2011 Retreat: Online Tools for Elementary Kids

[Jenni Voorhees]

The resources are out there - what are we doing with them?
Great sites abound for information, games, and Web 2.0.
Come and share your favorite sites for younger learners and
how you effectively integrate online tools into your
curriculum.

[Chris Shriver]

Some of my favorite online resources are Wordle, Voki, Glogster, and Wallwisher.  All of these sites are fun, easy to use, and great for creativity.  Although I teach technology to grades K-3, I tend to use them more so with 2nd and 3rd grade because the students are better able to navigate their way around the sites.  They're all easy to use, although Wallwisher can get hung-up from time to time, especially if several students are simultaneously working on the same Wallwisher.  I also like these sites because the finished product is something that can be saved or "published" for sharing with other students or parents.  With the exception of Wordle, the students are able to return to the project at a later time to continue working on it or to edit it.  This is helpful for me since I only see each of my classes once a week.  This is a Wallwisher that one of my 3rd grade classes did, and this is a Voki created my one of my students.

 

I am really looking forward to hearing about other online resources that other teachers are using.

[Caren Cranston]

One on-line program I like to use is Glogster.  Glogster is a private and secure site where students can create an on-line multimedia poster.   I have used it with third and fourth graders.  The fourth graders did summer reading report on Glogster, while the third graders made Glogs using fun facts about their state reports.  The students loved adding graphics, clip art, images, links, even videos and sounds to their glogs.  The Education Basic program is free.  It allows you to add 100 students.   The worst part is that students have to sign in using the random “nickname” that Glogster generates in the Basic package.  You can add their name to the account, but can’t change the “nickname” login.   I printed out my student accounts, cut them up, and made a little Glogster ticket for them to use to sign in.  Everyone has the same password, but all glogs are private.  Unfortunately, there are ads in the Basic program, especially from Glogster to upgrade to the Premium program!

[Nate Gordon]

I was able to create Edu Glogster accounts in the Basic program using names I chose - there was an option to upload them in CSV form. 

 

We tried using Edmodo this year as a discussion forum, but I was disappointed in it... while easy to use, the interface did not really foster communication. We're going to look at kidblog for next year - saw it demonstrated at MSET and was impressed. 

[Caren Cranston]

Thanks, Nate!  I will try that.

[Marty Hankins]

I was looking for a way to have students create webpages in a safe environment and an ISED colleague suggested Weebly (http://www.weebly.com/). I created a website for a class project and students will be posting their findings as a webpage on Weebly. I did purchase a year's subscription (educational version) which enables me to password protect the site.

I have been using Tech4Learning products and purchased subscriptions to Wixie this year (http://wixie.com/). Wixie is an online creation tool (much like its predecessor, Pixie. The kids love it. This is not a free site, but not very inexpensive and well worth the cost.

We have a school subscription to the educational version VoiceThread (http://ed.voicethread.com/) and have used it for class projects (mostly in Middle School, but also accessible for younger students). They have great tutorials and examples of other projects, all done in VoiceThread! Our kids created some wonderful VoiceThreads about biomes in science class.

My students love Kerpoof (a Disney product) http://www.kerpoof.com/teach Be sure to sign up for the school version (FREE!) and create accounts for your students. This is a fun activity-filled product with great support and lots of creative things to do from drawing, making cards and creating movies. They also have great lesson plans for incorporating Kerpoof into the curriculum.

Don't overlook MPT's Thinkport: http://www.thinkport.org/default.tp and Verizon's http://www.thinkfinity.org/ which are free and have thousands of resources for teachers and students.

At Thanksgiving I used a wonderful interactive site created by the Plymouth Plantation. http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html You can download the entire site so that you can run it offline and not have bandwidth issues. It tied right into our early settlers curriculum.

I have found some great SmartBoard activities from Mrs. Blossom: https://www.blossomlearning.com/Resources.aspx?ty=1#Resource There are notebook files you can download for many curriculum areas.

For science teachers, be sure to check out Phet: http://phet.colorado.edu/ for free interactive science simulations.

My kids love Whizzball by Discovery Education: http://kids.discovery.com/games/whizzball/whizzball.html I use it when we have indoor recess, but it is great for learning about simple machines/physics and figuring out why something works (or doesn't work).

I am a great believer in not reinventing the wheel, so I use a host of online resources created by other people!

Looking forward to hearing what other people are using and picking up even more tips!

See you next week.

[Marty Hankins]

 

Quizlet online flashcards

http://quizlet.com/

Free

 

Storybird  http://storybird.com/   collaborative storytelling

 

Kidpix export image and use in VoiceThread

 

Tagxedo http://www.tagxedo.com/app.html and wordle http://www.wordle.net/

 

Expert space

 

Prezi http://prezi.com/

 

Facts4Me  http://www.facts4me.com/ subscription but only $50/year

 

Pebble Go https://www.pebblego.com/UserLogin.aspx

 

Webspiration: online version of Kidspiration and Inspiration: http://www.inspiration.com/WebspirationClassroom

 

[Marty Hankins]

Gizmos from Explore Learning http://www.explorelearning.com/

Online manipulatives for math and science. Expensive. Can use 5 minute demos for free

PHet http://phet.colorado.edu/ free online science simulations

Quia  http://www.quia.com/  use for free, but can create your own with a subsciption

Enchanted Learning: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html

Brain Pop: http://www.brainpop.com/

 

IXL Math http://www.ixl.com/

 

Comic Life http://plasq.com/products/comiclife/win

 

Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/

 

Pivot: stick figure animation tool:  http://pivot-stickfigure-animator.en.softonic.com/

 

SAM animation http://www.samanimation.com/

 

Photosynth http://photosynth.net/

 

PhotoScape  http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php

 

Audacity for podcasts http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (Friends School Baltimore, GDS)

 

Lure of the Labyrinth (Math) Thinkport (Maryland Public Television) http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/

 

Using tiny URL to create URLs for younger kids

 

PBS Kids has interactive smartboard games  http://pbskids.org/whiteboard/

 

Typing Pal online  http://www.typingpal.com/

 

Dance Mat Typing (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

 

Typing Master Online http://www.typingmaster.com/education/online/

 

Educational Resources from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/

 

Desert Typing Games (lots of other typing games on this site) http://www.freetypinggame.net/play14.asp

 

Byrn Mawr uses covers for keyboards (typing) Speedskin http://www.speedskin.com/

 

Typing Test http://www.typingtest.com/

 

Create a typing activity in Word: aAaAaA, all the way through the alphabet

 

 

 

 

Photoscape