Saturday, July 30, 2011

Live Binders

I've been working on organizing my resources this summer and have used Live Binders to help me. Recently I noticed that I could actually have shelves of binders so I organized my Language Arts and Social Studies binders on shelves. I've embedded the Social Studies binders below...some ready to go, others are works in progress. Those works in progress are labeled Private however I believe you will be able to access them. Feel free to check out all the Social Studies Live Binders. Most importantly look at LiveBinders by clicking on the title of this post. Even if you don't want to build your own binder, you will find lots of resources to help you in your classroom. If you are from TAEP School and are interested in using this great resource and need some help, just let me know!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Read Write Think

I've written about this site before but I wanted to remind you of the great resources available to you. I like everything about this site but my favorites are the interactives that you can use on the whiteboard or students can use independently. Click here to go to a Letter Generator or here if you are teaching compare and contrast. Writing Poetry with your students? Try the Shape Poem interactive by clicking here.

The site is easy to use. You will usually find some of their best interactives right on the home page but if you don't see what you want, just go to the side and fill in the search section. Add your keyword and then go down the page and make sure you fill in the filter sections so you get exactly what you want. Happy Searching!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Learn 21


The West Virginia Department of Education's Learn 21 site is a wonderful collection of grade and subject specific games and resources. Just click on the title of this post, find your grade level and your subject area and find the activity you want to use. The interactives can be used on your whiteboard or students can work on them independently or in small groups. Don't miss this site!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Easy Notecards

I'm always on the lookout for ways to help students study. i recently came across a new flashcard site called Easy Notecards. It's free, seems easy to use and all you need to do is sign up for it. This is one of the only sites I have found that does not require an email address. That's helpful for kids who don't have one. In just a few minutes I made a test set for the 9s times table and ran through the practice just to see what it looks like. The notecards look like real notecards; you know, those ones with lines. You click at the bottom to flip the card or you can set the practice to show the question with the answer. The creator of this site is looking to have 500 notecard sets by September. I have a feeling there will be more...much more! Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers for sharing this great resource!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Earth Calendar


Want to know what is special about today? Click on the title of this post to go to the Earth Calendar, a daybook of holidays and celebrations around the world. It's easy to use; just click the 'Today' button to view holidays observed on this date or use the tabs at the top to navigate by date, country and religion. I like their suggestion...celebrate everyday!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Woodlands Junior School

I've taken to exploring other teachers' websites lately and have found some great resources out there! Just today while reviewing my RSS feed I found another site from a Junior School in the UK. A big thanks to Richard Byrne who shared his Updated Best of the Web and included many resources including this one from Woodlands!

First things first! I have been following Richard for some time now...both his blog and via Twitter. If you haven't checked out his site, do that soon. He's got great resources and provides professional development to schools around the country. Click here to check him out.

Now, back to Woodlands Junior. The Homepage is a table of contents for almost anything of interest to teachers. Clicking on the Maths Zone takes you to Math teacher heaven! The resources seem to go on forever. I especially liked the equivalent fraction interactives. Don't stop at Math...you'll find Geography, Language and some interesting pages specific to the UK. Just click on the title to go to Woodlands Junior School. Enjoy!

Kids Courses-MathLibs

Was it Twitter? How about Facebook? No, maybe it was my RSS Reader? I don't remember where I found this site, but whoever shared it, THANKS!! Kids Courses.com has some great lessons and resources for grades 3-4. I was most interested in the MathLibs activity. It's a great way for students to review math skills especially multiplication while having some fun. After you check out MathLibs, scroll down below the MathLibs window to find links to lessons and quizzes. I looked a bit farther along and found a great teacher website. I'd urge you to check out Mrs.Renz's 4th Grade Website. She has lots of great resources. Impressive to say the least!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Body Maps

Attention Health Teachers! Here's a great site to check out the human body. You can mouse over the body to learn more about each organ. You can look inside the human body. You can get a 360 view of the human body. The site is simple to use. Just point and click to get info for a particular organ. Just remember, the naked human body is shown so be prepared to preview first and decide how much you want to show the students. Click on the title of this post to go to the site.

Monday, July 18, 2011

TAEP Grade 6

I've been working like crazy to be VERY prepared for this schoolyear. The TAEP Grade 6 site has been changed a bit and I have added resources for student use and teacher use. For the first time, I have added documents including lesson plans and powerpoints. Using Google Docs helps a lot however I have also been using Windows Live which allows me to have documents on the cloud for use anywhere I have an internet connection.

More importantly, I have been adding student interactives to the reading units 1-3. I have organized the specific skills taught and/or reviewed with each story and have linked student interactives. The resources on the internet are overwhelming and I was able to find something for most comprehension skills and grammar skills. Check out the site by clicking on the title of this post. Then click on Unit 1 on the left side to see the listing of stories and skills. Altough I teach Grade 6, the skill interactives are not necessarily leveled for 6th grade. Since students will use this site independently for review, I used various levels.

I have also included teacher resources from PBSMedia, Starrmatica, and BrainPop. PBSMedia is a free site that has exceptional resources to assist with your teaching. The other two sites are paid subscriptions but well worth the price. As you scroll to the bottom, you will find the documents. I have completed lesson plans for all my units but have only recently started making PowerPoints to review the stories in preparation for the selection test. Mrs. Langley's Website gave me this idea and I have recently started making ppts for the first unit.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Virtual Fieldtrips

Just found this site with virtual fieldtrips for many, many places. Students can travel around the world right from your classroom! Check it out by clicking on the title of this post!

Office Depot Star Teacher Appreciation

Star Teacher Appreciation Week and Breakfast coming soon to an Office Depot close to you! Click on the title of this post to find out when. Enjoy free Breakfast and free giveaways on the Saturday of your store's event week. You'll get a free tote, samples of Office Depot products and a coupon book with offers throughout the year. During the week long event, you'll receive 20% off qualifying in-store purchases. Not a Star Teacher?? Sign up right away because you'll need a card to participate! Just click on the title and find the sign up link right under the 20% off ad.

Live Binder on Immigration

I've put together some resources for my unit on immigration. Using a Live Binder is a great way to organize interactives, sites, lesson plans, etc. If you haven't used Live Binders check it out here. It's easy to use and they have plenty of tutorials and are quick to respond if you need help. So...back to my Immigration Live Binder...well, it's a work in progress but so far it has more than enough to target the few Content Standards and Objectives for 6th grade. Check it out by clicking the link below or the title of this post.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

PBS Learning Media

I recently signed up for an account from PBS Learning Media and I wondered why I needed one more ed site! Now I know. I have found amazing lessons to support reading comprehension skills and I've already added them to my lesson plans and my 6th Grade site. Pigs as Pets is a great lesson to review main ideasand analyzing information. The lesson plan includes worksheets, rubrics, transcripts and a great video. Everything is lined out and easy to follow.

To find PBS Learning Media just click on the title of this post and sign up for an account. Start browsing the 14,000+ resources, favorite the ones you like and tag them for use later. Trust me, this is a great site so check it out right now!!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Yellowstone National Park

If you can't get to Yellowstone this summer, make sure you check out all the on-line opportunties. Take a virtual field trip by clicking here. You have a choice of 17 free electronic trips. Visit the Old Faithful Visitor Center by clicking here. You'll start with a flyover of the park finally landing near Old Faithful. You can click here to go to a listing of on-line resources from National Parks. Find videos and photos by clicking here. A series of short, 4 to 22 minute, videos are included along with links to webcams, slide shows and field trips. Click here to view the new Old Faithful streaming webcam. You can also find lots of photos to use in the classroom by clicking here. In fact the photo I used of Barronette Peak was from the 13,000+ collection. The main site which can be accessed by clicking on the title of the post has all the links I mentioned plus more...much more. It's almost as good as being there, but not quite!