31 LAB STEAM NEWS
Spring Digital Resources Spotlight 31lab.nyc
April is National Poetry Month
Encourage your child to unleash their inner poet using digital literacy tools to publish online. I've compiled a short list of online resources to help support rainy day projects at home. After all, April Showers shouldn't stop creativity!
Acrostic Poems
Acrostic poems turn the letters in a topic into the beginning lines of a poem that expand on that main idea. Click this link to create your very own acrostic poem online.
Haiku Poetry
A Haiku is a Japanese poem. Haiku poems are usually about elements in nature but modern poems can be about anything as long as you follow the syllable rules. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the last has 5. This online Haiku tool will help you follow the rules but it won't stop your creativity!
Publish Your Child's Original Poems
Take your child's poetry and help them publish it digitally. I just recently discovered this resource and think you might like to take a look. Storybird.com will allow children to publish stories and poems into hardcover books or framed digital art renderings.
Free App of the Month
Please remember if you ever want to look for apps to support any area of study I encourage you to visit Graphite.org for grade level and content area apropriate tools. There are outstanding tools that are rated by teachers, both free and paid.
This app will assist in digital storytelling. They can add pictures, text, and audio to create amazing presentations. This app could be a perfect outlet for student poetry pieces and a great way for them to showcase their creativity with support from an adult at home.
Dance Mat Typing- Keyboarding Practice With a Friendly Goat
Keyboarding skills- An approach that is actually fun to practice. Encourage your child to practice that "home row position" at home in a way that is fun! Students in grades K-3 can have fun challenging themselves to "not look down' with the help of a friendly goat using "Dance Mat Typing".
Computer Science- Programming Skills
Students may feel like they are playing Angry Birds, Minecraft, Plants vs. Zombies but you'll be giving them the gift of code. If your child asks to "play" online, why not let them play productively. Have your child log in to their Code Studio account for extra credit or explore other sites offering code like Tynker.