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!