Tag: interactive

Bookcasting

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Bookcasting4760 views


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What it is: Bookcasting is actually a term I made up. It is essentially a podcast about a book. My third grade students just finished their first round of Bookcast recordings that we uploaded to a Wetpaint Wiki. A Bookcast is a movie trailer-like review of a book that students create and share with one another. My students used GarageBand to record their podcasts (you could also use a free tool like Audacity) and add sound effects, then they published the Bookcast on our class G-cast account, and finally embedded the media player onto our WetPaint wiki.

How to integrate Bookcasting into your curriculum: Bookcasting is a fun alternative to the standard book report. It allows kids to be creative and gives them a great sense of audience. Bookcasting also has the added benefit of acting as a book review for other students to listen to. Bookcasting makes story retell a lot of fun! My plan is to have a link to our WetPaint wiki in the library so that students can listen to a peer review of a book before they check it out.

Tips: I had all of my students create a Bookcast on the same book before reviewing on their own. This gave them an easy starting place but still provided room for creativity. Click on the Easy Reader link on our wiki to hear the Bookcasts the students created.

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

Book Flix

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Book Flix1744 views

 

What it is: Book Flix is a new offering by Scholastic that instills students with a love of reading and learning with paired fiction and nonfiction online. Book Flix is a subscription based service that is delivered over the Internet for teachers, librarians and parents. Right now you can try Book Flix in your classroom for free with a trial. The basic trial offers one pair of books about rain but a full free 30 day trial of all 80 Book Flix offerings is also available for schools. Book Flix offers a neat experience pairing fiction and nonfiction books. Students can watch and listen to the books read to them, read them independently, meet the author, play accompanying games, and view related kid friendly web links. There are quality lesson plans for teachers for each Book Flix. Check out the freebies and see how Book Flix might benefit your class, if you never order Book Flix the freebie is worth using!

How to integrate Book Flix into your curriculum: Use Book Flix that match up with your current curriculum, the fiction and nonfiction books and websites will greatly enhance what you already have in place. The quality of interactive books really is impressive and will give students a greater appreciation of both fiction and nonfiction literature.

Tips: Try out the basic Book Flix freebie first with the topic of rain, if you like the concept you can sign up for the free 30 day full trial with access to all 80 Book Flix. The freebie should carry you through the end of the school year (or pretty close). Test it out on your students and see how they like it 🙂

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

Science Buddies

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Science Buddies2471 views

What it is: This is one of those websites that makes me wish I was still a student! Science Buddies is revolutionizing the science fair project by helping kids discover their secret science passions. Students fill out a survey/questionnaire and based on their answers, Science Buddies gives them some topics that might be of interest to that student. Students can select the topic that most resonates with them and see a collection of related science fair project ideas and experiments. Very neat!

How to integrate Science Buddies into your curriculum: This is an awesome site that will help students discover that they do indeed like science. The questionnaire is the perfect way to help your students discover the science topics that will hold their interest. Use science buddies at the beginning of the school year to discover what your students science interests are…this may help direct your science studies for the year! Students can use Science Buddies to help them prepare for a school or class science fair.

Tips: Make sure to visit the teacher section of Science Buddies for some great downloads. Print out scientific method posters, guides on how to run a successful science fair and much more. This really is a must visit site!

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

Tumble Books

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Tumble Books2295 views

What it is: Tumble Books is an incredible site that reads popular stories with kids in an interactive book. The Tumble Books site also has fun quizzes, puzzles, and games that correlate with the different books. Students can have the story read to them, read it on their own, and have individual words sounded out for them. When students are finished with the story they can take a quiz on the book to check for comprehension or write a book review.

How to integrate Tumble Books into the classroom: Tumble Books is wonderful for emergent readers, remedial reading students, and independent readers. Because the level of support is adjustable, the same Tumble Book can be used in your classroom with every student regardless of reading level. Set up a reading center in the one computer classroom or each student can work at their level in a computer lab setting. These interactive books are popular with students and increase student phonics, reading comprehension, and reading strategies. Encourage students to read with Tumble Books at home as well…a great way to extend the learning day! Students can take a quiz on the book when they are finished or write a book review for other students to read. Everything about this site is amazing! Instead of popping in a video on those indoor recess days, use a projector and have the kids read along with a Tumble Book. Split the class into teams to play the games, they can take turns coming to the computer during their turn.

Tips: I have linked to Tumble Books through the Toronto Library. Schools and libraries can subscribe to Tumble Books for a very reasonable yearly subscription. Tumble Books also has a free 30 day trial that you can sign up for before committing to a subscription.

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

ChitChat Educational Network

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on ChitChat Educational Network1773 views

ChitChat Educational Network seems to have been shut down.  If anyone is aware of what happened to them or where they moved to, please leave a comment.  What a bummer!

What it is: ChitChat Educational Network is knocking my socks off right now! I cannot believe that such a comprehensive COOL site is completely free! This one is definitely a must see! ChitChat is “an educational network where teachers can share real course content, make free class pages, and develop interactive online assignments.” But thats not all…ChitChat also provides teachers and students with tools such as flash cards. Teachers can create flash cards for students to study with and automatically receive data on each student in the class. ChitChat also offers a place for students to submit assignments online. This is classroom 2.0 on steroids! After students have submitted an assignment, teachers can provide feedback right in the assignment along with the grade. ChitChat provides a secure “drop box” for teachers to collect electronic documents. Only the teacher and student who submitted the assignment have access to it.

How to integrate ChitChat into the classroom: ChitChat makes it easy to connect with your students and continue learning outside of your classroom. Students can learn, submit assignments, collaborate, and see scores online. ChitChat will also be well used as a place to share content with colleagues. Use as a professional development community within your school or to share lessons with teammates.

Tips: Blended Learning is a new buzzword you should know. A Blended Learning Environment mixes traditional classroom instruction with online coursework. ChitChat is the perfect tool to use for Blended Learning.

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

Childtopia Tales

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Childtopia Tales4117 views

What it is: Childtopia is like 10 websites in one…they have so many cool things going on that I am going to break it down into sections so stay tuned… The Tales section of Childtopia has 7 books to choose from. Students can hear these books read to them in five different languages. The books are recognizable favorites such as The Ugly Duckling, and Goldie Locks and the Three Bears.

How to integrate Childtopia Tales into the classroom: Use Childtopia Tales as a listening or read along center in your classroom. The Childtopia interface is great, the pages of the book turn just like a real book and there are illustrations on each page of the story. If you teach a foreign language the books would also be wonderful because they are such recognizable stories. Invite the students to make a list of words that they know as the listen and read along with the story.

Tips: This is one that you will want to bookmark for easy access!

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

Into the Book

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Into the Book2778 views

What it is: This is one of the most incredible reading websites I have come across. Into the Book “is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers.” It focuses on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing and Synthesizing. The site has a series of 15 min. videos for students teaching and amazing interactive web resources that can be saved! Teachers have access to great lesson plans, downloads, and videos. Check out this site, you will be wowed!

How to integrate Into the Book into the classroom: In the student section, students drag a picture representing one of the eight strategies onto the book. First they watch a short video describing the strategy and how it works, then they can try it themselves. The site is an excellent introduction to key reading strategies. Students can learn about and practice reading strategy here. The interactive environment is a fun and exciting, even your most reluctant readers will enjoy this site. If you have a projector you can use the videos on this site with the whole class. In the one to two computer classroom, use the site during center time. The site is ideal in the one to one or computer lab setting. This site is a must for remedial reading classrooms!

Tips: Make sure to check out the teacher section for great downloads, teacher videos, and lesson plans.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Into the Book in your classroom.

Nobel Prize

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Nobel Prize2484 views

What it is: NobelPrize.org is a site dedicated to teaching about the Nobel Prize since 1901. The site offers a wealth of great information as well as some fun, interactive educational games. The games and simulations are based on Nobel Prize winners and ideas. Games include: physics, literature, chemistry, nuclear weapons, medicine, and economics.

How to integrate Nobel Prize into the classroom: The Nobel Prize website is a wonderful launching off point for teaching students about what the prize is and as a place to learn about past winners and how they have impacted society. The games show the practical purpose of the prize and what it means to our world. The subject matter of the site is definitely for older students. Students will appreciate learning about the Noble Prize with the interaction of the games on the site.

Tips: Fill out the teacher’s qustionairre and give NobelPrize.org feedback about the site and how you are using it in your classroom.

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

Science

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Science1852 views

What it is: Macmillan-McGraw Hill Science is the online student addition of the textbooks. Students is grades kindergarten through six can click on the book that matches their grade level. Here students can watch video clips, play vocabulary games, take animated summary quizzes, read e-journals, and more.

How to integrate Macmillan-McGraw Hill Science into the classroom: Even if your school does not use the Macmillan-McGraw Hill Science textbooks, this site is a wonderful supplement to any science curriculum. The fun interactive environment is sure to be a hit with students. The vocabulary review games would be fun to play as a whole class with the projector (split students into teams) or individually. You might also offer this site to students for homework help or for test review at home.

Tips: Click on the OSE button at the bottom of the screen for the Online Student edition of the text box. Below the OSE button are login names and passwords for various grade levels.

P lease leave a comment and share how you are using Macmillan-McGraw Hill Science in your classroom.