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In college I was always told that teachers are known to "beg, borrow and steal" from our colleagues. Of course this means that the stronger our colleagues are, the stronger we are as teachers. This year I had the pleasure of having Veronica from When Inspiration Strikes as a colleague, so this year has made me the strongest I've ever been as a teacher. Today she is allowing me to share one of her ideas for our Website Suggestion Wednesday.  The website I would like to share with you today is called Vocaroo. On this website, your students can record themselves speaking (or reading) and get a link or a QR code that connects to their recording. The website is very simple to use. Students simply click record and talk. Once they are done, they can listen to themselves and choose to save the recording or re-record. When they have it just right and they can share their recording in a variety of electronic ways. Veronica's students create QR codes to share their recordings. She prints out these codes and hangs them in the hallway along with the written work. My students love taking our tablets out into the hallway to scan her QR codes and listen to her students' recordings. A few other ways you could use Vocarooo are: - Have students create their own podcast or radio show on a topic they have researched. - Allow students to record picture books for younger students to listen to. (This would be a great way to enhance book buddies.) - Have students create spoken partner stories, where each person adds a few sentences but they do not communicate about where the story is going. - Have students create "mock interviews" with famous historical people or famous book characters. Two students can then work together to make an audio version that interview. - Allow students to use the app to record their fluency passage. Then students can listen to themselves, count their own mistakes and even use a reading fluency rubric to give themselves a grade. - You can record center directions, activity expectations or spelling lists into Vocaroo and post the link or QR code in your center. - Create QR code scavenger hunts by recording clues in Vocaroo. How else could YOU use Vocaroo? Let's all "beg, borrow and steal" from each other. Leave us your favorite ideas for recording apps in the comment section. This content was originally posted at: http://rakisradresources.blogspot.com/2017/04/many-different-ways-to-use-vocaroo-free.html 
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  This week we are looking at Social Studies websites. Here is a list of my favorite 10 websites to use in elementary classrooms when we are studying History, Government, and Geography. 1.) Social Studies for Kids – This website includes a collection of articles on current events, historical events and other great Social Studies topics. 2.) Ducksters – History & Geography – Ducksters is a great website for Science and Social Studies, but the Social Studies part is particularly fabulous. Each category has tons of links to additional information and subcategories. This is a great place to start students out when working on a research project. 3.) BBC History for Kids – BBC has amazing educational resources for all subjects, but their history section is particularly fabulous. This site has games that help students explore ancient history, British history, world wars, and historical figures from tons of different time periods. 4.) Timeline Maker – Generate a timeline with up to twelve events by simply inserting dates and descriptions in chronological order. This timeline can then be printed and used in class. 5.) Google Earth – How helpful is an online interactive globe where you can zoom into mountains, valleys and oceans? So many ways this can be helpful with geography, topography and helping students build a strong base in understanding where history happened and why. A perfect website to include in a unit on Maps & Globes 6.) Time for Kids – An online newspaper for kids with current event articles, videos, photos, etc. is a great source for Social Studies class. In fact, I wrote an entirely separate blog post about Time for Kids awhile back, but it is a worthy addition to this list as well. 7.) World Atlas – This website provides an amazing interactive atlas. Students begin at a world map. If they click on a continent, they will be taken to a continent specific map as well as information about that specific continent. Then, within the continent map, they can click on each country name and be taken to a country specific map with information about that specific country. Talk about a great starting place for a Country Study Project, huh? 8.) Garden of Praise – Biographies for Kids – This website includes biographies of tons of important individuals from history written specifically for kids. Many of the biographies include links to additional reference material on the person, definitions of key vocabulary from the biography and video clips about the person in the biography. 9.) Congress for Kids – This amazing site has great information and diagrams to describe the creation of the United States government and the process of how each branch works. 10.) Ben’s Guide – This is a US government based site with lots of information about the services provided by the government, processes used to create laws and elect representatives. The site is conveniently broken down by grade levels to make differentiation easier. For more resources to integrate technology into your classroom, check out my Technology Integration Kit.
  For the past two months, I have been busy re-working my Internet Scavenger Hunts. This included checking each and every link to make sure that the links were working, current, and appropriate for the grade level of the Internet Scavenger Hunts, and fixing the ones that weren’t. In the process, I discovered a bunch of new great sites, and “remembered” a bunch of old, bug good sites. Each of my Internet Scavenger Hunts is designed to meet Science or Social Studies standards, so I decided to put together a list of the Top 10 Science websites. (Next week, I will post a list of the Top 10 Social Studies websites.) My internet scavenger hunts vary greatly in topic from Life Cycles to Rocks and Fossils to Light & Sound, so there should be a little bit on this list for everyone. So here are your top ten science websites: 1.) Nasa Education – If you are teaching astronomy or any type of engineering, Nasa is the place to go. Their amazing education website has ready made lesson plans, articles geared specifically for kids, videos about astronauts and the space station and even a Kids Club area with games on different topics like building a jet and naming the planets. 2.) BBC Bitsize Science Games & Simulations – BBC has great educational games for every subject, but the sciences ones are really tops. They have a variety of topics from Microorganisms to States of Matter to Friction. For each topic, there is a chance for kids to read and to play and the play section offers very engaging, interactive activities. I have yet to find a game on this site that I didn’t love. 3.) Nature Works – This site is based around 16 different videos about different topics dealing with the natural world, including: Adaptation, Migration and Habitat. In addition to the videos – which stream off of a connected PBS site – there are pages for students to read on the same topics and information about 208 different animals! For teachers, there are lesson plans designed specifically around the various episodes, including key vocabulary and hands on activities. 4.) Physics 4 Kids, Biology 4 Kids, Chemistry 4 Kids, Geography 4 Kids, Cosmos 4 Kids Although this is technically 5 different websites, they are all interconnected and have the same types of great, student friendly articles with information about key topics in science. The only difference between the sites is the topics available. When assigning research on any area of science, these are the first websites I turn to. 5.) Science Kids – Based out of New Zealand, this science site has 30 possible science topics. For each topic, there are games, videos, images, experiments and activities, fact sheets, quizzes and lesson plans. This is really a one stop shop site for most science units. 6.) Kids’ Science Experiments – In addition to tons of science experiments, each with materials needed and instructions, there are science fact sheets and a great science glossary to help build children’s science vocabulary. 7.) Kids’ Astronomy.com – Great graphics, fabulous information and more are available at this site, all about Astronomy and all geared for student research and learning. In addition, there are games and songs, and even entire Astronomy Class with reading and assignments. By the end of the class, students can print their own completion certification. 8.) National Geographic – Where better to start a science study than at National Geographic? Their kids site is amazing, full of games, videos and facts about different animals and habitats. My kids’ favorite section is the Weird, but True! which contains amazing facts that sound like they could never be true, but of course they are. On the site, kids have a chance to “heart” their favorite fun facts and there is always a “trending” number at the top so they can see which facts other kids like. These facts are a great jumping off point to trigger student interests and begin genius projects. 9.) Ducksters – Science Information – This site has great information and diagrams on a very wide range of science topics. Topics range from Cell Division to Electricity to Black Holes. The reading level is slightly higher than many kids’ sites but is still very doable for 4th grade and up. 10.) Shephards Software – Science Games – This site has great educational games overall, but the science ones are fabulous. There are tutorials, interactive games and quizzes on topics like Cells, Life Cycles and the Digestion System. For more resources to integrate technology into your classroom, check out my Technology Integration Kit.    At the beginning of the school year, I always try to think about what skills my students will need all year long and I build them into my centers and my homework. Some of the skills I focus on are math facts, reading comprehension strategies and typing skills. Students today, and my students in particular, need to be familiar with keyboards and how to type on them. My students complete all of their homework online with Edmodo and complete regular computer based projects. If it takes them 3 minutes to find the “k” key, they are going to quickly fall behind. So, at the beginning of the year, I assign these sites for homework and computer time: 1.) Dance Mat Typing – This is my all time favorite website for teaching typing because the tutorial model exactly what fingers should be used on each key in order to touch type (type without looking). As a touch typer myself, I find this skill incredibly important, but overwhelming for young children. Dance Mat makes it fun and amusing. There are cartoon animals that explain how the typing should be done and then sing and dance and celebrate when the kids get it done. The entire task of mastering typing is broken down into easy, manageable steps. Part of the BBC website – this is generally my go-to website for teaching keyboarding. (Please note that you must have a qwerty keyboard in order to use this site effectively. Not all of my students have these keyboards at home, and this has caused an issue. It probably won’t be an issue for you if you are not in an international setting.) 2.) Typing Master – This site has a variety of games where the students type a letter on the keyboard in order to advance in the game. The kids love to play pacman or pop the bubbles, and at the same time they are familiarizing themselves with where the letters are on the keyboard. This site is particularly good for younger students, and is also a great letter practice for preschool students. 3.) Lang Sense - For my students who do not have qwerty keyboards, this is a great option, because it still allows you to choose the keyboard you would like to work on. However, it is not nearly as fun as DanceMat. The lessons are a little dry, but they do provide students with a great amount of typing practice in a regular series that is broken into manageable steps. 4.) Learning the Keyboard Games - Similar to Typing Master, this site has a variety of games, including stacking cups and the letter factory. There are also more formal tutorials available for older students. For more resources to integrate technology into your classroom, check out my Technology Integration Kit.    There are so many great websites out there for Elementary students that I decided to put together some Top 10 Lists for websites to use in the upcoming school year. For the next few weeks, I’ll be posting lists of sites to use for various subjects. 10. TVOKids: The math and science games on this site are wonderful for working on many different math concepts, including counting coins, addition and telling time. In addition, there are great videos that demonstrate various math concepts (click on Watch to view videos). 9 . ICTGames: This great site has tons of math games, that are nicely aligned to the UK standards. The games are sorted by math concepts, and use great techniques like number lines and abacuses. 8. Math-a-Rama: This site is more than just games, it also includes manipulatives, brain teasers, an e-glossary, and a place to work on a data survey. Supported by Houghton Mifflin, this website is sorted by grade level, and is a wonderful resource for your classroom. 7. Erich’s Puzzle Place: Critical thinking and solving puzzles are such helpful skills in math. This site has almost every puzzle imaginable, from sudoku, to arithmetic puzzles, to rebus puzzles to mazes. 6. Math Playground: This site has tons and tons of really great games for tons of different math concepts. In addition, there are video tutorials that walk kids through many different math concepts. But, one of my favorite features is the interactive word problems. Students can do a series of word problems, and the site will keep track of their right and wrong answers. I love to use it as an easy problem solving center. 5. HSP Math: This site was developed by Harcourt School Publishers, so if you have a Harcourt math series at your school, it will align very well with your texts. However, no matter what your math adoption, the lessons and games are amazing reinforcements for the kids. My kids this year particularly loved the measurement games. 4. PBS Kids – Cyberchase: Although there are many great shows on PBS Kids, Cyberchase focuses in on many different math and problem solving concepts. At the PBS website, there are games and video clips that you can use in your classroom to help your students work on math concepts and problem solving. 3. Oswego Math Games: Some of the best math games I’ve ever found have come from this website. It was designed by teachers for students in their school district, so the activities are generally so much better than others I find out there. Some of my favorites are Mathmatician (for math facts) and Find the Dog’s Bone (for working on 100’s chart). 2. Cool Math: This site has so many games, it’s crazy. While not every game is completely educational, most are at least logic building games. The best games for the classroom are the number games and the logic games. Many of these games start out in my classroom as a teaching game, and then the kids like them so much, that they become a reward for completing quality work early or having a great behavior day. 1. Virtual Manipulatives: Every math manipulative that you have (or should have) in the math manipulative kit that comes with your math series can be found in virtual form on this website. In addition, there are new, different ways to manipulate these manipulatives that I have found only here. For example, this site allows you to subtract with base ten blocks, and the blocks that are “taken away” truly go away. In addition to base ten blocks, there are also number lines, clocks, money, tangrams, pattern blocks and more. It works fabulously with a projector and an interactive board, but is just as much fun at a single computer during centers. For more resources to integrate technology into your classroom, check out my Technology Integration Kit.    Top 10 Writing Websites for the Elementary ClassroomThere are so many great websites out there for Elementary students that I decided to put together some Top 10 Lists for websites to use in the upcoming school year. For the next few weeks, I’ll be posting lists of sites to use for various subjects. And feel free to leave a comment with any additional sites that might help everyone with this week’s subject – Writing. Although I still do quite a bit of writing with my students in regular pencil and paper format with my writing journals (I have on for each Genre and you can download the pack for the whole year at my TPT store.) My students also spend quite a bit of time composing writing in front of the computer. I use these sites as both in class activities and homework assignments. In addition to being great publishing sites, most (not all) of these sites allow other students (and me!) to leave commentary on the student’s work, further enhancing the writing process. 1.) Storybird – This website allows students to choose from a variety of art sets and use the images to create online storybooks. I have used this site with Kindergarten through 5th grade, always with success. On a free teacher account, you can have up to 60 students and 3 classes under you. There are paid accounts if you need more than this. Students can order pdf and hard copies of their storybooks as well – for a free. The images the students use help to guide their story and provide ideas for details. My ESL students especially love having the pictures to draw from. The only downfall I have found from this site is that once you choose an art set, you are stuck with it for that story (there are generally 15 – 60 pictures in an art set), and if you can’t find the picture you want, you don’t have other options. (Find more info on how I use Storybird HERE.) 2.) Edublogs – This website allows you to set up student blogs for free if you set each one up individually. (If you want your class blogs connected, I’m pretty sure you have to pay for a premium account.) Students have access to a wordpress – type format, where they create blogs that are available for all to read. My students shared their blogs with other students in other countries (Bermuda and Wales) this year and swapped comments on the various blogs. It was a great way for them to learn about writing and about other countries. Check out the official blogging project at Global Teacher Connect. (Find more info on how I use Edublogs HERE.) 3.) Kidblog - Simillar to Edublogs, Kidblog allows you to create a blog for each student, but the blogs are not available to the public. Instead, you have a class space, and only students from their class can provide comments on student blogs. This provides more security, but less flexibility when it comes to sharing student work. 4.) Story Jumper – Similar to storybird, Story Jumper allows students to create online storybooks. The program is slightly more primary in appearance than storybird, but it has features storybird does not have, including allowing students to use a variety of clip art and even their own photographs. Students can order a hard copy of their book, but I haven’t found anyplace where they can comment on each other’s stories. 5.) Voki – While voki is generally thought of us a speech software program (Students design an avatar and record their voices to have the avatar speak.), it can also be a writing tool. Students can type in their writing and the avatar will “read” what they have written exactly as is. This is a great way for students to “hear” their writing read aloud, and has been an especially powerful tool for my ESL students. With Voki, as with most sites, there is a free edition and a premium edition. Free editions require each student to sign up separately, and give you less options on avatar choices. 6.) Little Write Brain – Like storybird and story jumper, Little Write Brain allows students to create online storybooks. However, Little Write Brain allows students to create characters, and gives them multiple “starter stories” that they can then add on to. Little Write Brain does not allow for printed books, but they do allow unlimited e-book creation. There is also nowhere for commentary, that I have seen. 7.) Google Docs – Many teachers use Google Docs for themselves, but don’t think to use them with their students. Google Docs can be an easy and efficient way for students to publish pencil and paper writing, or to simply compose new stories. However, Google Docs is even more powerful if you change the privacy settings. If you change the “edit” settings to allow just you and the student to edit – it provides a great commentary method, or could provide a virtual journaling format. If you change the “edit” settings further, you can allow students to all type on a story together, and create collaborative writing. This could also be a great format for peer editing. 8.) Prezi – Although Prezi is technically a “presentation” tool, I also use it quite a bit when it comes to writing. If you are writing speeches for any purpose, or informational or persuasive writing, Prezi is a go-to tool where kids can easily work on separating out their ideas. The arrows in Prezi help with connections or transitions between ideas, and fact that you can adjust the “path” helps kids identify which ideas link to which other ideas. I have had students create Prezi presentations as an “add on” to a paper they have written, and I have had them break up their ideas into a maneuverable Prezi, and then write a paper to go with it – using Prezi more as the brainstorming technique. (Find more info on how I use Prezi here.) 9.) Edmodo – Although Edmodo is technically a digital classroom space, it has provided a great space for my students to work on writing skills. Each time, my students have to “respond” to posts that have to do with what they read, what they learned from videos they watched, what stories they were writing etc. Their responses (think short answer questions), gave them a quick way to practice conventions and grammar on a daily basis. Based on their responses to nightly homework, I shaped grammar and vocabulary mini-lessons. This was especially important for my ESL students who, in addition to responding to nightly homework questions, also spent a lot of time “chatting” and sharing videos in the “chat room” group that I created for that purpose. 10.) Read Write Think – Read Write Think has many printables that teachers use to help students organize writing, but they also have a great resource called Student Interactives. These interactives provide students with interactive organizational tools for various types of writing, including biographies, comparing and contrasting and even poetry. Using these interactives before writing can help students to organize their thoughts. For more resources to integrate technology into your classroom, check out my Technology Integration Kit.  |
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