If you are familiar with Open Office, then you know it is a free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office. They have now designed a new suite of applications designed just for kids 7 to 12 years of age. Open Office for Kids is also free. Might be worth checking out, especially since the Microsoft Office applications were designed with adults in mind.
I have used this site a few times to do quick video editing. For those of you who don't like iMovie or don't have a Mac...or don't like the Windows movie maker...this is a easy to use and accessable movie maker. It runs right on the web, nothing to download. You can save and download your file after you are done in many formats too!
This might be a great program for digital story telling, uploading imagery is pretty easy, just make sure your images aren't too gigantic otherwise it could take some extra time to transfer files. Other than that this editor works really well and its all stored online so you can work on projects from any computer. I'm planning on using this program for our digital story telling project as well :) GOOD LUCK!
If you've ever been teaching and a student asks how something works and you're not sure, you need to check out this site. It has info about everything from how they get lead in pencils to how an engine works.
I'm a HUGE fan of Discovery Channel, and their education division never fails to impress! I invite you to explore their Classroom Resources page - you may find something valuable for your class!
Tagxedo is a website I've been exploring for a few weeks after hearing a former colleague was using it as a first day of school activity during which students made a self portrait using words that describe themselves. Tagxedo is similar to Wordle as it uses individual words to form art. Where Wordle creates word clouds, Tagxedo creates art in the form of any image you can come up with. When your students are doing a report on an animal, why not have them use their descriptive words to form the image of that animal. The gallery is full of ideas, and I'm sure you will come up with many more! You will need to download Silverlight for Mac or PC in order to create your word art.
Great and VERY EASY website to record a student's voice and email to parents. Practice fluency, recite vocab words, for students who have difficulty writing, they can tell about their picture, vocally.
This page is an extensive collection of educational PowerPoints. The content ranges from grammar and problem solving to spanish and drama. The Power Points are well done, free, and easily downloadable. I think these would be great used in conjunction with a Smartboard.
Gaggle has evolved from filtered email, blogging, and chatting for students to include new apps. The new suite of web tools include Gaggletube(filtered YouTube), documents and spreadsheets, and collaboration and homework space. There's more; check it out!
This is from Escondido Union School District. I love this because it lists apps with school subject and a brief description. It is a drop in the bucket of the amounts available, but it is a start.