Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house/interactive-tour

Image from:http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house

About

Students would love to be able to go inside the White House, however, that might not be possible physically but virtually you can.  By click on the link above you can go to the White House website and take a tour.  Students would love that!  There are many videos you can watch on this tour, however, there are so many that it could not be done all in one day for our elementary students.  Therefore, it would be best to pick and chose which places your students are the most interested in.

Image from:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/24/is-the-common-core-standards-initiative-in-trouble/

Standards:

Members of local communities have social and political responsibilities.- grade 3

Image from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/11/09/you-re-invited-inside-white-house

Educational Uses/Assessments

• Take virtual field trip.

• Have student create a journal piece about their experience using the tour.

• Have a class discussion on what the job of the President is.

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house/interactive-tour

Image from:http://www.homeschoollibrary.info/2013/10/28/storyline-online/

Source: http://www.storylineonline.net/

About:

As we know it is important for us to read to our students.  Students hear us read to them everyday.  Do you ever feel like you would like to have someone else read to your students?  Well guess what! Now you can! Storyline Online has well known actors and actresses read children’s books with graphically dramatic videos with just the click of a button!

Pros:

This site can help your students become excited about listening to stories.  This would be something that I think I could use during snack time or during a transition time.  I feel that I could create lessons around the books listed on the site.  

Cons:

There are not very many books listed on the website to listen to.  Students also might not know who the people are reading the story.  However, we could learn more about the actors and actresses before listening to the story. 

Image from: http://northhavenhigh.ct.nhh.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=TeacherPage&Page=16&StaffID=139595&iSection=Teachers&CorrespondingID=139595

Standards:

RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

RL. 3.3 Describe characters in a story (their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Image found: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/4tTTCP-355p/Storyline+Online+Ernest+Borgnine/FKIHIauGBWU/Ernest+Borgnine

Educational Uses/Assessment

• While studying characters, students could pick a book listed on this website and create character webs about the characters in the story they chose to listen to.

• Students could write in their journal about what they feel the message or moral of the story was that they just listened to. 

• There are many more uses for this website in the classroom, however, I listed two different lesson ideas to go with the standards I chose. 

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.storylineonline.net/

Image found:http://jenisonbands.org/edit-grid/

Source: http://www.signupgenius.com/

About:

Do you want to make your life easier for classroom parties, parent volunteers, or any other classroom event. Well you have just not found Pbest friend!  SignUpGenius is so easy to use and now you no longer have to deal with all those papers.  SignUpGenius does all the work for you and makes signing more convenient for everyone.

Image found:http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/11/signup-genius-create-online-sign-up.html#.UxaG-vmwL2Q

Educational Uses:

During student teaching we used this tool for parents to sign up for parent teacher conferences.  All of the parents were telling us how much better they liked scheduling their child’s conference online.  They could see which times were available right there instead of waiting to hear back from the teacher.  Also, if parents needed to cancel, SignUpGenius would notify the teacher.  The uses of this tool in the classroom are unlimited and everything can be kept private between the parents and teacher.  Each parent will not see everyone’s email address.

Image found: http://www.theteacherorganizer.com/2012/01/sign-up-genius.html

Pros & Cons:

We used the free version, however, their are different versions that you can sign up for.  However, I did not find any reason to use the versions you had to pay for.  I can accomplish everything I need from the free version.

One of my favorite things about this tool is the ablity to set when you want to remind parents.  You can set up how many times you want to remind parents through email.

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.signupgenius.com/

Image from: http://learning-engineer.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-secure-pdfs-for-teachers-pay.html 

Source: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

About:

Have you  ever felt like why should  I recreate the wheel if someone else already has.  Well on Teachers Pay Teachers you can find resources you can use in the classroom without spending the time creating something someone else already has. Teachers Pay Teachers is the world’s first and largest open marketplace to teachers today.  On Teachers Pay Teachers others can buy, sell, and share original resources.  

Image from: http://www.kristendembroski.com/?p=636

Educational Uses:

When using Teachers Pay Teachers you are using a marketplace where other teachers come together for the best practices for students.  However, when using Teachers Pay Teachers it is important for teachers to evaluate the quality of the resources before using them in your classroom.  I often look at Teachers Pay Teachers to get ideas and then adapt my ideas to fit the needs of the students in the classroom.  

Image from: http://www.kristendembroski.com/?p=636

Pro & Cons

Overall, Teachers Pay Teachers is a great resource for beginning teachers to use.  However, we need to be careful to make sure we are not just using the material because it it cute but because it is beneficial for our students’ learning. 

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Image from: http://toolbox4tech.wikispaces.com/Do-Nows+%26+Exit+Tickets

Source: http://www.polleverywhere.com/

About:

Are you looking for a fun way to use technology in the classroom to get an informal assessment form your students?  Well stop looking now!  You can use Poll Everywhere!  To get started with Poll Everywhere go to http://www.polleverywhere.com/.   Poll Everywhere is a way to engage your students using technology and also learn more about what student already understand and what students do not understand before beginning a unit of instruction.  We can create any poll that we want to use in our classroom! How exciting is that! 🙂

When students are answering poll they can use their cell phones, computers or tablets.  All the students need is the internet to answer the poll questions.  If there are not enough devices for all students, you can have to students answer the questions in groups.  

Image from:  http://www.politicspa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Common-Core-logo.png

Standards:

W. 3.6- With guidance and support form adults, use technology to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with other. 

SL. 3.1-Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.  

Image from: http://nancy-rubin.com/tag/poll-everywhere/

Assessments:

More ideas to use it in an early childhood classroom

• A quick check of student understanding.

• A quick review before an assessment.

• Have students create questions for other students to answer. 

• Have students give their opinion about a book they are reading. 

• Exit ticket

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.polleverywhere.com/

Image from: http://thriftyninja.net/2011/11/review-animoto/

Source: http://animoto.com/

About:

Have you ever thought about how you could spice things up in the classroom?  Well check out Animoto!  Animoto is a really awesome video creation service.  You can use pictures, video clips, words and music in your Animoto videos.  Animoto even has an educational site for teachers and students to use!  Think about how proud your students would be of the videos they create with Aminoto!  

To find Aminto go to http://animoto.com/.  To view the education Aminto site go to http://animoto.com/education/classroom.  

When I think about using Animoto in the classroom, I think about how I could create videos to start my lessons.  We could create some really powerful videos using photographs.  For example, if were were reading a book about the civil rights movement, we could show maps of the underground railroad, photographs of homes people when to, people lighting lanterns to show where to go ect.  This would provide students some primary sources for students to think about and understand situations deeper than just reading or hearing about them.  

Image from: http://www.politicspa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Common-Core-logo.png

Standards:

RI. 2.3 Describe the connections between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or  steps in technical procedures in a text. 

SL. 2.5- Create audio recordings of stories or poems: add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts and feelings. 

RI. 2.7- Explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text. 

Image from:http://www.web2teachingtools.com/animoto.html

Assessments: 

More uses in an early childhood classroom!

• Create a video to show at open house to introduce your self parents and students

• Create a video to promote classroom parties or classroom success.

• Have students create videos at the end of a unit to show how they have put together all the information.

• Share with parents what is happening in the classroom to place on a blog.

• The uses for Animoto are endless!  

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://animoto.com/

Image found: http://www.fte.org/teacher-resources/blended-learning/

Source:http://www.goorulearning.org

About:

Gooru is an online search engine that helps teachers find materials that have been used by other teachers and rated.  To go to Gooru click on this link  http://www.goorulearning.org. Teachers can  place these materials into collections for your students.  You can create different collections based on your students’ need which is great for differentiation.   I also love how you can make different class pages for different subjects you teach.  This would be great for students in an elementary classroom to look at all together possibly on the Smart-board and then send students off to work on the assignments.

Pros and Cons:

When using Gooru teachers need to keep in mind that Gooru does not replace the teacher.  Also, before providing your students with a set of resources, we need to check the quality of the different sources.  Finally, Gooru can be used in all subject areas, therefore, this is a great resource for teachers and students!

Image found:http://www.politicspa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Common-Core-logo.png

Standards:

RI.1.1-Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI. 1.3 Describe the connections between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

RI 1.10 With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately.

SL. 1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1  topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Image found: https://plus.google.com/+GoogleGooru/posts

Assessments:

Using Gooru in and elementary classroom

• This can be used in all subject areas.
• Gooru would be more beneficial for students in elementary students to use in a group setting. This would help students because they are still learning how to read.
• Gooru will help student think critically.
• Gooru has assessments you can use on their site.
• Gooru might also be a resource teachers can provide for students when they are sick at home for a long period of time.
• Gooru will also help students find the information they are looking for faster because the teacher has already shared it with the students using Gooru.  

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.goorulearning.org/

Pinterest is tool for everyone to create a collection of things we are interested in.  While working on lesson plans do you ever feel like you can not think of anything!  Well start looking on Pinterest and you are bound to find something!  If you are not sure how to use something you have found on Pinterest, but are still intrigued pin it to a board to use later.  To create a Pinterest account go to pinterest.com and click “join Pinterest.”  While pinning you might find pictures, videos, websites or anything else on the web.

Image found:http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/07/what-makes-education-so-pinteresting

Ideas on using Pinterest in an early childhood classroom!

• provides students a tool for brainstorming for any school project

• connect with other teachers to compile ideas

• create project groups where students can pin all their resources in one spot

• create a board for students to use for research

  • This will help students find the information they need faster

  • the teacher will also know exactly what the students are using for their project/writing

Image found: http://www.politicspa.com/common-core-in-the-crosshairs-across-party-lines/48069/common-core-logo/

Content Standards taught with Pinterest

• W.1.7- Participate in shared research and writing projects

• W.1.8-With guidance and support from adults, recall information from provided sources to answer a question

• SL.1.5-Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings

• I am sure there are more, but I found standards for 1st grade.

The uses for Pinterest are unlimited.  Students can use Pinterest for research, show their thinking ect.  Teachers can create boards to guide their students thinking and reasearch.  Teachers can also use Pinterest to find ideas for instruction in their classroom!  It is all up to how you want to use Pinterest in the classroom.

References

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/07/what-makes-education-so-pinteresting

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