Category: inspiration

2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book1808 views

What it is:  Curriclick is a site that I have mentioned before that provides free and low cost curriculum for download and use in your classroom.  Today they released a 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book for download.  After the speech today it would be great to download and use some of the reading and activities in your classroom.   

 

How to integrate 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book into the classroom:  I don’t know about you but I found that many of my students still didn’t “get” president Obama’s Inauguration speech even after viewing it.  Use this free lap book download to help your students understand the history behind the Inauguration speech.  Watch the speech again as a class or read the transcript of the speech.  Help your students understand this historic occasion with the help of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book.  I wish that they had released this one sooner!

 

Tips: This is a 40+ page guide.  Download the pdf version and only print out the pages you are going to use in your classroom.  NOTE!  I tried to access this site just a few min. ago and could not get to it, probably because of the flood of traffic.  Try back later today if the links in this post don’t seem to be working.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how your students responded to the speech.

Obama’s Inauguration Speech

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Obama’s Inauguration Speech2216 views

What it is: Barak Obama’s inauguration speech is taking place tomorrow morning!  Make sure that your students (regardless of age) are a part of this historic moment.  Wouldn’t it be neat if your students remembered sitting in your classroom watching and discussing the speech?  Hulu is going to host the speech live.  Because traffic to Hulu is bound to be heavy, I am also going to embed the speech right here on iLearn Technology.  Feel free to come here and watch the speech with me!  

 

How to integrate Obama’s Inauguration Speech into the classroom:  It isn’t every day that you can watch history in the making live in your classroom!  This is a historic moment that every student should be a part of.  Come back to iLearn Technology or Hulu to view the speech live.  It might be fun to make up a speech bingo card and see how many of the words students can pick out of the speech.  I’m sure a ready made bingo card will pop up somewhere!  If it does, I will update this post with the link.  

 

Tips: It will be interesting to see what people are saying about the speech via Twitter! 

 

Leave a comment and tell us how your students responded to the speech.

Pic Lits

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Pic Lits5912 views

 

What it is:   Pic Lits is a really neat creative writing site that provides pictures and a word bank for students to create a enriched sentence or sentences about the picture.   “The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.”  Students can choose to only drag words from the word bank to create their sentence or compose a sentence freestyle. 

 

How to integrate Pic Lits into the classroom:   Pic Lits is a great way to get students to think creatively and critically about writing.  Students can choose any picture and then use the word list to create a sentence.  Pic Lits is complete with punctuation and any word can be capatalized.  Students can use Pic Lits individually on computers, as a whole class with a projector, or as a creative writing center in the one or two computer classroom.  When using Pic Lits as a class, choose a picture for the day and have students write their sentences on paper using words from the word bank.  Take turns sharing to hear the combination of words and the different meanings that students gathered from the picture.  This is a great writing exercise to use  in your classroom every day!  Here in Colorado, we often have indoor recesses for bad weather.  Use Pic Lits with an interactive whiteboard and invite your cooped up students to choose pictures and create sentences.  

 

Tips: Students can sign up for a free account and save each Pic Lit they create.  At the end of the year, each student can create a book of their Pic Lits to take home for creative inspiration. 

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Pic Lits in your classroom.

Readicide

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Readicide2565 views

What it is:  Readicide is a new ebook from Kelly Gallagher about how schools are killing the love of reading.  It is being made available here Jan. 13 and 14 as a free download.  I downloaded Readicide earlier today and am loving it.  The ebook reminds me of what made me love reading, the times when I hated reading, and how my students feel about reading.  It is inspiring and may just give you the jolt you need to shake up your reading program and make your classroom the place where students fall in love with reading again (or the very first time).

 

How to integrate Readicide into the classroom:   Download Readicide ASAP!   Then send to your administration and fellow teaching staff to read.  Open up communication about your reading program at the next staff meeting, be critical.  Lets start a reading revolution!!

 

Tips: Download today while the ebook is free 🙂  I vote “readicide” to be considered as a new word for Webster to add to the dictionary.

 

Leave a comment and tell us what you think of Readicide and your ideas for bring a love of reading into your classroom.

FETC Virtual Conference ’09

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on FETC Virtual Conference ’097523 views

 

What it is:  Save the date!  FETC is having a free virtual conference on April 23, 2009.  The virtual conference is ideal for k-12 educators and technology staff exploring the most important issues related to 21st century skills.  Topics will include career and technical education, the Obama administration’s global workforce development agenda, and digital teaching methods and tools.  You will learn about the latest in 21st century skills from engaging speakers.  FETC Virtual Conference is offering a virtual networking lounge to expand your network of k-12 educators and technology experts, access to other participants through instant messaging, and free content downloads and presentation to go.    You will also be able to virtually attend technology product and service demonstrations and Q&A sessions with technology experts!  This is a completely FREE event, you can go as a staff!

 

How to integrate FETC Virtual Conference ’09 into the classroom:   FETC is one of the leading technology conferences in the country.  With budget cuts this year, you may not have the option to attend the full FETC conference.  This free virtual conference is an outstanding opportunity, be sure to take advantage of it!  You will learn from some of the best educators and are sure to get practical technology integration tips, tools, and ideas.  See you there!

 

Tips: Register today at http://virtual.fetc.org.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us if you will be attending FETC Virtual Conference.

Museum Box

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Museum Box3923 views

What it is:    Museum Box is a website that I heard about through a tweet on Twitter a few weeks ago that is really impressing me today (that is saying a lot since today is MacWorld and they are announcing big things!).  Museum Box is based on the work of Thomas Clarkson who collected items in a box to help him in his argument for the abolition of slavery.  He collected items in a box to demonstrate to others the fine craftsmanship and abilities of the African culture.  He used his box as a sort of travelling museum to aid him in his debate.  The Museum Box website provides a place for students to collect information and arguments in a virtual museum box of their own.  They can collect items to provide a description or add to an argument of a historical event, place, or time period.  Students can add images, text, sounds, video, external links, etc. to each compartment of the box helping them form their own virtual museum.  The Museum Box can be shared as a presentation, saved, or printed.  After a box has been created, students can view one anothers boxes and leave comments about the box.  You really have to check this one out!  So neat for history and literature classes!

 

How to integrate Museum Box into the classroom:  Use Museum Box as a medium for students to learn about and collect information about a historical event, person, or time period.  Because students can upload their own content to Museum Box, you might also have them create a box all about them.  This would be a great way for students to get to know each other at the beginning of the year.  Museum box is a neat way to share information about geography, students can make a box all about a place including items in their box that are unique to that place.  The ability to incorporate text, sounds, images, video, and uploaded items makes Museum Box especially impressive!  After students have created boxes, spend time viewing other’s boxes and leaving comments about the box.  This is kind of like a science fair atmosphere for history, geography, and literature.   Yet another tool I wish I had in school!

 

Tips:  Introduce Museum Box to your students by learning about Thomas Clarkson, he is a very interesting historical figure that I had never heard of!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Museum Box in your classroom.

Aviary

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Aviary2315 views

 

 

What it is:  Aviary is a website on a mission to make creativity more accessible.  They do this by making powerful image software available online (no download required) and with free versions of the online software.  Aviary has four different offerings: Peacock, Phoenix, Toucan, and Raven.  Because each tool does something different, I am going to break it down into four posts.  Phoenix is an image editor and the first Aviary tool I will review.  Phoenix is an image editor that allows for basic image editing or complex effects, it has many of the same features as that expensive software suite (Adobe) but has the benefit of being based online and free! 🙂  There is a rich tool set with features familiar to graphics and image programs like brushes, and blend modes.  Just like the more expensive software, Aviary allows students to work on projects in layers with an intuative, easy-to-use, drag and drop interface.  Images can be imported from other popular sites like Flickr, Facebooks, and Picasa.  Any creation in Phoenix can be imported and used in other Aviary tools.

 

How to integrate Aviary into the classroom:  Aviary Phoenix is an awesome tool for classroom image editing.  This is a great alternative to expensive image editors, but looks and works enough like the ‘big dogs’ that students who learn how to use Aviary will be able to easily transfer the knowledge if and when they need to.  Aviary currently has 62 Phoenix tutorials.  Students can work through the tutorials and teach themselves the program.  I like this method of self discovery and teaching,  it is an important skill for students to learn that we don’t teach enough in the classroom.  Ask students to create brochures, advertisements, or other graphic media to illustrate concepts in the classroom using digital art.  Aviary is a nice introduction into graphic arts and digital media.

 

Tips:  It is fun to look through creations that others have made and try to figure out how they used Aviary Phoenix to create.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Aviary Phoenix  in your classroom.

Kids’ Science Challenge

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Kids’ Science Challenge2472 views

 

What it is:  Kids’ Science Challenge is a nationwide competition for 3rd- 6th graders to submit experiment ideas and problems for real scientists and engineers to solve.  Teachers or after school science programs can enter their classes for this contest that will inspire students to find the fun in science.  The deadline for entry is January 31st, 2009 so get this one in before the holiday break!  The grand prize winner will win a visit with the scientist or engineer to work with them to solve the question or problem proposed, along with possible appearances in Kids’ Science Challenge videos and Pulse of the Planet radio programs.  Other prizes include: a tour of the flavor lab, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream party, science kits, Kids’ Science Encyclopedia and Science books, visit to the SETI institute, telescope, personal planetariums, celestial seeker, a visit to a skateboard engineering workshop, a visit to your school from a pro-skater, a week at camp Woodyard, a skateboard, a physics workshop, a research cruise, kayak, handheld digital microscope, and more!  If that isn’t incentive to give it a try, I don’t know what is!  The first 1000 entrants get a free science activity kit.  The Kids’ Science Challenge website is a great place to explore even if you won’t be able to participate in the challenge.  Students are introduced to real scientists through video, can play science games, and find additional activities including downloadable science projects.  

 

How to integrate Kids’ Science Challenge into the classroom:  Invite your students to explore the Kids’ Science Challenge website and then journal some original questions, problems, or experiment ideas that are related to one of the four fields of science including flavor science, water quality, skateboard engineering, and the search for life in outer space.  This is a great opportunity to use technology creatively to present the questions and problems that students have and want solved.  Think blogs, websites, video, or podcast.  

 

Tips:  Be sure to check out the great lesson plans for the k-12 classroom to use for each of the scientific fields explored on this site.  The lesson plans are aligned to National Science Education Standards.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Kids’ Science Challenge in your classroom.

Woopid Video Tutorials

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Woopid Video Tutorials2839 views

 

 

 

What it is:   Woopid is one of the best sites I have seen for technology training video tutorials.  You can find a video about nearly every gadget or computer question you may have.  The videos are very easy to search by category or keyword.  Video categories include Hardware, Internet, Mac, and Windows.  Each category has a number of sub categories, I am amazed at the number and quality of videos here! Don’t see the tutorial you need?  Send in a request and Woopid may choose your suggestion for the next training video.

 

How to integrate Woopid into the classroom:  I can’t tell you how much I learn through online tutorials like these.   The computer skills that I have did not come from a classroom, I generally learn from interacting with video and written tutorials.  I love these videos because they are easy to follow and understand.  I think teaching students how to teach themselves is a valuable skill and Woopid helps you do that.  Give students a few resource sites like Woopid, then give them a task.  Don’t teach them how to complete the task, let them use the resources to find the information they need and teach themselves.  You will be amazed at what your students can accomplish when they learn how to learn!  Woopid is also a great site to pass onto colleagues!

 

Tips:  Parents may benefit from Woopid at home, many times parents don’t know how to set up filters and parental controls on their  personal Internet, Woopid can help out!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Woopid in your classroom.