This weeks feature is PBS Election Central. As the race to the White House heats up among the candidates, PBS has put together a resource covering all aspects of the election and election process, including interactive maps, inside the debates and virtual field trips. Election Central also include a link called the Election Collection. It looks like a fabulously comprehensive collection of materials, videos, etc. about the history of elections. If you do anything at all with your students of any level on the topic of the election, I am certain you could find materials here to support your activities or discussions.
SAMR
Here is a follow-up to the SAMR information I shared in the my last blog post. This article, Taking a Dip in the SAMR Swimming Pool, explains SAMR from a different perspective. We can look at SAMR, not as a ladder we are climbing, but rather a framework in which we move around with thoughtful purpose. Click here for a link to this brief article in the Hooked on Innovation blog by Mr. Hooker.
App Share
Here are some apps I have recently learned about from my own research or from colleagues. If you have apps you would like to share with teachers across the district, please email me the names of them and if you have used it a brief blurb about the app and how you used it. You will see a live link for each of the Apps and for some I have added some additional informative links.
 | 1. Dr. Rudisill shared an app called Whiteboard - Nothing More Nothing Less. Cost is Free. This is a kind of dead-simple whiteboard which is convenient for your work, study and life. Simple operation Just so easy. You can use only one finger to write, two fingers' gently touched can play a role of an eraser. If you choose the trimmed-down version, three fingers' gently sweep can clean the screen easily. Try to shake it, you can find the pictures are saved or you can save the pictures by press the saving button as well. Concise user interface. There are four colors, You can customize the brush color. three types of brush size for you to choose and it is very simple and convenient. A new mosaic feature and Background can be changed now. After you finish drawing, you can save your pictures as high-resolution images to your album directly or you can print it as well as share it to the SMS, email or SNS (only suitable for IOS 6.0 or greater ). |
 | 2. Gabrielle Sipe - Littlestowns K-12 Tech Integrator shared one she is using at the elementary level with the art teacher to create portfolios of student work, but it is a K-12 app, called Seesaw. Click here for an overview of it. Very cool app. Allows for the development of individual student portfolios, that can be shared with parents. There is an app for parents to use with SeeSaw. I signed up and I got access to this really great Seesaw Help Center which includes activity ideas for grades K-12. Check out these activity then sign up and get your own access for FREE |
 | 3. Tina Slonaker, teacher of 2nd graders at NOE, uses Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is a Presentation and Slideshow App with Beautiful Charts and Graphs. It is created by Haiku Deck, Inc. Haiku Deck is a presentation and slideshow app that allows students to easily create beautiful presentations. It has a simplified format and design structure so it works great with primary age children. They can search and select background pictures for their slides from an included gallery of images. Students add their content text and then project is ready for presentation. Haiku Deck can be utilized on tablets, computers, and other technology devices. My second grade students are able to independently navigate the app and create a deck with minimal demonstration and instruction. |
 | Google Photos App - Many of you may have noticed a new icon in your Google Drive. Google now has Google Photos and there is an app for it. Google photos has 3 great features. 1- Photo Storage-Google Photos provides unlimited free storage to allow users to back up and save their photos and videos and access them across different devices. 2- Photo Organization-Instead of creating albums and tagging photos, Google Photos automatically organizes your photos “by the people, places, and things that matter”. It also helps you choose the best adjustments for your photos to make them look better. 3- Photo sharing-Google Photos made photo sharing way simpler and easier. With one click users can select a whole selection of photos or albums and share them with others via a generated link. Recipients can easily view the photos and save them to their own libraries. |
 | Padlet is a digital canvas to create beautiful projects that are easy to share and collaborate on. Padlet is also a web based tool, click her to go to the Padlet site. It works like a piece of paper. We give you an empty page - a padlet - and you can put whatever you like on it. Drag in a video, record an interview, snap a selfie, write your own text posts or upload some documents, and voilà! A padlet is born. Make it even more beautiful by choosing custom wallpapers and themes. Padlet is different from other blogging tools and inspiration boards because it’s flexible. Create a grocery list, a Venn diagram, a discussion board, a group greeting card, a portfolio, or a business plan, all in one app. Used by teachers, students, professionals, and individuals of all ages, all around the world, padlets can be selectively shared and edited among multiple contributors. |
Discovery Education Spotlight on Strategies (SOS)
Spotlight on Strategies is something I am sure I have mentioned previously, but it's worth reminding everyone about again. In your DE account you have a tab called professional development. When you click that tab you then click PD Home and you will go to a page that provides you with all types of training and information about how to best utilized your DE account. One of the areas is called SOS and this is your spotlight on strategies section. I am going to do my best to continue to share strategies from this area to help those who are interested in broadening your bag of teaching tools. In addition, look for tips as to how to integrate technology with these strategies. Click here to for a brief explanation of how to get to your DE SOS site.
Kathy Schrock, an excellent source of information for technology integration, has shared Kathy Schrock's Katch of the Month in the DE March newsletter. It's a quick read and she shares a strategy called Flip Flop. Kathy explains the strategy and then she shares how you can incorporate technology into a lesson with this strategy. She talks about two tools Padlet, which is featured in this weeks blog, and Today's Meet, which was featured on 2/19/16. Both are easy to use tools and will engage all students. Both are available as web-based tools so if you don't have tablet's or chrome books you are still able to use them. You just need an internet connection. Click here to check out the March SOS on Flip Flop. The tools that Kathy shares in her post could also be used in the SOS ideas that are showcased below.
Check out some additional DE reading and literature resources along with the SOS idea to accompany them.
Films by Weston Woods
Grades K-2, 3-5
Publisher Weston Woods creates short films based on well-known books for children, including Caldecott and other award-winning books and authors. Favorite texts such as Emily’s First 100 Days of School come to life in animated and live-action versions with read-aloud text.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Get a Clue and have students analyze a video and its transcript as they match context clues to content.
Great Books Series
Grades 6-8, 9-12
The Great Books series by Discovery Education features dozens of texts, including The Great Gatsby, The Jungle, Lord of the Flies, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, and more. Each video explores literary themes, author’s experiences and influences, historical context, modern impact, and discusses why we study these works today.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Step Inside and have students consider content from multiple perspectives, such as author, historic/contemporary reader, and modern reader.
Shmoop Literature Guides and Biographies
Grades 6-8, 9-12
Shmoop’s learning guides are fun, rigorous materials that use current events and pop culture to help students see how topics, authors, and literary works are relevant today. Available guides include Frankenstein, 1984,Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men, and authors Harper Lee, William Shakespeare, andEdgar Allan Poe.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: 25 Things You Didn’t Know to have students identify new information from the resources and in order to create a collaborative list of facts.
Reading Rainbow
Grades K-2, 3-5
The beloved and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series Reading Rainbow connects children's literature to the real world through thematic exploration and recommended book readings. Titles include Boxing for Katje, Watch the Stars Come Out, Show Way, and The Tin Forest.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Paper Slide to have students create Reading Rainbow-style ("But don't take my word for it!") book trailers, focusing on key details and logical sequencing.
Kathy Schrock, an excellent source of information for technology integration, has shared Kathy Schrock's Katch of the Month in the DE March newsletter. It's a quick read and she shares a strategy called Flip Flop. Kathy explains the strategy and then she shares how you can incorporate technology into a lesson with this strategy. She talks about two tools Padlet, which is featured in this weeks blog, and Today's Meet, which was featured on 2/19/16. Both are easy to use tools and will engage all students. Both are available as web-based tools so if you don't have tablet's or chrome books you are still able to use them. You just need an internet connection. Click here to check out the March SOS on Flip Flop. The tools that Kathy shares in her post could also be used in the SOS ideas that are showcased below.
Check out some additional DE reading and literature resources along with the SOS idea to accompany them.
Films by Weston Woods
Grades K-2, 3-5
Publisher Weston Woods creates short films based on well-known books for children, including Caldecott and other award-winning books and authors. Favorite texts such as Emily’s First 100 Days of School come to life in animated and live-action versions with read-aloud text.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Get a Clue and have students analyze a video and its transcript as they match context clues to content.
Great Books Series
Grades 6-8, 9-12
The Great Books series by Discovery Education features dozens of texts, including The Great Gatsby, The Jungle, Lord of the Flies, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, and more. Each video explores literary themes, author’s experiences and influences, historical context, modern impact, and discusses why we study these works today.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Step Inside and have students consider content from multiple perspectives, such as author, historic/contemporary reader, and modern reader.
Shmoop Literature Guides and Biographies
Grades 6-8, 9-12
Shmoop’s learning guides are fun, rigorous materials that use current events and pop culture to help students see how topics, authors, and literary works are relevant today. Available guides include Frankenstein, 1984,Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men, and authors Harper Lee, William Shakespeare, andEdgar Allan Poe.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: 25 Things You Didn’t Know to have students identify new information from the resources and in order to create a collaborative list of facts.
Reading Rainbow
Grades K-2, 3-5
The beloved and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series Reading Rainbow connects children's literature to the real world through thematic exploration and recommended book readings. Titles include Boxing for Katje, Watch the Stars Come Out, Show Way, and The Tin Forest.
Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Paper Slide to have students create Reading Rainbow-style ("But don't take my word for it!") book trailers, focusing on key details and logical sequencing.
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