Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 5/16/14

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

Masters of the Building Arts Activity Guide - from the Smithsonian; “This educational activity guide for young people explores the artistry and skill of master craftworkers in the building trades and their important contributions to our architectural heritage. It features hands-on activities to do at school or at home.” (L:M,H; SA:M, SS)

FlipQuiz – “FlipQuiz™​ was created to provide educators with a quick way to create gameshow-style boards for test reviews in the classroom. Traditionally, these are created (tediously) using posterboard, chalkboards, or dry-erase markers on an overhead slide. The review questions are usually even written on a separate sheet of paper. With FlipQuiz™​, questions are displayed on-screen and boards are saved for later use. Combined with a well-designed board, students are more likely to be interested and stay engaged with an otherwise disjunct test review process.” (L:T; SA:A)

The Bronx Zoo – “These preparatory and post-visit activities help your students make the most of their day at the zoo or aquarium. Games are tailored for a variety of ages, including Lumpy, Bumpy, Scratchy, Smooth for grades K–3 and Animal Architects for grades 6–8.” (L:E,M; SA:S)

Rewordify – “Rewordify.com helps you read more, understand difficult English faster, and learn words in new ways. Just paste in difficult English (or enter a web page URL) and click the yellow button. You'll see an easier version, for fast understanding now. You'll learn what the hard words and phrases mean with our Smart Highlighting. (Click it or tap it.) You'll read (and teach) better tomorrow with vocabulary lists, learning activities, quizzes, flash cards, and more—that you get instantly, with answer keys—from any block of text you enter!” (L:M,H; SA:LA)

Reading Bear – “a fun way to learn to read. We teach over 1,200 vocabulary items. Our 50 presentations cover all the main phonics rules. All free and nonprofit!” (L:E; SA:LA)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley