Mrs. Vest’s class create a Voicethread on Batty Facts to go with their lesson on facts and opinions. Creating voicethreads on a specific topic gives students a chance to write, practicing reading, and listen back to information, which helps them learn and remember it better. They are also a great way to practice fluency and oral speaking skills. Students are always amazed the first time they hear themselves read, and I always give them the option to redo their reading if they don’t like it. It’s neat to see how quickly their reading changes when they can hear themselves! Take a look at their project (and feel free to leave them some comments).
Mrs. Hudson’s and Mrs. Graves 5th grade classes at Clearbrook Elementary are blogging! I’m so proud of the hard work both the teachers and the students are putting into this project! The kids are very excited, especially about comments they’ve received from some college students in Alabama. They worked really hard on writing posts about instruments to go with the sound unit they are studied in Science, and they are working on entries about their visit to Apple Ridge Farms. If you have a few minutes to leave them some comments, they would love it! It’s so motivating for them to know that their writing is read by a “real” audience!
The History on Tap blog is a great place to find resources that match Virginia’s SOLs for Social Studies and History, including games, foldables, presentations, study sheets, and more. It has resources for K-12, including tons of great things for VA Studies. It is updated and maintained by a Lisa Pennington, a Social Studies Specialist in Portsmouth, VA. If you teach social studies content, check it out!
First Grade classes around the county participated in an O.R.E.O. project, including Mrs. Chapman’s class, Mrs. Williams’ class, Mrs. Braun’s class, and all of Oak Grove’s First Grade! It was tons of fun, and it all centered around cookies!!
Students stacked cookies to see how tall of a tower they could make before it tumbled and tallied their results. Then, they entered results on a spreadsheet to find a class average and to view a graph. They discussed the data using words like greather than, less than, and equal to (see example below).
Finally, they entered their data into a project database that included data from across the United States, and even a few other countries! To view the project results (including a map of all the participants), click here! Globally, the class average for stacks was 18 cookies!
Here’s a few pictures from the event:
O.R.E.O. Project 2009 on PhotoPeach
Oh…and just in case your wondering, we did NOT eat the ones we stacked! ;)
This article is a follow up to yesterday’s inservice at Clearbrook. We discussed Global Projects, Using Skype, Wiki Ideas, and Geocaching and Geobugs. Wow, that was a lot of stuff!
Shelia Terry from Virginia Beach was able to skype with us and talk a little about her use with Skype with her students there. She gave us some great information about skype, and send us a link to more Skype info on her wiki!
We also talked a lot about some existing global projects you can join. One of the project places I highlighted was the site by Jen Wagner. I love her projects!!
The other project I mentioned by name was the skype project called Mission 00 Rain about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I remember that a few of you were interested in it as well. It’s for grades 1-3, but you need to register by Oct. 10!
Finally, we did some geocaching and talked about geobugs. In case you all are interested in geocaching for fun, the geocaching site is www.geocaching.com. You can create an account for free, and download the locations of caches to many types of gps units. The newer ones for cars will even let you do this. It’s tons of fun, and they are EVERYWHERE…so it’s also great for family trips or vacations.
Finally, an Oliver K. Woodman Geobug will be leaving Roanoke in the next few weeks. He’s heading to Redcrest, California. If you’ve read the book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, you’ll know why! Let me know if you want me to come to your class, show a geobug, and get your started following him too. :)
Have you seen small groups of students running around hunting for boxes at your school lately? If so, then you’ve seen us geocaching, a fun, active way to solve SOL related problems! It’s a great way for students to move around outside while working in groups and solving SOL related problems. They love it!!
Here’s the basic idea: It’s like a high-tech scavenger hunt. The kids use a handheld gps units to find hidden boxes around the school yard (your ITRT will help you set this up ahead of time). When they get to a box, they use clues inside to figure out the answer to a problem or complete and activitiy.
Currently we have sets of activities created (or being created) for the following units:
Regions of VA (4th)
Pirate Math (end of 2nd)
Global Studies (5th)
Library (Genres)
PE (Fall activity involving math and PE)
Phases of the Moon (4th)
Weather
Native Americans (2nd)
Native Americans (4th)
Carnivore/Herbivoire/Omnivore (3rd)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Musical Instrument Families
We are coming up with more each day….and would be happy to create one for a different unit with your help if you have an idea! If you are interested in trying out this activity with your students before it gets too cold, let me know.
There are many ways to add picture files to a Flipchart. This is useful if you have taken pictures with a document camera, scanner, or digital camera and would like to then use them in your flipchart.
To view a full-size version of this screencast, click here. You’ll probably want to do this…it’s small here!
Method 1: Click and Drag Between Folders:
Open the folder where the pictures are located.
Open a blank flipchart
Size the windows so you can see both of them.
Click and drag from the image from the File Window to FlipChart.
Choose “Add Object”
Method 2: Drop the file directly into the My Images folder
Drop directly into My Documents>ActivStudio 3>My Images
Open Up ActivStudio
You will see the file in your resource folder under My Resource Library.
Method 3: Insert the File from Design Mode
Turn on Design Mode while in ActivStudio
Go to Insert>Image>From File
Navigate to the file and click on it.
Make sure to turn off Design Mode when you are done.
Method 4: Click and Drag Between Word and a Flipchart:
Open the Word Document.
Open a blank flipchart
Size the windows so you can see both of them.
Click and drag from file windoWord Doc to FlipChart.
Choose “Drop Image”
Method 5: Snap a Picture with the Camera Tool
Open a ActivStudio
Minimize the FlipChart
Find the image on your computer
Click the camera icon>Area
Choose the area you want to save
Choose the first icon ”To Current Flipchart Page”
With all but Method 2, you may want to drag the folder over to your Resource Library if you plan on using it more than once.
Office Picture Manager will help you edit your pictures before you insert them into a flipchart. You can find it by going to Start>Programs>Microsoft Office>Microsoft Office Tools>Microsoft Office Picture Manage. If you allow it to be your default picture editor, it will open picture files anytime you double click on them.
There are more ways to add images…these are just my favorite. You don’t have to use all of the methods, just pick one that’s comfortable to you and stick with it. If you want to share another way to add images, please comment below! :)
As I sit here working on a project that requires some clipart, I’m reminded of my favorite FREE clipart site of all time for school projects. I’m not sure if you know about it already, but just in case you don’t, here it is:
You can find CUTE, elementary clipart for all subject areas, and even graphics that match the SOLs in a cute way. I love it!
Just in case you’ve never downloaded clipart from a website before, here’s how you do it:
Left click on the small version of the image (so you can view it in it’s largest form).
Right click on the large form of the image.
Choose “Save Picture As” or “Save Image As”
Find a spot to save it on your computer. Remember where you put it so you can find it again.
Click Save.
Phillip Martin, the artist, also creates cute powerpoints based on school subjects. You might want to check them out while looking at his site.
(Phillip Martin allows you to use this clipart free for your classroom, newsletters, and other non-profit things…just as long as you do not add it to other clip art collections. Please honor his request when using these wonderful resources.)
Thanks to Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod for this latest version of “Did You Know?” It definitely gives you food for thought! What does this mean for our schools?
Jacqui Sharp from ICT Teaching and Learning posted this great slideshow of different ways to publish writing. It’s great!! It goes from the easiest ways to the more elaborate…but lots of fun things are included. Take a look! Can you think of any other ways?
Do you know a wonderful teacher who deserves recognition? What about a chance to travel and bring “the world” back to their classroom? If so, please consider nominating this teacher for the McGlothlin Award. This Award is one of the largest monetary awards in the country ($25,000, $10,000 of which must be spent on international travel), provided by the very generous McGlothlin foundation. Their goal is to recognize teachers for their hard work, reward them, and inspire others to enter the teaching profession. It is open to full-time elementary or secondary teachers of core curriculum areas within the Blue Ridge PBS broadcast area. To check to see if your division is eligible, look here. Teachers must have five years experience and plan to continue teaching in the years to come.
This year they are opening nominations to the public and asking that all entry materials be sent electronically, to mcglothlin@blueridgepbs.org
The following elements should be sent no later than November 6, 2009:
Resume or curriculum vitae that lists the nominee’s
• education history
• employment history
• continuing professional development
• awards/honors
• conference or other presentations
• volunteer service to the community
Three letters of recommendation, forwarded from the authors. (Suggested sources: principals, supervisors, parents, colleagues, current or former students.)
Nominees must provide a personal statement about their teaching (limit is two (2) typewritten pages) that demonstrates how they fulfill the criteria of the McGlothlin Awards. Please include the answers to these important points:
• How do you bring the world to your classroom?
• Where would you choose to spend $10,000 of your award for international travel?