A Technology Blog Hop

Spring into Technology with Classroom Freebies!

Several phenomenal teachers, Technology Tailgate Coaches and bloggers are joining forces for an amazing classroom technology blog hop!  As you hop from blog to blog, you will visit some of your favorite blogs and discover a few new blogs too!  Each with a fabulous freebie just for you!

Thank you for hopping over!

This stop on the blog hop is a super easy and fun QR project that 3rd graders did. They are studying biographies right now, so every student is assigned a different person. To make the QR Codes, students used an audio recording website called Vocaroo. You don't need an account and it's free to use!

Each student came up with a "fun fact" about their person, and then used Vocaroo to record their fun fact. Then, they put their QR Codes on their lockers for other students to scan and learn about their person. 

On Vocaroo, you have many choices of what to do with your voice recording, such as just use the weblink, embed it, share it through a social network platform, download the file, or create the QR Code. 

Your freebie for stopping by is a quick start guide to Vocaroo for your students to use the website and make their own QR Code independently! Click here to get it!

Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting!  If you are new to my blog and liked what you see, don't forget to follow me!  The next stop on the path is  

Jan at The Science Vault

In case you didn't start from the beginning, here is an ordered list of all participating blogs!

The Technology Tailgate

Kate from EduKate and Inspire

Kristin from iTeach 1:1

Heidi from Rakis Rad Resources

Leah from Learn With Leah

Amanda and Aylin from Learning to the Core

Nikki from An Uncommon to the Core Teacher

Karla at The Connected Teacher

Shana at Enchanted with Technology

Kristen at Teacher Playground

Jen at Tech with Jen

Kay at A Little Tech

Melanie at I Luv Twek

Carrie and Caitlin at Table Talk with C & C

Lauren at iWonder

Jan at The Science Vault

A special thank you to Jen at Tech with Jen for designing the blog hop button!

Interested in joining our next blog hop?  Join here! 

Skitch

Skitch is an app that you can use to personalize and annotate images. You can take your own photos, upload images, or even use maps!

Here's an overview of how it works:

There are so many uses for the classroom! How about labeling a picture with vocabulary words?

Or a map?

What about Spanish vocabulary (or any other foreign language)?

Pictures can be saved on the iPads, emailed, and printed. 

Looking for an idea for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday? I found this idea on the Technology Tailgate! After reading the book Martin's Big Words, the teacher used Skitch to have students take a picture of themselves and write their own "big words". Very cute idea! I imagine a writing project could also accompany the students' picture depending on your grade level. 

If you'd like to learn more about how to use Skitch, check out their tutorial.

Here comes 2013...!

I saw an article on Mind/Shift the other day that sparked my thinking about where technology in education is headed. After all, after the iPad "changed education" just a few years ago, it's hard to foresee what's next! 

The article discussed 3 big themes in learning over the coming year:

1. Smart use of tech

Computers have been present in classrooms for a number of years now- we have desktops, laptops, iPods, iPads... the projection for 2013 doesn't necessarily include new devices, but continuing to find innovative ways to integrate technology into instruction. Maybe it's simulating and/or presenting a science experiment, turning math and vocabulary drills into games, or promoting online collaboration among students. 

The article also predicted that we would gain a better and more realistic sense of what technology can do for students, as well as what it can't. "Young people still need to interact with classmates and teachers face to face. They still need physical activity and hands-on experiences, whether in the art room or science lab." 

2. Advance of the Common Core

Training has already begun on the Common Core State Standards, which has been adopted in 45 states to date. 

I found another website, Mapping Media to the Common Core, that asks the question, "What do you want to CREATE today?". There are several options to choose from: interactive writing, narrated art, radio show, visual notetaking, etc. The links for each project take you to a page with its definition, workflow, tools, and examples. 

3. Learning outside of school.

"More than ever before, 2013 will bring a recognition that learning can happen anytime, anywhere- not just in a classroom and not just during the school day... We'll continue to explore, for ourselves and with our children, the wealth of information and ideas available on the web."

So.. where are you and your students headed in 2013? What innovation do you want to bring into your classroom and share with your students? 

Election Resources

I've seen several resources for bringing the election into the classroom over the last few weeks. Here are some of what I thought were most kid-friendly:

"Every Vote Counts" : A mini unit on the Presidential Election

This unit from Teachers Pay Teachers has something that could be adapted for every grade level. Click the link to download it. 

Gallopade has an Elections for Kids site:

Scholastic also has an Election 2012 site with information and games. 

I thought this game in particular on Scholastic was interesting for 3rd or 4th grade. You are a "party" and are trying to get the 270+ electoral votes needed to win the election, and you choose which states you are going to "win". Of course as I was playing I was thinking about the population of each state, so it might be a good way to put the electoral college in perspective for students. Maybe play it as a whole class and generate a discussion!

PBS Kids also has The Democracy Project with activities.

How about just taking a tour of the White House?

Projects by Jen: Pumpkin Seed Project

Calling all K-3 teachers! Projects by Jen is hosting their 7th annual Pumpkin Seed Project, and sign-ups started October 1st. 

If you aren't familiar with Projects by Jen, she hosts several themed educational projects each year to connect classrooms and teachers across the globe. Some of her projects include the O.R.E.O project, St. Patrick's Day, Holiday Card, etc. One of my favorites is something she does each day, which is Guess the Wordle:

So, for the Pumpkin Seed Project, she has several activities, resources, and instructions on how to participate. I love the idea of the "Pumpkin Fashion Show". Hopefully I'll get to do this with students in my lab! Check out the link and let me know if you choose to participate in this great project.

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.

Projects by Jen: Charlotte's Web

Projects by Jen is hosting another project this year in honor of Charlotte's Web turning 60! Jen always has several activities to go along with her projects that you can use in your classroom, and the greatest thing about her projects is it allows your class to connect with other classrooms that are participating. She is also planning a simultaneous reading of Charlotte's Web. Check out the link if you are interested in joining!

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! 

MLK Jr. Day & Teachers Pay Teachers

This week I came across a free set of resources to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While I found it on a blog, the link took me to another great resource called Teachers Pay Teachers. Teachers Pay Teachers is an open marketplace full of resources for teachers, by teachers. Anyone can sign up to either buy or sell lesson plans, worksheets, SmartBoard activities, and more! It is free to join, and while some teachers charge for their creations, there are several fantastic freebies on there as well. You can search by subject, type, grade level, and price- I know several teachers who go to TpT often and have found their purchases worthwhile. So, below are the links to the free MLK Day resource, and Teachers Pay Teachers. Enjoy!