Big Huge Labs

Big Huge Labs will allow you to do "Fun Stuff with Your Photos." There are many areas to explore. You can make a magazine cover, motivation posters, CD Covers, trading cards and so much more. This tool is great to support literature circles or content area information. It provides students with opportunities that allow them to share what they understand in a creative way. Students can use a digital camera to capture images to support what they are learning. Student's will be motivated to make trading cards for the states of matter or a magazine about the main character of a novel. Take a look and think outside the box for ways to use this site. Any ideas you wish to share, leave us a comment below.

3D Educational Fun! (PreK-3rd)

While preparing to teach a 3D Smart Board class, I came across Knowledge Adventure, a fabulous site with educational games--some look 3D! Choose games for Math, Reading, Spelling, Science, Animals, and Phonics. Although tabs include PreK through 2nd grade, some games go beyond those grades. Quick Calculate includes multiplication, for instance, and Word and Spelling Games include words beyond 2nd grade. Students will just love saving aliens from a vortex by adding their numbers up to equal a given number on the teleport pod in the Addingtons. Knowledge Adventure would be perfect for a center with the Smart Board!

Find Your Way to Some New GPS Activities

Looking for some new ways or ways to use GPS units with your class. Check out what some classes in Roanoke County are doing. The ITRT's in Roanoke County have designed and put together some great resources for using GPS to teach concepts, reinforce skills, and review content. If something sparks your interest, get in touch with your ITRT and they can help you plan an activity.

AVATARS!

When I heard that my second grade students were studying Famous Americans, I immediately thought of a tip that I had read on Tammy Worcester's Blog, "Tammy's Technology Tips for Teachers". In Tip 74, she shows how to use the avatar creater from the website My Avatar Editor and some clever ways to use the avatars in the classroom.

Each of my second graders created a Famous American Avatar using My Avatar Editor and saved them in power point along with a background image that suited their American; baseball field for Jackie Robinson, log cabin for Abraham Lincoln, etc. Then they recorded themselves in the first person speaking about why they are considered to be a Famous American and their contributions they made to society. After compiling all of the students' slides into one power point presentation, the teacher showed it to the class as a review before their test. The students enjoyed seeing all the different avatars and hearing themselves and their classmates speaking about their Famous American. I can't wait to see how they did on the test.....bet they aced it!

Create a Story with Pinky Dinky Doo!

Pinky Dinky Doo is a site where students create stories starring cartoon characters from the animated series of the same name currently airing on Nick Jr.

After selecting a genre of their choice (Silly, Fairy Tale, Mystery, Scary, or Outer Space), they will compose their own story focusing on Beginning, Middle, and End. The text is highlighted and read aloud to the students each time they make an addition to their story providing help with fluency and word recognition.

Once their story is complete, it can be printed onto ONE sheet of paper, folded into a mini-booklet, and taken home for more reading practice!

Kids Search Site

Have you been looking for some kid friendly sites to use with your children to do research? Do you need some kid friendly sites for them to search for information? Then check out this site that has many possibilities.

VA SOL Resource Page for Grades 1-3

I found this site on a blog I follow and thought it had some good resources for 1-3. It has a lot of resources broken down by SOL, including worksheets, activities, videos, etc. Some parts of the site are still under construction, so check back often.
http://www.jalopespot.com/

Hope it's useful!