Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/14/12

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Sproutster HD - Ipad app; like FreeRice, it donates money from advertising to the UN to buy rice; “a game from Dreamkind, an award-winning entertainment studio focused on raising money for children’s charities worldwide. You need to help Sproutster grow rice to feed your friends in different countries around the world. You must catch falling letters in your bucket to spell 3-5 letter words. When you catch 10 words and a sun drop, your rice plant grows to its full size and you can feed all your friends in that country. You and Sproutster then move on to a new adventure in another country. As you move from country to country, the rain falls faster and the game becomes more challenging. You travel to India, Egypt, Japan, China and many other countries. By the time you have reached your 10th country, it is pouring letters, and you must help Sproutster catch the letters you need, while dodging the ones you don’t.” (L: G; SA: A)

Hangout Quest - “Explore popular museums as you race against others in a quest to track down famous works of art!” (L: H; SA: SS)

Integers Rap - great rap to learn integers (L:E, M; SA: M)

Geoboard - “The Geoboard is a tool for exploring a variety of mathematical topics introduced in the elementary and middle grades. Learners stretch bands around the pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more.” (L:E, M; SA: M)

Living Wage Calculator - “ estimate the cost of living in your community or region. The calculator lists typical expenses, the living wage and typical wages for the selected location.” (L:H; SA: A)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley