Happy Poetry Month!

Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing spring break! As we return to school on April 1st, I thought it would be fun to share a few great resources to kick off poetry month!

For my primary friends, below is a great video by Disney Jr.

For my intermediate friends, here is a great blog post from the blog, All Things Upper Elementary.

In the lesson she describes taking poems from famous authors and poets, such as Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, etc. and using them in your cooperative lesson.  Definitely worth reading about if you are interested in incorporating some of these greats into your lesson!

Of course, we also are lucky to have our fabulous LIS, Ms. D, who I'm sure would be more than happy to help you use poetry in your classroom.  Just ask!

Virtual Field Trip: Giant Pacific Octopus

We had a great time during our Google+ Hangout on Air this morning with Umi, the Giant Pacific Octopus, ambassador of the Pacific Northwest.   Check out the Hangout with 5 District 64 classes below!

Enjoy!

What's a Chromebook?

This blog post is courtesy of Michael Johnson, ITC at Field School.  

By now, you've likely seen Dr. Bresnahan's email about the BATC proposal for 1:1 computers. But, rather than going with iPads or Macbooks, the word "Chromebook" is being thrown around. So, what in the heck is a Chromebook and what does it have to do with education?

 The video points out just about every reason why I think this is a great idea. What the video doesn't mention is that a Chromebook is just $250. So, it's an easy, versatile, fast, productive and a fiscally responsible solution to our district's plan for technology. I call that a win-win-win-win-win and an extra win since it's Spring Break tomorrow!

Important Tip of the Week

Don't forget to back up your computer in a regular basis! That includes files, pictures, videos, music, etc. I know we've all heard this- but you don't want to learn the hard way! Happy Spring Break!!!

The Peanut Gallery

Today I came across this awesome site that In the latest Chrome Experiment Peanut Gallery, you can add inter titles to old silent film clips just by speaking aloud to Google Chrome, and then easily share your work with others.  

Give it a try, and bring out the inner screenwriter in you: peanutgalleryfilms.com 

Google Maps?

Do you have upcoming travel plans for spring break?   Do you wish you were going to some place really cool and exotic?   Now you can explore some of the highest peaks in the world on Google Maps, with Street View of Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus and Everest Base Camp.

To learn more about these new exciting features, and see some of these awesome places in action, click here.  I know a good 5th grade friend may be checking out the beaches in Hawaii...  Who wouldn't be?

And just because I'm excited for my spring break, I explored my destination with Google Maps below.  

Great beach view.

I dragged the little yellow man to get a beach view.

The A is where we are staying.

Enjoy using Google Maps in your classroom!  If you need ideas of how to implement it, let me know!  I'm happy to help!

5th graders flipping!

Check out what some of our 5th graders are doing in a math lesson about fractions and decimals!  AWESOME group work on day 2 of a flipped lesson.

App of the Week: Easy Chart HD

App of the Week:  Easy Chart HD for iPad 

What is it?

In Easy Chart HD you can create line, bar, pie and sidebar charts easily. This application provides you simple and beautiful charts on your iPad. You can save in photos in different sizes like small, medium and large. Now you can also able to use this application without an internet connection.

Many exclusive features:

- Get various color schemes 

- Set font size

- Axis labelling

- Get mini chart styles

Who is it for?

Easy Chart HD for iPad is a great app for all ages - in learning about graphs, as well as creating them.  We can also print out these great graphs for the camera roll.

Are you interested in trying out this app?  It's on Cart #2 in the LRC - check it out!

  

       

Happy Pi Day!

Thursday, March 14th is Pi Day!   How are you celebrating this fun math concepts with your students?   In our yearly circle around the sun, Pi Day comes but once a year. Pi Day is March 14, or 3.14, to celebrate the first three digits of everyone’s favorite irrational number.

Here are some fun ideas that were shared with me from a friend from the website, "Flocabulary - hip hop in the classroom".

Celebrate Pi Day with these activities:

1. Check out the video below.  One person made a massive domino spiral celebrating pi. Have your students use pi to estimate how many dominos are in the spiral. (10,059, according to the creator - they show the math problem at the end of the video).

2. Bake a pie or pizza pie. Use pi and circle formulas to determine its circumference, area and volume. When you cut it up to serve, determine the area of each slice. Eat and enjoy.

3. Review the long history of the discovery of pi.

4. Use our Writing Academic Rhymes lessons and have your students write a mnemonic rap to memorize at least 20 digits of pi.

5. Log onto Google Maps and have students scour maps of your hometown for circles (tops of water towers, roundabouts, swimming pools). Using the key, have students calculate the circumferences and areas of the circles.

6.  BrainPOP has a great video on Pi.  Complete with activities and a quiz!   Click here for the Pi video!  You may need our log in information.  Click here if you need it!

Google Has It

I feel like this week is super busy... and to keep things light today, enjoy this parody of Adele's Rumor Has It - Google Has It.      Hopefully a good laugh for you today!

Coggle

Have you heard about Coggle?  I read about this free mind mapping tool on Free Tech for Teachers over the weekend and just had to try it out.

To create a Coggle mind map just sign-in with your Google account and click the "+" icon to start your mind map. After entering the main idea of your mind map you can add branches by clicking the "+" icons that appear next to everything you type. To re-arrange elements just click on them and drag them around your screen.

Coggle is also a collaborative tool using email to invite others to view your mind map.    Unfortunately, since our students don't have access to email yet, students could not share these with each other, however, they could share them with you!

If you are interested in trying out Coggle with your students, let me know!  I'd be happy to help you and your students.  Check out the Coggle I created below to help me plan for a session with a teacher.  

Why do we "spring forward"?

Are you looking for a video to explain Daylight Savings Time to your students?   Check out this one below.

Gmail Themes?

Are you tired of looking at he boring background of your Gmail?  Did you know that you can change it?   By clicking on the gear shift and clicking on themes, you'll be taken to gallery of many different themes that you can have in your gmail.  

Then choose a theme for you to have in the background of your email.  If you notice, I picked beach, as I'm ready to be sitting on the beach on spring break.   

Did you know that certain Gmail themes change with the weather, time of day, or day of the week? You can tell which themes change by going to Settings > Themes and looking for an icon in the lower right hand corner of the theme's thumbnail image. Select the thumbnail and enter your location to see the theme change in accordance with your surroundings. Try it out!

Speaking of beach... here's where I'm headed for Spring Break!   Marco Island, FL

Bedtime Math

Have you seen the website Bedtime Math?   It's a great resource for parents and teachers, giving both parties ways to incorporate math into their everyday lives...  Every day they post a new math question and then differentiate the questions to fit different levels of learners.

Definitely a resource worth checking out and sharing with your parents as well.

Thanks for sharing with me, Dana!

From their website:

How to Do Bedtime Math

Don’t sweat it.  

Bedtime Math hopes to be part of your daily routine, but if you’re having one of those days that started with the toilet overflowing, don’t worry.  Bedtime Math problems are here when you want them, when you’re ready.

It’s not official.  

Bedtime Math isn’t an official “curriculum.”  It’s just a fun chance for kids to do math in their heads, so someday when they’re shopping and everything’s 20% off, they can figure out the sale price before the store closes.

Take it by the horns.  

While Bedtime Math loves mental math, it’s totally cool to use paper and pencil when needed.  And if your child wants to tackle a harder BMP, go for it!  You can walk your kids through the steps if they’re stuck, and they’ll be excited to wrestle hard with something and get the answer.

Simmer down.  

The BMPs aim to be fun and lively, but they won’t keep your kids from falling asleep.  In our experience, math can get kids to sit still, focus, and quiet down.

No sibling rivalry, please.  

If you have more than one child doing these, you might want to give each of them different numbers.  Just as we all love our monogrammed toothbrush holders, kids like custom-tailored things, too.

To help this along, each BMP offers three levels of challenge: Wee Ones, Little Kids, and Big Kids.  Again, these don’t signify rigid age ranges or grade levels, but as a rough guideline, Wee Ones are targeted for pre-school kids, Little Kids grades kindergarten through 1st or 2nd, and Big Kids grades 2nd onward.  That said, they differ a little every day, so feel free to pick and choose – and to swap in your own numbers if you like.  There’s no one right way.

App of the Week: Creative Book Builder

Are you looking for a fresh way for your students to publish their work?  Wouldn't it be cool for them to write their own book?   If you think this is something that your students would be interested in, check out this app!

What is it?

Creative Book Builder is a fantastic app that allows students to create books in epub format, which can then be exported to iBooks and shared with others. There are a variety of instructional uses for this app, from using it as a publishing tool for project-based learning to a summative assessment at the end of a unit.  Students can embed images, audio files, video files, and write text.  The advantage of an epub document over a PDF document is that all of the media will be preserved and available for readers to interact with when the final product is published.  

Who is it for?
I can see this being used at all different grade levels, from a class book to students or groups of students creating their own books.   This can be use across subject areas as well - with an exciting way to share information.

One of other ITCs has also created a Google Folder with helpful how-tos on how to use Creative Book Builder in your classroom.  Click here to view her helpful tutorials.  Thanks to Amanda Pelsor for sharing!   I also found a very helpful slideshow in getting started with Creative Book Builder.  Check it out below.   Of course, if you want help, just ask!  I'm eager to try out this app with a class!

Check out How to Use Creative Book Builder by Penelope Doyle on Snapguide.

Google Art Project - How it works

I know I've posted about Google Art Project before, however, check out this cool video about how it works!

Harlem Shaking

Have you seen the Harlem Shake videos that are viral pretty much anywhere and everywhere on You Tube?   Here's a Harlem Shake video from Google.... basically one person starts dancing and then everyone else ends up joining in and doing their own thing... how fun!

  It looks like the Peanuts were shaking and doing there own thing well before the Harlem Shake was trending.   

What does this have to do with school?   This week I'm proctoring ISATs and my small group and I were talking about how cool it would be to have an ISAT Harlem Shake video... however, they decided it wouldn't be "legal" to post and share... so my group was over it.  I do enjoy the Peanuts version though... regardless... it's a great motor break for your kids taking their ISATs!

Flipping Out?

I know that ISATs, report cards, conferences, the big snow storm, committee meetings, trying to fit into your swim suit before spring break, among other things may have people flipping out!   But this is a different kind of flipped...

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media


There are many great resources to help you with flipping your classroom.  Like TedEd for example, which has videos, resources, and questions to assess students learning after watching the video.

TED-Ed is a great resource for teachers with instructional videos for students, like the one about water above, as well as great some great professional videos for teachers.

TED-Ed has amazing resources for teachers... especially if you are considering flipping your classroom.   I'd be happy to help you flip your classroom if you are interested, even if it's trying it for a lesson!   After the ICE Conference and some good researching, I feel that we can flip classrooms, even in elementary school!  Let me know if you are interested in trying out this concept with me!

Yet another cool Google Feature

Did you know that you can use Google Images to find coloring pages. Say that are studying dinosaurs, specifically T-Rex. On Google Images, search for [t rex] and under Search tools, filter for Line drawing. Your search results will update to only show black and white drawings of T-Rex. Alternatively, black and white image results generally show when you add [coloring pages] to your query, such as [t rex coloring pages]. Click View original image, then print from your browser and let the coloring begin!