July 3, 2009
My Studio Quiz
I wanted to spread the word about this really cool, very creator friendly quiz generator called MyStudio.com. I created the Walt Disney quiz in about 5 minutes, after registering (it’s FREE). The directions are very intuitive and once you have your information the creation should go rather quickly.
I wanted to spread the word about this really cool, very creator friendly quiz generator called It will give you the choice of embedding a quiz, sending it via email or play it on your own personal quiz channel (link). I attempted to embed my quiz here, but ran into trouble, but here is the link to my quiz on line. Oh the possibilities are endless!! I will definitely be using this application in the fall on our collaborative wikis. I also think it will be a great resource to use in SMART Notebook lessons as a lesson review. So if you’re trying to think of a “WOW” factor to incorporate into your lesson next year you might want to check out MyStudio.com. ENJOY!
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<BBC Schools Primary History
There has been lots of tweets today over on Twitter about the new BBC Schools Primary History site, and rightfully so, it’s awesome! Larry Ferlazzo also mentioned it on his blog today. The site focuses on six primary history subjects ranging from Ancient Greeks to Children of World War 2. When you click on a specific subject you are brought to a page that is filled with information including photos, timelines. fund facts, etc. This site would present well on the SMARTBoard- especially the timelines(click launch timelines from the main page). Don’t forget to check out the Teacher’s Resources pages (links found on each subject page) where you will find pre-made, down loadable worksheets and quizzes to supplement and reinforce the lesson. This is definitely a site worth checking out- ENJOY!
The Miniature Earth
I learned of this very powerful, thought provoking video on Twitter from Naomi Harm called The Miniature Earth. Click on the language you would like to view it in– English, French, Spanish, etc.– and watch. The premise of the movie is to demonstrate what the world would look like if the population was reduced to only 1oo people. The statistics are very eye opening. This would be a wonderful video to share with middle and highs school studentsvto elicit conversation about world hunger and poverty and the need to accept differences in our cultures and beliefs. Also a great video to share with staff. The video is very powerful. It would present well on the SMARTBoard and could easily be incorporated into a variety of lessons. ENJOY!
July 2, 2009
WordSift
I learned of an interesting word visualization site that I wanted to share called Wordsift. In some ways it reminds me a little of Wordle in that it allows you to copy and paste text to create a word cloud of the 50 most used words in the text, ordered alphabetically. Wordsift also offers additional features, however, such as Google image results of the two most used words in the text, a word web (visual thesaurus) for the most frequently used word and it also displays the sentences in the text with the most frequently used word. You can click on any of those sentences to see where it appears within the entire text. Here is a link to a great demo video explaining all of the features along with giving some classroom applications. There is no registration required and it is free to access, however there is no way to save your work. ENJOY!
SUMS ONLINE
SUMS ONLINE offers eight free elementary level interactive math review games ranging from Fraction Monkeys, Place Value Darts, and Rabbit Takeaway. All of these games present very well on the SMARTBoard. I particularly like Fraction Monkeys! Just a note you do need Flash to view/play these games. ENJOY!
Multiplication Table Practice
I wanted to share a great activity from Learnyour tables.co.uk that will help students practice and reinforce their multiplication tables. There are three options available for practice including 1. Drag and drop- drag equation to match the answer 2. Enter an Answer- provides an equation with keyboard to enter an answer and 3. Assessment- same as Enter an Answer however it gives you a score at the end. In addition you can practice either single or mixed tables. The Drag and drop option works very well on the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!
June 27, 2009
Tag Galaxy
I want to share this really cool application called Tag Galaxy that was created by Steven Wood at the University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg.It is very easy to use and spectacular to view– click on New Tag in the upper left corner of the screen, type in a word and a planetary galaxy will appear with related pictures that were found on Flikr. Dragging your mouse over the different planets will tell you how many photos have been locted in that sub- tag. Clicking on the planet will begin the process of transferring the photos to the planet (if there are several photos it could take a while). Once loaded you can then use your mouse (left click and drag) to rotate the planet to see all of the pictures. Trust me this application is REALLY cool and presents great on the SMARTBoard. This would be a great way to initiate a conversation about specific topics or how awesome for an art teacher to display the work of different artists. Below is a Michael Jackson Tag Galaxy I created. ENJOY!
June 25, 2009
Websites to Generate student Poetry
I was searching for some online poetry sites and came across a great post from the Making Teachers Nerdy site that I wanted to share. Mrs. Smoke shared a very comprehensive list of sites to use when teaching poetry lessons. Many of these site would work well with the SMARTBoard. So if you’re planning any poetry units you might want to pop over and check out Mrs. Smoke’s Ode To Poetry- ENJOY!
June 24, 2009
Interactive Sites for the SMARTBoard— YEAH!
I have been slowly, but surely going through the site I have bookmarked over the year and when I clicked on this site I thought, “You have to write about this resource”! Carol Rock from the Oak Street Elementary School in Plattsburgh, NY has compiled a very comprehensive (K-5) list of interactive sites to use with a SMARTBoard. She has them arranged by discipline and/or subject area. When you click on one of the links it brings you to a page with links to several sites and a brief description of each site. This resource was very helpful to me when I was supporting a SpEd teacher who was searching for some interactive stories to use on the SMARTBoard. So if you are a K-5 teacher and might be looking to incorporate some interactive sites into a SMART Notebook lesson I would recommend you check out this resource- ENJOY! Oops- almost forgot, thanks Carol for putting together a awesome resource- you ROCK!!
BeFunky
I feel alittle Befunked this morning!!! A friend of mine told me about this really fun site called BeFunky.com- a place where you can tranform any photo into some very fun, very incredible artwork and the best part is, it’s all free with no registration required! It’s as simple as uploading a photo and chosing the application you want and voila, you have created an amazing BeFunky original! When finished it will give you the option of saving it to your desktop or gallery (you will need to register for an account if you want to save it to your gallery) or sharing it to a friend (email). This is another great way to create a fun avatar for a class blog or wiki, add some fun artwork to a SMART Notebook lesson or for a fun art class project. ENJOY!
