"Commencing Operation Play, a call-to-arms for all believers in the positive impact of game-based learning! From September 15th - 19th, we're celebrating educators that utilize game-based learning in their classrooms and the benefits games can have on student engagement and understanding. We've partnered with some of the most powerful forces in the industry to build a hub of teacher resources for adding game-based learning to your classroom curriculum. Check out the Resource Center for success stories, inspiring implementation ideas, cutting-edge research, and game-based learning tools. Together we can spread the word about #opPLAY14!"
"Classcraft is a free online educational role-playing game that teachers and students play together in the classroom. Acting as a gamification layer around any existing curriculum, the game transforms the way a class is experienced, throughout the school year."
"Practice. Learn. Succeed.
ScootPad is the ultimate way to master math and reading skills.
Self-paced and personalized practice keeps kids engaged & challenged. Common Core aligned, real-time progress tracking & concept proficiency insigts, paperless homework....Best of all: FREE!"
Can a bunch of school kids really change the world in five minutes a day? This class of primary school kids demonstrate over the course of a week that it only takes five minutes a day to make a positive impact-from recycling to planting fruit and veg and telling jokes.
You can find out more and contact the filmmaker, Tristan Bancks, at www.tristanbancks.com
This film was made for Film Australia's Change the World in 5 Minutes project. See more films and upload your own ideas for Changing the World
@ http://programs.sbs.com.au/changetheworld
Online Magazines for Children and Teens-This online article shares the research behind students and online reading as well as providing links for many online magazines for kids.
"This site will be both a support site for my presentations about iPad use for teaching and learning and it also includes links to other iPad information pages.
I hope you find it useful!
You will find a Google form below to submit your own resource to be added to the site. Thanks for sharing!"
Interactive game to teach students about cyberbullying:
"A cyberbullying "epidemic" has hit our shores and threatens to contaminate our children through emails, chatrooms, blogs, mobile phones and social networking sites. The Bullies are nasty, highly contagious viruses that lurk in cyberspace, infecting young cyber citizens with unacceptable online behaviours.
And unfortunately, something seemingly innocent such as forwarding an unpleasant email to someone can cause instant contamination.
But help is at hand.
SchoolAid, in partnership with the Vodafone Foundation, has launched a national campaign that identifies and personifies the different types of cyberbullying behaviours, and in particular, bystander behaviour, to raise awareness of this crucial issue, while encouraging open discussion among children and adults alike."
Feeling inspired by the "World is Just Awesome" commercials? View it here and then create your own "_____ is Just Awesome" video using these great resources from Discovery!!
"Welcome to Engineer Your Life, a guide to engineering careers for high school girls! Imagine what life would be like without pollution controls to preserve the environment, life-saving medical equipment, or low-cost building materials for fighting global poverty. All this takes engineering. In very real and concrete ways, women who become engineers save lives, prevent disease, reduce poverty, and protect our planet. Dream Big. Love what you do. Become an engineer."
"A few years ago, I realized my son, Jack, didn't exactly love books. We'd always read to him as a baby, and he was beginning to read for school. When he got home, him going to the shelf and picking up a book was about as likely as his pulling out a notebook and solving quantum physics problems. Actually, the latter was more likely. He's a smart kid.
So Sue and I took it on ourselves to fix the problem if we could.
Starting that summer, and every summer since, we went out and found books that I was pretty sure he'd not just read, but would love to read. That was a big part of the inspiration for READKIDDOREAD."
"Kidblog.org is designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with their own, unique blog.
Kidblog's simple, yet powerful tools allow students to publish posts and participate in discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs. "
Explore classic stories "The Wizard of Oz," "The Mermaid," and "Aladdin" and collect treasure. Great activity for using context clues. As the questions pop up, students who don't know the story can click on the link "Read the book to discover the answer" and be taken to the page in the book that contains the information they need to answer. Great for teaching students to go back to the text to find information and use context clues.
Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.
Our "Exquisite Corpse Adventure" works this way: Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" He has passed it on to a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who must eventually bring the story to an end.
Every two weeks, there will be a new episode and a new illustration. The story will conclude a year from now.
Scholastic and Turtle Pond Interactive invite you and your class on a virtual field trip to an aquarium in Florida! This live event will introduce children worldwide to an extraordinary and inspiring bottlenose dolphin named Winter.
This is a great site with some fun readings about climbing Mt. Everest. There are links to lesson plans that target specific text organizations. The second link is an article about Text Organization/Text Structure that gives a rationale for direct instruction on this topic. It also includes many other links about text organization.
What I like best about this educational technology blog is the time that Kelly puts into describing the sites she recommends in her blog and how they can be implemented in your classroom. An amazing resource!