July 4

Getting Ready for the Research Project

Today’s students will be conducting all of their research online. With all of the state standards that need to be taught, how do you teach them how to do the research? Library Learning Commons has developed quite a few good resources to assist you. The site is divided into 14 sections. Some of the sections are geared toward older students will a base knowledge of research, but with the help of an adult younger students can be successful in developing questions, selecting the types of items to find the research, locate the important information and create a project based on their findings.

The note-taking one is where I have found most useful. Under this section, it is divided into 4 areas-reference, book, journal and website source. Below each of the section is a template found in pdf and Word format that allows for modification.  The template is something that can be adapted to fit the needs of many students of various ages and abilities.

Another section that caught my eye was Developing Questions section. The available attachments are easy to follow and understand. By following the graphic on the document, students of all ages are able to create their own research questions.

This site does seem to be one that will be an additional piece to help your students. It is not one where the kids can work independently on a computer. The teacher will need to select the items that are most beneficial to their class.

 

 

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May 14

The Neighborhood

Mister Rogers built a fabulous neighborhood full of imagination and creativity. It has now gone digital and so that it can continue on in the younger generations.

On the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood website, students will have to chance to build their own neighborhood. All of  the images are drag-and-drop and can be enlarged or shrunk by clicking on the magnifying glass. Once on the background, the picture can be moved as much as the student wants to move it. When complete, it can be printed out.

How can you use it in the classroom:

  • teacher can give direction words for picture placement (next to, behind, in front of, etc.)
  • write a direction on a piece of paper where it contains the name of the object and where it should be moved to
  • describe an ordinal direction for an object
  • one student writes the location of an object and another places it on the background strictly by the description
  • write a paragraph describing the setting of a story and then create it on the website
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April 13

The 5th season-Testing

Now is the time of year that the “crunch” has begun. Teachers finish teaching their curriculum and begin the review. For some grades the review includes the current year, however other grades include multiple years of a subject. Many educators spend a lot of time creating games for in-class use, but what happens when the students leave? Worksheets? Paper copies of a vocabulary sort are wonderful but can only be used so many times. A great review will include a variety of items. This is where technology comes in to play and Study Stack is the place to go.

Study Stack offers the ability to review vocabulary and concepts in a variety of ways, including games. The teacher will create their free account and enter the information needed to study. Students can access the site from any computer with internet access or view it on a handheld device after the app has been downloaded. Activity options are listed below.

Like the idea of review games online, but you would prefer a different site. Go to the bottom of the Study Stacks’s main page to find other websites that offer similar study options.

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March 21

Safe Searching

With all of the researching and computer use children are doing in the schools, it seemed appropriate to locate some great child friendly search engines. Below is a list of them that have proven to be safer than some of the more popular ones adults use.

  • Kidsclick The safe little search engine that could! Conduct a safe search and watch it streamline Google safe search results for kids at home and at school.
  • Factmonster A free reference site for students, teachers, and parents.
  • Quintura Kids The first visual and intuitive search engine for children with content filter and safe browsing.
  • Ask Kids Allows users to ask a question in plain English, confirms the question, then takes them to one web site that answers the question.
  • Boolify Drag the puzzle pieces to the window and type a word in each piece. When they are place together it creates the search.

If you have others that you use and would like to share, please send me an email using the “thoughts…” field on the right side of the page. I will add them to this list.

 

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February 15

Digital Scrapbooking

Whether you are studying famous Americans, characters in a book or a location, Scholastic’s Scrapbook is perfect.

Upon entering the site, the student will be asked to type the title of the book and the character. If you were studying a famous American, you would type in the time period he/she was alive or the name of a battle that he was a leader in.

The next screen will have two sides. On the left is a drawing area. It offers options for humans and animals. The animal options are dogs, pigs, mice, a cricket, fish, a mole, horses, cats, a dragon, a monkey, a bull, a rabbit, a giraffe, an owl, a dinosaur, a turtle, or a gorilla. These images are as is and do not offer an option for additional accessories.

The human images offer more variability. You can change skin color, hair, eyes, nose, mouth and clothes. The completed picture is of the shoulders and head.

On the right side of the screen is a table where students can type in various things regarding this person. Using the arrows, you can scroll through the options that are 10 Words to describe the character, details about their appearance, facts about their personality, challenges faced and accomplishments. Each line holds 60 characters where the students can type ideas or complete sentences.

There is also an option to print out a blank scrapbook page if you want them to draw their own picture. Scholastic has created a teacher guide with lesson plans and ideas for use of the scrapbook with various grade levels that can be found in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

How can you use this in a classroom?

  • character study in different forms of media
  • famous Americans, artists, historians
  • analyzing historical and current structures
  • whole group or on an interactive white board
  • independently on student computers

 

Category: interactive white boards, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies | LEAVE A COMMENT