PhotobucketPhotobucket

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Embedit.in

Here is our Slideshow...Finally!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
This free slideshow design customized with Smilebox
 The kids really loved this activity! They did everything but upload the Word Clouds into Smilebox. This was an interactive and different way to study grammar/parts of speech.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A Work in Progress

The Word Clouds are uploaded and ready to go! I'll be making a slideshow this weekend-especially since I received a FREE teacher upgrade from Smilebox.

Monday, June 20, 2011

ABCya and Smilebox

Whew! Today the kids worked on a culminating activity for our PARTS OF SPEECH unit of study. This is what it entails:

  • each student adds 10-15 words about one topic (eg nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs...)
  • on their sheet, kids must have descriptive words and synonyms
  • after double checking spelling and neatness, kids showed me their sheets
  • if everything looks good, next step
Tomorrow, kids will type their list into ABCya's Word Cloud program (free and easy form of WORDLE). I will download their Word Clouds onto my flashdrive and make a PARTS OF SPEECH slideshow in Smilebox
I will post the slideshow when it is finished.
So, so, so, excited!!!

I borrowed this idea from "Techie Teacher"'s blog; what a wonderfully fun idea.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Bitstrips for Schools is an Amazing Resource

Bitstrips for Schools is a program that our school board purchased for use in both elementary and secondary schools. We have used it in our classroom for multiple tasks like; Emotional Literacy, fairy tales, and even math reflections.
Students love, love, love this program. There are many free cartoon-making websites and I encourage everyone to try one out...the kiddos will be glad you did.

VoiceThread for Learning Reflections

Cool site for reflecting on learning
Okay, so I have to admit that this one is very new to me. I created an account and am going to ask my kids to reflect on Bitstrips using VoiceThread. We will either use our avatars from Bitstrips or make new ones in KidPix. All that is required is a lot of patience (lol); especially this week as it is the end of the school year. 
In order to have a good idea how this works, I added a couple of "identities" and did the voices myself. It is actually very easy once you try it out and get the hang of it. I highly recommend, although the setup (which is the biggest part) takes a little while.
I will add each kid in my class as one of my "identities" and will then let them either type or record their feelings about Bitstrips...we'll see how it goes.
Click the link to see my project in action!

VoiceThread as Reflection Tool

PREZI & Learning Goals

The ZOOMING PRESENTATION program
In March, I made a Prezi to show my Pathway. It is a fairly easy "zooming presentation" program. I have shown kids from grades 5-9 how to use this resource, but have yet to show my kiddos in
grade 2/3. It is a fancy way to showcase a project, and kids pick it up really fast.
Like most of the technology I incorporate, it is a free program that offers basic features. In order to get the advanced options, a membership must be bought.
Click on the link below if you'd like to view my Prezi.

Learning Goals February-March by K Kelly

GLOGSTER

Glogster Learning Goals
My grade 2/3 class and I made a GLOGSTER to develop our latest pathway. Kids chose the graphics, font, colours, background and wording while I typed in the information. There are countless examples of what a teacher can do with this interactive, highly engaging program. It has been used by kids but also by teachers to grab the attention of students at the beginning of a unit of study. Seriously, this is a fabulous site.
I highly recommend GLOGSTER as a tool for grades 1-12...there is so much that you can do with this program. The basic package is free, however, if you want to upgrade there is a fee.
For a larger view, please click on the link below...

GLOGSTER April-May Learning Goals K Kelly

My First Post

Well, this is my very first post on my very own blog. I am hoping to use my blog as a timeline...and also to post ideas and/or information that I found interesting or useful.