Technology Tailgate

Ms. Mitchell shared this blog with me. It provides a lot of great tech tools! One that she recently got an email about is called OpenEd.

This site provides videos, games, and activties that are aligned with the common core. It is a great website! Take the time to check out the blog and this website they suggest!

Mr. Nussbaum

Mrs. Taylor shared, MrNussbaum.com, which is another great website for math games. He also has Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science activities. He has his site leveled from Pre-K-6th grade. The Language Arts activities are really good and resemble what the students will see when they take online tests. These activities would be great whole group on the SmartBoard or used in a center. Most of the language arts activities are mixed skills, but he has added a new section that offers skill specific activties.

Website Share!

Mrs. Barber shared some great websites with me today.

The first one is ICT Games. There are math games and reading games. One thing that is really awesome about this website is it shows how to do math on a number line! I know this is something students have been struggling with. This site offers great practice for that.

Another great one she found is IXL Math and English. This website has math and reading activities as well that are broken down by grade and skill.

Scholastic Story Starters

This is another great creation from Scholastic. Students can go to Story Starters and choose between adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, and scrambler. When they click the one they want, they will then put in their grade (this goes from K-6), then the scramble machine will select a prompt for them. Once the prompt is selected they can choose to write in a notebook, as a letter, a newspaper article, or a postcard. These can then be saved or printed!

QR Codes

This year you all have a QR code by your door for parents to get linked directly to your website. While at the technology showcase, we got a few more ideas of how to use QR codes in your classroom. One school had their students create summaries for books in their school library and in classroom libraries using Google Docs. They then used the link to create a QR code. When students scanned the QR code with their iPod touch or iPad, they were given a summary of the book. Another GREAT idea from this same school was to put the QR code on the bottom of a math homework worksheet. The code could be linked to a learnzillion video or some other website that would help parents understand the math strategies you are trying to teach!

Click here to go to a QR generator!

or you can scan the QR code with your smartphone or iPad!

Figure This! Math Callenge for Families

 Figure This!

This is an excellent math site that provides information and activities for families. These are real world activities and math challenges that parents can do at home with their kids. There is also a section to show parents how to help their children with their math homework. It provides an explanation of why we aren't teaching math the way it was taught when they were in school!