Sunday, November 4, 2012

SDCUE Conference

I went to the SDCUE 2012 
(San Diego Computer-Using Educators) 
and learned a lot of new technology ideas to use in the classroom. I have heard of some and used a few as well. I will post them all.

Award Reading
I already use this AMAZING reading program in my classroom and highly recommend it!
At AWARD Reading Online, you will find hundreds of pre-K-3 interactive resources. Carefully scaffolded skills activities in the five key areas of reading ensure that all students master the essentials of reading. Covering five grades, with 300 texts and over 800 learning skills activities, and teaching resources to lead you through the program, AWARD can be used in the classroom and in the home—all you need is an internet connection.

This is just one part of Award Reading: Funways Learning Center

Funways World


 My kiddos LOVE Lettergetter! He is the adorable character used in the books and online stories.
  

Scholastic Character Scrap Book
This is a reader's response activity that encourages kiddos to analyze the characters in any book.

   
Story Jumpers
StoryJumper is an online tool that makes creative writing fun for kids.
Using the interactive workbook and lesson plans, you can spark students' interest in developing and writing complete stories.
Kids can then put their creativity and project skills to work in crafting their very own professionally published hard-back books!


Story Birds
Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print.

Read them like books, play them like games, and send them like greeting cards. 

Tha Boi Hoo Wuz Baad Aht Speling
By awc123By lioness22


Scholastic Student Activities and
Interactive White Board ActivitiesThis has soooooo many GREAT interactive activities!!!

Story Starters

Story Starters
Generate creative writing prompts and then write stories. (K–6)

Myths Brainstorming Machine

Myths Brainstorming Machine
Choose the elements to create your own myth.(4–9)
Wordle
I LOVE using Wordle! Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. I use it every year for the cover of my memory books and have students answer questions about themselves.
   

   Quizlet
This is a great site that helps kiddos study subjects. I will use it to create flashcards with the sight words.

 Voki
Kiddos can create speaking avatars and use them as effective learning tools. Their avatar can be posted on a blog or website.

Voki Videos

Take a look at what teachers and students are saying about Voki and Voki Classroom!
Click on a Voki video to open it in a new window. (more)
Kidblog is designed for K-12 teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog. Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts.

 Wiki Spaces
wiki is a space on the Web where you can share work and ideas, pictures and links, videos and media — and anything else you can think of. Wikispaces is special because we give you a visual editor and a bunch of other tools to make sharing all kinds of content as easy for students as it is for their teachers.

 National Geographic for Kids (great for research)
My kiddos love this site! We use it everyday during transitions. We look at the picture of the day or interesting facts or videos.



 Time for Kids

ANDREW BURTON—GETTY IMAGES
View a slide show of images from some of the areas hit by the superstorm.
View Photo Slide Show


Smithsonian Kids

From Art to Zoo, the Smithsonian has something to interest kids and students of all ages. Begin your Smithsonian adventure by visiting some of the websites below.

Smithsonian student image
Smithsonian Students »
A place for Kids to explore discover and learn!
Encyclopedia Smithsonian image
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Kids' Favorites »
Check out fun stuff to explore and do online!
See all there is to do when you visit one of the museums or the National Zoo!



13. Edmodo 
Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices. You can use it to gather resources and put it in groups.

Garage Band 
Garage band allows you to make, create, record, mix, master, share and learn to play music.
Students can write their own songs and use Garage Band to publish.

KidPix (this cost money)
Kiddos create stories by inserting images and text.

Glogster is a social network that allows users to create free interactive posters, or Glogs. A "Glog", short for "graphics blog", is an interactive multimedia image. It looks like a poster, but readers can interact with the content.
     



Symbaloo
Symbaloo is a great site that organizes apps.
See a great example at: Symbaloo.com/mix/ipodappsklanguagearts
home32-webmix42  



Sunday, October 28, 2012

50th Day of School


Hip Hip Hooray!  It's the 50th Day! 
Grab your root beer floats and bubble gum
Let's celebrate 50 days of learning fun!



Look at my Cutie Patooties!!!!







"The Stroll"

Sock Hop

I LOOOOVVVEE this!!!


We created our own DRIVE-IN THEATER!!
We created 50's Ford Mustangs from boxes to sit in while watching our movie.
 We ate popcorn and drank root beer floats while we watched our movie.
We watched Alice in Wonderland since it was made in the 1950s.

Sorry this picture is dark but it was "night time" out for our drive-in!


Yummy Root Beer floats!






Legos were invented in the 50s: what can you build with 50 Legos?





Art:
We made adorable 50s kids blowing bubbles and holding a real record!
We created record labels that said, 
"We celebrated the 50th Day 1950s Style! student name"























Community Helpers



Community Helpers Unit:
We learn about community helpers in our neighborhood 
and have a variety of workers visit our school.
During this unit, students are asked, 
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
At the end of the unit, each student comes to school dressed up as what they want to be and does a small presentation. We also have a parade at our school.


I made this COMMUNITY HELPERS BOOK!
Click HERE to download it for FREE!
    
(There are many more cute pages)


Scholastic has a great site where you can
 read interactive books about community helpers.
Click here to access the site.
This is an example below:


Veterinarian

Level A, Community Club
Discover, through the words, images, and audio of this engaging read-aloud, how a veterinarian cares for animals large and small.







This is another great website with 
community helper power points and games.
Click here to access website.




image

Note: these are NOT my ideas or pictures.
 I got them from Growing Kinders.
image


These are the Community Helpers who came to our school.
We have different helpers each year.
Santee Firefighters


I dressed up as a firefighter!!





 Police Officers
Vets

 Some of my little cuties:
Chef/Baker
Dolphin Trainer
Teacher
Military Worker
Doctor
Firefighter
SWAT Officer

Vet

Baseball Player

Construction Worker

Oncologist

Farmer

I love these Youtube videos!
Who are the people in your neighborhood?



Bus Driver and Dentist

Pilot and Nurse

Elevator Operator and Pharmacist 


This is a video we made on PIXIE of our Community Helpers Unit below: