Welcome back! Let's kick it off with Daily Infographic.

Hello and welcome back everyone!  The first week of school is just about over!  I won't go on to tell you how many are left....but just know that it's going to be a GREAT year!

I wanted to post about a neat site I found just a few days ago: Daily Infographic.

So, what is an infographic, exactly?  Well, Information Graphics are simply visualizations of some form of data or knowledge.  It can be the results of a survey, a how-to method, or some other set of information.  The graphic part makes the info easily followed and pretty.

Daily Infographic publishes an infographic, found from the web, every weekday.  The topics vary greatly, but they are always jam packed with great information.  If you find one that relates to your lesson (and yes, the collection is searchable and "browse-able" by category!) you could literally take a whole class period to scroll through and discuss what's shown.

Here is an interesting example about jobs for recent grads...something to show seniors, maybe?
Click on it to enlarge:

Check out the site and even follow it to stay updated on the newest Infographic each day!

Another School Year Done

Well, it looks as if we have come to the end of another year.  I hope everyone had a great one!    I won't be writing any blog entries over the summer, but as we both have to admit, September will be here before we know it, and I'll be back to write about all those great tools out there for you to use with your new classes!  So, take some time in the next few weeks to enjoy the weather and relax a little!  Happy Summer!!

~Amber

Did you Know About Gmail +1?

A lot of the sites I feature require a log in and or registering with an email.  I know that this can be a dangerous area for many school districts due to the legal issues associated with school-sponsored emails, cyberbullying, etc.  So today I wanted to share one of the solutions to this problem that I use.

If you want your students to sign up for a Web 2.0 site such as Animoto, Prezi, Toon Doo, etc, you can sign up for a free Gmail account.  If you sign up for a Gmail account, say penguinsslide@gmail.com [NOT ACTUAL EMAIL!...At least, not an email where you can contact me], you automatically get access to a plus-one feature.  This means that you can use your Gmail account as many different email accounts, simply by adding "+1".  For example: penguinsslide+1@gmail.com is seen as a different email from penguinsslide+2@gmail.com.

You could assign a different +number to each student in your class so they could each have "their own" email!

The best part about all this is that while each email with a different +number is seen as individual, all emails sent to that address get sent to the main email: penguinsslide@gmail.com.  You, being the only one with the password to the account, are the only one able to check the email.  While this makes for quite a few emails to check for account activation, it ensures that your students are not getting any inappropriate email.

Try it out and leave me a comment to let me know what you think!  If you have any questions, just email me!

Sheppard Software - Educational games and review online

Today's site is Sheppard Software, a collection of fun online games that helps students review, learn, and progress in several subjects.  The site can be used K-12 and beyond.  They even recommend the best games and activities to use based on grade level (seen by scrolling down to the bottom of the home page). 

Some of my favorites are:
Geography - Practice at different  levels of difficulty; explore, learn, and test yourself in identifying capitals and countries for all the countries of the world.

Science (Animals) - Learn more about the food chain, and producer/consumer relationships in these fun games!

Grammar - Practice parts of speech and punctuation placement!  Or, for higher level students, check out SAT and GRE vocab!

 The site also offers free software downloads of some of their games for teachers!  Have fun and check it out!



**NOTE: I found that this site is best used with internet explorer.

eSkeletons - No Bones About it!

Let's face it, we all have some "skeletons in the closet", right?  Maybe one of yours is lack of cool resources about skeletal anatomy?  Let's face it, drawings in text books can be "bone dry".  Well, the resource for today is one you can use to really "bone up" on skeleton info about human and several primates.  Ok, sorry enough with the puns.

E Skeletons from The University of Texas at Austin offers more information about human and non-human primate skeletal anatomy than you can shake a femur at!  Click on one of the specific skeltons to look more closely at all the different parts.  You can get different views of each specific bone (just click on an area, choose the bone you want to see {listed under the skeleton}, and choose the different views to get an in-depth look).

The site can definitely be used at a college level with all the information available.  However, being able to just see the bones isolated from the rest of the skeletal structure would be beneficial for as low as a 5th grade class studying human anatomy. 

The Bald Eagle Cam - Decorah Eagles on Ustream

Another amazing live webcam for today!  Watch a pair of bald eagles care for their newly hatched chicks 24/7!  Watch the embedded video below, or go to the Ustream page to check it out for yourself. One note though....don't forget that bald eagles are carnivores so be prepared to see dead animals brought back to feed the chicks!





Live TV by Ustream

This webcam is brought to you by the Raptor Resource Project.  The eagles are located in Decorah, Iowa at a fish hatchery.  

Future Me - Time Traveling Through Email

Here's a really cool site: Future Me.  Use it to send an email to yourself in the future!  The time span can be days, weeks, months, even years (up to 2061)!  All you do is compose an email to your future self and the site will keep it until the the delivery date that you choose.  The only trick is to make sure that you send the email to an address that you are most likely to still have in that all-mysterious future....possibly a gmail, yahoo, or hotmail account instead of a work account.
 

Possible uses for this in your classroom?  Have your students write emails to themselves with goals for the school year.  Did they accomplish in June what they were hoping to accomplish in September?  What about freshman students writing to themselves as seniors?  What would they say to themselves?

One note: you may want to add "mailer@futureme.org" to your non-spam list since that is the address from which your email will be delivered.

Online Word Searches

 Looking for word searches that you can use on your Interactive Whiteboard?  Here's a couple:

Online Word Search has a few hundred pre-made word searches that you can complete online.  Choose from different categories to match what you are doing in your curriculum.  I like how the words are sometimes a little challenging...making for a great vocabulary-expanding teachable moment.

Freeology offers a Make Your Own Word Search tool that creates a simple word search, perfect for use on your Interactive Board.  Simply list the words you would like to include and then use the tabs above the gadget to customize further, if so desired.  Once you create a puzzle, it appears in a new window or tab and you use the cross hairs to locate and highlight words.  Once found, the question mark by the word in the list disappears.  The only downfall is that the puzzles cannot be saved.  So, make sure you print them out if you would like to keep them before you reload the page or close your browser. 

Happy searching!

Scale of the Universe - Wow. Just wow.

Do you ever get the feeling that you're like a speck of dust compared to all that's out there?  Maybe you get the feeling that you're a giant walking among all the tiny bits of existence?  Either way, the website for today will amaze you!  You're both, really!  Check out The Scale of the Universe to give you and your students a look at how small and how large we really are.

I can't help but love the mystical sounding music that comes with the site too.  I think it really sets the atmosphere for "scientific wonderment".


NOTE:  As long as you don't scroll down the page, you should be alright, but just so you all know, there are comments below the Scale and not all are exactly appropriate.  Again though, they will not be visible unless you scroll down.

Project Gutenberg - Free eBooks and audio books online

I would like to share the Project Gutenberg site today.  This is a site where you can download thousands of free eBooks, and some audiobooks.  While the site does not house the most recent, NY Times bestsellers, there are thousands of classics for your perusal. 

Some examples of the content that I found on the site are:
The works of authors such as; William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Dostoevsky, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Mark Twain.  There are also such classics as; The Odyssey, The Scarlet Letter, Turn of the Screw, The Bible, Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness, The Sherlock Holmes tales, Beowulf, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre,and hundreds more.

Project Gutenberg is also available to download the books to your PC, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android, iPod, or other portable device!  Read them at home or on the go!  I'll be starting Jane Eyre soon!

Youngzine - News for kids

 

Looking for a current events site for kids?  Check out Youngzine.  Using this site, students are able to read current events articles, comment on those articles, and even submit some of their own writing  to the site.  The comments are moderated by the staff at the site, as are any submitted articles.  If you sign up as a teacher, you are even able to create a "classroom" where students use a unique code to join your class.  Once the students are associated with you, you are able to see what they commented on and all their site activity.

A unique defining feature of Youngzine is the students' ability to earn points as they use the site.  As they read articles, comment, rate, and take quizzes (yes there are even pre-made quizzes!) they earn points that go towards earning them a spot on the Hall of Fame!

The news is split up into World News, Science and Tech, Our Earth, Society and Arts, and Sports.  There is also a games section where users can read comic strips and play games (to be used if a student has finished their work). So, check out this kid-friendly, Slide-approved current events site!

Snag Films: Documentaries To-Go

Hello everyone.  A while ago I posted about a site where you could find documentaries online (freedocumentaries.org).  Today I wanted to share with you another one I have come across: Snag Films.  This site also hosts a bunch of documentaries that you can search through and play online.

In the words of the site creators themselves,
"SnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free, but we’re also a platform that lets you “snag” a film and put it anywhere on the web. With a library of over 1500 films, and rapidly growing, you’re bound to find films that resonate with your interests. We make it easy for you to find a film that shines a light on a cause you care about. You can then open a virtual movie theater on any web site, so any one can watch your favorite SnagFilms for free."

I think documentaries are a great way to spark discussion in the classroom and raise awareness of topics that may or may not be covered in the typical "nightly newscasts".  Plus, you are able to embed previews of the movies from the site on your blog or website (but you must be on the actual site to watch it in it's entirety).  You can also save your spot to come back to later (without an account!) if you run out of time watching the movie...most of them are an hour at least so you will need to do this!

Here's one I found:

Watch more free documentaries

Check it out and see what you can find. :)

Dropbox

Ever get sick of carrying around jump drives?  How about when you constantly have to email things to yourself?   I can get tedious!  Believe me, I know!  I have found a solution though!  Dropbox is a free online resource and download-able program that allows you to keep your files on the web where you can get to them whenever you want...even without an Internet connection.  To use Dropbox, simply go to the site, and create an account.  There are several videos and documents that will help you get adjusted to using Dropbox right there for you.  You can then download the Dropbox folder to keep on your desktop.  This feature allows you to access your files without Internet (once the files have synced).

Why would you want to do this again?  What's so bad about a jump drive you ask?  Let me give you a scenario:

You have your computer at school and your computer at home.  To be able to work on documents on both, you have to carry them back and forth on a jump drive, or email them to yourself.  Well, since jump drives are such small devices, who knows what can happen to them!  Washing machine, car tires, Rover, garbage disposal, static electricity, you name it!  When using Dropbox, you can upload a file online at school.  Then, you travel home (where you have downloaded the desktop version of Dropbox).  Your files will be there waiting for you!  Edit them at home, save them, and when you go back to school the next morning, there are your finished files, either online or in the desktop version you have downloaded on your school computer.

For an even better explanation, check out the Dropbox Tour Video

Basically, it's an online storage area.  You can even share files that you want with other Dropbox users!  You get 2GB for free, with room for more space free if you convince a friend (or 12) to sign up! Check it out and you will instantly love this life-saver!

Learning about Tsunamis

**UPDATED 3/16** (see below)

A terrible tragedy has struck Japan.  As we hope and pray for the people dealing with this disaster, done justice in the video below (seems to work best in Firefox), we can learn about the science behind the tsunami.

Here are some sites that I have found to provide information on tsunamis, earthquakes, and dealing with natural disasters:

• Tsunamis explained, 9-12
• http://www.livescience.com/13187-japan-earthquake-tsunami-science-faq.html
• Lesson ideas, information, and more, K-12
• http://www.thinkfinity.org/tsunami
• Tsunamis explained, 3-8
• http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-tsunami/ 
• Also, be sure to check out the "Let's Make Waves" activity to learn more about how waves work:  
• http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/gen_act/ocean/wave.html
• Interactive map of affected areas  
• http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/newsgraphics/2011/0311-japan-earthquake-map/index.html 

**NEW***
A teacher I work with shared this site from ABC Australia that is a shocking Before & After glimpse of Japan's devastation.

 

Want to help?  Donate to the Red Cross.

Happy Pi Day!

Hello all! Math geeks, rejoice, it is Pi Day.  Want to know more about this day based upon 3.14?  Check out piday.org to learn all about that famous, mysterious, infinite number that we all love so dearly.

PS. This post was posted at exactly 1:59 pm, according to my computer ;)

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091456485669234603486104543266482133936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209209628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841469519415116094330572703657595919530921861173819326117931051185480744623799627495673518857527248912279381830119491298336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798609437027705392171762931767523846748184676694051320005681271452635608277857713427577896091736371787214684409012249534301465495853710507922796892589235420199561121290219608640344181598136297747713099605187072113499999983729780499510597317328160963185950244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881710100031378387528865875332083814206171776691473035982534904287554687311595628638823537875937519577818577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989380952572010654858632788659361533818279682303019520353018529689957736225994138912497217752834791315155748572424541506959508295331168617278558890750983817546374649393...