Can you make a Google Sheet? You can use Flippity!

Give Flippity a Google sheet, and watch what happens

Someone had waaaaay too much time on their hands and went to town creating all kinds of cool things to use in the classroom from a simple Google sheet: a word search, timeline, crossword puzzle, random name picker, and oh so many more. The only thing I can tell you is to go see it to believe it: click here!

ReadWorks for Free High-interest Reading and Assessments

Get Students to Read More--and Read more Carefully--with ReadWorks

If you're looking for more ways to diversify your class' reading choices and include some accountability, look into ReadWorks. They offer over 5,000+ nonfiction articles to choose from for quizzes, and my favorite, Articles-a-Day. You assign groups of articles based on grade level or reading expertise and students write a summary. You can assign 1 student, a group, or your entire class.

Find out more here.

Fractions Blocked Out... in a Good Way

Fog Stone Isle: Fractions with Blocks

From the site: "In FogStone Isle, students design their own virtual worlds through highly engaging and challenging math games.
"Neuroscience, pedagogy, and game-design are brought together to aid students in solving complex math problems adapted to their learning level.
"FogStone Isle supports 4th through 8th grade students in gaining conceptual understanding."

It's a little early in the year for my 4th graders to try it out, but I'll post an update here once I do... it's hard to beat free! Click here to visit the site, or here to view an introductory video.

No More AR for You? Here's an Alternative

Whooo's Reading Helps Fill the Gap for Book Reports

Renaissance just doubled the costs for Accelerated Reader. If your school struggles financially and had to cut AR loose, you've lost a handy tool to keep students reading for comprehension. Consider signing up with Whooo's Reading, an alternative for book reports and quizzes.

Whooo's Reading is a higher-level thinking alternative to multiple choice. Get your students writing about what they read. Hold your students accountable with higher-level thinking quizzes. Check it out by clicking here. Want to see a quick intro video? Click here. Ready to dive in? Here's a 30 min. get started video.

Internet Skills for Students... with Interland

Polish those Internet Skills with Interland

Looking for a highly interactive way to introduce your students to digital citizenship? Check out Google's Interland. It's an immersive RPG (role playing game) where the user learns those basic Internet skills: avoiding being hacked, staying away from phishing schemes (drawing someone in to share sensitive info), not sharing too much personal info (yours or others), and how to handle cyberbullies.

To gain experience in those skills, players explore four floating islands: Kind Kingdom, Reality River, Mindful Mountain, and Tower of Treasure. No account is needed, and students can play at home or school. It's free! Here's a teacher walkthrough to see the basics. Ready to get your class going? Click here to go directly to the game.