Worksheet Works

I love sites that make teaching easier! Worksheet Works is a site that generates educational worksheets based on your specifications. The worksheets are created in a PDF format that can be projected and used with the SMARTBoard! Check it out at http://worksheetworks.com/

Sheppard Software

Sheppard offers everything from early math to pre-algebra. The lessons include interactive activities to practice concepts. Students can shoot fruit, pop balloons, and even play math man (the math version of pac man!). Fractions, place value, money, and basic operations are some of the areas that are covered. Check it out at http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm.

See more from Sheppard Software by clicking the links at the top of the page to view additional content areas.

Online Graphs and Charts

ChartTool is a quick and easy site for creating all kinds of graphs. You can create bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, scatter plots, and more. Use the tabs at the top of the site to put your graph together. The site creates a wonderful graph that can be downloaded as a picture or PDF document. Check it out at http://www.onlinecharttool.com/graph.php

Classroom Instruction That Works

We have done many studies on Marzano's nine strategies for enhancing student achievement. Now, let's take it a step farther and look at integrating technology with Marzano's instructional strategies. http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008/index.htm includes specific examples of technology tools that correlate with each strategy. I think you will be amazed at everything this site has to offer!

Animoto

Animoto is an incredible way to change your flip videos and still pictures from boring to amazing in minutes! How does it work? Select your pictures or video, choose your own music or music from their site and voila! Animoto automatically puts the entire video together for you, including fun animations. Students can quickly and easily create videos relating to vocabulary words and much more! See an example at http://animoto.com/

Halloween Hollow

Halloween is just around the corner and Halloween Hollow contains a collection of many activities to get you in the spirit! There are word searches, crossword puzzles and tic-tac-toe. Students can even carve a virtual pumpkin to practice those computer skills! Need more ideas? Check out the links for lesson plan ideas! http://www.vickiblackwell.com/halloween.html

Also, check out the Mystery Cube through Thinkfinity! http://www.thinkfinity.org/halloweenFeature.aspx

Tar Heel Reader

Tar Heel Reader contains a collection of books for beginning readers of all ages. Books can be read-aloud to students and they can even create their own books with text and pictures. Check it out at http://tarheelreader.org/

Scribble Maps

Do you teach map skills? Scribble Maps allows you to draw on Google Maps and operates just like Google Earth! What makes Scribble Maps better? Students can use the pen tools to draw on the map and even add images. Imagine teaching the Explorers unit and having students illustrate the routes and add pictures of the Explorers!

KidRex

KidRex is a free alternative to Nettrekker! Students can use KidRex to perform safe Internet searches. This site was even designed by kids! Sites are filtered through Google SafeSearch and maintained by KidRex to keep students safe. Give it a try at http://www.kidrex.org/

e-Learning

e-Learning for kids has great courses in Math, Language Arts, Science, Computer Skills, Health and Life Skills, and English Language. The games are fun, interactive and self-checking for students. Below is a suggestion of at least one course for your grade level!

PK/K - Learning Letters
1 - States of Matter
2 - Magic Math Market
3 - Prefix/Suffix
4 - Lunar Cycle
5 - Exploring Fossils

Check out the site for more! http://www.e-learningforkids.org/courses.html

Atomic Learning

Atomic Learning is screen movie software that offers training tutorials on all major technology applications. Want to learn more about SMARTBoard or Movie Maker? Just type it in the search engine and you will instantly have TONS of videos that demonstrate step-by-step instructions.

http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/home/

SMARTBoard Lessons

http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/smartboard.htm

Another great resource with TONS of pre-made SMARTBoard lessons!

Story Starters

Scholastic is always full of great ideas! Students will quickly be engaged and excited to write with the Story Starters slot machine. The topics are also broken down by grade level!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/storystarters/storystarter1.htm

Award Maker

Award maker is a fun, easy way to recognize your students for all their hard work! There are tons of educational templates that simply require typing in a student's name and printing! http://www.myawardmaker.com/templates/education.html

Website Links for Kids

Today's tip is coming from Valley View Elementary! There are several great resources that can be found on this website. The site is organized by grade level and covers many different content areas.

http://vves.rocklin.k12.ca.us/kidlinks.htm

Write Rhymes

Write rhymes is a great site to use for the creation of poetry. Need ideas for words that rhyme with your sentence? Simply click on the word and a list of rhyming words is provided! Creating poetry has never been so easy!

http://www.writerhymes.com/

Word Sift

If you like Wordle, you are going to love WordSift! WordSift works the same way as Wordle and creates a word cloud displaying relative frequency by text size. The difference with WordSift is it also offers a Thesaurus and Dictionary feature! When you click on a word in the cloud, a word web is displayed with antonyms and synonyms. WordSift also includes a read aloud and multiple language feature! Check out more at www. wordsift.com

Skillswise

BBC offers many great educational sites! http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/ will take you to a compilation of elementary math sites to use in the classroom!

Math-a-Rama

Houghton Mifflin offers a wonderful site with math activities for each SOL strand. The activities also provide instant feedback to the students and a score upon completion. Check it out at http://www.eduplace.com/kids/mw/

PowerPoint Games

Are you smarter than a 5th grader? I bet your students would love to play! Visit this site to find lots of fun games created in PowerPoint. Choose from Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, 20 Questions, and more! Download the games and modify the templates to fit your curriculum needs. http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/PPT-games/

Do you have other games to share? Please let us know by posting to the blog!

Skype

Many of you have asked for a list of people currently using Skype. How about a list including classrooms from all over the world? This website has everything you need to establish global connectivity in your classroom. You can add your classroom to the directory and begin searching for another classroom to talk with your students. The site also includes ideas for using Skype!

http://skypeinschools.pbwiki.com/

Visit http://voipcallrecording.com/ for a free download that will allow you to record your Skype conversations!

TimeToast

TimeToast is a great site for creating timelines! Students can add pictures and descriptions to the timeline. Best of all, students can save their work and collaborate on the same timeline! Create your account at http://www.timetoast.com/

Kidspiration/Inspiration

Do you like using Kidspiration or Inspiration? Wouldn't you love to have tons of lessons that are already created for you? Join the Inspired Learning Community to find lessons that are created by educators. Use the search tool on the right to find exactly what you need!

http://www.inspiredlearningcommunity.com/lessons-and-ideas

Letter Generator

Writing a friendly letter can be a difficult task for students. Letter Generator is a fun website that outlines the parts of a friendly letter and walks students through each step in creating a letter!

http://readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/

Fridge Magnet

If your students complete making words or word study activities in your classroom, then this tip is perfect for you! Look in the gallery in Smart Notebook for this interactive tool that allows students to make words with fridge magnets. Even if you don't have a SmartBoard, you can still use this activity on the computer. Just type in the word "fridge" in the gallery and you are ready to go!

SMART Lessons

Are you looking for some great SmartBoard lessons to use in your classroom? Need an easy way to find lessons applicable to your content? Try browsing by the exact SOL you are looking for! This site will provide you with TONS of great activities based on the specific SOL.

http://www.education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/Find+Curriculum+Standards.htm

Time for Time

Do you have difficulty getting the hands on your clock to show the hour and minute exactly? This site allows you to create a worksheet with clocks to print and use for assessment. This site is teacher friendly and extremely easy to use. Simply type in the time and choose analog or digital clocks. http://www.time-for-time.com/worksheets.htm

http://www.time-for-time.com/swf/myclox.swf This site displays a large clock that is great to use for whole group instruction with the SmartBoard.

Hallmark Smilebox

Smilebox is a free download from Hallmark that allows you to create electronic scrap books. The templates are already created, you just have to add your pictures. There are tons of templates to choose from, including school, theater, photo journal, my class, book club, making the grade, autobiography and more. This would be a neat way for your students to put together a class project! Check it out at http://www.smilebox.com/?partner=commissionjunction.

Search Engines for Kids!

This site contains a great list of search engines for kids to use! The search engines are even broken down by science, images, biographies, history, authors, and more! Consider using one of these next time you want your students to complete online research.

http://www.tekmom.com/search/index.html

BINGO

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Do you need a fast and easy way to create a BINGO card? Check out this site! Just type in the words or numbers you want to appear on the card and add your free space. You can even press the shuffle button to mix up the card and make them different!

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/bingo/5/

Easy Test Maker

Check out www.easytestmaker.com! This is a great site that makes creating your tests fast and easy! You simply type in your test questions and the format is created for you. You can choose from multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, matching, or true false questions. You can even print an answer key to go with your test. Register for your free account and get started today!

Newspaper Clipping Generator

Instead of writing a paper, make learning engaging and have your students create a newspaper article! Students can create their own newspaper title and title of the article. Simply type in the story you want for the newspaper and click generate. Students can then print or save their newspaper. Visit http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp to get started!

Wordle

Wordle is a fun tool that allows students to create a word cloud. Words that are used the most within a writing appear the largest on the screen. This is an easy tool for students to edit their own writing and eliminate words that are used repeatedly. Students can simply cut and paste their writing into wordle and a word cloud is created with the click of a button. Visit www.wordle.net to give it a try!