The purpose of this site is to provide teachers with an extensive list of purposeful websites and ways to incorporate technology to enhance student learning. I hope you find the resources and materials to be useful and that you will share this site with your colleagues as a way to explore 21st century learning. Please feel free to post comments or to email me @ aimperio@seymourschools.org.
I just wanted to quickly share some search engines for kids. Teachers have shared with me their eagerness to use instaGrok in their classrooms or insta "G" rock as some may call it :)
Here are some more kid friendly search engines. Please share any other search engines for kids that you have used so I can add them to the collection.
Wall Wisher
There are so many ways you can use Wall Wisher in your classroom. Wall Wisher is just like having a blank piece of paper or a corkboard on your computer or SMARTboard that everyone can add to. I created a Wall Wisher above about being thankful. You can create a Wall Wisher with your students about things they are thankful for. You can start the wall and then have your students come to the SMARTboard to add their own posting by double clicking. It is very easy to do.
Here are some ways you can use Wall Wisher in your classroom...
Post a question on the wall and have students add their responses
Create a wall about a story the class read and have students add their favorite part to it
Have a word of the day on the wall and have each student add a sentence to the wall that includes the word of the day
Students can add questions they have to a blank wall that can be discussed after a lesson
Students can brainstorm ideas together or on their own wall
If you are interested in using Wall Wisher in your classroom visit Wall Wisher for more ideas and try it out. Please share any ideas you have by commenting below :)
You have to check out this kid friendly search engine where kids can discover interesting and educational facts about topics. Watch the quick tutorial above that I'm sharing from instaGrok's website.
instaGrok features:
Graphs information in an interactive concept map
Creates a journal for you while you're exploring
All information provided is cited for you
Key facts that you can pin to your journal or trash
Websites to learn more that you can pin to your journal or trash
Videos to learn more that you can pin to your journal or trash
Images that you can pin to your journal or trash
Quizzes
Glossary
This search engine is a must see! Visit instaGrok to learn more.
*Please let me know if you would like help using instaGrok in your classroom*
How many times have you wondered about something? How many times have your kids asked you random questions that you wondered yourself? When will pigs fly? Why do we call it breakfast? Who invented the microwave? Why do we vote on Tuesdays? These wonders can all be explained on... Wonderopolis!
I came across this website and I could not stop exploring. The videos are great and the wonders are endless. Each day a new wonder is answered or explained. It enables students to use their imaginations and creativity. I put a widget on my blog so you can check out a new wonder every time you visit (on the right side). Wonderopolis is a great way to engage your students and to explore some of the questions that seemed unanswerable. There are over 700 wonders so far. Make sure if you are using Wonderopolis in your classroom that you check out all of the learning tabs. The tabs are there to extend learning.
Twitter & Texting in the classroom? Sort of... here's how!
A very good friend of mine, Jennifer Scioscio, shared two resources she created on her "Teachers Pay Teachers" account. She is a fabulous teacher & here are two resources she used. Click on the picture or words below to get the Twitter Tuesday resource. Email me if you would like Text Your Spelling Words.
TWITTER TUESDAY
Students can "tweet" a summary of a book they are reading or a book that you read aloud. You can choose how many words are allowed per tweet. Students can even add "hashtags" to their tweets. The hashtags can contain key words from the story, book title, themes, characters, etc. Students can display their tweets in a pocket chart. Every Tuesday students can add a new tweet to the chart. Jennifer even had her class create silly Twitter usernames (@asheridan08 is mine).
TEXT YOUR SPELLING WORDS
Students will have a blast thinking they are "texting" their spelling words. Have students use their pencil eraser to tap the letters on the keyboard to spell their spelling words. Then students have to write their words on the lines provided. This would make a great center or just a fun way for students to practice their spelling words!
*You can modify these resources*
Thank you Jennifer for sharing! :)
Follow Jennifer @jscio and check out her other resources!
Happy Monday! :)
I have been hearing that teachers want to use their new netbooks or laptops during workboard in their classrooms. After hearing this I made some changes to my blog. At the top of the page I added a TAB called LEARNING SITES. This tab contains resources that your students can use in the classroom. The sites are arranged by subject. So far I have added Literacy, Math and Science. I will be adding more very soon. You could teach your students how to access these websites through my blog. Students can then explore different learning sites in school or at home just by clicking on the picture.
I also added a TAB called iPAD APPS. This tab will bring you to a new page that will bring you to a Google DOC that contains apps.
Here is a quick video to show you how to access the new pages:
