Get Your Kids Interested in Government with iCivics!

Today is the big day!  Time to vote!  In celebration of our nation's finest quality, I want to highlight a great site that will help your students understand the different branches of our government and see that the jobs of politicians are not always easy!

Check out iCivics and go to the game section where your students can be immersed in the life of a lawyer in the Supreme Court, a legislator, or even the president!  These are real eye-openers!

Awesome online science with LHS Kids

The first site of the year is a branch of Lawrence Hall of Science from the University of Berkley called LHS Kids. 

LHS Kids has some really great places to check out.  Your students can do an online experiment like testing materials for cleaning up oil spills and learning about the functionality of different bird beaks.  Students can follow along with the experiments, fill in their answers, and even submit their final findings for comparison with other kids using the site!

Students can also check out pictures and videos of ongoing exhibits at the museum, take online quizzes, play arcade games, listen to whale sounds, and learn about interesting animals.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Memorial Day

Getting ready for Memorial Day?  Here are some resources to help your classes (K-12) honor the day of remembrance for our Armed Forces.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM!!!!

-A general list of resources including worksheets craft ideas and more: The Teacher's Corner - Memorial Day

• Some of my favorites from the previously mentioned list:
• Web Hunt 
• Hand Print Flag Craft Idea 
• Lesson Idea for Our State's Roll in Vietnam
• Vietnam Vets Memorial - Online

-Thinkfinity is also highlighting some specific resources in honor or Memorial Day.  Check them out here.

• Really neat interactive from the Thinkfinity resources: 
• explore a virtual museum of war artifacts

Thinkfinity Has THOUSANDS of FREE Resources!

Thinkfinity is a site hosted by Verizon that is a portal for teachers to find free interactive resources and lesson plans.  It is easy to get overwhelmed by Thinkfinity and all that it has to offer, but just use the search tool to find lessons and interactives based on any one of; grade level, standards, resource type, subject, or site sponsor/partner.

Some examples of interactives I have found include poetry writing, the history of blues music, fractions illustrated, practicing area of different shapes, and many many more.  The site also has a highlights feature on the home page that focuses on certain topics each month.

I strongly encourage you to explore Thinkfinity to see what resources you can use in your classroom!

Crayola for Educators

Need some creative ideas?  Check out Crayola Online for Educators.  Here, you can find searchable lesson plans, activity ideas, inspiration for art techniques, and even a cute certificate maker!  Just create a free account (don't forget to uncheck the box for receiving emails if you don't want to get them!) and you're all set to go!

Happy Earth Day!

Looking to celebrate the planet with your class?  Here's a great little collection of Earth Day activities, lesson ideas, printouts, and crafts from Picadome Elementary in Kentucky.

Please peruse to pass on pertinent propaganda to pupils so our planet persists purely!

 ...Sorry, I was feeling like an alliteration was necessary today. :)

EdVideo Replacement

I'm hoping that by now, you have all heard that Powermedia Plus a.k.a. EdVideo is being yanked at the end of the school year.  So, we are forced to find a replacement. Vital New York is another site that (for now) is free to teachers.  Here, you can download or view videos in your web browser.  It works a lot like EdVideo, it's just not as extensive. When you go to the site, click on the Test Drive to see if there are comparable videos to what you have been using from EdVideo.  I'll follow up with details later about signing up for a real registration.

Vital New York

The SMART Exchange

Sorry for the late start today.  It was a busy day at the office!

Today's site is a great tool for finding (and uploading) great work. At the SMART Exchange, you can search notebook files that have been uploaded by teachers all over.  Tweak what you find, or use it as is!  You can even click on the "Share a Resource" tab to upload a notebook file that you think could benefit someone!  Happy hunting!

The SMART Exchange

Oh! I forgot to mention that there is a standards-correlated search feature that will browse files based on the New York Core Curriculum.  How cool!

Teachers Love SMART Boards

If you take only one thing from this blog, it should be the site I'm going to share with you today.  This site is a blog in itself, dedicated to the sharing of K-12 SMART lessons, resources, ideas, and activities.  You could spend hours looking at new and archived entries with hundreds of ideas and downloads available for your use.  I would also recommend subscribing to the site's newsletter: The Smart Insider.

Teachers Love SMART Boards