Back to School Ideas: Get to Know Me

It's the beginning of a new school year and teachers will be meeting parents.  What better way for the parents to get to know their child's classmates than with this "Get to Know Me" activity.

Materials:
8 x 12 Brown Construction Paper
6x10 Black Construction Paper
White crayons
Xeroxed copy of hands
Student drawn face

Pre-writing . . VERY important!
Have students generate an attribute list of themselves.  What are they like as a person?  What is important to them?  How would their friends and family describe them?  Once the list is generated, students should begin a draft of their writing.  Peer edit or teacher edit the writing to prepare it for final publication.  When ready, have students recopy their description onto the black construction paper. Assemble the project . . wallah!!  

You now have an interesting display for parents and kids alike.

Other Back to School Ideas:
Top 5 Ideas for Parents
Teaching Heart - Parent Night and Open House Ideas
Pinterest - Open House Ideas

Cool Things for a Hot Summer

LCSC Tech Help Page Tutorials - http://help.lcsc.us/index.php

Blog: Interactive Learning Sites - http://interactivesites.weebly.com/index.html

Blog: Kleinspiration - http://www.kleinspiration.com/

Blog: A Place to Share - http://love2learnandshare.blogspot.com/

Blog: Mrs. Schmidt's Class - http://mrstinaschmidt.edublogs.org/

Smart Notebook 11 - http://qzabteachers.wikispaces.com/SmartBoard

Teachers Love SmartBoards - http://teacherslovesmartboards.com/

eLearning for Kids -  http://www.e-learningforkids.org/index.html

Super Teacher Tools - http://www.superteachertools.com/

2nd Grade Web Quest: Needs and Wants

Welcome . . .  

to our Web Quest of Wants and Needs: A Second Grade Journey Through Economics. To visit the site, click here.

By the end of this project, students will:

• be able to show the steps you would take to buy a new music player (wants and needs)
• draw the sequence of how apples go from a farm to a store (producers and consumers)
• create a cartoon that shows who provides goods and who provides services (goods and services)

Wonderful World of Web Quests

Gone, but not forgotten is the use of the wonderful Web Quest to guide student learning and build independence. With new labs in the elementary buildings, and the  Computers on Wheels, teachers can now foster a true interactive learning environment where they fill the role of facilitator.

While many may feel this tool is outdated in the 21st Century Learning environment, I would disagree. As teachers, our goal is to encourage students to use technology to learn about their world and demonstrate their understanding. The Web Quest does both, yet so much more.

For example, in my second grade classroom we studied life cycles of frogs, butterflies, and plants. I created a Web Quest that would guide students through the learning process, offering websites to explore. Accompanied with explicit questions that provided the learning structure I needed, students demonstrated an understanding of our science curriculum that was completely standards-based.

How do you get started? Using a website page or Word document, create your Web Quest by categorizing the content. In each section, provide links and a list of questions or tasks you wish the students to complete. Require students to present their projects as a PowerPoint presentation, Glogster poster, or simple Word document. Score the project using a rubric, and, “Wallah” . . Success!!

Links:

Web Quest Templates

Concepts to Classrooms

Grade Level Projects

TechnoDrama with Movie Maker

Did you know that our computers are equipped with this easy to use software?  Well, they are, and the best part is that “high-tech” devices are not needed.  Your students can use a FLIP camera or webcam to create great student videos based on classroom content. Digital Storytelling is similar to the writing process. Students will plan, organize, and edit content. Teachers can score projects based on a rubric. Once a recording is complete, open Windows Movie Maker from your start menu. Some ideas: Nursery Rhymes, Biographies, Historical Places and People, or Timelines.  Click the link below to learn more.

Techno Drama

Create Interactive Games and Activities

Visit ClassTools.net

Now teachers can create simple, skill-specific interactive games with Class Tools.net and their easy templates.
Give it a try . . I did!

1st Grade Unit Skills Review Dustbin Game

5 Blogging Alternatives | Mark Brumley

5 Blogging Alternatives | Mark Brumley