Please re-follow!

Hello!  I am posting on this blog site just to remind all my followers and readers that I have changed my blog address.  You will not be getting any of the new posts if you are checking this blog, so head on over to the new site: http://thepenguinsslide.blogspot.com/ to get my newest posts about technology and web 2.0 in the classroom.  But don't wory because all the old content was moved over as well!  So, change those bookmarks and re-follow the new Penguins' Slide to keep in touch!

Ch-ch-ch changes

Hello all!  It's a new school year today!  How exciting! I am posting to day to let you know of a little re-direct because of the fact that I changed my last name and therefore changed the name of my blog!  Everything from the past will be at the new site and it will look just the same as this one.  The only difference would be the name of the URL.  So, you may have to re-bookmark it and re-follow it if you are an existing follower.  Sorry for the hassle and I promise that this is a one-time deal!

The new URL is http://thepenguinsslide.blogspot.com/

Happy reading!

Happy Summer!

Well, what a year it has been!  I have learned a lot by keeping this blog, and I hope that you all can say that you learned something by reading it.  I am wrapping things up for this year because next week is jam-packed with training and because I've been busy this week, I doubt I'll have any time to post!

I will be back at posting come September, and I am anticipating an address change for the blog since I will be taking a new last name! Either way, check back here (http://ambergooshaw.blogspot.com) and I will steer you towards where you need to be. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!

6/18/10 1679

Admongo

Last week, I found out about today's post through one of the blogs I follow; Kristin Swanson's blog Teacher's as Technology Trailblazers.  The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) funds a site called Admongo.This site was established to help educate kids about the true meaning behind advertisements.  In our age of text messaging, web surfing, and more, kids are even more susceptible to advertising than ever.  So, we should take the opportunity to educate our children about the typically misleading nature of advertisements before they go clicking on any pretty, well-placed ad.

Admongo lets students play through advancing levels of a fun video game to learn about ads and what they are all about.   What I really like about this site is that it also offers a text-version of the game for teachers who may not have time for students to play through the video version.  While playing or following along, students can learn how to spot an ad, parts of an ad, hidden messages ad's want you to believe, types of ads, how designers target with ads, placement, platforms, and more.  I would say this would best be used with 5-8 grade students.

The site doesn't condmen advertising...relentless process though it may be......it just allows an opportunity for students to see the behind-the-scenes world of advertising and have some knowledge so as not to be sucked in so easily.

What's in the Windosill?

Windosill is a funky website that is meant for fun.  Have your students explore the site to find out what's in the dark!  Light up the room to see if your guesses were right!  Make sure your speakers are on so you can hear the sounds!

Honestly, Windosill is kind of hard to explain, so check it out to see for yourself!

Make beautiful music in your classroom with a virtual keyboard!

Want a piano in your classroom without taking up all the space?  Check out this virtual keyboard!  Ok, so maybe it's not the same as a baby grand, but you can still have fun with it and it works great on an interactive white board!  Enjoy!

Parts of Speech Fun

For a fun way to practice parts of speech as well as keep things interesting as the school year comes to a close, try out Wacky Web Tales!  For all intents and purposes, Wacky Web Tales is a spin-off of the Mad Libs games.  Have students pick a story to fill in and then fill out the form with the corresponding parts of speech.  Get stuck because you can't remember what an adjective is?  Simply click on the Parts of Speech Help box and be reminded!  Once the form is filled out, click to read your funny story!

This can present well at the SMART Board if you don't mind using the on screen keyboard.  Or, have students work in pairs to make funny stories to share with the class!  Have a blast!

Kerpoof!

Kerpoof is a site hosted by Disney that is a great place for young students to be make pictures, write stories, practice spelling, and generally get creative!  Here's a list of what students can do on Kerpoof, straight from the website itself:

• Make artwork (even if you aren't good at drawing!)
• Make an animated movie (really! it's easy!)
• Earn Koins which you can trade for fun things in the Kerpoof Store
• Make a printed card, t-shirt, or mug
• Tell a story
• Make a drawing
• Vote on the movies, stories, and drawings that other people have made 

 

 See what your students think!

No Words.

I cannot even describe the atrocity of this....

Want to keep your students up on current events?  See below and maybe one of them will become the person we need to make sure this never happens again.

BP Oil Spill Live feed: click here.

SAT Prep

The last day to take the SAT for this school year is almost here....June 5th.  It's too late to register now, but I thought I'd share a pretty neat prep site that I found.  Major Tests.com has some nice practice exams that when taken, offer good explanations for why an answer is wrong.  The site also has section to prepare for the GRE's and GMAT's.

Memorial Day

Getting ready for Memorial Day?  Here are some resources to help your classes (K-12) honor the day of remembrance for our Armed Forces.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM!!!!

-A general list of resources including worksheets craft ideas and more: The Teacher's Corner - Memorial Day

• Some of my favorites from the previously mentioned list:
• Web Hunt 
• Hand Print Flag Craft Idea 
• Lesson Idea for Our State's Roll in Vietnam
• Vietnam Vets Memorial - Online

-Thinkfinity is also highlighting some specific resources in honor or Memorial Day.  Check them out here.

• Really neat interactive from the Thinkfinity resources: 
• explore a virtual museum of war artifacts

Internet Safety for Elementary Children

 I just wanted to branch off of yesterday's post with a spin of the same type of content for younger students.  The Professor Garfield Foundation, sponsored by the Virginia DOE (but still applicable here in NY!) has a wonderful website with lessons about internet safety.  Each lesson has a video segment to watch, a review game to play, and an application practice section.  Check it out and use it with any elementary students who use the Internet!

UPDATE!

I just found out that Brain Pop Jr. offeres a free video on Internet Safety.  Annie and Moby also do a great job of explaining how to be safe on the Internet.

Internet Safety with NS Teens

Social interaction is changing!  Hopefully, this isn't news to you, but it has become a way of life for today's tweens and teens to have an online profile.  Be it Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or another social site, kids are posting pictures, making comments, playing games, and interacting online.  Sometimes, this can lead to inappropriate behavior, bullying, or other negative outcomes.


School curriculums are also in the process of changing to include instruction about internet safety so our kids know the effects of their online activities.  Whether it's protecting their identity, or knowing about cyberbullying, teens need us as educators to fill them in about safe practices while using the Internet.


So, I want to share with you a neat resource I found designed specifically for teens and tweens.  NS Teens (NS standing for Net Smartz) is an online collection of quick videos meant to educate students about different topics of internet safety.  The characters are animated teenage students, interfaced with interviews from real life teenagers.  I highly recommend the one about cyberbullying because it seems like harrassing text messages, comments and emails has become a big problem as of late....which you find out in the video can lead to police involvement, just like regular harassment.


So, please take the time to jump on teachable moments about internet safety.  Hopefully, this site can help!




NOTE: Also, go to NetSmartz.org to find resources for elementary kids, educators, parents, and law enforcement officers.

National Geographic Provides Beautiful Pictures, Video, and More

National Geographic has a fantastic site where you can access pictures, videos, games and more.  There is so much to do on the site, I could literally go on forever.  But, here are some of my favorite features:


Daily News:

Stay on top of what's going on in our world with stories detailing new discoveries, fantastic locations, and much more.

Photo of the Day:

Browse through amazing pictures of animals, people and places.  See a new one every day and browse through past pictures and favorite picks.


Create puzzles from pictures:

Choose from a wide variety of pictures to make into jigsaw puzzles. This works great on an interactive white board!


Videos:

Watch videos on current events, animals, or world cultures. (I am SO jealous of the guy in this video!!)





NOTE: I was lead to this site by using Thinkfinity! (The site I highlighted yesterday!)

Thinkfinity Has THOUSANDS of FREE Resources!

Thinkfinity is a site hosted by Verizon that is a portal for teachers to find free interactive resources and lesson plans.  It is easy to get overwhelmed by Thinkfinity and all that it has to offer, but just use the search tool to find lessons and interactives based on any one of; grade level, standards, resource type, subject, or site sponsor/partner.

Some examples of interactives I have found include poetry writing, the history of blues music, fractions illustrated, practicing area of different shapes, and many many more.  The site also has a highlights feature on the home page that focuses on certain topics each month.

I strongly encourage you to explore Thinkfinity to see what resources you can use in your classroom!

Grabba Beast, hilarious avatars or writing prompts

Another great site for building avatars is Grabba Beast.  Here, students can design a wacky beast that can be colored however they want.  I have also seen suggestions for this site to be used as a writing prompt, in that students can give their beast a story, or practice descriptive writing by going into details about the textures, behaviors, or smells of the beast they created.  Have fun!

Meet Sven, the kung-fu viking monster:

Manga Avatars

Another cool avatar site is Face Your Manga.  Manga is the term used to describe the drawing technique you see in a majority if Japanese animated series.  Using Face Your Manga, students can create a manga version of themselves to look like a character in their favorite TV show.

NOTE: This site definitely requires supervision.  I am very disappointed to say that despite the educational uses of this site, there is inappropriate content on it.  When designing your avatar, in the Stuff then Gadgets category, there is an option to illustrate your avatar displaying an inappropriate hand signal or holding a lit cigarette.  Also, in the Clothing category, there are some quite revealing clothing items. 

It is disappointing that this content is on the site because I imagine students thinking that this avatar site is more interesting than others.  But, with proper supervision, I think it would still be possible to use.  Either way, at least you all know about it now!

Here's mine:

SMART is hosting a contest!

 Want this?  --->

Win by submitting a SMART Notebook Lesson!  Submit by May 31st!

Go here for details!

I know there are teachers who check this blog that definitely have a great chance to win!  All you have to do is submit a lesson that was created in SMART Notebook.   

The lesson activity must be:

• at least 5 pages in length
• Original
• Creative
• Visually appealing
• Easy for teachers
  to use and adapt
• Interactive

How sweet it is! M&M students!

Well, I thought that it may as well be avatar week.  There are so many neat avatar building sites out there, I might as well share some of my favorites with you.  Today's site can be used to transform your students into M&M versions of themselves.  Visit Become an M to....become an M&M!  Just create an account and start making your candy self!

Here's mine:

Mini-mize your students!

Making avatars has become an important part of using the internet.  Avatars are a safe way to show a likeness (or not-so-"like"ness) of yourself without showing your true identity.  They are also really fun to make and can even be used in the classroom!

Mini-Mizer is a neat site where students can create a Lego version of themselves. You can have your students create a Lego avatar and then save it in a screen shot .  You can use the avatars in your SMART Notebook files, PowerPoints, or in your blogs and wiki's.  Here's mine!

Just a note....one of the props available (for whatever reason, who knows??) is a lit cigarette.  I just want to give a heads up because you may want to preface using this site with a mini-lesson on what is and is not appropriate for school, and maybe even how smoking is bad....even for Legos! Shame on them!  Despite this, the site is great for students! Enjoy!

Cinco de Mayo! Learn more about Hispanic Culture!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Vivo Mèxico! What a great day to take an opportunity to learn about Mexican heritage and culture!  I have compiled a few resources for you to explore on this dìa de celebraciòn!

Scholastic provides a nice learning experience, Celebrate Hispanic Heritage, where students can explore Hispanic history in the Americas, learn about famous Latinos, practice some Spanish vocabulary, and more.

Why not send some virtual greeting cards for Cinco de Mayo?  123Greetings has a special section of free and fun virtual greeting cards that students can send through email.

Finally, if your district has a subscription to BrainPop, check out the Latin Music video.  Learn about different types of music various artists, & origins.  Also BrainPop Jr. offers a free video (no log in required) about Mexico.  Annie and Moby discuss geography, history, culture, and the reason we celebrate cinco de mayo.

Note: If you are unsure if your district has BrainPop and you are in the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES district, email me and I can help you log in or find out about purchasing!

Get Your 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders Into Engineering!

Today's post is a really cool science interactive site that I found out about through the blog SMART Board Goodies by Amber Coggin.  (Thank you, Amber, for all your wonderful posts!)

Engineering Interact is a website for 9-11 year olds that has several playable scenarios for students to learn about the different aspects of engineering.  Each concept comes with a different story for the student to play through.  Students play as investigators hired to work through the clues of various mysteries, ranging from underwater drama to outer space foul play!

Just a note....the site was designed and is hosted in the UK, so some terms may be changed to an unfamiliar name, such as "flashlight" = "torch".  But, this may end up being an interesting "teachable moment" for your class!

What IS red?

Today's site is dedicated to what colors mean to us and around the world.  Color in Motion lets you explore the six basic colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.  Explore the meaning of each color, what it symbolizes, what it means in different cultures, and much more.  You can even watch as each color gets to star in it's own movie, displaying all the traits that it represents.

 This site is a lot of fun and I think it could apply to any student, K-12.  You can use it to review the colors with early education students, or use it to delve into the deeper meaning of colors in literature, science, or history.  Not to mention the fact that it's perfect for any art teacher! Enjoy!

It's elemental, dear Watson.

Hello!  Sorry for my absence the past two days!  Busy busy!

Today's site is actually a download for all you chem teachers out there.  It's a program called pElement that is a fantastic tool for exploring, learning, or reviewing the periodic table of elements.  Once you have it downloaded, you can click on each element and learn physical, chemical, nuclear, general, electron, and crystal structure information.  You can also choose to color code the table as a whole to show the class, isotope, and state patterns.  It's really neat!

To download pElement (which is FREE) go here and click on the text that says download pElement, NOT the flashy button that says download now.  Then, run the program and you're all set!

Xtranormal is xtra awesome

Good Monday morning.....

If you need a little pep for the beginning of your work week, I suggest you check out Xtranormal.  Xtranormal is a site where you can create your own mini movies using pre-made 3D characters and sets.  When creating a movie, you can control camera angles, actor expressions and movements, and background sounds and music.  Have your students re-create a scene from history or a book they just read.  You can sign up for a free account and have your students work from that to save their work and progress OR you can download the desktop software called State.

Here's one I made in about 5 minutes:




Here's one featured on the site:

Go crazy! Have fun! Create!

Crayola for Educators

Need some creative ideas?  Check out Crayola Online for Educators.  Here, you can find searchable lesson plans, activity ideas, inspiration for art techniques, and even a cute certificate maker!  Just create a free account (don't forget to uncheck the box for receiving emails if you don't want to get them!) and you're all set to go!

Happy Earth Day!

Looking to celebrate the planet with your class?  Here's a great little collection of Earth Day activities, lesson ideas, printouts, and crafts from Picadome Elementary in Kentucky.

Please peruse to pass on pertinent propaganda to pupils so our planet persists purely!

 ...Sorry, I was feeling like an alliteration was necessary today. :)

Look, Ma! I'm on a Gondola in Venice!

Actually, what you're looking at is a screen shot from a panoramic "virtual tour" from the website, Arounder.

Using Arounder, you can dive into any one of  a great selection of cities in Europe, North America, South America, and even one tour on the Moon!  Once you have found the city and view that you want to explore, enter full screen mode to really feel like you are standing outside the Louvre, or on top of the Duomo Cathedral in Milan.  It's amazing and presents wonderfully on a SMART Board!

Thanks to Tom Place for featuring this on his blog The Giga Bite.

Get Ready for Earth Day by Calculating Your Footprint

I have a few sites for you to use with your students to get ready for Earth Day and calculate your ecological footprint.  

The first is My Footprint.Org.  By answering about 30 questions in the quiz, you are provided with, at least in my case, chilling results pertaining to your use of the Earth's resources.  Watch as you input or change answers how the results change.  Good for realizing the actions that cause the most damage or good. You are then able to compare your data with the average of the country, view graphs of the results, and research methods for reducing your footprint.

The next one is more appropriate for the younger students.  Zero Footprint guides students through questions about energy usage, and trash, eating, and travel habits, then provides goals for them to try following at home.
Once all questions are answered, students can see how many Earths are needed to support their lifestyle.

Finally, the Earth Day Network has a quiz where you can answer similar question to the other two site, but here you have the option to have more control over your specific answers.  Using this site's quiz, you can save results, come back later, or even explore different scenarios to see how you can change your footprint.

Enjoy, and hopefully your students benefit by seeing that the way we live is not infinitely sustainable!