Digital Learning Day + Pi Day = Engaged Learners

Digital Learning Day and Pi Day are fast approaching, but maybe you've never heard about these two days before.

Digital Learning Day was started to showcase how technology can improve student outcomes and

support teachers.  Many online education programs provide special activities for Digital Learning Day that emphasis the use of collaboration, sharing of best technology practices and boost technology learning for teachers and students.

Here are some resources that will assist teachers and students as they explore Digital Learning Day:

• Digital Learning Day (official website)
• Digital Learning Day:  Resource Roundup - includes a video introduction to technology integration, online learning and blended classroom resources, digital games in the classroom and more.
• Digital Learning Day:  Activities and Ideas - includes lesson plans, digital tools and other resources
• PBS Learning Media:  Digital Tools - short video tutorials on using free online tools for teaching and learning
• Digital Learning Day Facebook Page - collection of ideas and resources shared by other educators around the world

Pi Day is an annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π (pi).

• PI Day (official website)
• Plan a Pi Day Party - Education World provides a list of lesson plans and activities for celebrating Pi Day with your students.
• Dunk Tank!: Circles - A fun interactive quiz show all about diameter, circumference, radius and pi created by PBS Learning Media.
• Teachπ.org - Find Pi Day videos, book recommendations, activities and more.
• 7 Classroom Resources for Pi Day - List put out by Edutopia
• Exploring Pi - This article from Scholastic provides some history on Pi as well as links to lessons geared toward elementary students.

Website Wednesday

Speedometry – Learn Math and Science | Hot Wheels
Register for your free Hot Wheels kit and download the lesson plans that address STEM integration.
tags: stem physics math science lessonplans

Place Value Games

Free games for helping students learn about place value.
tags: place value math mathgames

Place Value

Place Value lessons and games by Sheppard Software. Students will identify the digits, compare numbers, learn different ways of showing a number, and more. Geared toward elementary students.
tags: place value math mathgames

42 Fill-in-the-Blank Prompts For Students To Design Their Own Projects

"...the following series of fill-in-the-blank prompts can be used by teachers to create lessons, students to create projects–or teachers to collaborate with students to create lessons–or projects. Or, well, you get the idea. I use these sorts of stems to create “learning blends” for students–either with them, or for them. I couple these prompts with other components–technology like apps or social media channels, texts from literary classics to postmodern non-fiction, creativity, or even local matters of citizenship." -from Terry Heick, author of this resource
tags: prompts projects PBL questions collaboration resources

TheBazillions - YouTube

Kid-friendly songs teaching students about similes & metaphors, prepositions, prefix or suffix, perimeter, triangles, and more. Most seem appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students, but the high school students might enjoy similes & metaphors.
tags: videos grammar math resources

Website Wednesday

AppCrawlr: the app discovery engine.

Search apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android using a variety of search methods. Select a specific category from general categories to specific topics. Use the filter to only see apps that are free, have no in-app purchases and are for a specific age grade. Great resource when looking for apps to use at school or home.

tags: apps android ipad searchengine iphone

Photos For Class

The quick and safe way to find and cite images for class! Searches through the Creative Commons photos on Flickr. *Please note that the students will not be able to see the images at school, but they could use this tool at home to find photos for their school projects. They still need to give credit.

tags: photos creativecommons copyright

Matific

Provides math games geared toward specific concepts at each grade level for K-6. You can access four games without registering. Teachers can join for free, which allows teachers and students to access all the games for free while at school. You must pay for students to use these games at home.

tags: math mathgames

Under His Hat: Discovering Lincoln from Primary Sources Digitization Project

Great resource for information on President Lincoln. Provides activities, research topics, critical thinking questions, vocabulary, lesson plans and more.

tags: primary sources lincoln

The Human Body

Help students understand the human body - including the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory and nervous system - with these 14 StudyJams! activities.

tags: human body interactive science activities

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesday

• Idea Springboard - Google Science Fair 2014
  
  
  
  Google has created a new idea for generating a project idea for yourself. Enter something you love, a subject you are good at, something you want to explore and then search. You'll receive a collection of links, videos, books and more to get your creativity flowing. Even if you don't generate a new project idea, you might just learn something new.
  tags: Google science science fair ideas brainstorming creativity innovation

• Monkey Business
  Students practice sentence structure by using the mouse to put the words in order. If they get it
  correct the monkey can cross the bridge. If it's wrong, well bye, bye monkey.
  
  tags: elementary Kindergarten grammar sentences language arts sequencing interactive

• GameGoo
  Educational games geared for elementary students that help them practice spelling, letter sounds, synonyms, typing, mouse control and more. Fearless Frieda and Alien Scavenger Hunt are my faves.
  tags: elementary Kindergarten primary interactive phonics reading languagearts

• Nonfiction Book List for 8th Graders
  High-interest nonfiction book list for 8th graders generated by Kelly Gallagher, reading strategy specialist
  tags: reading nonfiction books

• GameGoo
  Educational games geared for elementary students that help them practice spelling, letter sounds, synonyms, typing, mouse control and more. Fearless Frieda and Alien Scavenger Hunt are my faves.
• tags: elementary Kindergarten primary interactive phonics reading languagearts

• My Next Move
  Explore careers on this website by typing in your dream job, searching various industries or via an interest/training survey. Geared toward high school students and adults.
  tags: career exploration career planning careers career_search

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesday

• What's it like where you live
  Students can learn about the various biomes and ecosystems around the world. Great for elementary students.
  tags: biomes science ecosystems environment Habitats ecology elementary
  
  
• Free Printables :: SEN Teacher :: Free Teaching Resources
  This website offers a range of resources which are free to download, including printable worksheets, handouts and teaching aids, most of which can be customized to suit a range of learners of several subjects.
  tags: resources printables math socialstudies Science language_arts
  
  
  
  
  
• 10 Online Activities and Resources for Geography Awareness Week
  Collection of online Geography activities and resources to help students sharpen their geography skills.
  tags: geography activities online resources web2.0 education technology
  
  
• National Geographic Young Explorer
  
  
  
  Find a magazine topic of interest and click on the 'Listen & Read' button. The book will open up and students can listen and read the book individually or you could projected it to read as a class.
  tags: reading NationalGeographic ebooks science non-fiction
  
  

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesday

• Math Madness
  Basketball themed game allowing students to practice their addition, subtraction and

  

  Math Madness

  multiplication. Game is geared toward grades 1-5, but the easy settings for addition and subtraction include double digits. It is an easy play game that will take the boredom out of drilling math facts. Thanks to Kayla Long for this contribution!
  
  tags: Math addition multiplication subtraction mathgames

• Get Lesson Plans - The Solution to Reading Comprehension
  ReadWorks' lesson plans draw on proven research and are aligned to Common Core and State Standards. Browse our full list of free lessons and comprehension worksheets below.
  tags: reading lessons ELA LessonPlans literacy Comprehension teaching

• 

  NetSmartzKids

  NetSmartzKids Home Page
  Website designed to teach elementary age students about Internet safety through videos, games and eBooks.
  tags: internet_safety digital citizenship teaching cybersafety

• NSTeens.org - Making Safer Choices Online
  Website designed to teach teens about Internet safety through videos, games and comics. Educators can register for a free account so they can access lesson plans, discussion questions and more.
  tags: cyberbullying cybersafety internet_safety digital citizenship teaching

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesday

• 
  
  
  Welcome to WW II Animated
  
  Animated maps of key WW II battles. Maps include a timeline, visual indicators and audio recordings to help enhance learning for students.
  tags: WWII history world history maps timeline
• Science of Golf
  NBC Learn presents a 10-part video series relating STEM topics behind golf. Lesson plans aligned with the standards are available. Other topics are also available.
  tags: science golf STEM teaching web2.0 education
• Stop the Clock
  Help students learn to match digital times with the analogue clock.
  tags: Math clock time interactive web2.0 technology
• KidRex
  Kid safe search engine designed with young internet searchers in mind. KidRex uses SafeSearch to filter out most inappropriate content for children. Great search engine to set as the homepage for our young browsers.
  tags: searchengines research elementary search technology web2.0
• Ellis Island Interactive Tour
  Tour includes facts, trivia, audio, images and videos of Ellis Island and the immigration process.
  tags: Immigration ellis_island interactive Social Studies
• Moon in Google Earth
  This video will show you how to take advantage of the Moon in Google Earth. Take a tour narrated by Apollo Astronauts, view 3D landing craft models, watch rare TV footage of the Apollo Missions and more. You can also opt to view the Sky and Mars in Google Earth.
  tags: moon google virtualfieldtrips science space
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
  Take a self-guided, room-by-room, virtual tour with your class. Embedded images allow you to see various artifacts at a closer view. You can also browse a list of past exhibits.
  tags: virtualfieldtrips Smithsonion science museum

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesday

• Yummy Math
  Find ready to use lessons and resources to bring real-life math into the classroom.
  tags: math real world math lessons problem solving
• Real World Math
  Real World Math is a collection of free math activities for Google Earth designed for students and educators.
  tags: real world math Math technology Google Earth lessons
• Get The Math
  Short videos that introduce students to various professions that use algebra in their field.
  tags: math algebra real-life common core
• technology rocks. seriously.: School Signs
  Free downloadable posters for the classroom.
  tags: posters signs classroom quotes inspirational printables teaching
• Smithsonian Channel
  Use the search feature to find short videos to reinforce or introduce curriculum content in the classroom.
  tags: smithsonian channel stories Videos resources
• PowerMyLearning
  Educational games and learning activities grades K-12 in multiple subjects. Math and English activities are aligned with Common Core. The activities and games come from various publishers like PBS, Discovery, Khan Academy, Scholastic and National Geographic. Teachers can create classes and assign specific activities.
  tags: Common_Core educational games resources technology teaching web2.0

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

App Showcase

I learned about a couple of great apps last Friday that look perfect for math - Number Pieces and Number Pieces Basic by the Math Learning Center.

What is Number Pieces?  

It is a technology version of the base ten blocks teachers use in the classroom when they are teaching place values.  Students gain a deeper understanding of place value while working on their computation skills with multiple digit numbers.  Students can regroup, add, subtract, multiply and divide.  While most teachers have access to and use physical manipulatives of the base ten blocks, some students will enjoy using technology for learning these basic math skills.  This is a great option for implementing differentiated instruction and a math center alternative.  I can also envision teachers using this app for introducing the base ten blocks and how they work on the "big screen."  The only downside with this app is it's for iPads only.

While I was searching for the app links to include in this blog post, I also found a website where you can use Number Pieces right on the computer.  So if you don't have iPads or only have a limited number of iPads, you could also use the computer.  When you go to the website, click the 'i' in the lower right corner for How-to instructions.  This would work well with a SMART Board or up on the "big screen."

Website Wednesday

• Non-Fiction Text Structures!
  Article focusing on non-fiction text structures in relation to the Common Core Standards. Provides an understanding of the text structure and resources for teaching text structures to students.
  tags: reading text structures nonfiction commoncore
• Butterfly Life Cycle
  Provides an article with several close-up photos and video you could use in the classroom. Also has a coloring pages for students.
  tags: science life_cycles butterfly
• MapMaker Page Maps
  Create customized one-page maps of the world, continents and countries. Maps can be downloaded, emailed or printed. This beta site was created by National Geographic Education.
  tags: maps geography interactive SocialStudies
• Sailing Challenge
  Students can practice their work on measure and estimate with angles through this sailing gaming. It gives them practice in placing and reading a protractor. Appropriate for elementary students.
  tags: Interactive math web2.0 angles measurement
• JeopardyLabs
  Create you own Jeopardy game from a template or by creating your own template.
  tags: Interactive web2.0
• Oxford Dictionaries Spelling Challenge
  Practice your spelling and audio skills with this resource from Oxford English Dictionary. Listen to words and try to spell them from one of 3 difficulty levels. Choose between British and American English. Appropriate for 6-12 grade students.
  tags: spelling interactive game
• Children's Poetry Archive
  Listen and follow along as author's read their children's poems. Search poems by themes, forms or poets OR checkout the "Ask the Poet" section to learn more about poetry writing.
  tags: poetry audio literacy reading
• Maths Charts
  Select your topic and chart name. Then print a poster of that chart to display in the classroom OR save it as a pdf & display the chart via your computer project for a class lesson. You could even link this site to your webpage or wiki as a reference tools for parents and students at home.
  tags: math charts
• SteveSpanglerScience
  A YouTube channel featuring over 400 science experiments that you can use in class. Instructions are easy to follow.
  tags: science Video experiments lessons
• SoundBible.com
  Free sound clips that can be imported into Garageband to ehance your project. When you find the sound you want, click the MP3 file for downloading. You can simply drag and drop the file into Garageband; however, don't through the download away until you have finalized your project and shared it with iTunes.
  tags: audio sound effects music
• Your Paintings
  This BBC site offers 200,000 digitized paintings from various artists including Degas, Warhol, Bacon, Picasso and more. When completed, the site will show the enter UK national collection of oil paintings and the stories behind the paintings. If you scroll down on the main page, you will find a section for teachers which offers lesson plans and ideas for utilizing these paintings in art, history and more.
  tags: paintings artists
• Zimmer Twins
  Encourage digital storytelling with the Zimmer Twins movie making site for kids (suitable for elementary students). The site is monitored on a daily basis for content appropriateness. Students will need to create a free account if they want to save their movies. (A parent or guardian email is required for creating an account, but students could use their school email address if they have one.)
  tags: animation digitalstorytelling web2.0
• 11 Tech Tools to Teach the Common Core Standards | Catlin Tucker, Honors English Teacher
  Article listing and describing some tools for helping tech with the Common Core Standards.
  tags: common core technology tools
• K I D S I N C O Free Playscripts for Kids!
  A collection of over 100 play scripts for elementary children. A great resource for engaging students in reading. The plays are short and may be used and performed, but you may not modify or adapt the plays without written consent.
  tags: scripts drama plays

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• San Diego Zoo
  Has some great animal videos and photos you could use with students to learn more about animals and the ecosystem. Careful with the live cams - they can be addictive and they hog the bandwidth.
  tags: zoo science elementary animal
• 101 Great Sites for Social Studies Class - I have not checked the accessibility of all these sites, but if you find one that is blocked please contact me.
  Some top recommended sites here and they are grouped by subcategories like Supreme Court, Constitution, Law, The Essentials, etc.
  tags: history social studies Resources government technology
• Practical Money Skills
  Covers financial literacy for all ages, but the best part are the lesson plans (sign up for an account to access them) and the games.
  tags: finance education economics financial literacy
• Math Lines
  Similar to the game Lexar, but you have to create number bonds to clear your line.
  tags: math game addition interactive

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• Rubrics for Teachers

Assessment tools for online content, presentations, mind maps and more. Great tool so you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

tags: rubrics assessment Web 2.0 tools

• Titanic Resources Gallore
  iPad apps, 3D movie resources, and some sweet teaching materials by Glenn Weibe. Great resources for connecting to the building of the Titanic 2.
  tags: Titanic apps infographic history web tools
• Zygote Body
  Interactive 3D model of the human body that allows you look at the various components of the body - skeleton, muscles, organs, veins. You can customize to have multiple or single layers.
  tags: anatomy body interactive human_body 3D
• Looking for the Top Quark Game
  Similar to Battleship, this game gives students practice on reading a four quadrant coordinates graph. You can play against the computer or a friend.
  tags: math coordinates interactive graphing game
• Funschool - Number Fun - Cannon Math
  Students can practice their math facts with this fun interactive game. Shoot your circus performers out of the cannon on to the correct answer. Students will also have to work with angle and power of the cannon to hit the correct mat.
  tags: Math addition interactive
• Sun|trek
  Good resource for science students. This site is dedicated to information about the Sun and how it effects the Earth.
  tags: science sun astronomy space solar
• Top 10 Activities to Process Common Core Math
  Provides links to specific details for each activity listed.
  tags: math commoncore
• Wanderlust
  Check out the most famous trips in history on these maps. Learn facts about the trip as you visually follow the course.
  tags: social studies interactive explorers geography Maps
• iCivics
  Free lesson plans and games for learning civics (government, law, budgeting, Constitution and Bill of Rights)
  tags: civics government social studies interactive

*Disclaimer - If you come across a link on the sites listed above that is blocked, please let me know via email.  Thanks!

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• Online Music Theory Flash Cards
  Help students learn note names, intervals and notes on the piano and guitar. Good for both beginners and advanced music students.
  tags: Music flashcards education
• Common Core Standards
  This is a site dedicated to making the Common Core Standards practical.  It has some great blog articles relating to making the change over to the Common Core.  You can subscribe to receive the newest articles sent to your email.
  tags: core standards
• 103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading
  Ideas for engaging students in reading. Contains a wide range of multiple intelligence options. They easily tie-in to the common core standards and some of them would be great for integrating technology.
  tags: reading literacy interactive English
• ToonUniversity - Online Games: Math Dept.
  Elementary math games - some are available without a membership
  tags: online games math
• Making and reading maps in the 21st century
  Project ideas for making and reading maps - grades K-12
  tags: maps geography mapping history
• minutephysics
  A YouTube channel with cool physics in brief explanations. Students will not be able to access these videos at school.
  tags: Physics science Videos
• 3D 360 interactive education images
  Rotate images and zoom in for a closer look.  If you don't have a left mouse click, hold your command key on the keyboard as you use the mouse to rotate the image.
  tags: science interactive anatomy chemistry
• Maps of War
  Great interactives of World War I & II, the Iraq War, and Darfur.
  tags: maps History interactive

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• Education World: Tech Lesson of the Week
  Access a variety of tech lesson plans for grades K-12.  You receive the full lesson plan including instructions, templates and standards.
  tags: technology lessons
• Education World: Writing Bugs
  Ideas for writing with students.  These would be great for a writing station in the classroom at the elementary level or a quick journal writing to start out the class period.
  tags: Writing prompts english
• Kerpoof Studio
  Online digital story creator geared toward elementary students. Teachers can sign-up themselves and their class. Finished products can be save, printed and emailed.
  tags: digitalstorytelling animation web2.0
• All Things Common Core
  Developing an understanding of the Common Core Standards from Essdack
  tags: commoncore standards
• Animate Shakespeare - Some of the images are not showing up on the site, but you should still be able to view all the videos.  Students will not be able to access this site at school.
  Watch the Cliff's Notes version of Shakespeare plays. Mixes modern and original text in a fun, fresh way. Videos end with a good class debate question.
  tags: Shakespeare literature Video english
• PBS KIDS Lab
  Provides interactive math and science games, activities, games and more for elementary students, teachers and parents. Spanish translations of parental instructions and resources available.
  tags: math science elementary interactive

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• TimeMaps
  Free online World History Atlas.  It contains maps, timelines and narratives that work together to give students a better understanding of history.
  tags: social studies maps world timemaps atlas
• Connect Safely
  Recommended Facebook privacy settings for teens. Contains charts you could share out.
  tags: facebook privacy internet_safety
• HippoCampus
  This site provides free video resources for class or individual use in math, science, history, government, economics, psychology and religion. Narrow your topic and look at the video, video text, lesson plan and additional links. Great for high school students.
  tags: math science history resources videos
• ReadWorks.org
  Site provides information about teaching reading comprehension to students of all ages. Provides specific reading comprehension lessons for grades K-6. It also includes details on Lexile scores, teaching strategies and more.
  tags: reading literacy lesson plans comprehension

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• Famous Scientists
  List and Biographies of Most Famous Scientists and Inventors in History
  tags: scientists biography research
• 15 Awesome Interactive Virtual Field Trips
  tags: virtual field trips history interactive
• MathTV
  Provides math video lessons from basic to advanced math skills. Most videos are available in Spanish. This would be a great supplemental resource for students to refresh their skills and move ahead in their learning.
  tags: math education tutorials videos
• HistoryWorld
  World hstory and timeline reference resource for students. Some content may not be appropriate for young children.
  tags: history timeline encyclopedia research world
• Story Starters for Kids
  Story Starters appropriate for kids. Great tool to start those short creative writing projects.
  tags: writing digitalstorytelling literacy
• Fuel the Brain
  Fun games to learn various math concepts.
  tags: math elementary education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• Khan Academy
  Over 3,000 free videos covering math, science, finance and more. Learn how to get started and how to use this site with your students.
  tags: videos science history math finance
• Spelling & Vocabulary Website: SpellingCity
  Through practice tests, flash cards, learning activities and games, students can learn new spelling and vocabulary words generated by the teacher or from their own reading. An overview video is available on the home page right under the mission statement. This site seems geared more for elementary students.
  tags: spelling vocabulary education Interactive language_arts
• Online Stopwatch
  These online animated timers give you a variety of timer options including a bomb countdown, an egg timer and a metronome.
  tags: stopwatch timer tools
• Ten Videos Every Educator Should Watch (and Reflect on)
  Some thought provoking videos that would be great to view on your own or with a group.
  tags: education teachers inspiration TED pedagogy
• 5th Grade Explorer Project - LiveBinder
  All the resources and materials for a research project. Students have a variety of assessment opportunities. They learn about the importance of verifying their sources and explore some additional activities.
  tags: explorers history

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Website Wednesdays

• Bill of Rights Institute: Home
  Government resource with primary documents, lesson plans, Constitution Day resources and more.
  tags: Government US history constitution history billofrights lesson plans
• Creating Remarkable Poetry Through Subtraction
  Cleaver way to create poetry for those non-poetic students.
  tags: poetry writing english newspaper
• Battleship Number
  Practice your fractions, decimals, whole numbers and measurements with this online battleship game. Great for elementary students. It might even be enjoyed by the older crowd.
  tags: fractions decimals math numberline measurements whole_numbers
• UsefulCharts.com | Cool Charts & Timelines
  Useful charts and diagrams that illustrate history, science, English and more.
  tags: English resources history science charts infographics
• Scriveners' Trappings
  Resources for writers and teachers of writing at all grades.  Provides writing tips, ideas ready for classroom use, and thought-provoking articles on writing in school.  There are 5 pages - just go to the bottom of the screen to click to a new page.
  tags: writing English resources

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.