YouTube in Your Classroom

Do you YouTube?  Our kindergarten team has found YouTube to be a very helpful tool to enhance our curriculum.  We are always looking for new ways to engage our students and add a fun element to learning the skills they need to master.  Quick video clips are easy to find on YouTube on almost any topic you are teaching.  Some of our favorite clips are found by searching Have Fun Teaching, the Electric Company and Sesame Street on the YouTube site.   Be sure to preview all clips before showing them to your class.

.http://www.youtube.com/

Kindergarten Team- "Big K"

Vicky Hanna, Andrea Lentz, Julie White, and Carrie Price

Writing Website

This is one of my favorite writing websites this year! Most of the writing lessons incorporate mentor texts and focus on the 6 writing traits. A writing lesson on this website includes downloadable material, student models, and graphic organizers. It's a cool website!

By: Ms. Q, 3rd grade teacher

http://writingfix.com/

SearchyPants--a Safe Search Engine for Kids

I don't know about you, but kids on Google scares me to death.  Who knows what might show up on a simple search for a research project.  I just discovered a new search engine that is the most kid-friendly I have ever had students use.    Since the spring term is usually rife with research projects, this is a great resource to show your kiddos.  I also love the name of the site: searchypants.com

By: Jaime Speed, 5th grade teacher

A View From Above

Die.net is a fantastic web site that uses satellite views of the earth and moon in what is close to real time.  The site is a wonderful support for your science lessons and also a fun way to talk about the changes the earth goes through with the water cycle and rotation.

I have used this site for my morning opening, asking the students to notice weather and air current changes over the course of a week.  I have also used it in the fall of the school year to discuss the formation of hurricanes off the African coast as they move across the Atlantic Ocean.

Notice that there are different map views and this site shows the termination line, a great way to talk about time zones. It is just a fun, interesting tool.

Happy Exploration!

By: Kathi Smith-Bolle, 4^th grade

Creating Crosswords

We wanted to let people know about a great site for creating crossword puzzles and word searches using words from your own unit of study. Go to http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/  This site is called armored penguin. It is really easy to use and the students love finding words they are familiar with or have just been introduced to. If students have access to their own computer, they can make their own crossword puzzles. This gives them great practice with words and their definitions. After creating the puzzle, these can be printed and redistributed so each students gets practice solving someone elses puzzle. Enjoy!

By the 4th Grade Team

Voiceover Video in iMovie

Have you ever wanted to use actual video footage but include your own information or content?  Here's an idea that you can use in iMovie that allows you to record your own voice with your own content and add it to a video clip that you've found on the internet.  This would be something you could use if you have your students write animal reports.  They could add their own voices with their own written words over the top of real video footage of their animal.  Your first step is to find a video clip from a website, such as discoveryeducation.com or arkive.org.  Download it, and then upload it into iMovie.  Once your video clip is ready in iMovie, follow these simple steps below and your Voiceover Video is complete! 

Missy Geary, 2nd Grade