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Many special education teachers and reading teachers ask me about sites that have stories online where students can HEAR the book being read to them.  While there are several sites that do this, very few of them have the words or captions that go along with the passage.  These sites make good learning stations for students in your classroom.  Here are some of my favorites:

Storyline Online is a website sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild. There are several celebrities who offer their talents to read a best-loved children’s book on video.  Stream the video to watch the actor read the story complete with story book pictures and captions that you can turn on or off.  A few of my favorites on this site are: Stellaluna, Knots on a Counting Rope, and The Night I Followed the Dog.   This is a GREAT SITE!  This site is for elementary school students.

Loudlit.org is a site that boasts “literature for your eyes and ears”, and they’re right.  The website features novels, poetry, historical documents, children’s books, and short stories that you can read and follow along as someone reads it to you.  You can stream the audio or download it.  I especially like the poetry section since it helps students hear how poetry should be read with pauses and breaks.  Famous pieces that are featured (and here are just a FEW): The Highwayman, The Raven, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Tale of Two Cities.  This site primarily targets secondary students, but there are some selections for primary aged kids.

ByGosh.com is a good source for digital text online, although it doesn’t read the text to you.  However, many teachers have the use of text-to-speech software that allows them to copy and paste text into the program to read it to the student.  This site has items for elementary and secondary students.

At Childtopia, there are seven stories that you can hear read out loud to you.  This is definitely geared for elementary school students.

My favorite of these sites used to be Tumble Books - not featured here since they have recently turned their site into a paid site.  Previously their content had been completely free.  If your school is willing to pay for a subscription, this site would be worth your time and money.

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So you think you are an expert at the child’s game Tic Tac Toe?  Now try it in 3D at MathsNet Interactive!  This game was designed in 3D to prevent the first player from always winning.  Instead of connecting three in a row to win, you have to connect two rows that meet at a right angle to form an “L”.  You are the blue marbles, and the computer plays the part of the red.  By clicking and dragging the 3D shape, you can rotate and spin the cube so that you can see your game board from all angles.  Check it out!  This would be a great follow-up activity to teaching about 3D solids in Geometry, not to mention it would also work well with an Interactive Whiteboard.

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If you have an interactive whiteboard (Promethean, SMART, or Polyvision), it’s always nice to know where you can find websites that work especially well with your board.  A site that may not be suitable to use with your class in the computer lab could be very valuable once you use it with your interactive whiteboard in a whole group instructional setting.

As I was searching for interactive whiteboard links, I came across this site by ETTC (Educational Technology Training Center).  The site has tons of links suitable for your interactive whiteboard.  But the best part of the site is that the links are broken down by elementary sites, middle school sites, and high school sites.  ETTC also separates the links by subject area: math, language arts, science, social studies, music, PE, art, software, tutorials, and other.

It’s the best list I have seen to date.  I looked at about 70% of the sites under “elementary” and was astonished that the sites were of high quality.   There is nothing worse than a hotlist of sites that suck.

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Okay – I know I feature a lot of websites, but maybe it’s because I know how hard it is to get software approved for classroom use in the schools today. I came across this website called “Build Your Wild Self” put out by New York Zoos and Aquariums. The site starts you will a human boy or girl template, and allows you to change different parts of your body to animal parts. Why would you want to do this? Besides being fun for children and adults, teachers can incorporate this into their classroom for creative writing or science. Just think: Let students create themselves as an animal, print it out, and then write about it. Students can explain how their new animal body parts allow them to survive in the chosen habitat. Or how about different writing topics to go along with this such as:

• Explain how your life would be different if you came home from school looking like this.
• What sports or activties would you be good at now that you are part animal?
• Research the different animals that you picked and why you would want to be like that animal.

Another great site is Switch Zoo. This site used to be entirely free, but over the last year or so they started packaging the “game” for sale on CD. I have to admit, this is one of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher. You find a great, free site to use with your class, and as soon as you make it part of your routine, the site becomes a paid site. Anyway, some features of this site are still free (just enough to hook you). I had my class create a new animal, print it out in color, and then build a habitat out of clay to match their new animal. Have your class:

1. Create a name for the new animal
2. Create a habitat
3. Explain how the animal adapts to survive in the habitat
4. Explain what the animal eats, how it gets food, and how it protects itself.
5. Write a creative story about the new animal:
   1. “My New Pet”
   2. “A Strange Day at the Zoo”

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Podcasting became one of the headlines in Frederick’s Gazette newspaper this past week.  Margarita Raycheva crafted a wonderful article highlighting the benefits of podcasting with students.  What exactly is a podcast?  A podcast is like a radio show that is posted to the Internet and can be subscribed to via RSS feed.  The beauty of podcasting is that students are the stars of the show.  Since the children want time in front of the microphone, they are motivated to research and write scripts to turn into podcasts.  Some teachers use podcasts scripts as a part of the student’s writing grade.  Since anyone in the world can subscribe to the podcast once it is posted, a student’s family members can subscribe to the podcast from anywhere. Last year our third grade podcast had hits from Korea due to one student who had extended family living there. How much more motivating and engaging can it be to have people around the world listen to your show? 

Our class used free software called Audacity to record the show. We found music clips from MagnaTune that allows people to include their music for podcasts.  In a podcast, there can be many different types of segments:

• Word of the Day
• Tips for learning your math facts
• This Day in History
• Interviews with real guest speakers or fictional guests (like George Washington)
• Reading Fluency practice with stories
• Animal Facts
• Where in the World? (Geographical clues to a mystery location)
• Factual reports
• Persuasive speeches
• School songs

Teachers can podcast to create a review for a test or to record a lecture.  What a great way to catch up or get ahead in class!  One of the best examples of a school podcast site that I have seen is Radio Willow Web.  They have been a model for other schools all over the country and have been published in several books and articles.  My only regret with podcasting is that I didn’t try it sooner.  It was the only activity that fully engaged every learner in my classroom regardless of ability level.

If the above YouTube link is blocked in your browser, click here to see the video at TeacherTube.com.

 Another short and sweet video from Lee Lefever on wikis, which is a common space that can be edited by several people and therefore promotes collaboration.  Wikis can be used for students and for professionals.  TechLearning had a great article on how wikis can be used in the classroom, and Ben Wilkoff has a very powerful way to utilize wikis with his students in The Discovery -Ism Project and The Discovery Utopia project.  Both are work checking out. 

Ben Wilkoff is a perfect example of how we can channel the energy of our digital learners.

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Okay, Okay, I know I have a lot of blogs about science and astronomy.  I think it’s because science lends itself so well to be illustrated with technology.  The Japan Science and Technology Agency has a website called “Earth Guide” that has detailed, interactive pictures that cover such topics as, “Where is the earth located in the Milky Way Galaxy?”, “How different is the earth from the other planets?”, and “How big are the earth’s oceans?”  Even though the site has advanced vocabulary, teachers can still make use of this site for the pictures alone.  Once the picture is projected, the teacher can explain in easier language to communicate the objective.  Visual connections are very powerful when teaching about space, when everything is on a such a large scale that most students may not be able to comprehend.  Older students will most likely be able to use this site for an independent assignment, and younger kids will benefit from the visual appeal. 

Thumbs up for the website!

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMhGpzyFdhE]

The makers of Google Earth have unleashed their latest creation: Google Sky, which is available within the newest version of Google Earth. Basically, it is just like Google Earth, but the camera is pointed to the sky.   Head over to their website to see the latest features.  Google Sky allows you to see planets, starts, the moon, constellations, galaxies, and the atmosphere.  Using this program with an interactive whiteboard will allow students to interact with the program for a hands-on activity.  Google Earth continues to add features that make it a powerful teaching tool to help students visualize the enormous size of our planet and space.  Check it out!

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Digital storytelling is a powerful tool to motivate reluctant writers in the classroom.  Microsoft Photo Story 3 is a free download that works on Windows XP and Windows Vista and is incredibly easy to use. 

How can you use Photo Story to motivate writing in the classroom? Try these ideas:

1.  Write about a field trip using your digital pics from your destination

2.  Act out reader’s theater scripts or stories, take pictures, and have children write about the plot, conflict, solution, setting, or theme

3.  Visually show your classroom routine using Photo Story

4.  Visually emphasize new vocabulary

5.  Narrate the steps to a science project or math investigation

There is a visual tutorial of Photo Story for those who like to see what they are downloading before they commit to it.  I recommend it if you are one who doesn’t like to “play” around on software in order to figure it out.

Basically, there are 6 steps to creating a photo story.

1.  Open Photo Story and import your pictures using the icon.  Select multiple pictures in your folder by using the “shift” or “control” button.  Click “upload”.

2. You’ll see all of your uploaded photos on a filmstrip bar at the bottom of the screen.  Click and drag them to change their order in the story.  Click “next”.

3.  Add text to the pictures by clicking on an individual picture and adding text in the caption box.  By clicking on the “effect” button under the individual photo, you can add and effect such as “black and white”.  Click “next”.

4.  Add narration to your story.  Using a microphone, click “record” and speak your narration for each slide.  When you are done with each slide, click onto the next one and continue speaking.  Photo Story will automatically add timings to your photos based on how long you talk.  Clicking the “Customize Motion” button under each photo will allow you to choose transitions between photos.

5.  Add background music.  Choose your own music from your files or use music provided to you from the software.

6.  Save your story. 

That’s it!  By including a group of photos in a file folder on a shared drive in your school, you can have students access photos easily to create digital storytelling projects.  Try and let me know what you think!

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With children growing up in a digital age, many kids have access to technology in their homes.  After 10 years of teaching in elementary school, it suprised me how many students had access to technology in their bedrooms.  “I don’t care if I’m sent to my room,” I heard one child say, “because I have a TV, a DVD player, a CD player, a computer, and I love to IM my friends.”  In one scary instance, I had a female student tell me about a new friend she was meeting in the local park after spending the evening chatting over Instant Messaging.  I called her parents, who contacted authorities, and a distaster was averted.  This time. 

 Kids need to be aware of the dangers on the Internet.  How do parents and educators start this dialogue with students?  There are several websites available to kids, parents, and educators with a variety of resources in digital and print form. 

 On the top of my list is the website sponsored by The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children called Netsmartz. There are separate sections for parents, teachers, and kids, but certainly adults should look at all of these resources and not just the ones under their “tab”.  For example, the kids section has several interactive games that tell about the dangers of the Internet from spam to viruses to online predators. There is a very powerful game (about 2 minutes long) called “Who’s Your Friend on the Internet?”  I projected this game in my college technology class to a group of current teachers, and they ended up making the same mistakes that children do.  Lesson: You can NEVER be too careful. 

There is also a website just for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  They report that “approximately one in seven youths (10 to 17 years) experience a sexual solicitation or approach while online”.  Talking to your children and educating them about the Internet is the best place to start to prevent something from happening.

In addition, ChatDanger is a site “all about the potential dangers on interactive services online like chat, IM, online games, email and on mobiles”. 

Finally, SafeKids.com is a site that has a nice list of print resources including family contracts for online safety and guidelines for parents.

 Hopefully, these resources provide a starting point for discussion for your children or your students so we can be committed to keeping them safe.