Simple Machines in the classroom

Richard Byrne recently shared resources from SciShow Kids on the simple machines on his blog. (Here’s the link to their YouTube playlist.)  I really like his idea of students creating their own machines (in this case a solar one) to show how it can do work.

Will Visual Notetaking make you smarter?

Here’s a blog post that encourages you to look at Visual Notetaking

(aka SketchNotes) in a new light.

Four fun things to do with Google Keep!

Think Google Keep is just a to do list?  Then take a look at Kasey’s Bell’s
Shake Up Learning post on Keep.  From feedback to Bitmojis- something for everyone!

Graphic Design with Google Slides

Which font should I use?  How do I make the best design decisions?  Get some design help with step by step suggestions in Google Slides, Google Slide Design School will help your students improve their style. Go ahead and make a copy!

Student Short Term Goals in Google Classroom

Alice Keeler has some good suggestions on how to use an assignment (and private comments) to help your students set and share short term goals).  Please see her post here for the steps.

Need slide numbers?

Alice Keeler shares step by step directions to add numbers to your slides.  Please click here to read her post.

Learning to Give

While we all know of character education programs in our schools,

Learning to Give helps you to teach philanthropy to our students.  

With free lesson plans and activities, there is something for everyone.  

Guidance counselors might want to review the plans for classroom ideas.

For the complete review from TeachersFirst, please click here.

PHEARLESS PHRAGMITES PHIGHTERS (and their STEM resources)

My friend Beth Topinka’s students have created this awesome STEM resource. Her students were national champions last year and have continued their problem-solving efforts. (You can follow them on Twitter at @PHRAGPHIGHTERS.)

Here’s how she describes it:

The team's goal is for teachers across the state to use the resource and inspire students to take

action. May-June, the new Phragmites stalks are perfect for investigations & engineering

design challenges. Great way to connect students with their local government to tackle a

genuine environmental problem. Creative opportunities abound! eBook, VR, and more!

Fly me to the Moon

Or Jupiter or Saturn.  All you need is NASA’s Solar System Exploration. Images

and all the facts you need! You can read Richard Byrne’s review here.

Not chicken nuggets,

But Nature Nugget!  Sponsored by PBS, these short excerpts for the Nature
series might be shut the think for your young learners. I liked the up close
photography and the lack of spoken word- the children can watch nature
and draw their own conclusions.  Each segment comes with resource materials
(both for teachers and students). These videos are geared to 2- 6 year olds.

DE Virtual Field Trip (5/9)

This just arrived from Discovery Education:

A Numbers Game: Data-Driven Decision-Making and Video Game Development!

Did you know that more than 400 people work on Madden NFL every year – that’s

enough to field more than seven football teams! Fun statistics are just the start

of what students will learn in this exclusive look at the data that helps create this

cutting-edge video game!

May 9th, 2018 at 1PM ET

Register Now!

Earth Day is coming!

The signs of spring- flowers, robins, and Earth Day!  Here’s a great site

(reviewed in TeachersFirst here) for grades K-3.  Take a look at

E-Learning for Kids- Environmental Skills.

Take a (virtual) trip to the dairy farm

Discovery Education has a series of activities related to dairy farming.  There is

an on-demand virtual field trip, a 306 video as well as 360 Hot Spots.  No

special equipment needed- you can do all of this on a Chromebook or

project it for classroom viewing.  Please click here to get started or here

to jump right to the site.

No need for sound in Little Bird Tales

Are you looking for a platform for your younger learners to share their research?  

Pam Gunter recently shared a LIttle Bird Tales (text and student drawing).

Here is one of my first graders Little Bird Tales. Students searched for

information on an animal of their choice in PebbleGo.com then wrote

and illustrated their story in Little Bird Tales. I thought this was a

great example of creativity combined with first-time research!

No need to worry about the recording in a crowded lab (while audio is
one of their features- you don’t have to use it).  Please click here to read the book.

In honor of Patriots Day

Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) has shared his five favorite

resources for teaching the American Revolution.  You can find his post here.

April and Poetry- Perfect Together

Eric Curts is one my favorite Google Experts- and his magnetic Google Drawing templates are always fascinating.  Here is his April Spring Poetry effort. You can read about it here (and it includes the template for you to share with your students).

Earth Day from Storyboardthat

While reading Richard Byrne’s post on Earth Day, I noticed the comment about Storyboardthat.  Click here to read their lesson plan ideas for Storyboardthat. There are several ideas you could use with your students.

Want to encourage cooperation?

The S.O.S. (Spotlight on Strategies) from Discovery Education this week is
focused on fostering cooperation and teamwork.  Please see their
top ten suggestions here.

So what do you think about worksheets?

Alice Keeler shares her thoughts and those of  Jennifer Gonzalez blog post
“Frickin’ Packets” in her blog post here.  It helped to remind me that not all paper
products are created equally.

When you want to share a Google Site

Many folks have been creating digital escape rooms.  In the final step, you want to

share the site with your students.  Now Google has made this even easier-

you can copy a link to the site:

For the complete step by step directions, please see Alice Keeler’s post here.

Formative Assessment Strategies

While I love technology based formative assessments, I found this blog post from Barbara Blackburn to contain several engaging and easy formative assessment ideas.  Please click here to read her ideas.

So what can you do with a form in your school?

Rose Griggs shared this Matt Miller’s post 20 Practical Ways to use Google Forms in class, school.  I’m sure you will see something that will make management tasks easier.

Looking for art, math, and science videos?

You might want to jump-start your students by looking at OK GO.  Not familiar with the group? Check out this NPR article for some background. They have partners with the Playful Learning Lab (the University of St. Thomas) to showcase their work in the OK Go Sandbox. Here you will see the backstory to their videos as well as educational resources and project ideas.

Kahoot! and 5 things

Matt Miller shared this video (and a blog post) on five things you might not know about Kahoot!  If you are a Kahoot! Pro or a novice, you will enjoy this post.

Explore nature up close

I saw an eagle cam and the other day and was reminded in Richard Byrne's post about Explore Live Cams.  This site (which has several hatching eagles’ nests) includes all types of wildlife both on land, sea, and air.