Brain Nook

Brain Nook is great site that I discovered after reading back articles on the blog, iLearnTechnology. If you haven't discovered this blog, I recommend it! Brain Nook is a fun, interactive site geared for young students needing to practice math and reading skills. It is free to register, but you have limited access. Full access requires a premium membership. Even though the free access is limited, there is quite a bit for students to complete. The graphics are colorful and easy to navigate too!

I know the school year is winding down, but this would be a great resource to share with parents to help keep students active over the summer. Check out this great site!

Storyjumper

Story Jumper is great website for students to use in creative writing. This site does require JAVA and registration and you have the option to use the clipart from their site or upload your own images. Students can even purchase a hard-bound copy of their story for $24.95.
Children who struggle with writing will be engaged with the fun graphics and scaffolded support system. Story Jumper helps students write basic stories in just seven steps. This site is for all students regardless of writing proficiency. This could be a great center activity or would be a fantastic tool for a computer lab!

Sorry that I haven't been posting very much lately, but you know how it is at the end of the school year! I'm still trying to wrap everything up! Have a great evening! (And only 3 more followers needed to reach 20!....C'mon, you can do it!)

May I Help You?

Hello blog friends! The end of the school year is rapidly approaching and we are all wrapping up core content, assessing, and basically trying to survive these last few weeks! I am offering my services! If you have any content and are needing interactive websites to support your instruction, this is your opportunity to request help!

All I'm asking is that if you leave a comment and request my help in finding activities that support your instruction, please consider becoming a follower of my blog! I have a goal of 50 followers in mind and there just might be a giveaway involved when I reach my goal! So please spread the word about my little blog here to your favorite teacher friends and don't forget to leave a comment below! I will do my best to help you out!

Happy Teaching!

Hooda Sites

I cannot believe how much testing the state of Texas requires our little ones to complete. TPRI tests for each child, DIBELS assessments for each child, First Steps in Mathematics assessments for each child, and DRA (running records). My class and I are on overload! Here are two great sites I have found to keep the little ones working and interested.
Could be set up as a reward center, review center, etc. The content is well organized and all of the links appear to be working. Hooda Word has 24 games related to language and Hooda Brain has 14 games designed to improve memory skills. I hope these sites will help you navigate through the end of year assessment jungle!

DIBELS

It's that time of year again! Assessment! Anyone else feel like they are assessing students way more than we're teaching them? Goodness! I have pulled two resources for you to explore. This are websites that host games and review activities that correlate with DIBELS assessments. Great review strategy for students before they take their turn testing!

Take a few moments and test out the activities on both of these sites. The last time I visited them, all of the links were working. I use these activities as both whole-group activities and as a center rotation. Don't tell the kids but I use them also as a reward! :) What they don't know doesn't hurt them! Do you have any great sites to share? Please leave a comment! Don't be shy!

http://teachers.cr.k12.de.us/~galgano/dibel2.htm

http://www.amphi.com/departments/technology/assess/dibels.html

QR Codes

Know what this is? This is the QR code for my blog! Many of us have QR readers installed on our smartphones. Kaywa is a site that gives you the ability to create QR codes for yourself. What is the application for education? Well, that depends on your creativity!

A coworker of mine has created a QR code and posted it on her weekly newsletter. The QR code links parents to her classroom website. I have also seen educators use QR codes to create review sheets for students. You would have to have the available technology for your students, but it creates an interesting twist for students!

Here is a fantastic post from "Free Technology for Teachers" that explains more! Have fun!

http://qrcode.kaywa.com

Fraboom!

Stop what you're doing! Read this post quickly and go immediately to this site! I just found out about this site from iLearn Technology and I couldn't wait another minute to pass it along to you. All 12 followers! LOL!

No, anyway this site is called Fraboom! It is simply amazing. New content is being added daily. Content is geared for 6-12 year olds. This is such a perfect site as a reward center or especially for students during summer vacation! There are interactive books & games, but do you want to know what is the most special part about this site? There are LIVE TEACHERS! Ack! Children can go online (with parent/teacher permission of course) and take the daily art challenge. Children draw along with a teacher on Fraboom and can type into a secure chat where the teacher reads and responds to each child. The teacher is talking but the children can only type messages. You do not see the other students' messages. Each day there is a new challenge. My daughter took one look at this site and logged right out of Facebook and joined the art challenge. I cannot wait to go back and explore more of Fraboom. You need to see this site! Enjoy!

Learning A-Z

It's Teacher Appreciation Week! Now, I love the homemade cards and signs, but every so often there's a true present that shows how much teachers are appreciated. Interested?
Learning A-Z hosts a family of sites that you may already use in your classroom. If you already use these sites, then you know that they are subscription sites. Well for one day each week, Learning A-Z is opening one of their sites for FREE!! Did you hear that? FREE!!

The last time they did this, I almost crashed my computer from downloading files nonstop! :) Best fun ever! So, grab a cup of coffee (and possibly an external hard drive) and dive in for great resources! I know these resources are not necessarily "integrating technology", but they are fabulous! Here's the schedule:

All week: Raz-Kids is a student-centric site where kids can practice reading online anytime and anywhere.

May 2, 2011- Reaing A-Z is a fantastic collection of printable and projectable books and resources that spans 27 reading levels.

May 3, 2011- Vocabulary A-Z has 12,000+ words that are organized by categories and give teachers the ability to create customized vocabulary lists.

May 4th, 2011- Science A-Z has science curriculum resources spanning more than 60 units, all are written to three reading levels.

May 5th, 2011- Writing A-Z has many of the resources you need to teach writing in your classroom.

May 6th, 2011- Reading tutors provides more than 400 reading resource packets that can be used for one-on-one tutoring.

Cinco de Mayo Activities

Can you believe that it's May??? I'm having a hard time understanding that it is almost time to begin those "end of the year" activities. My district will soon begin our final round of benchmarks and I will be looking for fun and relevant activities to keep my class of first graders entertained while I complete testing.....one child at a time. Don't even get me started on that! Cinco de Mayo will be this Thursday and I have found several activities for our younger students. Sorry, secondary teachers....this post is for elementary! All of these activities are for use on your IWB or computer work station. Enjoy!

Great PowerPoint activities and links to printables and games for your class!








Cute game for younger students. This is a Memory Matching game spoken in Spanish. As you match the tokens, the pinata fills and lowers to the ground. Successful rounds cause the pinata to burst and spill the candy. This game is hosted on the Scholastic site.







Hosted by TheKidzPage, this site has several games for younger students. There are also printable activities such as coloring sheets and puzzles. Watch this site though, there are several ads on the page. Teachers may need to assist students in navigating around this page.

Also...."ask and ye shall receive"! I have 10 followers! Wow! Thank you so much! I hope to build this blog into a site where you can always expect to find great ideas for integrating technology into your classroom. Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you need for your classroom. I'll do my best!