Giving Students Voice: Digital Storybooks

By now you should have all received the USB stick with two files on it. One is a tutorial to help you scan and add voice to PowerPoint. The second is a blank template with preset pages for scanning into PowerPoint. The staff who have been inserviced and I will be able to give any further support as needed. I am building quite a repertoire of digital storybooks if you would like to borrow any for classroom use let me know. I can send them to you via First Class. Also, let me know if you would like me to have students create a digital story using a book of your choice.

The USB stick is now yours to transfer files from your classroom computers to the lab for printing. Thanks to all for your support and feedback!

Current Events or Weather

Remember you can receive current events or the weather on your classroom computer any time, any day on the Internet. You can even listen to radio stations live.

Here are a few sites to try:
The Hamilton Spectator
CHML
The Weather Network

Here is one sample of each. Let me know if there are others you would like the links for.

Techno Terminology

Do you speak their language? Check out the following site: Techno Terms.
Do you know these terms? wiki, facebook, podcast, ipod, blog, twitter
If not, type them into the search bar and learn what our kids are talking about.

Unblocking Websites

At the ITC inservice on Friday the ITs learned how to unblock websites for staff use. A website can be unblocked permanently or temporarily dependent on the need. If you have a site you would like to have unblocked please let me know. It is now a very quick process instead of going through all of the channels, so it should happen within the day dependent on my own schedule.
~Marj

Reading Sites

Here a couple reading sites to check out. Several of them have "ebooks" or story books with sound online. With a cheap set of earplugs this can be turned into a multimedia center.

http://www.raz-kids.com/

http://www.storylineonline.net/

http://www.plcmc.org/bookhive/

Thanks for the feedback you have been giving me and REMEMBER if there are any topics you would like me to find sites for just let me know....

Video footage for Classrooms

Here are 3 great websites to help find curriculum based audio and/or video footage. It is recommended that you preview first, especially if using youtube. I always tell the students if they see something that is not appropriate they are to click the red X immediately. Even the Grade 1 students understand that.

One activity I did with the Grade 4s is I had them look for DPA exercise routines. This was very effective.

http://www.teachertube.com/

http://www.youtube.com/?gl=CA&hl=en

http://www.learn360.com/index.aspx
For Learn360 you need a user login. Try your First Class user name as your user name and password. If this does not work let me know. Media Net now has video clips that come right to us via Learn360.

Each of these has a search box where you can type in the topic of your choice. Try to narrow down the topic for easier access.

Happy viewing... ~Marj

Math sites

Here are some math websites to try out:

Remember any sites that you can use on your classroom computers can also be used in the lab. If you go to Desk Tools and look in the Mathematics file folder you will find the following sites.

Interactive 100 chart

This site is a hundreds board with different coloured and shaped markers. It is one of the few sites that allow overlapping so when you are trying to show common multiples it works. also if a two or three step pattern (e.g. start at 3, add 2, add 4, add 2, add 4, then repeat) is being created then a different colour can be used for different steps.

Missing Number

This site has a missing number in a number pattern and the student must fill in the missing number. This site is for the Junior students. It tests whether students can think backwards because it is the first number in the pattern that is missing. The difficult levels are too difficult for Primay/Junior students.

This blog stays for several reasons...

Well I have investigated a variety of blogs and have found that this is one of the most user friendly formats. Some staff have accounts and can comment freely, others have created accounts in order to comment. If you would like to set up a user account or a blog of your own please let me know.

This blog is meant to be a stressfree forum to give staff ideas for the computers in their classrooms. Please feel free to email, drop a note in my mailbox, or speak to me in person if you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover.

By now all classrooms should have two working computers with Internet and Microsoft Office.

Next up... math websites to try out.

Welcome to the Pauline Johnson School Blog

Staff:

The purpose of this blog, or online journal, is to support the use of the computers in your classroom. I am excited that FINALLY our long term goal of having classroom computers has come to fruition. These computers can open up new learning for our students and I hope to help you out with that.

I will post different things on the blog such as: websites that you may use with your class; ways to make sure all students get a chance to use these computers; how to encorporate First Class into your classroom; ways to use Microsoft office; programs to check out in the computer lab; suggestions you have and others that I think of.

Please feel free to respond to the posts with topics you would like me to cover, things you have tried, questions you have, or problems you encounter. I will be more than happy to help you out in any way I can.

Right now I am still trying to get all of the wiring completed and cords hooked up. I was under the impression today that this had been done, but found out it has not been, so I will keep trying and let you know when all computers are working.

Yours in cyberspace,

~Marj