Talking SMARTBoards & Much More!

Sharing an interesting site that has been talked about by several people called- Tar Heel Reader . I think I first learned of this site from the amazing Paul Hamilton over on his blog Free Resources from the NET for Every Learner. Tar Heal Reader offers a collection of free, easy to read and accessible books in several different topics. Each book can be speech enabled- the speech controls are on the left of the screen on the title page.  These books can be downloaded in PowerPoint, Impress or Flash format.  This site also gives you the option to write your own book (you need to register for a free account to access this feature). The books present well on the SMARTBoard and also work well for those students who require switch access. ENJOY!

Want to share another great site from the BBC– KS1 Bitesize Games.  This addresses two areas: Literacy and Numeracy.  Both present with several subcategories including addition, multiplication, money skills under numeracy and spelling, alphabetical order, phonics under literacy.  Each category has three skill level options, presents with some verbal feedback, is animated and fun!  These games work well with the SMARTBoard. So if you’re searching for some fun, motivating games to reinforce literacy and numeracy skills look no more– just click on over to KS1 Bitesize Games. ENJOY!

I have been busy helping some of the math coaches in the district create resource wikis for their teachers and as I was searching for interactive sites I stumbled across Rader’s Number Nut.com.  This is a very comprehensive site filled with a plethora of math information and activities for review and direct instruction (K-7th grade). The two main areas of the site are Basic Math that includes topics such as shapes, time, operations,  etc. and Advanced Math  that covers decimals, fractions, money, percentages, etc.  On each of these pages you will see a Topic Section on the right, click on your desired topic to view a page with both information related tot he topic and activities to reinforce the skill.  They also provide the CA Standards and a Glossary of math vocabulary. When you select an activity it does give you the option to “Magnify the Activity which make it larger on the screen.  Many of the activities work and present well on the SMARTBoard, as does the information sections.  There are many aspects to this site so be sue to take the time to explore and bookmark the pages that will work for you and your students. ENJOY!

Here are a few sites that I have used to discuss Veterans Day. ENJOY!

The first is a website that offers various Powerpoints on Veteran’s Day.

VA Kids has a nice word jumble game. This works well on the SMARTBoard since you click and drag the letters to complete the game.

Education World has a basic webquest of Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It asks students to explore the Unknown Soldier website and then answer 5 questions.

The History Channel offers a video on the History of Veteran’s Day (3:32 minutes).Plays well in full screen mode on the SMARTBoard. There are several other videos in the playlist that discuss various aspects of Veterans. The Story of Veterans Day (21:05 minutes) is particularly good. There also is an interesting “Did You Know” page that offers interesting facts regarding Veterans.

EL Civics has a very nice short explanation of the histry and origin of Veterans Day, complete with pictures.

Larry Ferlazzo also has an excellent resource page, listing several sources to find information on Veterans Day.

Train Timeis a site that reinforces time telling skills (elapsed time)  in a very fun, semi real life situation.  Students read the statements on the left of the screen and then have to click on the train with the correct answer.  If your answer is right the train will move on the tracks and you will be given the chance to complete another problem. If you are not correct it will tell you to try again.  There are only four examples so this would be good for a quick review after instruction using the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!

Make Five is a site that adopts the basic concept of tic tac toe to practice addition, subtraction and multiplication. You can play with either one or two players.  If you pick two players the questions are color coded. From the drop down menu in the right corner of the screen you pick which operation you want to practice. A number will appear at the top of the screen and you have to pick the correct equation form the chart. Once you achieve 5 correct answers in a row on the chart you win! This activity works very well on the SMARTBoard- ENJOY!

I am finally reading the Tweets from the NECC this year- there were so many great resources shared.   Five Card Flickr is one site that I found to be quite interesting. It reminds me somewhat of PicLits, which I wrote about in January, since both incorporate pictures to inspire creative writing skills.  You are dealt a set of random images from Flickr and asked to pick five, one from each set.  The next step is to create/write a story depicting the images.  This activity can be a fun, inspiring way to motivate students to write.  For a class project you could use the SMART Board when picking the photos and have students write individual essays and then compare and contrast. ENJOY!

I learned of this really cool site yesterday at MassCUE– actually I overheard a group of folks talking about this “Twitter-like tool that would easily allow for immediate student feedback”.  Naturally I was intrigued and so  I asked if they would share the information with me and they did!  The site is called Today’s Meet.  Basically what you do –without needing to register or give up your email address– is to create a room where you can then have students share their thoughts, observations, etc.  As the site states “embrace the backchannel and connect with your audience in real time”.  Once you create a room it gives you a unique URL and you decide how long you want this room available (options are from 2 hours to 1 year).  You then give the URL to your students, they pick a name, join the room and can begin to share their thoughts and opinions using 140 characters or less. Using a SMART Board to project/present the posts would work well. ENJOY!

I apologize for not posting for a while, but the start of school and some personal priorities monopolized my time, but things are now settling and I hope to be back posting on a more regular basis.  Thanks to everyone who contacted me with words of concern.

Sooooooo, the site I want to share today is called The Mega Penny Project.  It is a great site for helping students (and adults) visualize large numbers such as trillions, millions, billions, etc.  The site asks a basic question “What would a million (or billion, or trillion, etc) pennies look like?  It utilzes some very good graphics and tables to demonstrate, including how much the pennies would weigh, the value, height, width, etc.  So if your looking for a site to teach about large numbers or if you’re just curious to see what a trillion pennies looks like, head over to The Mega Penny Project- ENJOY!

Kids Online Resources is a marvelous site filled with several resources from Kindergarten to high school.  The Interactive Multimedia section has a plethora of activities that are amazing to use with the SMARTBoard.  There are activities on fractions, identifying time, the number system, etc.   The site also offers resources for each discipline.  ENJOY!