Kidblog

Twitter has been chirping for the past few days about this site so I finally checked it out! Several post ago, I shared Sue Water's list of classroom blogs and suggested you might be interested in starting one. I still think that would be a great idea but you also might want to think about each of your students having their very own blog! If so, this is where you want to go! Kidblog is designed for teachers by teachers! They have made a secure blogging platform for classroom use. You are in control of the student blogs and you decide who sees what! Students do not need an email address and it seems a simple process to set up your class and get things going. Click on the title of this post to review the site. If you are interested in using Kidblog, just let me know. I'd be happy to work with your students to get this going!

Math Snacks

ilearn Technology shared information about Math Snacks. This is a math site..obviously...for students in grades 6-8. There are short animations, games, learner guides, and teacher guides. Presently there are just a few units available but all are very good and may be used independently or as a whole group. Each snack has a brief overview and a list of skills addressed. Just click on the title to check it out!

The North Star

The North Star is a great book written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. The story is an inspiration for young and old and reminds us to follow our own dreams. I found out about this book on Twitter when dianadell tweeted a link to some fantastic motivational posters. Then I started looking around and found the home page of The North Star website with the ebook and a great personal Constellation Map Maker...both free. Just click on the title to go to the home page and next check out the posters link. There are a number of interesting resources to purchase including the book and the resource guide. The mini-posters are free and all you need to do is click on a link, enlarge the poster to 150% and print it out. Here's one I would print out for my classroom!

Classroom Blogs

I follow Sue Waters on Twitter and she always has something good to tweet. Recently she asked people to send her the link to their classroom blogs and she presently has over 200 listed. Click on the title of this post to go to her list of blogs. She has organized them for us in neat, tidy categories and all link to the listed blog. Take a few minutes to check out some of the classroom blogs and think a bit about how you might use blogging in your classroom. It is easy and quick and students can do a lot of the work. Interested?? Just let me know and I would be happy to show you how to start a blog.

Twiducate

Twitter has been growing by leaps and bounds this past year. I've enjoyed following a number of great teachers. Recently someone tweeted about a new social networking site for classrooms. I logged on to Twiducate right away, signed up to be a member and started playing with it. This site allows you to have a classroom social networking site that it just for your students and you control it! No chance of outsiders logging in with inappropriate content. The site is in beta and the teachers who are developing it are working hard to update and make it as user friendly as possible. It's been fun to watch the site develop via twitter. One tweet talked about wanting to have several classes and within a few hours that change was made to the site. As soon as they added a link section they twitted about it. Retweets spread the world across the world and people from all over have signed up and are following Twidicate on twitter. Click on the title and read a bit about this new social networking site for classrooms. Think about using it to have students respond to a question. Add a link for students to use for a particular project. Put reminders on for homework assignments. I think you'll come up with lots of ideas as you explore twitter and twidicate!

Recess Craft Ideas

DLTK always has lots of great ideas for crafts. I was remembering when I made snowflakes as a child and would spend hours trying to get the right cuts. Here is a great snowflake type of craft to try out with students. Another great idea from this site is the 3-D snowflake. Scroll all the way to the bottom to find the template.

Free Kids Crafts has directions for Snow Stars. Looks a lot like a snowflake to me! This same site has a few more great ideas. Keeping with the snowflake theme consider Q-Tip Snowflakes. Lay a sheet of wax paper on a table. Use Q-tips to make a snowflake on top of the wax paper. Squirt glue on any spot where 2 Q-tips meet. Let dry completely and peel off of wax paper. Don't forget, you don't have to use whole Q-tips, you can break them up and use pieces too! Try Pasta Snowflakes. Draw a large X on a piece of construction paper and then put a line down the middle to make a guideline for a snowflake. Use a variety of pasta shapes to glue on top of the lines and form a snowflake.

Dave's Snowflake Patterns is a great site for printing out templates for various snowflakes. He shares several patterns.

Kinderart has 8 patterns for snowflakes. When you click on the pattern you will be taken to an ad that you may click to skip. You will then be taken to the directions.

Tired of snowflakes? Check out Kaboose for winter printables. You'll find lots of neat coloring sheets for kids here. Keep looking and you'll find word puzzles, mazes and picture hunts.

Recess

I've watched the snow fall all day and know that teachers who have recess duty are wondering what to do with all those students when they can't go outside. I've been doing some searching for sites that might have some good ideas and here they are...

Family Fun always has neat ideas for anything and everything. They have page after page of games or activities. Keep in mind that this magazine/website is written for parents not teachers but I know you will find some good things to try out in your classroom. I especially liked the Chopstick Pass on the first page.

Kids Games has oodles of games listed. Many are outdoor games but if you check out the links to circle games or mental games, you may find some ideas. Seven-Up is always a hit and the directions for that are listed under favorites on the left side of the page.

How Stuff Works has links to new and exciting activities to try out with your students. I like Tag Team Art and think the kids would enjoy it.

Family Education has hundreds...well almost hundreds...of great rainu day activities. This site has organized them by category and all you need do is click on a title to get the directions. Charades caught my eye!

Indoor Games is a great pdf that you can look over and print out for your files. Most of the activities seem to be for younger students.

Hope this helps you to find some new activities to share with our students. Happy Recess!!