Sunday Share #8

Dear Staff, Here is this weeks Sunday Share. There is a lot here. Take a look at what you can and come back for the rest.

Article(s): Edutopia is a good source of reliable information and articles for educators. In the following article, Edutopia lists 8 Classroom Resources to Help Teach about Hurricane Sandy. I would also recommend signing up for the Edutopia newsletter. By creating a username/password, you can receive free resources and guides from Edutopia.

Random Resources: 1. Manga High - With this free teacher resource, you can create student usernames/ passwords to Scootpad from Sunday Share #7. MangaHigh tracks student progress and provides students from 7 to 16 with math practice games. If you like to collect student data and assign them game-based content, check out MangaHigh.

2. 30-Day Challenge Blog - If you want to learn about 30 resources for the classroom, keep an eye on this 30-Day Challenge Blog. This is the second annual 30-Day Challenge. I found a lot of great resources on this blog last year. It's similar to what I am trying to do with the Sunday Shares, but instead of sharing weekly the blog shares one educational resource daily. Keep an eye on this blog over the next 30-Days.

3. Little Bird Tales - I used this site with my students last year to create digital stories.

Check out one of my student's Fractured Fairytales related to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. My class used the website to create the tales, but there is also an app for the iPads. I also have examples from Dawn Johannsen’s first grade class.

4. Library of Congress - The Library of congress offers primary sources to meet Common Core Standards and State Content Standards. This online resource offers classroom materials, professional development, and lessons for classroom teachers.

Verteran's Day: 1. Digital Vaults - If you thought the Library of Congress was cool, check out the National Archives. With this tool last year, one of my most unmotivated students came to life to create a poster on this site for Veteran's Day. He used various images and documents from past wars and put them together on a digital poster. I was just sitting on my computer when all of a sudden I received spam mail or so I thought. I luckily noticed the students name in the message and opened it. From here, I was shocked that this student would send me something digitally but rarely turned in paper/pencil assignments. Check out the Digital Vaults and show students this website using the SMART Board.

2. I would also take a look at the Veteran's Day passages from ReadWorks.

Reading Websites: I have gotten a couple requests for reading websites. Here are a few that I think could assist classroom instruction: 1. K12Reader 2. ReadWorks 3. ReadWriteThink

Video Resources: The following resources are to promote the use of multimedia within your classroom. You can always search YouTube, but this can sometimes be a gamble. The videos below are from reliable resources.

1. Teacher's Domain 2. NBC Learn K-12 - This resource costs money but not for anyone with an Indiana teacher's email.

3. BBC Learning Clips 4. TED Ed 5. Watch Know Learn 6. National Geographic Videos 7. BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. Praise: If you are at Three Creeks, talk to Linsey Waterstraat about "Techno Tuesdays." On Tuesdays, her students complete most (if not all) of their work with the computers rather than with paper/pencil. The fifth grade teachers at Three Creeks are rotating the cart to have all 30 MacBook Airs for one day of the week. I would suggest you get used to having the entire cart rather than always distributing the computers. Then, decide what to do with the cart on the two extra days.

Dawn Johannsen has scheduled a Digital Story Celebration with her class. Over the last few weeks, Dawn and I have been transferring her first grade booklets into Little Bird Tales. This is a purchased app and works in tandem with the Little Bird Tale website. The website is free and fairly easy to use. If you would like help with this site, please book a time with me.

In fact, if you would like assistance with any of these resources, please schedule a time with me.

Have a nice break and enjoy the candy.

-Dan Gibson