QR Scavenger Hunt

I always say that I love QR codes! Elementary students can use them easily and you can do anything with them. I came across this fraction as decimals QR scavenger hunt that I thought would be really cool. It wouldn't be hard to make one similar if you didn't want to buy it. 

http://theelementarymathmaniac.blogspot.com/2014/01/writing-fractions-and-decimals-as.html 

Science Apps

I came across this site for great kid-friendly science apps and I thought I would share. 

Click here to see the list of apps. 

Internet Safety

If you are looking for things to do next week, here are some internet-safety videos since we are about to send them home for the summer. Extra free time on the internet could get our friends in trouble. 

BrainPop about Internet Safety

https://jr.brainpop.com/health/besafe/internetsafety/

Here are some great tips we can share with parents. I love the tips that they have listed. It's too easy to search on the internet/instagram/twitter/fB/snapchat/etc. and for some kids it's hard to communicate what happened or what they saw because they think they will get in trouble or get someone else in trouble.  https://disneyprivacycenter.com/internet-safety/

Youtube

How many times have you shown a Youtube video holding your breath because something bad could pop up on the side of the screen? Yes...every teacher! I may be tardy to this party but I just discovered View Pure. Find the youtube video you want, copy the link, go to http://viewpure.com/ and paste link. It takes away all of the ads and worry! Classroom teacher life changer!

New App to Try

I just came across an app called Emaze. It's similar to Powerpoint and Prezi except the templates are really cool. It's web-based like Prezi meaning you can work on it on both ipads and computers. It seems pretty cool. I used my mrapats.org email address to create an account because it's only $2.90 per month. Of course free is better but maybe it will be free soon?

Here is a preview:

This is what it looks like when you log in:

Google Drive

Let me tell you how much Google Drive has changed my life. Want to start a document, form, spreadsheet, or slide on your computer at school and finish it on your iPad, home computer or phone?

Google apps are amazing! School accounts have unlimited storage so literally every picture or file that I create goes into my Drive and I can never fill it up.

The fifth graders are usually my "test group" with new ideas I have. They have all been given school email accounts that we are using Drive with. They can start a paper in my room, share it with their teacher to proofread, and pick up an iPad in their classroom to finish typing or editing. It's going to change the way a lot of things are done. I'm all about simplifying.

I walk around with my phone in my hand all the time because my docs are synced and I can access my schedules, etc. from my app. If you are a teacher that wants to utilize Google apps, let me know and I will get you started!

I know some of you are reading and panicking that you will have one more email to keep up with. You won't! You will still email through outlook like you always do. The email part doesn't change because we will forward your email to your regular school account. Your gmail account will be .com and your school email is .org but when you reply to an email through your outlook, it will reply from your regular school email.

You will just login to drive.google.com to access your Google Drive.

Very user friendly!

Virtual Field Trips

If you can't make it to the Smithsonian, you can do a virtual tour of it instead! I absolutely love this one because you can interact with it, there is no crowd, and you can see everything. Most of the time at a museum the kids are racing through to get to the next thing, but I really think this is a great way to keep them engaged and interested.  http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/ 

This is a virtual field trip that a kindergarten teacher made for his students. It's a trip to the moon and has some neat ideas on how to make it special. https://sites.google.com/a/asd.edu.qa/kg-visits-space/

You can see that it's not overly complicated. If you can't make it on a field trip, you can make one for your students online with a little bit of creativity (and help if you need it)!

Science website

I came across a site called Nature Works Everywhere (natureworkseverywhere.org) that has science lessons, videos, and gardening for schools. The videos seem to be interesting. As always, watch them before you show your class but I think there are some good things here. 

Smithsonian website

A great online resource for science, art, language arts, history, or creative lesson plan ideas is the Smithsonian's education website. They have some great pdf's and even a great ebook that we used with the third grade. http://smithsonianeducation.org

Kahoot!

I've used Kahoot! before but not in my classroom. It would be such a fun and interactive way to review, poll your students, practice facts, lead a discussion, or give any informal assessment. It would be good for regular classrooms and enrichments. I will use it in computer!

Each student will need an iPad or computer to participate. You will need to create a free account. Very quick. It doesn't ask you 1,000 questions. Go to https://getkahoot.com 

This is what your teacher account will look like when you create it. Under "Create new Kahoot!" you have the options of quiz, discussion, or survey. 

The students don't need a login. All they need is a a phone, iPad, or computer. When you create your quiz or whatever you create, it will give you a pin. The students will go to https://kahoot.it  type in your pin, type in their name, and it will show a list of all of the students that are "in." No email address or profiles necessary.

You can kick students out by clicking on their names if they put something inappropriate in place of their name...that's a plus.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Lego building online

This may not be a "classroom teachable" lesson but it sure would be cool for down-time, inside recess, etc. You could maybe even use it for a science lesson? I'm not sure. Google Chrome paired up with Lego to create a "stem online lego lab" of some sorts.

You can learn to build things, explore things that other people have built, or build from scratch whatever you want. This would be really cool for lego-loving kids or our techie kids. You don't have to sign in to build or play, but if you want to save what you have done, you will have to sign in using a google account. https://www.buildwithchrome.com 

Free online books

First graders are getting ready to take AR tests on their own so we have read several ebooks using our apple tv to practice taking tests. I came across this website while I was looking for free online books. It's called We Give Books. You can click the link or type it into your web browser. (Clicking is easier.) http://www.wegivebooks.org They have about 200 books that are easy reads. Some of the books require you to create an account to view but most of them say "Read Now" when you move your cursor over them. 

Anytime I come across a good ebook, I always go to http://www.arbookfind.com to make sure it's an AR book. 

This is also a good site to tell you where to find free ebooks. http://www.kcedventures.com/blog/finding-free-kids-books-online-books-for-kids#_a5y_p=974615

Feel free to share other sources. I have lots pinned on my pinterest.

-Kelly