Talking SMARTBoards & Much More!

This weekend I received a phone call from a former colleague of mine, Holly– a wonderful art teacher. Her call reminded me that I have been meaning to share some online art games/activities that have been on my list of sites to write about since learning of them this summer at a PD workshop. So thanks Holly, for both reconnecting and also reminding me of my “art to-blog” list!!

The first site is from Albright-Knox Art Gallery called Art Games.  Art Games is an interactive website designed to engage children in playful, interactive learning about works of art in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Galleryin Buffalo, New York which work well with the SB. There are five artists/paintings to explore and learn about while having fun!  Their description includes:

designed for children in kindergarten through 6th grade.

to be enjoyed by children playing on their own or with an adult companion.

guided by instructions in English or Spanish text and audio

Getty Games is another wonderful interactive website that offers several interactive games/activities to explore and learn about different artists and art techniques.  All of the artwork used in Getty Games are kept at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The Getty is a museum and arts organization that teaches people about art.  There are four categories to chose from including detail detective, jigsaw puzzle, switch and match madness and within these categories there are a variety of games/activities to pick from, most working well with the SB- YEAH!

A very fun, almost addictive online paint screen program can be found at JasonPollock.com. Your mouse (or your finger if using the SB) becomes the paint brush– click to change colors and create a Pollock-like painting!  Did I say FUN??!!!!

APintura:Art Detective- an online game about art history and art composition designed for 4th grade or higher. It takes students on an adventure to solve a mystery about a missing piece of artwork.  There is an accompanying worksheet and teacher key. This site presents well on the SB.

Hope these sites are helpful- ENJOY!

I found this very fun, very educational BBC Math File site that offers games for reinforcing several math concepts such as rounding, arranging decimals, geometry,probability, ect. It has a great, fun format where you spin the wheel and play the game where the wheel stops– it brings to mind Wheel of Fortune.  The game even has it’s own Vanna and Pat– OK so you might need a grand imagination to see that correlation!! One of the features I like about the game is that there is a link to key ideas (right top corner) which allows for review of the concept prior to playing the game.  Additioanlly, the games work well on the SMARTBoard.  I am partial to “Builder Ted”, but they all are creative an filled with learning — ENJOY!!

Merriam-Webster has announced the 2008 Word of the Year.  Drum Roll Please…..it’s “bailout“.

Over the past few weeks I know several Blogs have written about the two sites I am discussing today (including Mr. Byrnes over at Free Technology for Teachers), but in the spirit of Thanksgiving I wanted to mention each of them on my Blog– Free Rice and Free Poverty.  Free Rice tests your knowledge in a variety of subjects (not just ELA) and with each correct answer rice is donated to charity.  Free Poverty tests your Geography knowledge and with each correct answer  water is donated to charity. Free Poverty is a great way for students to learn and development knowledge of geography and works wonderfully on the SMARTBoard.  Free Rice offers a variety of subjects to test your knowledge including math, languages (French, Spanish, German, Italian), Art, Chemistry, English, Geography (click on “change the subject” in the right corner to advance to the page with the choices). Most of these activities work well with the SMARTBoard.

 The most incredible feature of both of these educational games is that by using these sites to assist your students in reinforcing/learning specific skills you, and your students, will be helping others less fortunate.  I know some school districts who have been keeping track (posting it daily on a board by the main office) of the amounts of rice and water the school has donated just by virtue of using these sites as an educational tool. I also know of one school who started a “Free Rice Challenge” as a motivator- classes have challenged each other to see which class can donate the most amount of rice before Thanksgiving. ENJOY!

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, PBS also has a game to review facts regarding the U.S. states called Connect the States.  This game has audio support and basically it is one player playing against Buster (much like a game of “Go Fish”).  Each player has a picture board with 16 pictures. Buster flips each card one at a time and then looks for a matching picture on his board. If he has one he will click on it, if not he will tell you.  Then it’s your turn- click on the matching picture if you have it, if not click on the deck of cards to see the next picture. The first palyer to get four in a row (up or down, not diagonally) will win!  In addition to reviewing the states this is also a good game to reinforce cause/effect, picture identification, matching, etc. and it works well on the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!

I discovered a very good PBS geography game for elementary students that tests U.S. geography knowledge in a game board format called Coast-to-Coast. The game  is interactive and works very well with the SMARTBoard. It gives you the option of playing with one or two players, with some questions giving you visual supports.  For each correct answer the player’s piece moves ahead one spot on the game board- very cool!! You do need the free plug-in for FLASH to play.  So have fun travelling Coast-to-Coast with Buster and his friends! ENJOY!

The word is spreading– the folks from Mayer Johnson launched their new webiste called Adapted Learning. This free resource provides a place to find and share adapted curriculum created with the company’s popular Boardmaker Software Family products. Much like the Intellitools Classroom Suite Activity Exchange . You do need to register, but it is free. I briefly checked out the site last night and there are already 463 files uploaded!!  So pass the word to everyone who might benefit- ENJOY!

Rose Marie Chute from the  Lone Star College- North Harris has created some fantastic science resources that all of you HS science teachers will love– guaranteed!! The resources that I found to be most helpful for my students are her Science Animations, Movies and Interactive Tutorial Links.  They are phenomenal!  Here are the links: General Science Collections,  Anatomy & Physiology I, Anatomy & Physiology II, Biology I.  Each of these subject areas include several subcatagries with a plethera of resources.  The main Biology Department website also has links (list to the left) that are worth a look as they include tutorials and WWW Resources. So I would encourage you to go, explore and bookmark all of the sites that are pertinent to your classes.  Thank you, Ms. Chute! ENJOY!

Came across a website that offers Free science videos and lectures. There are nine categories (listed to the right), so if you’re looking for a science video to supplement your lessons take a look. ENJOY!

 For any math teacher teaching or reviewing the concepts of mean, median and range there is a great educational game from Crickweb called Mean Runners,that you most definitely should explore. The site gives very good instructions- the game is pretty simple.  Students watch a race and then are given the results of the top 3 finishers. From that information they are asked to calculate the mean, median and range. Answers are placed in the input boxes -the boxes next to the input boxes give the answers so I would keep them hidden until you click on the check inputs button.  This activity presents very well on the SMARTBoard. Just a fun way to address a math concept that may not be so exciting to some students! ENJOY!