Prepping for that Spring Online Assessment

Edcite Interactive Digital Practice

Edcite allows teachers to create a variety of online assignments that mirror the style of the new computer-based assessments. There are many ready-to-use assignments, or teachers can create their own. Many of the questions are instantly graded as students complete them.

Customizable, assignable, free for teachers. Click here to find out more and sign up.

Make Your Chrome Experience Platinum

Tips on Google Chrome Extensions

Several teachers at PlaydateLA came up with a few great Google Chrome extensions. Here are a few that caught my attention:

• EdPuzzle: Add your own questions to videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and other video sources to provide accountability, tie in with lessons, and spark interest. Click here for more info.
• DFYouTube: "Distraction free" YouTube pages... this extension hides the distracting playlist on the right side of a YouTube page. Pretty clever! Click here to see and download.
• ScreenCastify: Record up to 10 minutes of your computer screen with your narration, and save to your Google Drive. Nice! You can use a webcam feed with your smiling face as well. Click here for details.
• ProjectNAPTHA: Need to grab some text from a webpage? Many times you're denied, especially if it's in an image. ProjectNAPTHA works to pull text from just about any image onscreen, allowing you to copy and paste it elsewhere. More info is here.

All of these extensions and more can be added from the Google Web Store; all listed above are free.

Your Classroom Library Just Blew out the Walls

Epic! Free access to books from major publishers

Looking for a library that's open 24/7, with no late returns? Take a close look at Epic!, a free app that provides access to thousands of books which is now available to all U.S. and Canada-based elementary school teachers and librarians.

Thanks to Helen Mui and Nancy Delgadillo for turning us onto this one at PlaydateLA 2015! And yes, it's free! Click here to find out more.

*Here's a tip I found handy: I had parents download Epic to their iDevices, send them to class, and I tied in our classroom account for students at home.

In the Mode to Code

Working that brain with Code.org

Code.org is a series of lessons and activities on programming and coding, aimed at students as young as first grade. Teachers can sign up classes and monitor students' progress. The first step is completing the Hour of Code. 

Yes, it's free! Click here to sign your class up for Code.org.

The Perks of Tweeting a Wallflower

TodaysMeet allows questions and comments on the side

I had a dear GATE student who constantly had wonderful sparks of brilliance which amused him greatly. Of course, he wanted to share them with the class... and share... and share... and share. I wish I had known about TodaysMeet.com!

TodaysMeet allows students to make comments and ask questions on a specific web page. As a teacher, you can monitor the page and answer questions (aloud or online) and share comments as you feel appropriate. Alternately, another student can monitor for you, and share questions and comments with you or, depending on their skills, answer for you.

It can also be a great resource for ESL students, giving them a voice without worrying about their spelling or grammar. And much like the mythical Powdermilk Biscuits, it gives shy students the strength to get up and do what needs to be done (wink).

Your web page can be up for an hour, a day, a week, or longer. If you have access to a few devices for your class or your students BYOD, consider using TodaysMeet to cut down on distractions!

Click here to visit the site and sign up. Did I mention it's free?

Engaging Your Class in Writing... Competitively

BoomWriter, where your students write the story

Another one from Kristen... Students read the first chapter of a story, and everyone in the class writes the second. Writing is posted anonymously, and everyone votes on the best writeup. The story continues with the following chapters.

There are 3 ways to use the site:

• StoryWriter: students develop their understanding of key literary elements through their own writing;
• ProjectWriter: ideal for dissecting whole units of study into smaller sections, letting students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and terms being taught. 
• Word Writer: "an interactive and easy-to-deliver vocabulary development application."

It's a free service, with the hopes that your students will love the stories so much, their parents will purchase a bound copy. Click here for the site.

Reading for Content, Up-to-date News

TweenTribune, another great non-fiction reading source

This one's courtesy of Kristen Call from De Portola Elementary. She uses it to encourage her class to keep up with news and improve their reading skills.

CommonSense Media rates TweenTribune 4/5 stars, and 4/5 for learning. From their site:

"Parents need to know that the mission of TWEENTRIBUNE is to get young readers to follow the news. There are age-appropriate sections for kids, tweens, and teens. The content runs the gamut from educational to fluffy, with substantial coverage of celebrities and brands. Comments are moderated.

"Twenty lesson plans, based on the Common Core Standards, are available. The site also offers tips on teaching kids argumentative reasoning, conversational, and other skills."

There are different subsections for K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 graders, as well as a Spanish section (a great ay for your high schooler to practice reading Spanish). This is a free service to teachers. Sign up your class here.

Skype with Other Classrooms

MysterySkype: learn about geography and other communities... and cultures!

Skype's a great way to videoconference with friends and family. Did you know it can be used to teach geography and inquiry skills? MysterySkype makes that happen with connected teachers agreeing to Skype and encourage students to guess where the other classroom's located.

From the site:

"Mystery Skype is an educational game, invented by teachers, played by two classrooms on Skype. The aim of the game is to guess the location of the other classroom by asking each other questions."

There's an app to help take notes, and curriculum to prep the classes for the sessions. Both are free. I'm looking forward to trying it out this fall!

Click here for more info. Click here to see it in action.

Quick Classroom Signs

ReciteThis Signs

Here's a one trick pony for creating signs to motivate, inspire, or remind your students... it's called ReciteThis. Type your message, choose a style, and download. Print and display. They look great with a slightly larger piece of construction paper as a border, then laminated for long-term use.

I've posted a few in class as well as in the hallway. Here are a couple of samples below. Try it out here.

                

Funding Those "I Wish"-es

DonorsChoose Grant Website

With the way state and District funding for schools has gone, it's been really tough to make the instructional day go beyond the basics and test prep. In many cases, art, field trips, extra technology in the classroom, and other dreams have to be funded out of the teacher's pocket. Statistics show that many teachers spend upwards of $2000 a year of their own money.

Enter DonorsChoose... a charitable website set up by a teacher to help make funding dreams come true. Decide on what you need (supplies, technology, money for a field trip), write it up, push the need on social media, and write up the thank yous.

I've been able have 14 iPad Minis, 2 laser printers, toner for the printers, an Apple TV funded through DC. It works,

Be sure to peruse the DC YouTube channel for specifics on their history and ideas on sharing your request... click here.

Click here to see slides from a presentation on DonorsChoose. For specific notes with hints on successfully writing your first DC grant, click here.

To visit the DC website and get started, click here.

Today's News Teaches Reading

NewsELA, reading skills tied in with up-to-date news

Wouldn't it be great to change an article's reading level with a click of a mouse? NewsELA takes today's news, rewrites it to match a variety of exile levels, and allows you to assign articles to your class. Some include quizzes to check for understanding.

If you go Pro, NewsELA will keep track of student data against Common Core standards.

There are 2 levels of NewsELA, basic (newsela.com) and elementary (e.newsela.com). Choose the one that works for you.

Click here to get started with NewsELA, or here to get started with NewsELA Elementary.

How to Spell Success

Vocabulary/Spelling City

Here's a great website for practicing those basics: spelling and vocabulary. There are some premium features available with a subscription, but are not necessary to get those basic requirements down.

I've used to this site for several years as an opportunity for students to practice their weekly spelling tests, and have saved the same spelling lists to reuse. As a teacher, you decide which lists show up on your web page, turning them on and off as needed.

It also comes in handy if students miss a spelling test at the end of the week. The tests are read allowed by the computer, and are fairly accurate in pronunciation 95% of the time. Simply print the results for students to take home and get signed, just like a regularly dictated test.

Click here to get started!

Catch up on Those AR Points

Storyline Online

Ever wanted a story read to you by a famous actor? Storyline Online is a website with lots of videos of simple books read aloud by famous (past and present) actors. It's a great way to get your reluctant readers caught up on those AR points at the beginning of the year, or to help your ELD students get a better grip on English.

I recommend turning on closed captioning, and having students watch 2 of them at home each night, twice, then coming in early to take an AR quiz on the classroom computer or iPad app.

Oh, some more great news... the website now runs on iPads... it no longer requires Flash!

Click here to visit the site. No signups needed, and it's free.

Get your Monster Reading!

Teach Your Monster to Read

If you have struggling readers or ELD learners, Teach Your Monster to Read is a great site for getting down the basics.

Sign up your class with a few of your struggling students. They get to create their own monster avatar, and proceed to "teach it" basic phonics. The game adjusts as the student/monster progresses.

For more info and to sign up, click here.

Easy Home Communication, with a click

ClassDojo Messaging

One of the many bowling pins we teachers are constantly jugging is home-to-school-to-home communication: passing on timely info to all parents, just a few, or just 1. Returned phone calls and emails from parents, more often than not, are delayed, ignored (intentionally or unintentionally), or never make it to their intended recipient.

I tried out ClassDojo last fall, switching from a fairly straightforward messaging app called Remind 101 (now just Remind). It worked fine, but ClassDojo allowed the students to create their own avatars and check their points online. I could reward (or demerit) on the fly, in class, at PE, on the playground.

I'd start the day with ClassDojo attendance, and award a point right away for copying down homework. If parents have downloaded the app to their phone, they're notified right away (if they choose). It helped keep the communication open.

Points can be reset anytime you want; I usually waited until the end of the trimester, and provided first-choice privileges for treats for the higher points students. All got treats at the end.

One of our special day teachers is also using it to communicate with parents.

Click here for details on ClassDojo.

A Digital Portfolio that Couldn't be Easier to Set Up

Seesaw Online Portfolios

If you've been teaching long enough, you remember the big push for portfolios, first on paper (with gigantic accordion folders to follow students every year), then online. The hue and cry has died down, but the digital portion is now an easy solution with a website and app called Seesaw.

The teacher sets up the class and students' first names. A simple handout for each student with a QR code for parents to access their child's work goes home. Parents download the app for their iPhone or Android, and have instant access to the portfolio.

A quick scan of a QR code in the classroom sets up an iPad, and students get to work, taking photos or videos of classroom assignments. They can add text or audio commentary as well.

Since it's easy to use, this is a great app for K-6, and very handy if you're a 1 iPad classroom.

Find our more by clicking here.

Front Row Math... and a Pink Pig!

Front Row Ed Differentiated Learning

Common Core aligned questions and clean graphics make Front Row Math a good choice for your precious computer lab time. Another benefit is each question has a button to read aloud the question and answer choices, which is very helpful for your special needs and ELD students.

There's a high-interest feature thrown in... as they answer questions, students earn virtual coins to buy items to dress up a cartoon pig. I couldn't believe it, but my students love that simple little feature!

Check out front row by clicking here.

Focus their Skill Development with Matific

Matific Math

One of our district TOSAs (teacher on special assignment), Ryan Rexer, turned me on to Matific. It's a K-6 math practice site that you customize to fit specific lessons you want to cover. By default, all math games are turned off, and you choose which ones to make available to your class. This makes it very handy to practice certain skills after a lesson or before a benchmark test.

This is another free, high-interest website that hope students will enjoy it enough to continue at home with parents purchasing more access. The caveat for you as the teacher is that you need to be logged in for students to use the program. This isn't true, at the moment, for the Matific iPad app. Students continued to use it without restriction at home.

Click here for more info and to sign up for Matific.

Master more Skills with MobyMax

MobyMax, for Math and ELA Skills

MobyMax is another way to make good use of computer lab or iPad/tablet time. Students are given short placement tests to determine where they need to beef up their Math/ELA skills.

The graphics are clean and simple.
Teachers may also print up worksheets developed for each student based on their particular deficits. Emailing progress reports are another feature of this free program.

Click here to get started on MobyMax. Be sure to watch the intro video by clicking on the Play button near the top.

Give up Recess for Math? It Happened!

Prodigy Math

I never thought I would see the day that students would want to give up morning or lunch recess to work on math problems… but it happened this spring, once I signed up my students to a website called Prodigy Math.

As the teacher, you set up your class by grade level, and assign the curriculum. In my case, I used common core as the basis for the questions my students needed to answer.

Prodigy uses a Japanese anime-styled series of characters and game-based questions with a character your students customize and compete against other online characters to earn coins. These coins allow them to upgrade their skills, and add pets to their lineup.

Again, students loved this program. Be ready to spend part of your lunch in the classroom while kids work on Prodigy!

Prodigy is free, but is slightly limited in the "powers" students can use. They may upgrade at home for a nominal fee ($8.95/mo), but is NOT necessary to work on those common core skills.

Click here to learn more and sign up.

A Typing Website they'll Beg to Use

TypingClub

We just got turned onto this website recently, so I was just able to use it for a couple of months with my fourth-graders. It's very simple, web based, yet the graphics are interesting enough to keep your students' attention.

The part that caught my class' attention the most was the top 10 List of typists in class... Students were working hard to either make the top 10, or bump their way up higher in the top 10 list.

There are a variety of reports you can print, and you may sign quizzes and print up worksheets for students. What's not to love?

You can set up your entire school for free by clicking here.

Get your Kids Writing... with KidBlog

KidBlog writing

I've used KidBlog for several years now. It's a great way for your students to post their writing, share with their parents in a secure way, and develop both writing skills and manners. How can you accomplish all of those things at one site? Here are the benefits of KidBlog:

• Your blog site is password protected for your entire class. Parents can log in and view all posts using one single password.
• Students can write as little or as much as they would like. They can keep it simple, or change color, font size, and edit any way they would like after.
• Students may comment on each others writing assignments. You may choose, as the teacher, to preview the comments before they are posted. (I'd recommend that option... kids can be catty without realizing it.)
• Writers can easily brighten up their writing with images from the web, or illustrations they've done, which you can upload either through taking a photo or scanning in class.
• KidBlog was free. It's now charging a reasonable fee ($30/year).

Click here to sign up. Want to see my class' site? Email me and I'll share the info with you.