Museum Box December 26, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General, SMART Board, Websites.Tags: Museum box
add a comment
I came across this site, Museum Box, that I wanted to share. This site is particularly beneficial when encouraging students to debate, reflect, and assess issues and ideas. Basically this site was inspired and modelled after the anti-slavery campaigner, Thomas Clarkson , who carried a box of items around the country to demonstrate his views on why slavery needed to be abolished. Museum box allows you to place items (including images, videos, text files, sound) in a virtual box to support your view. What I like about this tool is the versatility in allowing students to collect, organise and present information in a creative and different way.
“This site provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. What items, for example, would you put in a box to describe your life; the life of a Victorian Servant or Roman soldier; or to show that slavery was wrong and unnecessary? “
You have the option of uploading your own images, sounds, etc. or you can use the galleries provided. Just a note that you need to be logged in to use some of these features. There is a teacher section for registration and to set up student accounts. In addition to students using this tool it would also be a creative way for teachers to introduce a lesson. Once a box has been created it presents well on the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!
CONGRATULATIONS! December 20, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: Edublog winners 2008
1 comment so far
I just learned over at Twitter that 2 of my favorite blogs are winners of the 2008 Edublog Awards-YEAH!
Richard Byrne over at Free Technology for Teachers is like the energizer bunny of blog posts! He is always posting (most days multiple posts) about free technology resources. The one feature of his blog that I really appreciate is his “Application for Education” section. Richard always ends his post with ways to incorporate the information in a meaningful classroom lesson. His ideas for using technology in the classroom inspire and motivate me to try things I may not have thought of without Richard– and for that I am very grateful. Richard is also always willing to assist anyone who might be, shall I say, a little less tech savy then he. Richard is a true gem!
Jim Hollis over at Teachers Love SMARTBoards has been my “SMARTBoard Hero” for quite some time. Jim truly lives by his motto “Sharing is Caring”. Jim’s blog is the most comprehensive blog regarding SMARTBoard resources, ideas, lessons and how-to videos. Finding Jim’s blog when I first started using my SMARTBoard in the classroom was like winning the lottery! He inspires and challenges so many teachers with his SMARTBoard wisdom. It was Jim who encouraged me to start my own blog– a journey that has been such a wonderful learning experience for me. I was just saying to a co-worker at school last week that the one gift I would love to get this Christmas would be a full day SMARTBoard training with Jim… it’s nice to have dreams!!!
So CONGRATULATIONS and great big THANK YOU to both Richard and Jim for not only writing and maintaining these fabulous blogs, but for being two generous, all around nice guys who are always willing to share what they know with others!
Christmas FUN & the SMARTBoard December 11, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, Games, General.Tags: Merry Christmas!
add a comment
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.
Animated Text December 6, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, General.Tags: text generators
3 comments
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!
Awesome Jeopardy Template November 15, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General, SMART Board, Websites.Tags: Jeopardy template
add a comment
Stumbled across the best Jeopardy template I have yet to come across. It was created by Lynne Bailey using Powerpoint. Lynne not only created this fabulous template complete with the Jeopardy theme music (including the Daily Double and Final Jeopardy), comments by Alex Trebek, but also included very user friendly, helpful tutorials to guide you through setting up your own game. This template is amazing to use on the SMARTBoard- you just need to remember to double click the questions to make it interactive. Wednesday I used the template to create a review on analogies for the 3rd grade teachers and the tmeplate was very easy to use. I think it took me 30 minutes from start to finish (of course I had all of my questions prepared). I was with a 7th grade math teacher yesterday who used this template to review fractions with her students (actually her students challlenged another classroom)and it was the best 48 minutes I had had in school in a long time!!! A teacher said to me- “This is like the Cadillac of Jeopardy templates” and I have to agree!! A great big THANK YOU to Lynne for making this available. ENJOY!
More Thanksgiving Sites November 12, 2008
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Fun, General, SMART Board, Websites.1 comment so far
Some teachers have been requesting some additional Thanksgiving sites (previously I mentioned The First Thanksgiving from Scholastic) that would work well with the SMARTBoard so here is a list of sites that I have found-
The guys over at TeqSMART have two great elementary Notebook lessons available with a Thanksgiving theme. The first was created by Lindsey Angelo teaching parts of speechand the second was created by Emily Peterson and it is Translating Word Problems into Algebraic Equations. I also hear rumblings that a Mayflower Math lesson will be available soon???????
Caleb Johnson’s MayflowerHistory.com offers extensive resources about the Mayflower/Pilgrims. There is a page dedicated to helping teachers navigate the site. The site is geared for older students, but there is information that would be helpful to elementary teachers. This would be a great link for a webquest since it has a plethera of historical information. Mr. Johnson even includes the Mayflower passenger list, complete with biographical information about each of the passengers. All information would present well in the SMARTBoard.
The History Channel offers 5 videos with a Thanksgiving theme. I particulary like the History of Thanksgiving since it is a little over 3 minutes long and gives a nice overview of the origins of Thanksgiving. It presents well on the SMARTBoard and is a great short video to embed into a Notebook lesson on Thanksgiving.
Turkeys Anagram game- students unscramble letters to discover a phrase about turkeys. Students would simply drag the letters on the SMARTBoard to the correct position. A fun game!
BillyBear4Kids has a fun animated turkey puzzle. Students would move the puzzle pieces on the SMARTBoard to create the puzzle. When a piece is placed in the correct position the connection flashes in white.The fact that the puzzle is animated just adds to the fun!!
Plimoth Plantation’s You are the Historian is a great resource, filled with some very good interactive activities as students discover clues about what really happened in 1621 at the “First Thanksgiving”. It works and presents well using the SMARTBoard. The site does indicate that during the Thanksgiving season you might experience a slow response so they do give you the option of downloading the file to your hard drive.
The folks over at Lookybook.com have some very nice Thanksgiving books available on their website. Typically the book present well on the SMARTboard, but just preview before using any book with your class.
National Geographic offers a great ativity for practicing part of speech with a Thanksgiving twist called “Wild & Wacky”.It is a fill in the blank activity for students to generate their own Thanksgiving story. Using the SMARTBoard the teacher could demonstrate/explain the activity and then students could use the lab to create their own stories. It does give you the option of printing the story so that students can read their stories to the class and/or take them home.
The Cartoon Factory (also from National Geographic) offers a Thanksgiving themed cartoon for students to narrate. They present well on the SMARTBoards- students love to see their work bigger than life on the SMARTBoard! Last year a 5th grade teacher used this activity with her students and when each student had completed their cartoon she “published” it so they all had a Thanksgiving comic book. It was a great way for the students to share their creativity!
Pete’s Powerpoint Station has a plethera of premade Thanksgiving themed powerpoint lessons.
Hope these additional resources help- ENJOY!
Xtra Normal is Xtra Special!!! November 11, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General, Websites.Tags: Text to Movie, Xtra Normal
add a comment
Ok, so I just learned about this really, really cool text-to movie application from L Parisi over at Twitter called– XtraNormal. If you can type you can create a movie- how motivating is this for students to be able to express their thoughts and knowledge in a creative way. I love it! As long as you can type you can create a movie.
“Xtranormal’s mission is to bring movie-making to the people. Everyone watches movies and we believe everyone can make movies. Our revolutionary approach to movie-making builds on an almost universally held skill—typing. You type something; we turn it into a movie. On the web and on the desktop.”
For students who struggle with speech and oral presentations this would be a wonderful alternative for them to express their ideas. It also would be beneficial for teachers to create movies to introduce a lesson or reinforce a concept– talk about catching and keeping the attention of students! And if you have a SMARTBoard the movies would present fantastic on one. It is currently in beta form and you must register to make a movie (must be 13 years old or older), but it’s free. ENJOY!
Animoto adds text November 11, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General, Websites.Tags: Animoto
1 comment so far
I just received an email from “the guys at Animoto” — GREAT NEWS– they have added a feature where you can now add text to your Animoto videos- YEAH!!! As they stated in the email,
“It’s true: you can now insert text into your Animoto videos. And we’re not talking about boring caption-like text–we’re talking about text the way it’s done in tv & film!”
This is something I have been looking forward to since I first discovered Animoto– did I say YEAH!!!! From an educational standpoint it will allow students to label and narrate their work- AWESOME! I haven’t investigated this feature yet– heading over their once I finish this post– but I’m sure that adding the text will be seamless. So head on over and check it out! ENJOY and oh yeah a big THANKS to “the guys at Animoto”.
Brain Computer Interface November 2, 2008
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: Brain computer interface, Communication
2 comments
I was very anxious to watch 60 Minutes this evening as I knew Scott Pelley was reporting on a story about the Brain Computer Interface. Here is a link to the video in case you missed this remarkable report. It showed how people who are completely paralyzed due to illness or trauma are getting help communicating with a new technology that connects their brains to a computer-the Brain Computer Interface (BCI). It was remarkable to watch a man with ALS communicate his thoughts and ideas by wearing a cap that picks up the electrical activity of his brain and allows him to select letters simply by thinking about them. The computer then turns his sentences into speech. Scientists believe that in the future this technology will move beyond communication and enable those with paralysis to move their own arms and legs again. If you want to be inspired and amazed take the time to check out this video. ENJOY!
Halloween sites October 24, 2008
Posted by anne marie in Fun, Games, General, SMART Board, Websites.Tags: Halloween resources
1 comment so far
I can’t believe how quickly Halloween is creeping up on us. When planning any Halloween themed lessons, one positive is there is an abundance of resources, games, activities, etc. on the Web for teachers to access. Even more encouraging is the fact that there is an increasing amount of activities that are interactive, educational, engaging and wonderful to use with the SMARTBoard. Conversely the problem is also just that–there are so many to pick from it can be overwhelming, or at least for someone like myself, who just doesn’t want to miss any!! I have put together a short list of new interactive Halloween resources/activities/games that I have added to my lists from previous years and also listed a few “oldies, but goodies”! As with all resources you need to preview each activity to ensure it is appropriate for your classroom (especially since some Halloween themed activities do incorporate the “scary factor”). Unless I note otherwise, all the sites mentioned would work well with the SMARTBoard- ENJOY!
Haunted Alphabet- on the idea of “I Spy”- students must locate the alphabet letters that are hidden in the haunted house- a very fun way to reinforce/review letter identification.
I Spy Library- Halloween is the perfect time to play this interactive game.
Scary Spuds- a fun way to allow creativity to flow in students, coupled with practicing eye/hand coordination, mouse skills, following directions, etc.
Trick or Treat Maze- a Halloween maze- great game for a “reward” activity in a computer lab to practice keyboard skills.
Monster Match- I have to admit this game had me and my husband hooked! You have to rearrange/switch Halloween pictures to make 3 in row. This is a great activity to use for a team building activity.
Billy Bear Concentration- for younger children to reinforce memory skills and encourage language.
Halloween Jigsaw Puzzle- All of the puzzle pieces are scrambled to the right of the puzzle board and students need to drag and drop them to creat the correct picture. There is a hint feature and it allows you to set the amount of pieces– I dare you to try the 40 piece puzzle!!! Another great activity for team building/cooperation lessons.
Squigly’s Halloween Games/Activities- there are 17 games addressing a variety of skills at different levels. There are also several activities including story builders, picture matches, jigsaw puzzles, word scrambles, etc. You will need to explore and find what would meet your needs, but trust me you will not be disappointed. I will again reinterate that these are Halloween themed activities and some may be too scary for some students.
Lookybook- I have talked about this site in the past (it’s one of my favorites!), but wanted to mention it again beacuse they have some really cool Halloween stories available and they are all FREE to view and read-YAH! You will need to register, but it’s free and it will allow you to save your favorite books for quick reference- sort of like having your own persoanl librarian:) Some of the books, depending on the size of the text, page, etc. present very well on the SMARTboard and are interactive to the degree that you can turn the pages by touching the board and trust me the younger students LOVE to read the books using the SMARTBoard!
History of Halloween- for anyone addressing lessons regarding the history of Halloween the History Channel is a fantastic resource for this purpose. They offer some great videos relating to this topic and also have some hauntingly fun games!
Also want to mention that Jim Hollis over at Teachers Love SmartBoards has two posts listing other great Halloween sites – Halloween Activities Part 1 and Halloween Activities Part 2.
Happy Halloween and ENJOY!
