Flocabulary (Hip Hop Videos for the Classroom)

Have you heard of Flocabulary? It’s a website that does hip hop songs to help students remember certain facts. It started with SAT vocab, but has expanded to all levels and subjects. To have access to all the videos/songs you need to pay a fee, but a few are free…including the one for Egypt, which you can watch here.

Note the lyrics below the song (they are clickable) and the resources to go with it on the right hand side of the page. I will warn you…you will be singing the chorus to this in your head all day after you hear it, or at least I did! :)

There are other free videos too worth checking out on the site, including Confessions of a Planet (Space), On Trial! (Test Taking Vocabulary), Let Freedom Ring (Civil Rights), This Ain’t Working (American Revolution), Place Value, Scientific Method of Madness, and more!  There is a vocabulary section broken down by grade level and tons of other great videos in the paid version. You can also download songs in iTunes (for $.99 each).  Take a look (and listen).  I think you will love these!

 

Safe QR Code for YouTube Videos

Want to have a video center using iPads and iPods and Youtube videos?  Want to make sure there’s no ads or other videos included?  Then use SaveShare.TV.

AND…you can even use this site in conjunction with QR Code Generator to create QR Codes that link to these safe videos.  Here’s how:

1) Find the video you want to use on YouTube.

2) Copy the link into SafeShare.TV Site.

3) Copy the link you get from SafeShare to a QR Code Generator.  Make sure you choose “website url” for this, not Youtube Video.

4) Download the QR code for that video to use.  We use QR Code Readers such as i-nigma and Scan on the iPads and iPod Touches to scan the QR codes and watch these videos.

Try it out with the QR Code below:

Creating Your Own Discovery Education Account

Many of our teachers use  Discovery Education (United Streaming) videos on a regular basis.  Some use the generic school account, but did you know you could have your very own account?   Teachers with their own accounts can save the materials that they use in their own library – making it much easier to find next year. To create your account, you will need your school code (your ITRT knows this).  Then visit http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ .

Step 1: Click on the Passcode/New User Tab.

Step 2: Type in the school Passcode.  Your ITRT has this number.

Step 3:  Follow the prompts to set up your Discovery Education account.

 

You can also follow this webcast that Meg Swecker created:

Creating a Discovery Education Account

I’ll post more soon about using this great resource! :)

 

 

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.”