Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/22/17

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

Nat Geo Map Maker Kits – “MapMaker Kits offer K-12 students the opportunity to work with key mapping concepts at a variety of scales and to see the world in new ways. Unique large-scale maps allow students to immerse themselves in the exploration of dynamic environmental and cultural aspects of the world. MapMaker Kit activities engage students in the manipulation and analysis of a variety of geographic information sets, helping them build skills in critical thinking, the representation of data, and mental mapping.Each kit enables the user to download, print, and assemble maps of the world, individual continents, and the United States in a variety of sizes. Mega maps occupy a large wall, or can be used on the floor; projector maps give you some flexibility about sizing; the tabletop map is good for small group work, and the one-page outline maps are perfect for individual work.” (L:G; SA:A)

Rewordify – “Rewordify.com simplifies difficult English. Enter hard sentences (or whole chapters) into the yellow box at the top of the page. (You can also enter a web site URL.) Click Rewordify text and you'll instantly see an easier version, for fast understanding. The reworded words are highlighted— click them to hear and learn the original harder word. You can change how the highlighting works to match the way you learn!” (L:G; SA:A)

Gradeproof – “Once your document is imported, you should see the GradeProof Editor together with all the colorful suggestions ready to improve your writing.” (L:G; SA:A)

The Science of Snowflakes – “One could say that snowflakes are simply frozen water — but if you compare a snowflake to an ice cube, you’ll notice a big difference. Why are all snowflakes six-sided? Why are none of them exactly the same? And how do we ski on them? Maruša Bradač sheds light on the secret life of snowflakes.” (L:G; SA:A)

Puppet Master – free iPad app; “PuppetMaster is an animation app for kids, where you can bring to life any image, just by acting things out in front of the camera or touching the screen. Your voice is recorded as well. The result is your own animated video! Take a drawing you made, a photo of one of your toys, even a person or animal - and use it as a puppet in PuppetMaster. Move and talk and the puppet will come to life and do what you do.
Mix and match with existing puppets and backgrounds that come with the app, in a fun hand drawn style to go with your own artwork.” (L:G; SA:A)

 Original photo by Pat Hensley