3 for Thursday
November 20, 2014
1. Fun With Trading Cards
Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Superhero Squad....kids love trading cards! How can you use this to your advantage? Big Huge Labs offers a trading card maker that's sure to be a hit. Use for biographies, character analysis, science vocabulary, riddles, number stories, and more to get students writing! Create your own set of character, setting, and plot cards to use in the writing center. You will also find a nice trading card maker at ReadWriteThink. And be sure to check out the other cool photo tools at Big Huge Labs.
2. Zaption App Now Available
A while back, I shared a resource with you called Zaption. To recap the features of this product, visit zaption.com or review my previous 3 for Thursday. Now Zaption is offering a free app for iPhone and iPad which allows users to interact with the Zaption content in the same way they would from a computer. Instead of just viewing the content, students can now submit answers right from their devices. And they don't need to register. They simply choose to view a "tour" without logging in, then enter the 8 digit code provided by the teacher. This code is the last 8 characters of the link generated when a teacher selects "share". This is a great resource made even better! Zaptions are super easy to make from scratch or you can copy from the Zaption gallery. Although the pro version is $79 per year, the free version offers great options!
3. Holiday Ideas
Looking for holiday resources? I've rounded up some things that may interest you:) First up, check out these flipcharts that can be downloaded from Promethean. If you don't have a Promethean account (which is free), you will need to sign up in order to download. Let students type their Santa letters this year using this nice PowerPoint Template that includes a graphic organizer. After all, Santa is getting old-his eyes aren't what they used to be! Or you could make a Shape Poem....choose the "celebrations" category and select the picture of the gift box. When done, you will notice that there are four options, Print, Save Final (saves as a PDF), Save Draft (saves as a ReadWriteThink file that can be edited), and Share Final (email a PDF of the poem.) Don't forget about Kidspiration! Here's a ton of holiday themed templates. You may even want to dive in to this Holidays Around the World unit. Still need more ideas? Have students complete a retelling of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Take a survey of everyone's favorite reindeer and make an online graph. Another great online graphing tool is Create a Graph - it may be more appropriate for older students. Is your class working on math facts? Have them use the ABCya! Christmas Lights Game for practice...it's great for homework, and lets students select the type of operation and three levels of difficulty. And finally, here's a great collection of holiday songs and videos that can be used as brain breaks during this squirmy time of year!
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About 3 for Thursday
Tech tips and timely topics presented for the teachers of Mashburn Elementary (and anyone they'd like to share with.) At Mashburn Elementary, Our Mission is developing deep levels of Relationships, Engagement, and Rigor.
Email: klochbaum@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Phone: 770-889-1630
Twitter: @KimLochbaum