StoryBird: The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons

Science Kindergarten:
Educational Standard #2: Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science through the study of earth materials and weather.

Objective #3: Compare changes in weather over time.

Educational Technology Standard #5: Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

• StoryBird is a fun site where we all have access to making our own storybooks. It has thousands of pictures to choose from and is easy to use! I really enjoyed using it to portray the different seasons on Earth. I definitely want to incorporate this feature into my classroom for lessons in the future. I have attached a sample story for parents and students to read together. StoryBird gives each of us an opportunity to become an author!
• After reading our StoryBird on the Seasons, we will make our own seasons in our class. We will divide our classroom into 4 seasons and in each section separate things that belong in that category. 

Tiki Toki: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

The Life of Rosa Parks

Social Studies 5th Grade:
Educational Standard #5: Students will address the causes, consequences and implications of the emergence of the United States as a World Power. 

Objective #2: Assess the impact of social and political movements in recent United States History.

Educational Technology Standard #5:Use technology (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

• This project was created with Tiki Toki timeline and is a great source for the classroom. It was easy to use, create new stories, and add pictures and videos. I actually really enjoyed learning how to use the different tools to create this timeline about Rosa Parks.
• We will read the story of Rosa Parks, watch videos, and review the Timeline to get an inside view of what the Civil Rights Movement was like.
• Each of you, like Rosa Parks, will have a chance to stand up for a change! You will get the opportunity to sign our "Classroom Change" poster, stating that we will stand up for people who are being treated unfairly. 

Prezi: Living and Nonliving things in an Environment

Living and Nonliving

Social Studies 3rd Grade: 

Educational Standard #2: Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment. Objective #1: Classify living and nonliving things in an environment.

Educational Technology Standard #5: Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

• Prezi was a really fun tool to work with, and I am excited to work with it again in the future. I like being able to link similar ideas together in one bubble, but then having the whole project revolve around a subject I am teaching. It is excellent!
• We will be reviewing this Prezi in class alongside our normal lesson. We will spend the majority of our time outside in the schoolyard classifying Living and Nonliving things in our "school environment."
• We will be making a huge classroom poster to separate Living and Nonliving things. I would like each of you to bring 4 pictures to school, 2 pictures of something Living and 2 pictures of something Nonliving. We will then work as a group to separate each of these. 

Google Docs: October Newsletter

October Classroom Newsletter

Educational Technology Standard #6: Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests. 

• Our monthly newsletter was made in Microsoft Word and then opened as a PDF in Google Drive. I found it easier to create this project in Microsoft Word with no template, than in other programs. I really enjoyed creating this Newsletter and look forward to making many,many more! This Newsletter serves to provide parents and students with important information for the upcoming month. Such as, birthdays, spelling words, and upcoming events. It is two sided and full of very valuable information!
• This newsletter is available on my blog, but it will also be sent home with students in hard copy form if access to a computer is not possible.

Educreation: Digestive System

Digestive System

Health Education 5th Grade:
Educational Standard #3: The students will understand and respect self and others related to human development and relationships. Objective #2: Summarize the basic functions of the digestive and glandular systems.

Educational Technology Standard #5: Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentations, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3,4)

• Educreation is an excellent tool for creating recorded presentations for lessons. It will be a valuable resource for future classrooms and teaching. The only thing I found frustrating was having to re-record and re-insert pictures. But, I really enjoyed using this tool and will definitely use it again. 
• We will cover the digestive system in class and make our own Educreation projects in class on the classroom iPads. Each group will cover one of the 10 parts of the digestive system. Then we will take turns presenting that specific part during class.
• This video is excellent for classroom use and home use. It gives students a place to come back and review already taught material. 

eMaze: Social Studies

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Social Studies 3rd Grade:

Educational Standard #1: Students will understand how geography influences community location and development. 

Objective #3: Analyze ways cultures use, maintain, and preserve the physical environment. 

Educational Technology Standard #8: Use technology resources (e.g.,calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities. (5,6)

• This presentation outlines the importance of keeping our environment safe by using the 3R's. It will be useful in the classroom to engage students and get them excited about taking part in recycling at school and home. This is a perfect place to come back and review how to recycle and ways to help out in our environment. 
• We will organize a school-wide reduce, reuse, and recycle campaign! We will set up recycling bins in all the classrooms and a compost bin in the cafeteria. Then we will sort through each of the bins at the end of each week and deliver them to recycling centers in our area.

Popplet: Poems, Drama, and Prose

Poem, Drama, and Prose

English Language Arts 4th Grade: 

Standard #5: Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse,rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text. 

Educational Technology Standard #5: Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. 

• This popplet will be beneficial in the classroom because it is colorful, has pictures and videos and is full of tons of information! It will be a good resource to come back on one day to teach this subject to a class. This fun Mindmap will help us learn the differences between Poems, Dramas and Prose. This project has fun information that will help us build upon our lesson in class.
• After we have reviewed the difference between the three, we will write our own poems, make poster boards showing difference scenarios of prose and act out multiple scenes from the poems we have created. 
• Each student will pair up and search the internet for famous poets. As a group we will make fun posters about each poet and include their basic information and fun facts. Then we will hang them up around our classroom for everyone to see!

Piktochart: Kindergarten Safety

Citizenship: Safety First

Social Studies Kindergarten:

Standard #2: Students will recognize their roles and responsibilities of being a good citizen.

Objective #2: Recognize and explain common traffic symbols. 

Educational Technology Standard #5: Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3,4)

• This project was created with Piktochart, and it was fairly easy to use and fun. It had a plethora of pictures to choose from and tons of free templates. I will certainly be using this in the future for my classroom. 
• We will use Piktochart to review some of the common traffic signs in our community. It will be published publicly for home and school use.
• After our lesson in class, we will make our own traffic signs and hang them around our classroom. We will then take a walk around the block to identify traffic signs in our community. Safety is important for everyone! We must all do our part to keep our community a safe place for all.

Google Forms: Health Education

Managing Stress Evaluation

Health Education 5th Grade:

Standard #1: The students will learn ways to improve mental health and manage stress.

Objective #4: Demonstrate constructive ways of managing stress. 

Educational Technology Standard #4: Use general purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, to remediate skill deficits, and to facilitate learning through the curriculum. 

• This google form will be used for a variety of purposes when learning about Health Education. It will be a tool for students to be able to openly talk about what causes them stress, it will be a tool for me to be able to help students when it comes to stress, and it will test the students' knowledge on what they learned about stress during our lesson.
• It is very important for students to understand that EVERYONE feels stress, no matter what age. But, there are very effective ways to control our stress. This project will help us learn ways to identify stress and cope with it.
• This form will coincide with our stress management plans we made in class. 

Google Docs: Halloween Party Flyer

Halloween Party

Educational Standard #6: Use Telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communication with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests. 

• This Halloween Flyer was created with Google Docs. It is intended to promote awareness of our upcoming party and to spark interest in parents to help volunteer. Flyers will be sent home on an as need basis. Any important parties and classroom parties will be sent home as a flyer so parents will stay informed as to what is going on in our classroom. 
• This project is just a sample of other flyers that can be made for my classroom. Any event that takes place, a flyer is an excellent tool to use to bridge the gap of communication between the classroom and home. The flyer includes all the pertinent information for the Halloween party and gives parents information if they have questions. 

Google Docs: Telling Time

What Time Is It?

Measurement and Data 1st Grade
Standard #3: Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.

Educational Technology Standard #7: Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, we environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4,5)

• This worksheet was created in Google Docs. Google Docs is a great way for me to create worksheets for us to complete in class and also worksheets that will be sent home with students for homework. We will review how to tell time to the hour and half-hour in class, then complete this worksheet together. 
• This worksheet is an excellent source and tool for us! It will not only help us review what we have learned, but be a good resource to come back to so we can review time! This document has been made public, it can be a resource for parents as well! 

Thinglink: Health Education

Choose My Plate

Health Education 6th Grade: 

Standard #2: Students will use nutrition and fitness information, skills and strategies to enhance health.

Objective #1: Describe the components and benefits of proper nutrition.

Educational Technology Standard #6: Design, develop, publish and present products (e.g., Web pages, videotapes) using technology resources that demonstrate and communicate curriculum concepts to audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4,5,6)

• Thinglink is a great way to create interactive projects! The site is easy to use and fun to create projects on. It provides the opportunity to add important information, videos, and pictures to your project in a fun way. I really enjoyed creating on Thinglink and look forward to incorporating it into my classroom.  
• I would like each student to be familiar with the website and different healthy foods, then share their favorite healthy meals and snacks with the class.
• This web page will be beneficial in the classroom and at home. It is loaded with valuable suggestions for a healthy lifestyle!

Pinterest Board: Reading Comprehension

Pinterest Board 

English Language Arts 1st Grade: 

Standard #2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Educational Technology Standard #6: Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests.

• Pinterest boards are a great way for parents and students to group ideas together and be able to come back to these ideas to use at home and in the classroom. We will be using Pinterest boards frequently in our classroom for different subjects and assignments. This specific Pinterest board is reading comprehension. 
• Parents and students will have access at home to tips and tools to help make reading more successful and fun. We will also be reflecting on this board for printables, games, and tips to help us all be more successful readers in the classroom. 
• Reading is a foundation for Education and this Pinterest board provides vital information for the success of each student. It is intended for parents, students, other teachers and myself.