Here’s a Presentation from Tom Barrett listing a variety of Interesting ways to use an Interactive Wipe Board. It keeps growing, so bookmark it and come back and look every now and then!
Archives: Smart Board
Word Sort Templates for the Smartboard
Want an easy way to create a word sort using a Smartboard? Try out these new Smartboard templates:
Basic shapes (to look like a chart) and text boxes:
Using a few Interactive Features from the Lesson Activities Toolkit in the Notebook software:
(For those of you who teach in Salem, you can also get to them from the G drive > Common> ITRT Resources for Teachers > Smartboard > Smartboard Activities > Word Sorts). These word sorts were actually an idea from Debbie Kier with some input from Angela Hash.
Finally, want some pre-made Smartboard words sorts? Check out these resources created by Kristi Burke from Orange County Public Schools.
Know of any other resources for words sorts on the Smartboard? Leave a comment if you do!
Picture Books for the Smartboard on Lookybook
A group of technology educators on Twitter have been passing around this great site for Early Readers on the Smartboard. It’s called LookyBook, and it presents picture books in a format that you can use on the Smartboard (or any computer, really). Here’s an thumbnail example I felt was appropriate for this time of year. Click on the book once to turn pages and twice to see the larger version on the Lookbook Website.
Using the Smartboard, you can present a picture book in a way that all children can see it easily (or allow them to present it), AND you can WRITE on the book. Cirlce rhyming words, highlight descriptive words, pick out punctuation…all using the Smartboard pens. *The writing in a few of the books is pretty small, so you’ll have to check them out first to see if this will work.*
Another neat feature is that the site will allow you to customize your own virtual bookshelf where you can store your favorite stories. Currently there are over 300 books to choose from, but more are being added every day.
Websites to Use with the Smartboard
Finally, this wasn’t really a question, but it is a reminder from me. Don’t forget to use websites with SMART Boards.
I’m creating some ready-to-go pages listing websites (by subject) with links to sites that work well with SMARTboards. It’s taking me some time because there are so many out there. You can check out what I have at the moment on the SCS SMART Board Sites for Kids page (Your school homepage > Students > Links for Kids > SMART board sites for kids). Meanwhile, if you want to start looking for your own, or suggest some to me, that would be great! Here are a few sites that already list a bunch…
And this is a great blog to follow…Teachers Love SMART Boards….there’s always new and exciting posts about using SMART Boards in the classroom.
I keep a list in my delicious account too (though it is getting very long): http://del.icio.us/tcoffey/smartboard
While you are looking, if you find a good one, please, please leave me a comment and share it. I’ll add it to the SCS SMART Board page so that others can use it too!!
Pre-made Activities for the SMART Board
Next questions I’ve heard:
Are there other places to look for lessons (other than the Smart Site)? Where do I look?
Here are a few sites that have resources you can use “as is” or you can customize:
Rockingham County Teacher-made Lessons
Making Your Own Activities for the Smartboard
Once you have the SmartBoard Notebook Software on your computer, I highly recommend that you download and check out the Lesson Activity Toolkit. It contains interactive templates for different games and lessons. It contains fun ways to practice things like:
- Category sort – Organize key words into two categories
- Key word matching – Match key words to their definitions
- Multiple choice – Create up to 10 multiple choice questions
- Text reveal – Reveal 5 lines of text in your preferred order
- Word guess – Guess the letters of a key word up to 15 characters
All you have to do is add your content! Download it here. Don’t forget to take a look at the Quick Reference Guide they provide.
Using Word Docs and PowerPoints with the Smartboard
I’m dedicating the next two or three posts to answering some Smartboard questions that have been asked since our recent in-services. This is one I’ve heard a lot:
How do I use my Word Documents and PowerPoint shows with the Smartboard? It just so happens I ran across two really great 60 second videos to show you how!
Inserting a Word Doc into Smart Notebook:[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/yR95aDs1o4Q" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Inserting a PowerPoint into Smart Notebook:[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/VxnB-Ev_4RM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
A big thanks to the Brighton School System and their blog, 2020 Schools, for posting these videos! Check out their channel in itunes called, “:60 Sec. Tech.”
National Geographic Magazine Links
If your class receives one of the monthly editions of National Geographic Explorer, you might want to check out the website that goes with the magazine!
National Geographic Young Explorer (Grades K-1)
Even if you don’t subscribe to the magazine, you will love this site! Here you will find an interactive version of the magazine posted online. It will read the stories to the students and allow them to virtually “flip” through the pages.
Suggestions:
Talk about a great way to use the Smartboard! Have your students find and underline important words, sounds, or punctuation and/or write in the answers to the question with the Smartboard pens.
National Geographic Explorer (Pioneer Edition) (Grades 2-3)
National Geographic Explorer (Pathfinder Edition) (Grades 4-5)
Here you will find online activities (games, quizzes, videos, pictures) to go with each month’s topics. They also link to the full text of one of articles in the magazine.Suggestions:
Have the students individually complete the online activity with the laptops after reading the corresponding article. If time is limited, the class could also complete the activity together using the Smartboard. Also, use the Smartboard to read the online version of the article together. Use the Smartboard pens to find important context clues, vocabulary words, main ideas, facts, etc. directly on the online version of the article.
Also…while you are looking at National Geographic, make sure to check out the main kids site… National Geographic for Kids
I could get lost on this site for hours. It contains articles, games, pictures, videos, news, activities….all in a very interactive and kid-friendly way.
Suggestions:
Have students watch videos and play games that align with units in Science, Health, and Social Studies. Read the stories and complete activities and games in Language Arts (like Photo Fill-ins or the Cartoon Factory). Have students research animals for projects and find information in the form of pictures, words AND video. Check out the Young Explorer World Atlas in Social Studies. There are so many things to choose from…take a look and see what you find!
How Your Students Can Find These Links:
I’ve posted a link to the site on the SCS Links for Kids Page. To find it, go to your school’s website and click Students > Links for Kids, choose your grade level, and look under Science.
Smartboards
I’ve been frequently asked about learning to use the Smartboard. Well, here are some links that will help you get started!
First, if you are on a computer that doesn’t have the Smartboard’s Notebook software (for instance, if you are working from home), download it by clicking the link below:
After you’ve played a bit with the Notebook software, you might want to download some pre-made lessons. You can search for content from within the Notebook software (see picture).
You can also search by grade and subject on the SMART Technology Website:Download pre-made lessons from SMART Technologies
You may also want to check out this handout to help you out:
Creating Lessons with Notebook Software
A couple of other things to explore:
Upcoming Technology and Math Workshops
Beth Swain recently send out an email talking about the upcoming technology and math inservices she will be offering. I think these are going to be great, and I highly recommend them!!
1. November 27th, 3:00 to 4:00 pm, G W Carver Computer lab– this workshop will focus on websites for teaching SOLs from the patterns, functions and algebra strand. There is something for every level K-5. They have basic patterns to balance scales plus much more. I am sure you will find something to take back to your classroom to use. You will have time to play and explore the sites during the workshop. (RSVP to Beth by Nov. 19)
2. January 15th, 3:00 to 4:00 pm, G W Carver Computer lab – this workshop will focus on using the Smartboard in your classroom. I have activities/ideas/games for k-5. You will get hands on experience with the smartboard. Many of the activities are templates that you can customize to your level of students. The focus of this workshop will be on math vocabulary and the SOLs in the number and number sense strand. (RSVP to Beth by Jan. 4)
She plans to schedule 3 more workshops to focus on other Math strands. Recertification points will be given for attending all 5.
I’ve had a chance to see a “sneak peak” at what she will be sharing, and I think you will walk away with things you can use in your classroom right away! I’ve had people asking for ideas to use in remediation time and things to do with the Smartboard, and these workshops will give you ideas for both! Hope you will be able to join us.