Just Watch It!

Sometimes taking in all of this common core information is just too much! Why not do it on your own time, in your own way?  I'm all about reading articles and books to stay "in the know," but sometimes I'd like to just see it in action.  Here are a few informative and helpful sites that allow me to see my learning in a real world setting:

The Teaching Channel-

Engage NY-

Educore-

Informational Piece, turned into WikiHow

What a great way for our students to dispay media literacy by contributing their informational pieces into a WikiHow!  As technology is one of our focal points this year, you may want to challenge some, if not all, of your students to share a "how to" piece through WikiHow.  Our students need to know and believe that their writing and understanding is valuable to others.  What a great way to "show them off."

Students and teachers can also access this site as a resource in creating a how to piece of their own. 

Organize Your Favs

Are you just getting back to the grind to realize that you have lost all of your favorites on your desktop or laptop?  Are you worried each day that you might loose your internet favorites to a random computer refresh?  Would you like to access the same internet favorites that you have on your school computer on your home computer or even your phone through an app?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, here are a few options you may want to consider.  These have been shared by colleagues over the last year and they are worth checking into...an insurance for your internet values if you will.  Both of these websites allow you to access your favorites at a glance and have them for safekeeping.  Check em' out.

Choice #1:    

                                                         

Choice #2:

Low Economic Situations=Better Than We Thought

Check out this interesting article looking through different lenses at our students and their scores.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/education-and-the-income-gap-darling-hammond/2012/04/26/gIQAHn0LkT_blog.html

Bringing the Common Core to Life

http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/resources/bringing-the-common-core-to-life.html

This link will bring you to a site that has little clips for you to watch...for you visual learners out there!

Vocabulary Tip

A fellow lit coach shared this 1 minute snippet of an idea you might want to use in order to help our students aquire language/vocabulary.  Check out the link to access the clip.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/improving-student-vocabulary?fd=1

Podcast: Ellin Keene and Brenda Power

As we have been talking about language acquisition and introducing more vocabulary into our day through word harvests, etc, here is a research driven book sharing some ideas of how this might happen.  Click on the book to access a podcast between the author, Ellin Keene, and Brenda Power, the driving source behind "Choice Literacy."

Choice Literacy: Persuasive Pamphlets

What an interesting way to get our kids excited about writing an opinon piece.  Check out Choice Literacy's article on how to create a "persuasive pamphlet."

Let's Giggle!!!!

Ha haaa haaaa!!!! Haa! Haaaaa Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!

Everyone needs a good laugh, especially our children.  A great way to increase fluency in students as well as bump up comprehension is by allowing students access to great songs and poetry.  Bruce Lansky has created this fun-filled website for children to read and giggle to.  They even get the chance to rate a poem by how much it made them giggle.  What fun!

Vocabulogic

Want to learn more about words or expose your students to new vocabulary?  Here is a fun way to do so.

Animoto Slideshows

Would you like a slideshow that is a little more animated than that boring powerpoint?  Check this out to see how you can liven up those slideshows!

Robot Graders? Say What!?

Some of you have been asking how the new Common Core Assessments will be graded if it is not multiple choice.  Read this article to see some of their thinking...very interesting.

The robot will bring you where you want to go! Click on him.

Would You Like To Save A YouTube Video?

Many school districts block YouTube (for obvious reasons); however, there are many great resources in which to share with students.  It took a few days to figure it out and a lot of help from some colleagues, but here is the down and dirty...and free way to get what you want.

You have to copy the URL video into the place to paste it, pick a conversion (I chose a wmv. file because it plays on media player) and it will email the link to your email.  You can save it from your email, but I think you only have a day to do it or you have to do it again.  The only downfall is that it only saves/converts up to 100MB. Click on the picture above to access the website.
(Thanks to a great 4th grade teacher for this one!)

Here you have to upload the demo version and you can do everything in the demo version for free. It will take a minute to install it and the big thing is that you have to have admin rights to do it on your laptop so I did it on my home desktop. Once you install, you press the record button and any YouTube movie you chose will automatically be recorded until you hit the stop recording button. Be sure to convert it to something your computer will read. I chose the Dell wmv. file again. Then, I just saved it onto a jump drive and brought it to school.

(Thanks to a fabulous friend for hunting up this info!)

When Does Level Matter? Being Efficient With Small Group Instruction by Franki Sibberson

A great article discussing the various ways in which to group students. 

Storybird Website

This website allows you to create your own story using existing art.  You can even publish and print them out.  How fun!