ReadWriteThink Calendar November 14, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Websites, history/social studies.Tags: calendar skills, history, ReadWriteThink, Resource
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I came across the website, ReadWriteThink Calendar, and wanted to share. What I like about this resource is that it not only presents daily historical information using text and visual supports, but it also gives you links to lesson plans and other resources to give you ideas and to make lesson preparations easier. It also could be a springboard for students to research and report on specific events on the calendar. I envision it being a good resource to reinforce calendar skills, follow directions, cause/affect, etc. when incorporating it with the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!
I also wanted to mention is that some classrooms have incorporated the History Channel’s This Day in History Video into their daily morning activities with positive results. The site is linked to a picture on the SMART Notebook daily calendar and the students simply touch the picture to activate the video. Very direct, with immediate visual feedback– watching the video! ENJOY!
Alphabet November 9, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Games.Tags: Alphabet letters
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English Alphabet from NGfL, is a good activity for alphabet/letter review that works well with the SMARTBoard. The initial screen reviews the letters with visual and audio cues. You can then either touch each letter in the alphabet on the top of the screen or click on the arrow in the right bottom corner to advance letters. A new screen will appear with that letter on it. There is an icon box under each letter that, when clicked, will active different features: the pencil will trace the letter, the ear will sound out the letter phonetically, the speaker will say the letter and the 2 lines will stop a feature. Again- a good basic alphabet letter site that works well with the SMARTBoard- ENJOY! Oh yeah, I should perhaps mention that when speaking the letter “Z”- it is not pronounced in English.
Rhyming Words November 7, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Games, Holidays.Tags: ELA, Rhyming
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I have discovered some very cool, and new to me, sites that help assist with reinforcing and reviewing rhyming that I wanted to share. The first is by Golden Books called Cat at Bat. This activity simulates a baseball game- every correct answer scores a run and every wrong answer is an out. Players read the word that appears on the bulletin board and if the pitcher throws a word that rhymes with that word they would click on the word. This activity works well on the SMART Board.
The BBC Little Animals Activity Center also has a fun activity to reinforce rhyming. It offers three difficulty levels. Players must match the rhyming words that appear on the screen. If they pick the correct answer the ground hog will digdown to the word. This activity does have audio support and works well with the SMARTBoard.
PBS has a very cute, fun short rhyming video/activity starring Grover which presents well on the SMART Board. The younger children LOVE watching this one! ENJOY!
Tar Heel Reader November 6, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA.Tags: Accessible books, ELA
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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!
BBC Games November 5, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Games, Math, SMART Board.Tags: literacy, Numeracy
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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!
Five Card Flickr November 2, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA.Tags: ELA
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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!
One Word–Save the Word August 23, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA.Tags: ELA
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I stumbled across this great site that has intrigued me, called One Word . The premise is simple– when you click the go button one word will appear on the screen and you have 60 seconds to write about the word. This would be a very nice, fun, engaging activity to motivate students to practice writing skills. As the site states “don’t think. just write.”
I also wanted to mention another site that I find to be very interesting and that is Save The Words. The premise is that you chose a word to “adopt” and ultimately “save”. You click on one of the words that appears on the screen and anther text box will appear with it’s definition, a sentence using the word and the option for you to adopt the word. Very clever!!! I know a Middle School ELA teacher who visits this site once a week with her classes to help increase their vocabulary awareness. She assigns extra credit if students actually adopt words and incorporate these words into their writing assignments– how cooool!!! ENJOY!
A Lifelog August 16, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Web 2.0.add a comment
I have been intrigued by the free Loggel.com Lifelog site. Many view a lifelog as a modern way to write a diary or travel log, but I think it has potential in the classroom for digital storytelling, especially since in addition to text, you can add images, audio files and videos. I can envision this tool as being a creative alternative for students to present research information, inspire writing, document important events during the school year, etc. The entries are either positioned on a timeline or on a map. You can even make entries from your mobile phone. One feature that I liked is the fact that you can keep your Lifelog private so that students would have the authority to when their work would be shared. The completed Loggel presents well on the SMART Board. ENJOY!
The Plural Girls- double the learning fun! July 29, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Games, SMART Board, Websites.Tags: ELA, SMARTBoard
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The Plurals Girls is a fun game on FunBrain.com that reinforces identifying plurals. “Twin sisters Pearl and Flora lost their friends in the bubble machine. Help them get their friends out by choosing the correct plural form of the given word.”With each correct answer a friend appears from the bubble machine. 8 correct answers ends the game. There are two difficulty levels for each game. The multiple choice options work well with the SMARTBoard since the game gives you two answers and you simply touch your answer. With the fill in the blank options you need to type/spell your answers. You could utilize the SMART On-Screen Keyboard to type the answers, as long as the cursor is in the answer box.
So if you need a game to reinforce/practice plurals head on over and introduce yourself to The Plural Girls, Pearl and Flora, they’re sure to make you smile- ENJOY!
Wallwisher July 27, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Web 2.0.Tags: message board
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I have been wanting to write about Wallwisher since learning about it during a workshop this past spring. Wallwisher is basically an online message board maker– kind of reminds me of the message boards we all had hanging on our dorm doors at college, except this is virtual and no special markers needed! One of the nice features of Wallwisher is that there is no registration needed and once you create a board all that is needed is for members to click, write and post- very simple, very intuitive, very fun! Once you create your message board you are given the URL for that board to share with people who you want to invite to comment on your board. I have used this as a way to have students make comments/respond to specific articles/topics. I also hope to use this as one of our wiki assignments this year. To initiate class discussion it is very effective to present the message board using the SMART Board. I should also mention that in addition to writing a response participants can also add videos, pictures and music to a post. Below is an example of a Wallwisher. ENJOY!
