Category: Holidays
Winter Websites
Here are some Winter activities to share the joy of winter:
- 5 Videos to teach about winter
- Animal Winter Games
- Winter Facts and Worksheets
- The Winter Solstice, from PBS–a video for youngers
- Winter Vocabulary–a video
- What is a Solstice, from National Geographic–a video
- What is the Winter Season–a video
- Winter Coloring Pages, Printables, and more
- Winter Games–digital
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Public Domain Day and Happy New Year!
Every year, January 1st, is Public Domain Day. This is an observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain–free for all to use. According to Public Domain Review, here are some of the newly-available artistic works you might like a/o January 1, 2022:
Click image for interactive content on PublicDomanReview.org
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
http://eepurl.com/chNlYb (more…)
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See you January 3rd!
I’ll be taking a few weeks off–December 19-January 3rd–to edit/format my website, work on projects with a deadline, prioritize life, and wish my two adult military children could come home to visit. I may drop in on you-all as you enjoy your holidays, but mostly I’ll be regenerating.
I wish you a wonderful season, safe and filled with family.
See you in a few weeks!
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
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Holiday Activities To Keep the Learning Going
Teaching the days before big holidays is challenging. Students and teachers alike are ready for a break. Both struggle to pay attention regardless of how innovative and engaging are the lesson plans.
I’ve been there often. As a result, I’ve come up with fun ways to support learning while students power through the last few days of school. Here are seven I use during the pre-holiday season:
ASCII Art
Time required: Less than one class
ASCII Art is the graphic design technique of creating images by typing the letters, numbers, and symbols defined by ASCII Standards. Here’s how you do it:
- Open your word processing program (MS Word, Google Docs, or another).
- Add a watermark of a picture you’d like to use, preferably a single image rather than one that includes a background. Silhouettes are perfect for this sort of project.
- Type over the image with the letters, symbols, and numbers that best fit the outline. It’s fine to use one letter throughout (like an X).
- Add color by highlighting the letters, numbers, and symbols typed over the parts you’d like colored (such as the stem of a pumpkin or the bow on Christmas bells in the linked samples above).
- When you’ve covered the image with characters, delete the watermark. That leaves just your typing.
- Save, print, share, publish as is customary in your classes.
Tie-ins: Use this not only for holidays but any academic class by creating an artistic image of the topic being discussed. Click the link for an example of Abraham Lincoln to align with study of the American Civil War. This is also a fun and authentic way for students to practice keyboarding.
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14 Holiday Websites and 9+ Projects
Need a few websites to fill in free minutes? Here are Holiday websites that will keep students busy while teaching them:
- 12 Days of Christmas
- Christmas Celebrations Across the World (video)
- Christmas puzzles and games
Christmas—history—fun video
- Christmas Traditions Around the World (video)
- Gift Hunt–updated version of 12 Days of Christmas–just as much fun
- Holiday Crossword
- Holiday Elf Games
- Holiday Hangman II
- Holiday music II–sing along with the music–the site provides the words
- Holiday—Math Facts
- Holiday—North Pole Academy
- Phone call from Santa
- Santa Tracker
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Have Santa Call Your Kids!
DialMyCalls (an AATT sponsor) has a special Christmas offer for kids:
Free Santa Calls To Your Family This Christmas
This Christmas we have a great gift for everyone! Whether you’re an existing DialMyCalls user or not, you can take advantage of our completely free phone call from Santa. Imagine the look on your child’s face when they receive a personalized phone call from Santa with his or her name on it!
- Simply select your child’s name and the message from Santa you want sent on this link.
- Pick the time, date and phone number you want the call sent to.
- We create a personalized message and send the call when you want it sent!
- Each household can send up to 3 free calls from Santa Claus.
- Additional Santa Calls may be purchased for a small fee.
What an amazing gift to any child for Christmas!
@DialMyCalls
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
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Happy Thanksgiving Week to All!
I’m taking next week off. I’ll be preparing for my daughter’s holiday visit from her home in DC and my son who’s visiting virtually from Okinawa Japan. I am so excited to see both of them!
I’ll be back November 29th. Any emergencies–drop me a line at [email protected].
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
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16 Sites, 3 Apps, 2 Projects for Thanksgiving
Need a few websites and apps to fill in sponge time? Here are Thanksgiving websites that will keep students busy and still teach them:
- Berenstein Bears Give Thanks (app)
- Canadian Thanksgiving
- Online/Offline Thanksgiving activities
- Plimoth Plantation–a field trip of a Pilgrim’s life. Included on this real-life site is a video of the Pilgrim’s crossing to the New World.
- Thanksgiving edu-websites–CybraryMan
- Thanksgiving Games
- Thanksgiving games and puzzles
- Thanksgiving games–Quia
- Thanksgiving information–history, more
Thanksgiving Jigsaw
- Thanksgiving Lesson Plans
- Thanksgiving video–Brainpop
- Thanksgiving Wordsearch
- The First Thanksgiving
- Turkey Templates — activities in Google Slides
If you’re an iPad school, try one of these:
- Berenstein Bears Give Thanks
- Primary Games–games, coloring books, more
- Thanksgiving coloring book
If you’re looking for projects, you’ll find two on Ask a Tech Teacher:
For more, click here:
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Halloween Projects, Websites, Apps, Books, and a Costume
Three holidays are fast-approaching–Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If you’re a teacher, that means lots of tie-ins to make school festive and relevant to students.
Here are ideas for Halloween projects, lesson plans, websites, and apps (check here for updated links):
Websites and Apps
- 30-day Halloween fitness challenge
- Build a Jack-o-lantern (in Google Slides)
- Carving Pumpkins
- Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents magazine – Resolute Digital, LLC (app)
- Enchanted Learning
- Halloween games, puzzles–clean, easy to understand website and few ads!
- Halloween ghost stories
- Halloween counting & words games – IKIDSPAD LLC (app)
- Halloween Kahoot Games (video for teachers)
- Halloween Science
- Halloween WordSearch – FinBlade (app)
- Halloween Voice Transformer (app)
- Landon’s Pumpkins – LAZ Reader [Level P–second grade] – Language Technologies, Inc. (app)
- Make A Zombie – Skunk Brothers GmbH (app)
- Math vs. Zombies (app)
- Meddybemps Spooky
- Readwords reading collection for Halloween
- Readworks Halloween Reading Resources
- Signing Halloween–a video
- Skelton Park
- The Kidz Page
- WordSearch Halloween – AFKSoft (app)
Projects
- ASCII Art–Computer Art for Everyone (a pumpkin–see inset)
- Lesson Plan: Halloween letter for grades 2-5
- Make a Holiday Card
- A Holiday Card
- A Holiday flier
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9/11… We Remember
America, we love you.
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