Brain Breaks

Here’s an informative article about why Brain Breaks are important for all learners. "Brain breaks allow the resting pathways to restore their calm focus and foster optimal mood, attention, and memory."

Using Brain Breaks to Restore Students’ Focus

Fixed vs Growth Mindset: How can we grow?

Slides Carnival offers some free Google Slides Templates here. Choose a category from the buttons along the top, choose a theme, and then the orange “use theme” button.  Stay away from those “green download” buttons. They are evil.

Wizer.me has several options for exit tickets. Although they refer to the activities as “worksheets”, they offer many engaging activities such as open response, multiple choice, label/draw an image, and matching.  If you use this tool, I would love to hear what you think!

Assigning short videos for students to view during small group or independent learning time is a great way to “flip” instruction. By sharing videos via Vizia or Edpuzzle, you can assess understanding of content in those videos.  

I love the idea of creating hyperdocs to guide students through content. They could work in collaborative groups as they take ownership of their learning. Go here for some templates .

Just for fun…cause we all need more fun in our lives. Check out Google’s Quick Draw.

Simply a Smorgasbord

Check out Wonderopolis.  Every day a new "Wonder of the Day" question is posted. Each question is designed to get students thinking and talking.  This would be a great warm-up activity.

Here’s a fun writing activity. Students can build a snowman using this Google Slides Template. Then they can write a story about their creation.

Discovery Education offers webinars and virtual field trips. Go here to check out their Calendar of Events.

Here are a few of the January offerings…

• MLK Jr. Day Virtual Viewing Party

• Inauguration Virtual Experience

• Get Moving: NFL PLAY 60 Challenge Virtual Field Trip

Florida Center for Technology has a useful technology integration matrix. There are sample lessons across varies levels of use.

Florida Center for Technology Integration Matrix

Simply a Smorgasbord

Seesaw has some great new features! Students can now add labels and there is a translation tool. The blog feature was released earlier in the year. It’s a great way to help students connect globally.

Getting Started Webinar

Be selective as you choose Chrome extensions and addons as they can slow device performance and reduce battery life. With that said, I’m loving the Note Anywhere Extension for Chrome. Add sticky notes on web pages.

Here’s an informative article and  video about Fake News by John Spencer. It’s so important for students (and adults) to be informed consumers of information.

Kubbu is a digital  formative assessment tool.

Discovery Education has a cryptogram builder that will get your students thinking.

Let Them Create! Give students an opportunity to create to show content mastery. They’ll take ownership of the material and retain the info longer if they can add their personal touches to it. And then... let them share their creations. Here are a few ideas.

Creating with Computers	Creating with iPads
Google Doc, Drawing, Slideshow	Storybird
Discovery Ed Board Builder	Seesaw
Kahoot	Book Creator
Comic Creators	Pic Collage
Video/iMovie	iMovie
Storybird	Educreations
Read Write Think	Chatterpix
Padlet	Paper Slideshow

Simply a Smorgasbord

John Spencer has created some video writing prompts.  You can give students choice when writing but also give support to those who struggle to come up with ideas.
I added the prompts to a slideshow. Share the slideshow with your students in Google Classroom by adding an assignment and choosing “make a copy for each student” or make QR codes for the YouTube videos and have students respond in Seesaw or another writing app.

If you find them helpful, give John a "thumbs up" and a positive comment. You can subscribe to John's YouTube Channel here.

Storybird is a fun, interactive digital tool that is great to use for creative assessment. Create a class and add your students. Here’s a review and here’s an amusing example.

iCivics is a website that offers games, activities, and lesson plans for teaching government and other civics topics.

No Nonsense Grammar- “Explore a range of commonly taught grammar principles for elementary and middle schoolers with these short, fun videos and activities.” ~From the website

Simply a Smorgasbord

ToonyTool allows students to create a storyboard. They can create a story, summarize, introduce a character,“show what they know” about a topic, etc. It’s a fun tool to get students engaged in writing.

The Google Suite Training Extension is a great tool for learning more about Google Apps. Once you install the extension, help for all Google Apps is just a click away.

Are you using ReadWorks to print reading passages? If your students have devices, you’ll love Digital Readworks. Create an account and students can join your class using a code.

Hour of Code week is December 5th-11th. Are you going to participate? Coding incorporates many skills and empowers students as they problem solve.  Here’s a blog post about coding.

Simply a Smorgasbord

WriteReader is a digital tool for making books. Teacher and student can collaborate on a book. Teachers can create a class and students login with a class code. This looks like a great tool to get students writing!

I really love this idea...“impossible to fail” quiz using Google Forms.  You can send students to resources based on the concepts they need additional practice with. Choose Your Own Adventure stories look interesting, too!

Quizlet Live is a fun way to introduce and review vocabulary terms. It gives students an opportunity to collaborate and communicate.

Consider using Educreations to have students demonstrate content mastery. There is an iPad app and a website. Get started here.

Your students can create flashcards, Quiz games, Mad Libs, and more at Flippity.

Great article here about student choice.  Research indicates a “positive relationship between student interest and academic success. The more engaged a student is in their schoolwork, the more motivated they are to learn and the more academically successful they become.” ~from the article

Please take a minute to share with others how you are using student choice in your classroom on this Padlet.

Distraction-free Video Viewing

If you need to share a video with your students, consider one of these tools for distraction-free viewing. Sharing a short video in Google Classroom, Seesaw, or through a QR code is a great way to differentiate your lessons and also a quick way to introduce a new tool or concept. Using these distraction-free video tools will take out the clutter and help students stay on task as they complete their assignment.

Watchkin

Quietube

Safe You Tube
boclips

Here is a short video that shows how to use some of these tools.

Distraction-free Video Viewing

If you need to share a Youtube video with your students, consider one of these tools for distraction-free viewing. Sharing a short video in Google Classroom, Seesaw, or through a QR code is a great way to differentiate your lessons and also a quick way to introduce a new tool or concept. Using these distraction-free video tools will take out the clutter and help students stay on task as they complete their assignment.

Watchkin      View Pure   Safe Share

Here is a short video that shows how to use these tools.

Simply a Smorgasbord

Here are some current event sites. Check them out to determine which might meet your classroom needs, sign-in options, and features.

• Newsela          ~~ Review
• DOGO News    ~~ Review
• Tween Tribune ~~ Review
• Youngzine        ~~ Review

Nearpod is a useful tool for introducing or reviewing content. There are many free lessons available on the website or you can create your own. Great for computers or iPads.

You can use Quicktime on your Mac to make a screencast video for your students. Use this tool to demonstrate navigation to or through a website. Short tutorial here.

Breakout Edu is a fun tool to use to encourage collaboration and critical thinking. Click here to be a beta tester (step 2) to get access to many pre-made games.

Simply a Smorgasbord

A Photo writing prompts. Choose the prompt you like, copy the url address and share with your students through a QR code, SeeSaw, Google Classroom, or project it for the whole group. There are some great interactive activities at Readwritethink. You’ll also find many other resources for teachers. Consider Word clouds for analyzing text.  What can we infer about the president's duties? Send your students to Photosforclass.com to find pictures for presentations. Attribution info is noted on the image to make citation easy.

Comic strip creators are fun tools to allow students to “show what they know.” I love Make Beliefs Comix. Read Write Think Comic Creator is another option. These tools can be used in any content area as students demonstrate their learning. Running out of space for photos on your devices? I’m using Google Photos. There is unlimited storage and it’s an easy way to manage your personal photos. You can sort pictures, make albums, and share.  Check it out! Google Photos Review Click here for some math station resources. Although the focus is K-2 iPads, there are several resources that can also be used in 3-5 with computers.

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