Category: 5th Grade

32 Websites to Support Math Automaticity in K-5

Here’s along list of websites that focus on math automaticity for the K-5 classroom. I’ve broken it down by grade level, but you can decide if your second graders are precocious enough to try the websites for grades 3-5:

1^st

2^nd

33 Great Research Websites for Kids

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Here are quick, safe spots to send students for research:

BrainPop–with the BrainPop characters, a launchpad to curiosity
CoolKidFacts–kid-friendly videos, pictures, info, and quizzes–all 100% suitable for children
Dimensions–academic research geared for college-level
Fact Monster–help with homework and facts
Google Earth Timelapse–what changes to the planet over time
Google Trends–what’s trending in searches
History Channel–great speeches
How Stuff Works–the gold standard in explaining stuff to kids
Info Please–events cataloged year-by-year
National Geographic for Kids
Ngram Viewer–analyzes all words in all books on Google Books
TagGalaxy–search using a cloud
Wild Wordsmyth–picture dictionary for kids
World Book–requires membership

Citing Resources

Kids Search Engines

Kiddle–visual search engine for kids
Kid Rex
Kidtopia

How to Research

A Google A Day
How to Search on Google
Power Searching (with Google)
Teaching students to search/research
Internet Search and Research–a lesson plan for K-8

Lesson Plans

Resources/Research

Kids Picture Dictionary
Primary Source Documents
Talk to Books–research your topic based on books

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Tech Tip #110: Can’t Get Sound to Work?

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

Q: Headphones are so difficult. There’s always someone who can’t get theirs to work. I’ve tried the usual solutions, and still, we have problems. I know the sound works. What else can I do?

A: First, try the usual solutions:

check sound on systray (lower right corner)–make sure it isn’t muted
make sure sound isn’t pushed way down–so low you can’t hear it
if you’re using speakers, check the sound on those–make sure it’s loud enough to hear
if headphones are plugged in, remove them

Another solution to the no-sound problem is to switch where headphones are plugged in. Sometimes, the front port on a CPU degrades and doesn’t work well anymore. Pick your reason–little kids jiggling jacks, overuse, leprechauns. The reason doesn’t matter. What matters is students can’t hear what’s going on.

Switch headphones to a different jack. In my case, since I always use the front jack so students can independently plug them in, I switch to the rear jack. Problem’s over. (more…)

#51: History Trifold in Publisher–Grades 4-7

This lesson is a crowd pleaser. Students create a timeline showing what was happening around the world while they lived their lives. I’ve found this generates lots of discussion between students and their parents as they try to understand what the world events were.

Click on each page of lesson plan. (more…)

Martin Luther King Day Lesson Plans

Martin Luther King Day is January 19th. I have two lesson plans, both aligned with Common Core, that I’m giving away to help you plan Martin Luther King Day.

4th grade

Students interpret the words of Dr Martin Luther King in their own words in a visual organizer. Great project that gets students thinking about the impact of words on history. Common Core aligned. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.

5th grade

Students research events leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s impact on American history and share them with an Event Chain organized visually, including pictures and thought bubbles. Aligned with Common Core. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.

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Hour of Code: Minecraft

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Every week, I share a website that inspired my students. This one is perfect for Hour of Code. Make yourself a hero for an hour:

Age:

Grades 3-8 (or younger, or older)

Topic:

Problem-solving, critical thinking, building

Address:

Minecraft

Review:

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A Holiday Card in Publisher

Greeting cards are easy enough for second graders–even early readers. Using MS Publisher, pick a template, add a picture to personalize, add their name–and they’re done. It takes about 15 minutes. Kids always feel great about creating these greeting cards: (more…)

Great (Free) Lesson Plans

Here’s a list of over seventy-five lesson plans free for your use. They’re organized by:

subject
software/tool
grade

You just highlight the lesson, then copy-paste to a doc of your choice.

If you want them printed out on 8.5×11 sheets, they are available for purchase here.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the lessons:

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38 Art Websites for K-8

If your children are eager to be creative this summer, but addicted to computers, try these wonderful art-oriented websites. For your youngers, start any visit to the internet with a conversation about safety, privacy, and good digital citizenship. Soon, they’ll know the rules and you won’t have to keep chatting about it:

You can find updates for this page here.

Lots of art websites for K-8

Avatars

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Use Google Safe Search

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Drop by every Friday to discover what wonderful website my classes, teachers and parents loved this week. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of yours as they are of mine.