Coloring Gallore

Kids of all ages love to color, of course as we get older we call it doodling, but the concept is the same - try to make a pretty picture while staying in the lines.  With the end of the school year close at hand and summer just around the corner, my friends at the Kansas State Library shared out the following online coloring pages.  Some of these would be great next school year around Kansas Day or while studying science.  Click on the paper/pencil icon to the right of each website title and view a descriptor of the site.

Here is a sample of a completed color page from the CIA website:

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.

Summer Reading Gone Digital

Summer is almost upon us and many teachers are thinking of all the things they hope to accomplish in the next couple of months.  Some of you will deep clean your house in preparation for the next school year, while others will spend their time getting the lawn and gardens in shape and growing.  Still others will tackle that "when I have time" reading list that gets longer each year.

In an effort to help you reach your goals this summer, try combining your reading with another goal through the use of audio books.  Here are some great websites that have free audio books:

Most of the free books on these sites are classics, but you can also get 2 free audio books with a 30-day trial to Audible Audiobooks.  You can also borrow free audio books from the Kansas State Library with One Click Digital.  Then follow the instructions for downloading audiobooks on either a Mac or PC.  (Please note you will have to create an account with One Click Digital at the following website - http://statelibraryofks.oneclickdigital.com/Create%20User.aspx.

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.

PicMonkey: The New Picnik?

Challenge #3 of the 12 for 2012 Wiki asks participants to work with Picnik, a free online photo editing tool.  Sadly, April 19, 2012 saw the closing of the ever popular Picnik site.  However, to my great delight, I found out about a new alternative - PicMonkey.  After editing a few pics, I think this editing tool has more free features to offer than Picknik.  You can do the basics - crop, rotate, sharpen, reshape and tweak the exposure & color.  Then the fun begins!

Original Photo

Edited in PicMonkey

 You can mess around with various special effects like soft focus, boost, cinerama, film grain, focal zoom and more.  On photos with people, you can remove blemishes, white teeth, remove red-eye and lose weight.  You can add text to your picture choosing from over 30 fonts.  Finish your picture off with stickers, a picture frame and textures. 

This editing tool is user friendly and intuitive.  It does not change the original on your computer, so if you don't like what you've created, then just start over.  When you are finished, name your photo and save it to your computer.


Image Source:  "Gold Fish out of water" by Flickr user kainr under a CC License, http://www.flickr.com/photos/434pics/3732732390/lightbox/.

Cleaning 101

People often ask what they can use to clean off their computer screens, iPods, iPads and cell phones.  Sometimes they ask if it's ok to use...water, window cleaner, Clorox wipes, eyeglass cleaner, scotch tape, etc.  The usual aim of the cleaner is to get rid of those pesky fingerprints and light dirt film that accumulates on the screen.

This discussion about the best cleaning product was actually brought up during one of my tech integration meetings at Essdack this year.  The best solution was the microfiber cloth sold by Walmart© in the automotive department.  Seeing as the cloths were bigger than than one would need for a computer screen, it was recommended to cut them up in fourths; however, the edges have a tendency to fray leaving lint residue on the computers.  This issue was resolved thanks to Ann Smith, who used the Surger© to sew the cut edges.  I have started distributing these microfiber cloths to the teachers, secretaries and administrators in the various buildings.  (If you have not received one yet, please send me an email.)

You should not need to add any product or water to these cloths; however, if you have something sticky on your screen, you can get a corner of the cloth damp, get the sticky off and then wipe the screen with a dry area on the cloth.  These cloths can be washed, but make sure you DO NOT use fabric softener.

The other essential cleaning tool for your computer is the Magic Eraser© by Mr. Clean.  This handy product gets rid of those black fingerprints on your external or laptop keyboard.  They are easy to use - pull out an eraser, get it wet and then wring all the access water out until it feels pretty dry.  Now start scrubbing those keys and watch the dirt come off.  I usually keep a dry cloth handy to wipe up any water that comes out of the eraser as you are scrubbing.  (There isn't much water and if there is, then you didn't wring out your eraser enough before starting.)  Depending on how hard you scrub, you will get some eraser residue left behind.  I either blow it off the keys, wipe it off with another cloth or use some canned air when I'm finished cleaning the keyboard.

Disclaimer:  make sure you either turn the computer off or unplug your keyboard before you start cleaning.