Category: Freebies/Discounts
#55: Keyboarding in the Classroom
Mix a variety of keyboarding tools so students get the most out of keyboarding time in the classroom. I include software (TTL4), online keyboarding websites (Dancemat typing) and fun tests (TypingTest.com). The goal is to get students to age-appropriate national standards for typing speed with practice three times per week, fifteen minutes each time. Click the image below to enlarge:
#54: Sponge Activities in History
Six edutainment websites to be visited in spare time in the classroom (as with all sponges). Each deals with history and can be enjoyed with only a few minutes of time
–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. (more…)
#53: Colonization Trifold Brochure in Publisher
Create a trifold brochure in Publisher to go along with colonization or another unit of inquiry in the classroom. This project focuses on research and is more involved than #51 History Trifold. Students add lots of detail and lots of research on different colonization topics. Besides Publisher, students learn to research on the internet and copy-paste pictures from the internet
Lesson Plan
Use each panel in the trifold (there are six) to cover a different topic you’re discussing in class.
Click on each page of lesson plan.
You can also use a template in Google Docs, Google Presentations, or MS Word if you don’t have Publisher:
#52: Indigenous Cultures Magazine in Publisher
Create a magazine on any topic you’re covering in class using text, pictures, diagrams, charts. Add a cover and a table of contents.
Click on each page of lesson plan.
#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.
A Holiday Flier in Publisher
This is the only project that’s easier than the holiday card in Publisher I shared on Monday. There’s no folding and the templates are bright, colorful and exciting for kids as young as second grade: (more…)
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…)
What’s Tomorrow’s Student Look Like
Just as the teacher’s job has changed from ‘sage on the stage’ to ‘guide on the side’, so too has the student’s job. Take a peek into the near future at tomorrow’s student. Today, you’d call this child the ‘techie’ minority. Tomorrow, s/he’ll be the majority.
S/he is no longer a passive observer of his/her educational journey, expecting a teacher to impart knowledge that will shape his/her future. Tomorrow’s student takes charge of their learning, sifts through available options and selects what works for them, spirals up or down when required, asks for scaffolding when it’s lacking, accepts accountability for their progress as a stakeholder in the process, adapts to change as needed. They look for rigor in their learning environment and rise to the challenge when required.
These future students expect to collaborate, share, publish, contribute, and participate in a community of learners.
In some cases, the future has already arrived
What’s all that mean? Let’s add detail.
What’s the Classroom of the Future Look Like?
Education is changing. Teachers no longer primly lecture from the front of the class. Students don’t fervently copy the instructors words down, read text, and memorize material for a test.
And the classroom itself has changed.
If these reforms have your head spinning, hold on to your sensibilities because lots more are coming. You thought Smartscreens at the front of the class linked to a computer, students storing schoolwork in the cloud rather than a personal file folder, homework submitted electronically, parents signing up to volunteer on something called ‘Sign up Genius’ was cutting edge? By the time your new born baby enters kindergarten, here’s what they’ll find at their school house:
