Google has released a new site for teachers with resources covering the many ways to effectively utilize Google search tools with students. The resource is targeted more for secondary teachers and librarians and includes comprehensive lesson plans, taped webinars and modules on queries, power searching, assessing and evaluating web resources, Google Scholar, Creative Commons and Google Maps:

Click on the image below to find out more.

Taken from: http://www.teq.com/video/introduction-to-smart-notebook-11

Our second destination took us to Timbe Elephant Park where we learned how the elephant uses his trunk in various ways. The students completed a Kidspiration activity where they used their “trunk” to paint a picture like a very special elephant from Thailand.

Our final destination was Cameroon, Africa, home to the world’s largest frog. We learned what a frog looks like during each stage of his life cycle by viewing an interactive tutorial from Harcourt School.

While visiting each location in Africa, the students filled in their research using a Passport. Below you will find the Google Earth KMZ and Passport used in this virtual field trip. Other Google Earth virtual field trips can be found on my Teacher Web. Please let me know if you are interested in creating a virtual field trip for your grade level.

Kinder Safari

kinder vft passport

Over the past 6 weeks I have had the pleasure of working with a group of 4th grade students at East Terrell Hills Elementary, San Antonio. We spent 3 days exploring the different types of figurative language poets use as well as the elements of poetry. The students worked very hard to create this “poetry palooza” project using various iPad apps:

• Inspiration Lite graphic organizer template helped us explain the elements of poetry
• Sock Puppets was used to create a video of onomatopoeia examples identified in various poems
• iCard Sort allowed us to categorize  similes and metaphors
• Corkulous helped to showcase different ways authors use the 5 senses in their poems
• Songify produced a “Personification Rap”

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/mooreblogs

 32 Interesting Ways to Use Wallwisher in the Classroom

http://edu.glogster.com/what-is-glogster-edu/#five

Glogster Video Tutorials

20 Apps in 20 Minutes Ipad Edition from TJ Houston on Vimeo.

In this webinar @tjhouston and @llacrosse will overview 20 apps in 20 minutes. These are the apps that were used in the classroom and found to be effective supplements to the curriculum. They were used with 5th grade science students while working with ipads for an entire school year.

While there is no perfect list of apps that will be guaranteed to work with all students in all classrooms, this list may be a good starting point for seeing the variety of apps available for the classroom. The types of apps available to teachers and students range from basic consumption of information apps to creation apps that allow teachers to provide a platform for students to showcase growth and learning. Each teacher and group of students will benefit from working to individualize their class with app usage. The best apps are those that work for YOUR content, YOUR class structure, and YOUR needs.

Scholastic BookFlix is a new online literacy resource that pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction eBooks from Scholastic to build a love of reading and learning. BookFlix is an engaging way to link fact and fiction, and it reinforces early reading skills by introducing  children to a world of knowledge and exploration. Bookflix also offers lesson plans, web links, puzzles and games based on the books shared.

Contact your librarian for your campus login.

The Rainforest by Marshall, Alan, Mary, and Sayali in Mrs. Oswald’s Class

ZooBurst books ‘live’ online and can be experienced using nothing more than a web browser running the Adobe Flash plug-in. Authors can arrange characters and props within a 3D world that can be customized using uploaded artwork or items found in a built-in database of over 10,000 free images and materials.

Once constructed, books can be inspected from any angle from within a 3D space, and rotating around a book is as easy as dragging and dropping a mouse. In addition, authors can choose to make items “clickable,” allowing readers to learn more about individual characters within a story. Each character can have its own ‘chat bubble’ that pops up when that character is clicked. In addition, authors can also record their own voices using the ZooBurst audio recorder to have their characters really ‘speak’ when clicked!

Readers can choose to experience and participate in a ZooBurst book in a number of ways. Authors can share books with readers using a simple hyperlink, and books can easily be ‘embedded’ in any website or blog, allowing authors to provide their own contextual framework to their stories. Authors can also maintain a moderated discussion forum for each book, providing a virtual space in which readers can interact with one another.

Readers who have a webcam installed on their computer can also experience any ZooBurst book in Augmented Reality. Once a book has been loaded, readers can click on the ‘Webcam Mode’ button at the top of the screen. This button will turn on their webcam and allow them to see themselves as though they were looking in a mirror. From here, visitors can hold up a special symbol to the webcam to watch as the book ‘flys’ out of the paper and into the room around them! In addition, Augmented Reality mode also allows readers the ability to interact with a book using simple gestures. For example, simply waving your hand in front of a book will allow you to turn its pages back and forth.

As an educational tool, ZooBurst provides students with new ways in which they can tell stories, deliver presentations, write reports and express complex ideas. ZooBurst contains a powerful ‘classroom management’ feature for teachers that lets them easily set up protected, safe spaces for their students. Teachers can assign usernames and passwords to their students without having to input any sensitive or personal information, and can manage and moderate student work in a protected environment.

The best way to learn more about ZooBurst is to give it a try! Click here to sign up for your own ZooBurst account – it’s free!

Taken from: About ZooBurst

Warning: You cannot create free student accounts. You can login as you and have your students create books (up to 10 per account).