!

How to integrate Leon Math Movies into the classroom: Leon Math Movies are perfect for any classroom or lab configuration. The movies are fun for whole class participation on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector, call students up one at a time to help Leon by solving math problems. This is also a good one to set up on the classroom computers as a math center that students can visit throughout the week. Or, you can use it in the computer lab setting with each student playing individually. If you live in an area where you can assign this one for homework, I guarantee you will have full class participation!

Tips: There are banner ads on the I Know That website, I use these as an opportunity to talk to my class about what an ad is and what the advertisers want us to do. There is also an option to register before playing a game. I always tell my students to choose the “Maybe Later” option so that we don’t have to worry about keeping track of usernames and passwords.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Leon Math Movies in your classroom.

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