Seussville

February 25, 2014 at 5:30pmFebruary 26, 2014 by wick.41

Welcome To Seussville!

*All Screenshots taken on my computer from Seussville Website*

If you love Dr. Seuss as much as I do, then this website is perfect for you and your students! It contains books, information about Dr. Seuss himself, videos, games and activities, information about characters, oh and great resources for educators!

To begin, visit

www.seussville.com

By clicking on the “Educators” link on the navigation bar at the top of the page, you will arrive on a page that contains links to printables and activities, lesson plans, author studies, books, and so much more. There are tons of lesson plans available that accompany the Dr. Seuss books we all love and know, as well as activities you could use alongside the lesson plans. The lesson plans engage students in discussions about various topics that are present in his many books, including racism, greed, perseverance, and conservation. Often times, the messages are hidden in Dr. Seuss’ books, but they offer perfect opportunities to engage in group discussions with your students and discover the true meaning behind Dr. Seuss’ work.

Standards & Assessment

The standards and assessments you choose will be determined by the way you wish to use the resources available on this site. Each of Dr. Seuss’ books covers a variety of topics you could discuss with your students. As an example, we can look at Dr. Seuss’ famous book “The Lorax”. This website has a whole section dedicated to this book, called “The Lorax Project”. Go to www. seussville.com/loraxproject to learn more about it. It gives tons of information about conservation and helping endangered animals on Earth. This alone offers endless opportunities for discussions with your students about how we could conserve energy right in our own classroom, and how we can become more environmentally friendly. You could tie this into the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) as well. This part of the website does have a whole section dedicated to what you can do to help the planet, which is definitely something to look at with your students. If you wanted to discuss Earth’s resources, extinction, and conservation with your students, some standards that address this include:

Grade 2: Life Science- Some kinds of individuals that once lived on Earth have completely disappeared, although they were something like others that are alive today.
Grade 3: Earth and Space Science- Some of Earth’s resources are limited.

Again, the assessments are determined by the activities you choose to do with your students and the way you wish to utilize the resources this site has to offer.

Reference:

Dr. Seuss | Seussville.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.seussville.com

National Geographic-Kids

February 25, 2014 at 4:59pmFebruary 26, 2014 by wick.41

*All Screenshots taken on my computer from the National Geographic Kids website*

www.kids.nationalgeographic.com

What Is It?

Another great resource I’ve used with students is the National Geographic Kids website. The website offers tons of information about the Earth, animals, weather, and so much more. It is full of photographs, videos, games and more for students to engage with. It is packed full of information on many different topics, making it the perfect research tool to use with your students in the classroom.

How Would I Use It In The Classroom?

During my student teaching placement, I thought a large unit on animals to the students. We learned all about their habitats, life cycles, groups they belong to, etc. We tied what we learned in science into the language arts curriculum by creating animal writing reports. Everyone chose an animal that interested them, and along with our science textbooks, mentor texts and trade books, we found a lot of information. In addition, we also used this wonderful website.

When clicking on the “Animal &Pets” link on the navigation bar at the top of the screen, you will be taken a page containing animals and habitats. The number of animals represented is incredible, enabling each student to choose a different animal if your project were to begin here. What’s great about the way the animals are organized, is that the website categorizes them by group (Amphibians, birds, mammals, etc), and also includes a whole section on different habitats (Antarctic, Freshwater, Grassland, etc). We spent a lot of time discussing the different habitats that exist on our planet, and this website is a perfect resource for learning more about these habitats beyond the textbook. The set-up of the website makes it very easy for both students and teachers to use and navigate easily. This could either be the beginning of an animal research project by allowing students to choose from the vast number of animals available for research, or it could be an extension to a writing report or science unit about animals.

Standards & Assessment

If you choose to have your students research an animal of their choice, then your assessment would be the students’ work samples containing the information they have gathered about their animals. You could also review and discuss which groups certain animals belong to, which serves as an informal assessment. The assessment you choose will be determined by the way you wish to use the information available from this resource. The website obviously goes beyond only animals, but this is a great way to use the information in your classroom for one example. The standards addressed when discussing habitats would include:

Kindergarten: Life Science- Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.
Grade 1: Life Science– Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical environment.
Grade 1: Life Science- Living things survive only in environments that meet their needs.

Standards that would address a writing project through researching a specific animal would include:

Grade 2: English Language Arts- Participate in shared research and writing projects
Grade 2: English Language Arts- Recall Information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question
Grade 3: English Language Arts- Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic
Grade 3: English Language Arts- Recall Information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

Reference:

Kids’ Games, Animals, Photos, Stories, and More — National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com

Discovery Kids

February 25, 2014 at 4:27pmFebruary 26, 2014 by wick.41

*All Screenshots taken on my computer from the Discovery Kids website*

I’m sure most of you are aware of the “Discovery Channel”, and the vast amount of topics it discusses both on TV and online. The Discovery Channel offers a website just for children, making it safe to use:

www.kids.discovery.com

It is full of games, puzzles, activities, quizzes, and information about different topics, all geared toward young readers. It features popular shows such as “Myth Busters” and “Dirty Jobs”. Readers can engage with these different topics through various activities, such as learning about the messiest jobs and determining fact from fiction.

How Would I Use It In The Classroom?

The top of the website features a navigation bar with multiple links. By clicking on the “Tell Me” button, you will arrive on a page that has more information on a wide variety of topics, including “Curiosity Center”, “MythBusters Lab”, “Animals”, “Earth”, “Health”, “Machines”, and so much more. As teachers, we can use this information as an extension to the lessons we teach in our classroom. For example, if we were discussing the Earth and the importance of trees in a science unit, we could find more information on this topic right on this website. There is a link titled “Why Do We Need Trees?” in the “Tell Me” section of the website. Together, you could read about this with your students to find out more about why trees are so important to our planet. In addition, if you are researching certain topics with your students, this website is a great resource to use, and that your students can also have access to.

Standards & Assessment

The content standards met by this website are determined by which topic(s) you choose to learn more about with your students. For example, when reading more about the sun with your students and the importance it has in our lives, we could associate the 1st Grade Common Core Standard for Earth and Space Science: The sun is the principal source of energy.

The standard met will be determined by the activities you choose and the information you wish to learn more about with your students. The same goes for assessment. You could use the information in the readings in the “Tell Me” section to create comprehension questions for assessment. These readings could also lead to group discussions and informal assessment as you listen to the students’ responses to the questions you pose.

Reference:

Discovery Kids : Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kids.discovery.com

Kinder Craze!

February 24, 2014 at 10:11pmFebruary 26, 2014 by wick.41

Kinder-Craze!

*All screenshots taken on my own computer from the kinder-craze blog site*

www.kindercrazeblog.com

I don’t follow/read very many blogs on a regular basis, but I must say that this blog is great for Early Childhood Education majors. Kinder-Craze is a blog created by Maria Manore, who is a Kindergarten teacher in Detroit. This is her personal blog where she shares her teaching resources and classroom projects with her readers. She does not show images of her students or share their names, but she shares the projects she does, gives tours of her very colorful classroom, and also gives advice.

Interested? Visit

www.kindercrazeblog.com

Maria Manore also creates resources for the “Teachers Pay Teachers” website, which is how I discovered her wonderful blog in the first place. I find her blog to be of value because she shares her experiences with her readers, and offers so many great resources and activities that other teachers can easily use in their own classroom. While Maria is a Kindergarten teacher, many of the resources she blogs about can be adapted for the K-3 classroom environment, and are not restricted to only Kindergarten. In addition, she features many “DIY”(Do It Yourself) projects and tutorials, including tutorials for new bloggers and techie tutorials! How Awesome is that?

This resource is geared for teacher use, and would not be considered a classroom blog by any means. However, I do feel it is valuable to teachers who are looking for inspiration from other teachers who are willing to offer tutorials and give advice. As we know, teaching is all about collaboration, and finding great blogs like these can really add to the dynamics of your classroom. In terms of assessment, she does post about the different things she does with her students, but again this resource is not something that would be tied to one specific assessment in general.

What About The Common Core?

As I mentioned earlier in the post, Maria is a member of the “Teachers Pay Teachers” website where she shares her resources with others. Her resources are all aligned with the Common Core, making it excellent for teachers to use who are working with these standards in their school buildings. This is definitely a blog to check out if you’re looking for great resources and a pop of color in your classroom:)

Reference:

Kinder-Craze: A Kindergarten Teaching Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kindercrazeblog.com

Teachers Pay Teachers

February 24, 2014 at 9:49pmFebruary 26, 2014 by wick.41

Teachers Pay Teachers!

*All screenshots taken on my own computer from the teachers pay teachers website*

www. teacherspayteachers.com

If you’re looking for a great website that is focused on nothing but educational resources then this is the place for you! Go to www. teacherspayteachers.com to begin your journey! This website is full of lesson plans, lesson extensions, games, and many other teaching resources created by teachers themselves! These resources have been used in the classroom by teachers who now offer them to you to use in your own classroom! Membership to the website is totally free, unless you plan on selling your own resources,which is explained in more detail on the site if you are interested in that.

Where do I start?

The website is organized into clearly labeled categories along the left side of the screen. As you can see in my screenshot to the left, some of these categories include “Featured”, “Grades”, and “Subject”. If you continue to scroll further down, additional categories include “Price” and “Top Resource Types”. These categories allow you to easily navigate the site and search for the exact grade level and topic you are searching for. You can also use the “search” bar at the very top of the page to type in keywords to what you are looking for. This resource is wonderful because most, if not all, of the resources available are aligned to the Common Core. Many of the items clearly state the standards the resource is aligned with and how it can be used in your classroom. There are no specific content standards aligned with the website itself, but the resources that are used from this website would certainly be aligned with a content standard.

Are The Resources Free?

Unfortunately some of the resources created and posted by teachers on this website do cost money. However, you have the option to sort your searches by price, specifically “free”. In this way, when you search for something, the free items will always appear first. There are hundreds of wonderful free resources to use on this site, and many teachers often have sales on their resources as well. For example, if I were to type in “100th Day Of School” into the search bar, I will yield around 1,500 results. I can then sort by price in order to see all of the free items if I don’t want to pay for a resource. The list will then refresh itself to show the free items first.

Assessment

Along with teaching resources, there are hundreds of assessments available on this site as well. Again, the type of assessment you are looking for will depend on the content area and the ideas you wish to assess your students on. Specifying this in your search will narrow down your search results and focus in on the materials you are specifically looking for. I have found numerous resources thanks to this website and have found them to be great additions to my lessons.

Reference:

TeachersPayTeachers.com – An Open Marketplace for Original Lesson Plans and Other Teaching Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://teacherspayteachers.com

Pin It!

February 24, 2014 at 9:25pmFebruary 25, 2014 by wick.41

Pin It!

One resource I have found to be particularly helpful is the website “Pinterest”. The possibilities this website has to offer are virtually endless; ranging from recipes to technology. In addition, there are so many great educational resources for teachers to use for every subject.

Go to www. pinterest. com

*All Screenshots taken on my own computer from pinterest website*

Upon your first visit to the website you will have to create an account in order to save all of your “pins”. This allows you to create different boards for different topics to save these “pins” to. You can search for virtually anything by using the search bar in the upper left hand corner. By clicking on the box to the very left of it, you can search different categories without typing in anything on your own. As you can see, there are numerous categories available, Education being one of them. By clicking on any of these links, you will arrive on a new page displaying anything and everything related to that category.

Search It!

Let’s say I am teaching my class a lesson on animal habitats and am looking for extensions to add to the lesson. These may be games, arts and crafts, or even trade books. I could type “animal habitats” into the search bar and get immediate results. Of course, I can narrow my search by entering keywords that specify exactly what I’m looking for. Upon simply searching “animal habitats”, I come across hundreds of different projects to use in the classroom, such as “Habitat Sorting”. By clicking on any of these images, I will be able to click “Pin It”, which means I can save that page to my board so I can look at it any time I want. I will also be able to go directly to the source which the resource comes from.

This resource is more for teachers as it can give endless possibilities for lesson ideas and extensions. The great thing about this website is that you can save all of your links right in one place and have access to them at any time without having to save the sources on your computer to find it again. The content standards this resource meets truly depends upon the type of material you are searching for and how you intend to use it. Many of the resources available through this website are teacher created and are already aligned to the Common Core, which is GREAT!

Assessment Tools!

In addition to lesson extensions, there are also many different assessment tools available for teachers simply by searching for them in the search bar.By adding the word “assessment” to my previous search of “animal habitats”, I now see many different assessment tools I can use for various lessons. Again, these searches can be modified by using specific keywords, such as grade level and content area.

The great thing about Pinterest is that every single thing you search for is linked to a source, which allows you to investigate the source to determine its credibility as well as the usefulness of the item itself. For example, many teachers post their resources on pinterest so when you click on their links you are often brought to their blogs. These blogs often discuss how the resource was used, if it worked, how it is aligned to the standards, etc. In this way, you get an idea of how you may need to modify this for your own classroom. Enjoy Pinning Away!

Reference:

Pinterest-The Visual Discovery Tool. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pinterest.com