Just for Kids

Just for Kids is an interactive science website hosted by the University of Illinois.  Topics include weather, the plant cycle, and metamorphosis.  The sites are visually motivating and many activities include auditory support for students who are at the learning to read stage.

Thinkfinity

Thinkfinity.org is a search engine that will help you find relevant and motivating lesson plans, activities, and websites for your students.  The resources found on Thinkfinity are monitored and you can be assured that the resources are both appropriate and of high quality.  Even more exciting, many lesson plans and activities have an icon that lets you know exactly which New York State Standards apply.  You can differentiate your lessons, have your standards, and keep your students excited with the click a of a mouse.  The website is sponsored by Verizon, so thanks to them!

Digital Camera Ideas

Digital Camera Ideas for the Classroom

Take lots of pictures while on a class field trip. Have students write a caption for each picture and to create an adapted book.

Photograph “a day in the life of your classroom” for parent Open House. Create a slide show to run as parents tour your classroom.

Store a photograph with each student’s electronic portfolio.

Walk through the school to find such examples of geometric shapes as circles, triangles, parallel lines, obtuse angles, and so on. Label each photo and create a geometry book.

Photograph community landmarks and have students create a brochure about your community.

Take pictures of easily recognizable signs in your community and assemble the photos into an “I Can Read” book.

Use photographs to illustrate the process for complicated projects or for science experiments.

Write a class novel and illustrate it with live-action photos of your students.

Take pictures of class procedures and display them in the classroom as a reminder.

Create a seating chart with photographs.

Make picture frames for a Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift. Glue each photo into a decorated jar lid and glue a magnet to the back.

Document the growth of classroom plants or animals with daily or weekly photos.

Take photos of school staff performing their duties. Write a caption for each photo and create a Community Workers book.

Snap a black-and-white headshot of each student, size it to ¼ page, and place a box frame around it. Place a blank box the same size as the framed picture beside it. Have students draw ½-inch to 1-inch gridlines in pencil in both boxes and label the gridlines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on in each direction. Then have students try to duplicate their pictures by drawing only what they see in each grid.

Take a photograph of each student at the beginning and end of the school year. Have students complete Venn diagrams of themselves, showing how they have — and haven’t — changed during the year.

Compile a set of file cards naming such abstract concepts or emotions as freedom, love, hate, honor, joy, sorrow, patriotism, responsibility, and respect. Have students select a card at random and take a photograph illustrating that concept.

Have each student choose a letter and find an object that begins with that letter. Take a picture of the child with the object and use the pictures to create an adapted book.

Arrange students into groups and assign each group one of the five senses. Have each group photograph the appropriate sensory organ and then have them take pictures of objects that organ might best perceive.

Take pictures to illustrate such science concepts as food chain, biodiversity, biome, and so on.

Have students go on a photographic scavenger hunt, taking pictures of the objects they find rather than retrieving the objects themselves.

Take pictures of plants or animals in your community and use them to create a field guide of local wildlife.

Adapted from Article by Linda Starr, Education World®, Copyright © 2004 Education World

Practice Real Life Money Skills on the Web

If your students are counting coins, balancing checkbooks, or filling out job applications, moneyinstructor.com has free interactive lessons that can be used online or during a traditional lesson.

To access the interactive activities, you’ll need to sign up for a free account.  They will try to get you to upgrade to an elite status, but I find plenty of appropriate and engaging activities available for free.