Adapted Books

You can access over 70 pre-made adapted books at the NYCDOE District 75 website.  The books span many subjects and all ages.  There are also communication boards available with many of the books.  Save yourself some time and check out the books here.

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

Outlook Express Email Support Made Easier

No more need to call the help desk to reset your Department of Education Outlook email. Now you can simply click on the “Forgot your UserID or Password? Click here” link on the log-in page and get access to your email immediately. The link is outlined below.

RubiStar

If the rubrics available on teAchnology do not meet your needs, you can create your own rubrics for free at RubiStar. There is a basic free membership that entitles you to create your own rubrics or view rubrics created by other teachers and modify them for your specific use. This is another resources that will save you time and make it easier to track your students’ projects and progress.

teAchnology

teAchnology is a free online resource that provides teachers with quick and easy access to 1000’s of lesson plans, webquests, worksheets, and rubrics. I think the pre-formatted rubrics are priceless. Within minutes, you can have a rubric with your customized project name ready to go. Your students’ progress will be much easier for you to track and the data will be easier for you to organize.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

 The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM) is a library of  interactive, web-based virtual manipulatives  for mathematics instruction (K-12 emphasis).  The website is organized by grade level and concepts.  The activities are not only fun, but require student participation.   The website is also available in Spanish. Click here to go the National Library of Virtual Mainpulatives.

ArtRage 2.5

ArtRage is a free, easy to use, paint package that you download to your computer and be painting in minutes! Students can experiment with oil paints, glitter, markers, pencils and other very cool tools. The skills learned and practiced with ArtRage 2 are not only fun but also give your students practice with tools they will see in other computer applications. Click here to go to the website and download the program.

teachertube.com

Ever wanted to enhance your lessons with videos but couldn’t find one? Teachertube.com is an excellent resource for you to get FREE educational videos to use in your class. You can trust that the content is appropriate for your classroom because every member has the responsibility to flag inappropriate content. Similar to the popular youtube website, teachertube is a place to view 1000’s of videos. You can also upload videos to share with other educators. For more information and to sign up go to www.teachertube.com.

Start-To-Finish Books

Start-To-Finish (STF) books provide age-appropriate, content-based material for older students who are not reading at grade level. Each title comes with an electronic and a print version.

Each student’s profile can be customized for his/her unique needs. Areas addressed are: listening comprehension, building word recognition, building word recognition and fluency, recreational reading, and assessment of independent reading. All areas include comprehension quizzes at the end of each chapter. The data from these quizzes is easily accessible to the teachers and can be used as data for various assessments (e.g. NYSAA).

The books are written at 3-4 grade reading ability but the content and interest level is appropriate through adult ages.

Here are the titles we own at 226:

Flo Jo: The Story of Florence Griffith Joyner
Home Run Heroes
On Strike: The Story of Cesar Chavez
Mark Twain Collection
Jackie Robinson and the American Dream
The Red Badge of Courage
The Story of Anne Frank
Ali: The Greatest
Black Beauty
Rosa Parks: Freedom Fighter
Romeo & Juliet
The Tuskegee Airmen

Let me know if you want to borrow a title or for ideas on how to use the books in your classroom.