Google Earth for all

Interested in Google Earth but having trouble getting started?  This article from Tech & Learning will show you everything you need to know. Go to space, take a virtual tour, or check out the street view- you will find the directions here.

SEL for grades 4-8

 

In this article by Trisha DiFazio and Allison Roeser from MiddleWeb, you will find several SEL suggestions that are easy to implement.

Classroomscreen

It’s been a few years since I share Classroomscreen and I recently read this blog post from TEQ. The free version offers a nice variety of tools to help you use your interactive whiteboards in your classroom.

When wordle was a world cloud

So what can you do with a word cloud?  Marilyn Pryle recently updated her post on MiddleWeb with several ideas for using word clouds in your classroom. I tend to use her first suggestion when I have text to analyze.

Matt Miller worksheet makeovers

Move over, HGTV- Matt Miller has the market on reworked worksheets.  Please see his blog post here with suggestions for several improvements. He provides several templates ( I think the mapping one and character cards were my favorites!)

Frayer Yourself

One of my favorite EduProtocols is the Frayer Model.  While it was not created by the EduProtocol folks, many of you may recognize the model. It is traditionally used with vocabulary work. The word or topic goes in the middle with 4  quadrants that include a description, examples, nonexample, and images- there are many variations. You can complete this on paper or online. In their SMART Start, they suggest starting with Frayer a friend as a great way to get to know each other.  But we are in December, and I had a fourth-grade class  (thanks to Carla and Jamie Lynn) Frayer themselves.  We then gave the students the option to share one of their quadrants (who knew there would be a student wo didn’t like chocolate!).  The next day, we repeated the process with winter.

So what did I learn?

1.  My fourth graders needed a little help with time management.  The first time many got so involved with drawing their dream pet, they hardly had time to finish. I would give more time checks to help them move along (or have them do the drawing last!).

2. Several of them suggested this would be a good beginning-of-the-year project.

3. When I asked how we could use it in class, well, it did take a little prompting but they did see how it could be used for vocabulary words and other topics.

If you are looking for additional Frayer information, please see my Wakelet here.

Need information on the seasons?

Image from  PBS.

PBS has something for every grade level with their season resources here.

Need to roll a die (or two?)

Alice Keeler shares her suggestions on online dice (you can the number of dice and even the sides) here.

To infinity and beyond

No, you will not find Buzz Lightyear in these resources from PBS.  But you will find grade-appropriate space lessons and resources about James Webb and this telescope.  Please click the link here.

Need a winter story idea? Take a spin!

 

Tony Vincent (in his blog Spacegrams) recently shared a series of spinners (and other templates) to help your students write. Please see the post here.    I gave the character, setting, and plot wheels- here’s the start for my story:

Just imagine what your students could do!