Hanukkah Activities December 12, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Holidays, Websites.Tags: Hanukkah
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Hanukkah begins this year at sundown on December 21st. So I thought I would list some activities that I have used in the past with my students to introduce them to this holiday.
Hanukkah Jisgsaw Puzzles from Apples4theteacher.com- offers 4 jigsaw puzzles in three different difficulty level that work great on the SMARTBoard. It does not give you a preview of the finished pictures.
Dreidel Spin from the Jewish Outreach Center- this was the best dreidel activity I found- very realistic. It also offers very good directions and an explanation of the game. It works wonderful on the SMARTBoard.
Hanukkah match game- basically a concentration game, matching symbols.
Hanukkah Lights- allows you to drop and drag objects to create a menorah.
The Hanukka House- a wonderful activity to expose/teach/reinforce the Hebrew language. Students read the Hebrew words on the left and when they drag them to the frame the object appears which allows them to create a Hanukkah House. Great to use on the SMARTBoard.
Hanukkah Jumble Word Game- unscramble the word (can not move the letters using mouse so students would have to have paper and pencil available) and then click on the word to reveal the answer.
Chabad.org- this site has several Hanukkah activities for the classroom. In the multimedia section there are some very good short videos (can be viewed in full screen) regarding Hanukkah traditions. Defintely worth checking out.
Sue Ellen’s scrapbook from PBS- offers a very nice book about the history and tradition of Hanukkah. It would present well on the SMARTBoard.
Lookybook.com- they have some books with a Hanukkah theme. I particulary like to use “Hanukkak Haiku” written by Harriet Zeifert since the illustrations are beautiful. “The Only One Club” by Jane Naliboff is a good story to discuss student differences and acceptance. Both books present well on the SMARTBoard.
I hope this list helps all who are looking for Hanakkah resources- ENJOY!
Christmas FUN & the SMARTBoard December 11, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, Games, General.Tags: Merry Christmas!
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Monday night we watched the delightful Christmas movie “Blizzard” so it got me in the North Pole, Merry Christmas, Sanat Claus, Rudolph, Ho Ho Ho state of mind! So below are some websites that I think are particularly worth a look if you are searching for some interactive Holiday activites.
Rudolph is Missing is a wonderful interactive book that takes students on an adventure to find Rudolph for Santa. As an added bonus, during the adventure students are asked thoughtful questions to answer. This is definitely a fun activity that works well on the SMARTBoard.
Northpole.com is a wonderful place to find some great Christmas fun! For the SMARTBoard make sure you check out the Elves’ Game Chest since it is filled with several interactive games including, checkers, word search, crossword puzzle and even a game to reinforce telling time and making change! Santa alaso offers a plethera of free Christmas themed worksheets in a variety of categories for ages PreK-3. In Santa’s Secret Village you will fins more than two dozen original stories with hand drawn or painted artwork. They also come complete with audio! And for the next game, grab your hot chocolate, turn up the volume and have some fun with Disco Dancing Santa!!
Merry-Christmas.com- this is the jackpot in interactive Christmas games and they all work well with the SMARTBoard. There are 5 themed Christmas mini quizzes, decorate the Christmas tree, tic tac toe, a Santa puzzle, etc.
The British Council has a couple of fun activities. Santa Rodeo is a very fun way to have students practice spelling skills. Two predetermined words appear on the screen and they have to click on the word that is spelled correctly. There are two levels – the easier level being kids and the more difficult level being adults. Students love to see and play this game on the SMARTBoard. They have a concentration-type Christmas theme game- match the pictures with the words. Christmas Balloon burst- several balloons with letters on them float through the air and students use the mouse to pop the balloons with the correct letters to spell the word of the picture in the box. Using the SMARTBoard students enjoy the halleneg of popping the balloons usng thier fingers.
TeqSMART- the marvelously merry guys over at TeqSMART have added some great Christmas/Holiday themed premade Notebook lessons in their Holiday Themed Activities. You have to register to have access to download, but it’s free and well worth it!! So put on your skates and head on over there!!!!
Northumberland has two basic numeracy activities with a Holiday theme: Christmas Tree and Santa. Both work well on the SMARTBoard.
The WONDERFUL Jim Hollis over at Teachers Love SMARTBoards has a Christmas Holiday Resource page filled with resources, games, activities with a Holiday theme.
SantaAdventCalendar- this is an absolutely beautiful site. Like an advent calendar, beginning on Dec 1st you click on the number 1 and it reveals the beginning of a wonderful story. Each day when you click on the next number another chapter is revealed. This would present well on the SMARTBoard, but also would be such a nice activity to do with your children at home.
The last site I want to mention is just a nice way to bring a “guest reader” into your classroom at Christmas time. Head on over to Storylineonline.com and have Lou Diamond Phillips read one of my favorite stories “The Polar Express” to your students. It presents awesome on the SMARTBoard– just don’t forget to view it in full screen mode. This site also offers other complimentary activities to use with this book
Ok- time for me to make a hot chocolate (with LOTS of whipped cream) and check in with my friends on Twitter. ENJOY!
UPDATE- I just learned from my friend Richard Byrne over at his amazing blog Free Technology for Teachers about a site called Speakaboos. This site offers free online children’s stories and they have two great Christmas selections: The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. You can watch the stories on line for free or download them to watch in full screen (which would be great to view on the SMARTBoard). Some features are only available once you complete the free registration.
Snowman Fun on the SMARTBoard! December 9, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, Games, SMART Board.Tags: Build a snowman, SMARTBoard
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This morning on Twitter Danny Nicholson shared a fun snowman activity that works great on the SMARTBoard. It lends itself to a wonderful activity for having students follow verbal directions, review basic counting, usng verbal language or just for creative fun! So this activity got me thinking — how many other interactive snowman activities might I be able to find that would work well on the SMARTBoard. All of the sites have the same basic concept- drag and drop items to build, create, dress and bring the snowman to life. And for those school systems that discourage the Christmas themed activities these might be a nice alternative. So here I go….
1. South Florida snowman- some very cute items are provided to build this sunshine state snowman who is relaxing on the beach!
2. Ten Little Snowmen from Enchanted Learning- a great interactive book that asks students to complete a specific task to create a snowman. Great for following directions.
3. Kent nGfl Snowman- I love the background graphics in this activity- the falling snow, the blue sky- so beautiful!
4. Build a Snowman: An Artistic Adventure- you need Java to run this activity.
5. Build your own Frosty- don’t forget to first drag the snowballs to make the snowman.
6. Snowman Band e-card- Hallmark has a very cute e-card where you pick the instruments you want the band of merry snowmen to play. So have your speakers turned up and ENJOY!!!
7. Build your own Snowman from Merry-Christmas.com- what is fun about this site is that it has some “unusual” items to use to create your snowman.
8. Ben & Jerry’s Virtual Snowman- you can make a very “groovy” snowman here!
9. Dress Frosty- some cute graphics
10. Build a Snowman
So, as you can see, I found 10 sites- WOW! If anyone has any other interactive snowman sites they have found, let me know and I’ll add them to the list! ENJOY!
Learn Genetics December 8, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Science.Tags: Genetics
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The University of Utah has a marvelous page, Learn.Genetics, that every biology teacher may want to explore. There is a plethora of information using some very interesting and comprehensive animated lessons. These lessons present very well on the SMARTBoard. There also is a companion website called Teach Genetics that is “a wealth of resources and information aimed at helping educators bring genetics, bioscience and health alive in the classroom.” The print and go section is filled with several lessons and activities for teachers to use. ENJOY!
Animated Text December 6, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, General.Tags: text generators
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If you’re looking for a way to “JAZZ-UP” your SMART Notebook lessons you might want to try using a free graphic generator and then copy and paste it into your page. It is sooooooooo easy and soooooooooo cool and everyone will think you have amazing computer powers!! So here are my top 3 sites to use….
1. TEXTANIM.com- just type your text, pick the font, size, pick your desired pattern (and there are several choices), etc., click generate and voila your wonderful animated text will appear for you to simply copy and paste it into your Notebook lesson- YEAH!
2. Cooltext.com- this one comes by way of Obe Hostetter over at SMARTBoard Revolution- so thanks Obe! Again, type your text, pick the image you want (my favorite is the burning logo style), choose the font, size, etc, and then click on render logo to see your creation. Copy and paste it into your SMART Notebook page and dazzle your students!!
3. FLAMINGTEXT.com- this site has a gallery list to the right of the page. Scroll down to see the animated options. Again you type in your text, make your choices for font, size, etc. and then click create logo to have the logo generated and ready for you to copy and paste into your SMART Notebook lesson for all of those oooooooo’s and ahhhhhhh’s!!!
Hope these text generators help you to give your Notebook lessons a little “spice”!!! ENJOY!
Singing Reindeers December 5, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Special Education.Tags: Music
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Since it is already Decemeber 5th (YIKES) and Christmas is right around the corner I thought I’d share a fun site called The Rain Deer Orchestra . It is a great motivating site for number recognition 1-10 because it incorporates music… and my students LOVE music! Using the SMART Board students simply touch the nose of the reindeer ( a white glove squeezes the nose) and it elicits a musical note. I should mention that for some of my students the fact that the number is listed below the nose can be confusing (they want to touch the number). It also is effective for addressing cause/affect objectives. It does give you the option of following a pattern to play 3 Christmas songs or you can opt for free play and create your own beautiful music. ENJOY!!
Frog Fun! December 3, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, Games.Tags: Games
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If you want to have a little fun while teaching students to work cooperatively to solve a problem check out the Frog Leap Test. It works great on the SMARTBoard and can be challenging, frustrating and lots of fun! Click on the frogs to have them leap. It was designed as a 2nd grade computer test for students in China, but can be used at various levels. ENJOY!
Practice Letter Sounds December 2, 2008
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Websites.Tags: ELA, Letter sounds
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Came across a Teachers and Families activity, Letter Sentences, that offers practice of letter sounds with sentences. Student clicks on a letter, a new screen appears with a picture and sentence incorporating words that begin with the chosen letter. To hear the sentence read you click on the picture. This presents well on the SMARTBoard and is interactive in the sense that you need to touch items to participate. I also have had my students rewrite the words that begin with the identified letter.ENJOY!
