March Newsletter - Technology in the Classroom for a Marvelous March!

Mercurial, Marvelous March!

Many parts of the Northern Hemisphere are MORE than ready for Spring!  Though Spring officially starts this month in the Northern Hemisphere, we are battening down for another snow storm here, and it seems that St. Patrick's Day is as close as we will get to seeing green for another month or so.  Along with the blarney green, this month you'll find an amazing interactive website to help your students visualize scale and explore the meaning of "big" and "little".  The Iditarod begins the first weekend in March, and offers many opportunities for real-life learning across the curriculum.  A "pot of gold" full of math manipulatives will have your students begging to play math games, and the Equinox and the first day of Spring offer wonderful opportunities for learning in all areas of the curriculum.

UniverseScale - How Big is Big?- Getting Perspective on the World

How big is "big"?  Depends on your perspective.  This fascinating site helps put the world (and the terms "big" and "small") into perspective.  Each section has grids that increase or decrease by a factor of 10.  Click the M along the bottom to read the explanation of "The Unit that Measures the World".  Then click one of the illustrations to read facts and see what is "Big" and "Small" by comparison.  Click cm to read about the "Realm of the Palm", and to see how "Big" and "Small" change with perspective.  Once you're oriented, follow the scale into the outer reaches of the Universe, or into the depths of the microscope.
http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/index_f.htm

The Iditarod Race began March 6 with temperatures of  -17C.   This world-famous sled dog race is very appealing to students, and this site has a wealth of teacher resources and lesson plans centering around this  grueling race, with  curriculum links for geography and mapping skills, math, science and reading/language arts.  Students can watch video clips of segments of the race, research the mushers and their dogs, and read the news updates from each checkpoint.   The site includes bulletin board ideas, worksheets for students to track progress (and work out the math and science involved), and  there's a PowerPoint Jeopardy game to help students learn about weather, and how weather is an important factor in this race - in some surprising ways.

http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/teaching-resources/

St. Patrick's Day, on March 17, provides lots of opportunities to add some fun to your curriculum.  If you have a SMARTBoard (or  SMARTBoard software), there are two great activities available to download from http://smarttech.com click Education, then United States - View All and search for St. Patrick.  St. Patrick's Day Word Fun and St. Patrick's Day Math Fun both provide good practice for 3rd - 5th grade in an engaging format.  If you have trouble downloading from Smarttech, send me an email and I can send them to you as an attachment.  A good selection of other ideas and lesson plans (not SMARTBoard) are available at  http://www.lessonplanspage.com/StPatricksDay.htm#5

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a virtual pot of gold!  On this site you will find math manipulatives and activities to support every area of the math curriculum.  These manipulatives and activities are organized by math strand (from the NCTM standards) and grade level.  Click on a grid square to go to a list of manipulatives that will help you explain concepts, as well as dozens of compelling games and activities that make exploring, practicing and reinforcing those concepts something your students will beg for more.  When you have students asking, "Do we get to do this at home?" you know you have found a way to make math meaningful and interesting!
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

First Day of Spring - March 20  - The tilt of the earth's axis creates the phenomena of Seasons, which cause growing seasons and make life as we know it possible.  The Journey North website does an excellent job of helping students understand the reason for the seasons and some of the implications.  In their Mystery Class activity, students use clues about changes in day length to discover the location of 10 Mystery Classes around the world - http://www.learner.org/jnorth/mclass/index.html.

As the weather warms and spring fever hits, you will find lots of activities to really dig into spring at the Education World website.  There you'll find lesson plans for "Planting Seeds of Learning", exploring the flora and fauna in "What's Living in Your Schoolyard", and many other earthy activities.
http://www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/spring.shtml

Mystery Penpals Round 2 got off to a great start in February, and 36 Mystery Partners are gathering clues and scouring maps to locate their Mystery Penpal Partner.  It's not too late - if you'd like to give your students some great problem-solving activities, register at the Mystery Penpal site (it's free) by the end of March.  There are several classes that were not able to start their hunt until the end of March, so you can be part of a second wave.
http://dyna-ed.net/id2.html

That’s it for Mercurial March!  I hope you find several ideas to make your March Marvelous.  Stay tuned for Amazing activities in April’s newsletter.  And have fun in your classroom.

Fabulous Fun February Teaching with Technology!

Fabulous Fun February!

February is a fun month.  From the sweet activities of Valentine’s day, to the challenges of Winter Olympics and a Worldwide Math Contest, to the excitement leading to Super Bowl Sunday and a hunt for Mystery Penpals via email, there are many exciting events scheduled for February!

World Math Day – February 1 is the first day to register, and practice begins as soon as students are registered. The goal of World Math Day is to have students around the world join together to solve math problems on March 3, to beat last year's record of 2 million students from 204 countries correctly answering 452,681,681 math problems. (The Problems Solved Scoreboard itself is a wonderful math lesson in the size of a million - how long does it take to move from 6 million to 7 million, etc)

When students log in, they create an avatar.  When they start a race, they are matched with 3 other same-age students from 3 other countries (it's great fun to see all the different countries that end up racing together!) and the race is on.  Students complete as many math problems as they can in 1 minute.  The number of problems answered is tallied over the course of the month, and for each certain number, they can "purchase" accessories for their avatar.  The program also seems to keep track of their abilities, and after they've played a few games, seems to match them with others at their level. 

March 3 is the focus of the project, but the big advantage to the program is its high-energy practice of math facts, the allure of playing against other countries, and the fact that students can also log in and play at home.  This free activity is only available for the month of February - and sometimes they let us have an extra couple of weeks in March.

  http://worldmathday.com

Super Bowl Blitz In America:   The Super Bowl will be played on February 7.  The week leading up to it is fraught with energy and anticipation as teams play off to determine who gets to go to the championship football game in the Super Bowl.  No matter what country you’re in, you can capitalize on the excitement leading up to the big day with super activities in all curricular areas at Educational World’s website.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson096.shtml

Valentine Venn – Here’s an activity that combines analytic thinking with word analysis and attributes in a two-part Venn diagram.   Students move words or names into the correct section of the Venn to figure out the attributes of each section.  The activity works nicely with a SMARTBoard or overhead projector, or you can use candy word hearts on a paper Venn.  You can download the Lesson Plan, and pdf Venn diagrams at http://dyna-ed.net/id8.html .  If you have SMARTBoard software, send me an email and I’ll send you the SMART Notebooks for this activity.

Mystery Penpals matches two classes in unknown different parts of the world – they play "20 Questions" via email to locate each other.  Your students will learn and use a wide variety of geography, map-reading, data collection and analysis, and logic and problem-solving concepts and skills to find their partner class.  Nearly 40 partners from 6 countries searched for each other in Round 1 (October – December).  Join us for Round 2, which begins February 15, (but you’ll want to do the warm-up activities before then, so register soon).   Find all the details at http://dyna-ed.net/id2.html . 

Olympic Games February 12-28 The Winter Olympics is a “Teachable Moment” that comes along only every four years.  The two websites below have activities that capitalize on this special event in all curricular areas and for all grade levels.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson250.shtml

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson253.shtml

That’s it for February’s Fabulous Fun!  Stay tuned for Marvelous activities in March’s newsletter.  And have fun in your classroom.

You may have received this because a colleague forwarded it.  You can subscribe so you won’t miss a copy of this FREE monthly newsletter that features technology tips, seasonal activities, and dynamic educational sites your students will love.

Click Here:  http://dyna-ed.net

January Newsletter - Technology to Jazz up your Classroom in January

Happy New Year!

Ready or not, the new year is off to a roaring start.  As the year turns, those in the Western Hemisphere begin the New Year in January, while many in the Eastern Hemisphere begin the Lunar New Year in February.  How are they different?  Find out on our featured site below.  A new search engine, a site to teach context clues and test-taking strategies, and a couple of virtual field trips will help Jazz up January.  And don’t miss Round Two of Mystery Penpals – a cross-curricular activity that helps students develop analytic thinking while meeting new friends from somewhere else in the world.

The Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, begins on February 14, (Valentine’s Day!) which makes it a double auspicious day to celebrate in the West.  This is Year of the Tiger marks the 4708th year since the Lunar Calendar dates from 2600 BC!
Find more information at  Fast Find - http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/chinese-new-year.htm ,
or on the Internet4Classrooms page at http://www.internet4classrooms.com/links_grades_kindergarten_12/chinese_new_year.htm

Students (and adults!) are often overwhelmed by the results of a web search. This search engine, powered by Ask.com, gives students a helping hand with narrowing or expanding their search.  After they type their search string, the first item they see in their search is a line that gives them 3-5 options to narrow their search.  In the right column are several topics, categories, and questions to narrow and/or expand the search.

Be careful, though,  not to get sidetracked into the contests that are a part of the header of this otherwise very helpful search engine.  http://iwon.ask

Take your students on a virtual field trip to the San Diego Zoo, with Animal Bytes.  This multimedia site supports students' reading, writing, and science skills by offering information and multimedia files on amphibians, birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects.  Webcams, videos, photos, and interactive games support the textual information to help students gain in-depth understanding of animals, their habitats, ecosystems, and geographic origins.  Like a visit to a real zoo, your students will find lots to look at if they're just casually wandering, as well as plenty of depth to support detailed research.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/index.html

In the Teacher Resource section you'll find curriculum materials, lesson plans and activities, each with suggested grade levels.

Here is the ultimate COOL field trip!  Discovering Antarctica will immerse your students in an adventure as fun as it is informative.   With rich photos, multimedia, audio and video files and interactives, students explore various aspects of this truly mysterious continent.  Each section includes introductory activities, learning activities, a "cool fact" that relates to the topic, a "cool clip" video, and a glossary.

The Teacher Area features notes and background material for each chapter so you can help your students get the most from this site.
http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/index.php

As “testing season” is upon us, Learning Vocabulary Fun (brought to you by the makers of SpellingCity) offers an engaging way to build vocabulary and test-taking skills, and help students expand their use of context clues.  While the site is set up for independent practice, I saw great potential in three of the activities as whole-class instruction for using context clues and test-taking strategies. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

    ➢    Match It  reinforces the test-taking strategies and context clues – select level, and increase the challenge by selecting “alphabetical”. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/games2/matchit/index.php
    ➢    The Vocabulary Quiz  provides vocabulary practice in specific topics, again using context clues. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/games2/vocquiz/vocquiz.php

    ➢    Which Word reinforces parts of speech and making sense as students select the word to fill in the blank. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/games2/whichword/index.php

Are you looking for an exciting, engaging, and innovative classroom activity that will help your 4th – 8th grade students

        ➢    develop effective questioning skills in a real-world communication context?
        ➢    use deductive and inductive reasoning skills to problem-solve?
        ➢    gather, analyze and synthesize data?
        ➢    build geography concepts and skills, including global awareness and map-reading?
        ➢    expand awareness of cultural similarities and differences?

Would you like a project that will provide you with dynamic educational ideas, complete, detailed lesson plans and continuous support?
                This is it!

Mystery Penpals provides an innovative way for classes in different geographical locations to use educational technology to play "20 Questions" to locate each other.  Your students will learn and use a wide variety of concepts and skills to find their partner class.  Nearly 40 partners from 6 countries searched for each other in Round 1 from October – December.  Join us for Round 2, which begins February 15.   Find all the details at http://dyna-ed.net/id2.html .

If you'd like to receive this monthly technology newsletter directly in your email inbox, you can subscribe so you won’t miss a copy of this FREE monthly newsletter that features technology tips, seasonal activities, and dynamic educational sites your students will love.
Click Here:  http://dyna-ed.net

November Technology in the Classroom - A Bountiful Harvest of Technology Ideas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, November is the month when the harvest is in, the heavy work of summer’s growing season is over, and there’s a little more time for reflection.  For Americans, it’s the season of Thanksgiving.  And for almost all of us there is much to be thankful for!

This month’s newsletter features a spectacular website that takes your students right into Plimoth Plantation as detectives to discover the truth about the first Thanksgiving.  It also introduces three new search tools to give them a whole new look at searching the Internet, plus a poster-making tool that will add a different scope and dimension to your visual aids. 

You are the Historian – Investigating the First Thanksgiving invites students in grades 3 - 8 to dig deeply into primary resources to separate myth from reality.  The Teachers’ Guide  at http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/hpteachg.html provides excellent background information and materials so you can prepare and support your students to get maximum benefit from the highly-interactive pages and discoveries.  The investigations go beyond simply introducing new information about Thanksgiving at the Plimoth Plantation – they invite students (and teachers) to take the role of historian and explore the differences between history and the past.  The material is simple enough that third graders can manage it with support – but the concepts are complex enough to challenge and intrigue high school students and adults.
http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc

Students often start their web searches with Google, type the general term they are looking for, and then are utterly overwhelmed when the search returns literally millions of responses.  Boolify.org helps even young students actually see how refining their search changes the search results and gives them a more manageable return on their searches.

Students begin by dragging a green keyword piece to the Board and type in their keyword – their search returns appear below the puzzle area, along with their search string and the number of responses in blue.  As they drag and add modifying pieces to the puzzle, the numbers below change, as do the responses.  They can see that the returns are much more targeted.  Boolify.org works well for elementary students as their actual search engine, and helps them understand exactly how the responses relate to their search terms.

With older students, this is also an excellent, very visual, tool to demonstrate how the Boolean process works to narrow a search. 
http://www.boolify.org/

How often do your students find a webpage that looks promising, only to discover that the reading level is WAY over their heads?  Twurdy.com (a play on words – “Too Wordy?”) is a search engine that includes a readability code.  The goal is “that elementary students don’t have to click through difficult material to find something they can use.”  And “PhD students don’t have to click through websites designed for kids...”  Simple to use, students can use the color code to quickly scan for articles that are appropriate to their reading level, rather than having to open them to make that discovery.

http://www.twurdy.com/

Being able to SEE the webpages your search has yielded is, in itself, enough to make this an appealing search tool.  However, middlespot.com does much more than simply give a preview of the webpages – it allows the user to select and save the pages that best suit their needs, drag to organize and prioritize, name and save the entire search, and add items from another search.  The saved search gives the user a record of the sites they used in their research so they can compile their bibliography citations.  Let’s take it for a test drive.

To use this search tool, type your search string in the top line and click Search. 

• You can choose to organize your previews into 3 (or more) columns.
• As you pan your mouse over a preview, it enlarges, and it is highlighted in the list in the left menu. 
• If it is a page that looks useful, click save to mashtab either under the page or in the left menu.  This copies it to the mashtab (row of previews you’ve selected) at the bottom of the page. 
• Click one and drag to change the order of the pages. 
• Click the speech bubble in the lower left corner of a page and add a comment.  In the lower right corner, you can click the red X to delete pages that aren’t as good as they first appeared. 
• Once you have the search as you want it, email it to yourself (or someone else) by clicking the email link above the mashtab.  The search is sent as a link, and when you click the link, it opens as an interactive webpage with only the items you selected from your search. 

What a fantastic tool for guiding student research to pages you preselect!  You can even embed a search into your webpage or blog by clicking on the embed link and copying the code into your web or blog page.  To save and archive your searches, you will need to create an account – however, this requires only that you enter your email and a password.  This is a tool with far-reaching possibilities both for student research and for teacher-guided internet searches.
http://middlespot.com

How often have you wished you could enlarge your visual aids so that students could actually see what you’re talking about, enlarge them to fill a bulletin board?  An LCD, opaque projector, or document camera will give you a temporary picture – but frequently teachers need a more permanent display for students to interact with.  

Blockposters.com solves the problem.  At this very simple free website, you upload your image, decide how many “pieces of paper” wide and tall you want the finished poster to be, and the program converts your image into “.pdf” pages (portable document format that opens on most computers with Adobe Reader) You simply print – either in color or black and white.  Each page has an unprinted border that can be trimmed as needed to glue the

poster together, or it can make an interesting artistic effect to leave the borders as sashing between the sections, depending on your purpose. 

http://www.blockposters.com

That's it for November - get busy and try some searches with your students.  You won't have to wait until Christmas to open the bag of goodies in the December newsletter.  See you then - and in the meantime, have fun in the classroom!

You may have received this because a colleague forwarded it.  You can subscribe so you won’t miss a copy of this FREE monthly newsletter that features technology tips, seasonal activities, and dynamic educational sites your students will love.
Click Here:  http://dyna-ed.net