SMARTboard Lessons

If you're looking for a host of pre-made, interactive SMARTboard lessons that support many different curricular areas, check out this website...

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+Activities/Correlated+Search+us.htm

It offers many easily modified SMARTboard lessons (for those of us lucky enough to have one in our own classrooms, or have access to one!) that supplement classroom instruction.

In addition, each lesson is correlated with a state standard, and an option allows you to view the Connecticut state standards associated with it, which is very helpful (especially if planning to use the SMARTboard lesson as part of a lesson being observed by an administrator).

I linked you directly to the page that allows you to choose your grade level, as well as subject matter.

One thing to keep in mind: You DO have to have the SMARTboard software downloaded onto your computer in order to see the lessons once they've downloaded, so be sure to go to this link and select the appropriate operating system for your computer (if you do not already have the software on your computer):

http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Support/Downloads/SBS/NBSv10WinEval.htm

Fantastic Teacher Created Websites for Primary Grades

I've decided to post my first blog about two phenomenal teacher-created websites (which, I think, are often the best kind there are!), that I use a lot in my own classroom (or when planning lessons). These two websites are definitely worth spending some time on, looking around to see what online resources, fun learning games or teacher resources are available to help supplement and strengthen instruction (or teacher organization).

Both of these websites are really helpful for primary/early childhood teachers, although they may be suitable for teachers of other grades, too (depending on student ability level).


The first website is made by a teacher at an elementary school in Arizona. I have provided a link below that directs you to the teacher's page of useful links. I love the ease of her page- she divides the subjects up and provides a ton of nice links for each one. Definitely bookmark this page into your browser. A lot of videos, relevant "games", etc. can be found here. Be sure to check out all her links (for all subject matters). Most are really great.

http://www.amphi.com/teachers/kpedersen/kpedersen.html

The second website is made by a kindergarten teacher who has an extensive array of "teacher helping/time saving" materials! She provides links to Microsoft documents that you can actually open and save (and modify) on your computer. This website offers great pictures of an actual classroom, and is really helpful for just about anything you can think of! She provides parent letters, links to games and other websites, and offers tons of great strategies, documents and other "goodies" that would help any teacher!

http://kellyskindergarten.com/

A Learning Site for Middle School Students: http://students.resa.net

I like this site because it provides students with online resources for grammar, literature, reading tips, and vocabulary. It was designed by a technology teacher and is very easy to navigate. I especially like that it has a "Writing Tips Center" that students can use when going through the writing process. This is not the best site I have found, but one that has some good information.

Ipod Inspired Writing Lessons - Ben Harper & John Mayer

As a middle or high school English teacher, it is always a challenge to get students to write let alone enjoy the experience. In order for most students to engage in a challenging task such as writing, it helps if they are interested in the topic. Some online forums that encourage online writing and collaboration are blogs, wikis, and discussion boards. These can be used in numerous ways to encourage students to think more critically, reflect on various topics they study, self-assess, peer-edit, and collaborate with their peers within the classroom or within a public blog. Teachers have created with their classes online magazines, novel discussions, poetry clubs, book clubs, book review blogs, and even online literature circle groups. I was determined to find an even more creative way to engage students in the writing process and during my search I came across this site:

http://writingfix.com/I_Pod_Prompts/With_Own_2_Hands3.htm

The lesson was created by Rob Stone. In this lesson, he integrates in the use of music through the Ipod. The lesson title This Lesson's Title:
With Your Own Two Hands
Are you changing the world (or waiting for the world to change)?

Uses Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's song "Waiting on the World to Change." The lesson begins with a pre-step before students listen to the songs. There is a link to the classification graphic organizer. The graphic organizer list sixteen different memorable people known throughout history. Students are asked to think about how each of them break the people into different groups based upon shared characteristics. Next, students fill out the pre-writing graphic organizer in which they think of ways the world needs to change and then write a few sentences that explain how, if possible, they can impact change in any of those areas. The lesson then goes onto having them see the lyrics and listen to the songs. They also view a video link called "The Year of the Rat" and a video of Hugh Laurie singing a protest song on Saturday Night Live. They move on to look at student models of writing. Next, they use a graphic organizer for to begin their pre-writing. The lesson moves students through the entire writing process through publishing their work on their online portfolio. The use of music and the process presented throughout the lesson are exceptional, and will definitely engage even our most reluctant writers.

RTI - Response to Intervention - Video for teachers

http://www.readinghorizons.com/solutions/markets/rti.aspx
This is a great explanation of the Response to Intervention Model (Also known as RTI). This system will be in place in July 2009, so it is important for all educators and others in the schools to be aware how the program works.

This video is quite long...so get a bowl of popcorn before you view)!

After the RTI model is explained, this district explains the "Discover Intensive Phonics" computer program that they use to assist students on all Tiers of the RTI Model.

Internet4Classrooms

During my internship at Anna Reynolds Elementary School, I accompanied a third grade class to the computer lab. During this time, students accessed the Internet 4 Classrooms website, found at http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm, to experiment with a hands-on Internet resource. This Internet resource was on telling time and required students to move hands on a clock to represent a pre-identified time. When students finished this task, they were provided feedback on their accuracy. In addition to this resource, Internet 4 Classrooms provides hundreds of other grade appropriate (K-8) interactive tools for language arts, math, science, and social studies. Before using the links provided, they would need to be reviewed and considered for use within the classroom. I found this site, and the resources provided, to be very comprehensive and useful if trying to incorporate the Internet into your everyday plans. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Mindware

MindWare has a series of puzzles entitled "Venn Perplexors" among others that can be used to promote literacy at all ages. Here is the link to samples that can be viewed: http://www.mindwarewholesale.com/SamplePuzzles/SamplePuzzles.aspx This is not a free resource unfortunately. While the puzzles surround the concept of the Venn Diagram, they can be used multiple ways in the classroom. Some are simply fun and easy - see Level A/B for elementary samples. As you move up in level to expert, they become quite challenging. These puzzles can be used for bell work, differentiation, extra credit etc. The samples are slightly misleading since they do not offer the full range of puzzles. There are perplexors where they give you just words with the ovals around some of them and you determine that they are homophones, homographs and homonyms. There are also ones with just numbers and you determine what the ovals represent - could be prime numbers or another math concept. MindWare has provided an educational yet interesting and creative way to promote literacy and critical thinking in the classroom.

Brain Child

Today during my internship, a fourth grade teacher discussed with me a tool she used in the computer lab to assess student achievement on Connecticut Curriculum Frameworks. Student scores were used to identify areas of opportunity to plan future instruction for the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMTs). The tool that was used is called Brain Child and can be found at http://www.brainchild.com/. This website allows you to select your state, take a grade 4 student demo, sign up for a free trial, or purchase the product (prices depend on the number of students who will be using the product). When reviewing the grade 4 student demo, I was able to select assessments in language arts, math, or science. Additionally, this tool is available for students in grades 2 through 8. I found this online tool to be useful when preparing students for the CMTs. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Alison C.

ArtsEdge by the Kennedy Center

This is another great site that I found a little over a year ago when searching for new ideas for lesson plans. It has great information on teaching lessons and units, as well as different articles to explore topics. I found it particularly interesting that I was able to explore Art concepts that I could translate into English topics in the classroom. I thought that it was a great way to bridge different subject areas and allow students to use different multiple intelligences.

Brain Pop

During one of my graduate classes this week, another graduate student discussed with our class that she uses a website titled BrainPop to supplement her science and social studies curriculum. Following this class, I decided to locate this website and sign up for a free 5-day trial. BrainPop can be located at http://www.brainpop.com and mostly includes interactive videos on a variety of subject areas (science, social studies, English, math, art & music, technology, and health). I previewed a few videos and found them both humorous and informative. Interestingly, this website has a video describing blogs which we will be studying this week in class! One thing to consider when thinking about using this website is that it does have a cost. I would suggest checking with your school to see if they already subscribe to this website. This site is definitely worth checking out!

Alison

English Companion Ning

I know that our class has teachers or future teachers for all subjects and grade levels, but I wanted to share a site that is directed toward English Teachers, http://englishcompanion.ning.com/. A former classmate introduced me to the site and I have found it to be a great resource, although sometimes a little overwhelming. This is a community of more than 2200 (and growing daily) English teachers, professors and professionals - and novices. It is a wonderful resource for sharing ideas, gaining feedback and learning what works, what doesn't and what might. There are subgroups for literature circles, teaching writing, teaching grammar, and teaching with technology! Check it out, even if you aren't an English teacher, membership is free. The site was started by Jim Burke, well known educational author.

Susan

Thinkfinity

One of my favorite sites that I use over and over again is the Illuminations site (from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics), a strictly math website. However, there is a partnership with www.thinkfinity.org , a website striving to improve student achievement in the traditional classroom. The organization has partnerships with ARTSEDGE, Smithsonian History Explorer as well as ReadWriteThink. The site is very interdisciplinary using a variety of media - from regular lesson plans to pod casts to video. There are "Family Literacy" lesson plans: one is a video from ReadWriteThink on how to help a teen prep for an interview to a pod cast on Orangutan U from Science Net Links. The common threads throughout the site are a focus on literacy, use of various media forms not just traditional lessons and an interdisciplinary focus. I hope that you can find something useful.

http://edsitement.neh.gov/

I have always liked this site. It provides great ideas for lesson plans and units as well as provides a monthly calendar that tracks important dates and time periods in history. I find it to be a wealth of knowledge...hope you are able to use it as well.

Read Write Think

I have always found this website to be full of great lesson plans. I like how it breaks down the lessons by grade band and additionally by literacy topics, if needed. All of the lessons are backed by research and provide clear, concise step by step instructional plans. Sometimes they also include graphic organizers, assessments, and additional resources. I have used it for lessons on introducing Readers Theatre and developing fluency through poetry.

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=172 - Readers Theatre
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=22 - Fluency

Examples of Literacy with Technology

This week you were asked to explore the following web sites:

• Literacy and Technology Integration
  
• Assessment and Literacy
• Read, Write Think

After looking at some (or all) of the links on these sites, did you find anything useful that you could see yourself using in the classroom? If so, please provide a link and description of the site, as well as how you would incorporate the site into your classroom.