Volume Control, Teacher Discounts & a Can't-Miss-Article

You might have asked yourself, "what do volume control & teacher discounts have in common?" Well, I guess nothing, other than the two both make me happy. 

First up this week is a VERY cool website brought to you from Joanna's Pinterest. It looks so simple.. a bunch of "bouncy balls", but if you click the Microphone button, they react to the volume of the room! Want your students to work quietly? Put up the visual and tell them to try to keep the balls as still as possible. I'm so interested to see how well it works with your laptop's microphone!

I also saw this pin that listed several different places that offer discounts to teachers! Some I knew about, but I wish I knew that Michaels and the Container Store offered discounts a long time ago. Check out the full list at the link below... and happy shopping :)

One more thing- about a minute after I published this for the first time, I saw that Megan had posted this CNN article. While it may be geared to new teachers, I think everyone can appreciate the messages the National Teacher of the Year shares. Give it a quick read if you have a moment!

Student Selectors & Random Word Generators

Do you have a cup full of popsicle sticks with your students names on them? Do you use them to call on students randomly? Well... with the end of the year approaching, you might be looking for something new to jazz up your lessons. Try one of these random name generators on the SmartBoard and make your students want to be called on!

The Random Name Selector allows you to randomly pick names from a list you've created. Once you have entered your students' names and clicked the Go button, a name is selected (and said aloud), you are given several choices. You can start a two minute timer or a seven minute timer. You also have the option of removing the name from your list. It has fun animation, sound effects, and a large fun font so it's perfect for displaying on your SmartBoard.

To use it, just click on Change Names and type in your names, numbers, words, etc. Then click Go!

The Dartboard Student Selector chooses a student from a dartboard.

There are options to save your class, remove names once selected, clear darts after each throw, and reset names. You can also increase the rate of your dart throw. How fun is that!

The Random Name/Word Picker from ClassTools.net is another fun way to choose a student or even a vocabulary word. Just type in your students' names (or copy/paste from another document), choose either the typewriter option or fruit machine, and your random name/word is displayed!

These tools don't have to be limited to just names- you can enter numbers, vocab words, spelling words, writing ideas, characters in a story, geography terms.. basically anything you can create a list of! The possibilities are endless!

Math Treasure Chest & Sumdog

A couple of fun math resources this week to add to your resource collection!

First up is a website that would be great for the SmartBoard. It has "treasure chests" of different math manipulatives that you can use and adapt within your lesson on the spot. For example, clicking on the Money treasure chest allows you to stamp a certain amount of coins. Then you can have students count them, and it has an answer box that will show how much money you have drawn. There are also pattern & attribute blocks, a spinner, place value, fractions, and more.

I came across Sumdog in a blog post by Run Teacher Run. Here's what she has to say about the site and how she's using it with students:

"The website is called Sumdog, and the games are all FREE!!  There are 20 different games for the kids to pick from and there are 10 levels of skills.  As the teacher, you can pick specific skills or levels or just have them pick what they want. 

The kids have taken off and are playing at home, and beg to play at school!  Did I mention the games are FREE!?!?!  There is a teacher fee only if you want reports based on your students' progress and responses to questions. 


Motivation for the students is that it is game oriented, they get points for each game, and they also earn coins to upgrade their profile and add clothes to their avatar. As they earn points they are also able to earn "animal" status that depends on their point balance.  There are so many ways to keep them motivated!  

Motivation for the teachers is that they kids LOVE it!!  Also, they are able to do it at home and continue practicing their math skills beyond their classroom.  I also love that I can change the skills based on my students.  It is extremely easy to differentiate their skills on the program and add/subtract skills as needed.  The reports are also AMAZING for creating math groups.  I know many people are going toward the math workshop model, and this helps identify student strengths and weaknesses as you go through the classroom.  That data is great to see what they are capable of on the independent level!  I love it!"


Okay, I know that was a lot of reading, but hopefully her testimony will inspire you to check it out!

Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Week next week, here are some fun activities for your classroom!

Kaboose has various Earth Day activities, including games, craft ideas, a slideshow, word play printables, and more, including a game called Michael, Michael Go Recycle!

Don't forget that BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. are great resources as well.

Discovery.com also has some Earth Day resources, such as games, quizzes, and puzzles that are a bit more advanced for older students. 

Also check out Meet the Greens, a site for kids about looking after the planet.

And a few more:

EcoKids

Energy Star Kids

Habitat Heroes

Recycle Roundup

And for SmartBoard lessons, the Smart Exchange has a variety of options to use and adapt as you need. Go green and Happy Earth Day!

Poetry Month

Since April is poetry month, here are some fun resources to bring into your classroom to get your students excited about poetry!

Shel Silverstein's website has activities for kids and a teacher/parent section with ideas, lessons, activities, and more. 

This blog post has hands-on project ideas that are creative and unique- like this newspaper blackout poem.

Squidoo also put together a list of 12 of the best poetry websites for kids- all of which are interactive and free! They look like so much fun!

Pict-Lits is also a very cool site. It is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords they provide in order to inspire you. 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- but that "right" place is all up to you! Below is an example pict-lit and what it looks like when you are creating your own.

Wonderopolis & Draw a Stickman

It's pretty fitting for this blog that there is actually a website out there called Wonderopolis! (Thanks Jasmin for sharing!) Each day, they post a new "wonder", which is just a fun fact or "wonder" of the day. The topics cover a wide variety of things, from "what is an aglet?" to "how much rain can a rain cloud hold?". The daily wonders could spark classroom discussion, a writing prompt, fit into your science/social studies unit.. the possibilities are endless! You can also view past wonders or search for topics if you are looking for something in particular. 

Draw a Stickman is another fun website that would be a fun story starter or introduction to digital storytelling. It is an interactive adventure that reminds me of one of my favorite children's books, Harold and the Purple Crayon. You start by drawing a stick man, and then follow him through an adventure that you add things to the picture as it unfolds. Would definitely make a great SmartBoard activity! It could serve as a writing prompt also - stop the story at any point and ask the students where they would take it from there, or how would they problem solve the situation?

Fun with Web 2.0

Looking for a little bit of fun amidst all of the testing? Check out some of these fabulous websites and give your kids a brain break while still learning!

Teach Hub posts weekly video writing prompts. Each week they post a video and then offer suggestions for writing prompts based on grade level, K-2, 3-5, etc. What a fun way to get your students writing! Some video examples include ones for Leap Year, Groundhog Day, the Lorax, and yes, even Angry Birds. You could have it be a writing activity that you do once a week as they post them or once in awhile. 

As an example, here is a Muppets video writing prompt:

Wordia is a new website that you can play the games they have, or create your own (it is very easy to create your own vocab or spelling game!) There are spelling, geography, science, and other subject areas to choose from. For one "Spell it Right" game, they used children from around the world to say the words. I thought that was very unique and would provide another opportunity to bring cultural awareness into your classroom.

I also really like WeGiveBooks.org. While the site does require teacher signup (and then you could post your login for students to use), I think it is well worth it. Created by the Pearson Foundation, We Give Books has several leveled books that students can read on the computer. Every time they complete a book, a book is donated to under privileged children. You could read the books whole-class on the SmartBoard or use it as a center. And, to tie some math in, you could create a chart to show how many books your class has donated to a great cause!

   

If you're looking for a way to perk up your students before testing, I found this cute printable note, and others here. 

ICE Ideas

This week I have the opportunity to attend the ICE conference, and after my first day there I have already found new fun things and heard great ideas! Here is a snippet of just a few of the cool tools I have discovered.

My Storymaker, from the Carnegie Library, allows users to create a story entirely online. The user can choose characters and the character's goal for the story. The settings and other items for the story are added to the picture by simply clicking on them. The author can also choose emotions, actions and interactions for the characters, which the characters then act out in the picture. As the characters do this, the text of their actions appears below them. This text can be edited and the final story can be printed.

Actors from the Screen Actors Guild Foundation read books aloud at Storyline Online. Some favorite stories include Rainbow Fish, Stellaluna, A Bad Case of Stripes, The Polar Express, and more!

BrainPop & BrainPop Jr. are two of my favorite resources for students, but one ICE session is taking it to the next level. Check out this PDF (BrainPOP for the IWB Handout) for ideas to use your SmartBoard with BrainPop - it's more than watching the videos and taking quizzes!

I also found an awesome SmartBoard resource called Out Smart 'Em. It is a collection of Notebook files and websites separated by subject area that you could instantly (or with a few adaptations) integrate into your lessons.

I also like the ideas presented on this 21st Century Literacy website. There is an idea for each grade level- check them all out though, it may spark an idea that you can adapt and do with your students!

Those 5 websites are only a few of the many ideas I have learned about... look for more to come soon! 

Valentine's Day

One of my favorite bloggers posted a ton of Valentine's Day ideas! Here are links to her posts so you can check them out if you're interested:

Valentines' Day Sudoku and other Games

Valentine's Day Writing Ideas & Others

Digital Learning Day

I bet you didn't know that today, February 1st is the first annual Digital Learning Day!

So... what exactly does that mean anyways?

According to a US News article, today is about celebrating K-12 educators like all of you who successfully bring technology into the classroom. They have created a website based on today, that even includes a "toolkit" of ideas to enhance lessons using technology. 

Another great resource to find ideas is Scholastic. They have several Interactive Whiteboard activities to choose from and use with your students, separated into Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math, and other Learning Games & Teaching Tools. Check it out.. maybe you'll find something new!

Also, don't forget to check out Ms. Techie Teacher's new blog! 

Happy Holidays!

Even though it doesn't look like it outside, the holidays are just around the corner! Below are some tech ideas to bring the holiday cheer into your classroom.

Scholastic has some resources for holidays around the world. There are digital scrapbooks of different holidays, online games, printable activities, as well as a teacher guide with ideas for extension activities. 

FunSchool.com has games for every season, including a section for Winter Games. There is an arcade and printable puzzles, like hidden pictures, mazes, and a word search.

Jan Brett is one of my favorite authors around the holidays too- she has a website with games, activities, and ideas that go along with her stories.

Laura Candler also has been collecting holiday ideas on her blog, as she says, "Are you looking for great seasonal activities for your classroom? Sometimes it's difficult for upper elementary teachers to find seasonal activities that are fun yet meaningful, so I've created two different collaborative projects to gather seasonal resources all in once place." You can find her collections below.

Finally, this is a link to a list of other links! Most are Christmas themed, but at the bottom there are Christmas Around the World resources as well as some for Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

Halloween Activities

Halloween is just around the corner! There are tons of fun ideas out there, including online games and SmartBoard resources. Here are a couple of the best sites I found to celebrate this spooky holiday.

ABCya! has fun games all around, and some very cute Halloween games. I love ABCya because the games are educational, and also separated by grade level. My favorite Halloween game was "Trick or Treat", in which the player has to find the shortest route between houses for trick or treating. The results create different geometric shapes.

I also found a resource that had different SmartBoard activities that could be used around Halloween, from Teachers Love SmartBoards.