Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/8/17

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

Rocks, Minerals, and Landforms – “Introduce students to everything from volcanoes and earthquakes to fossils and sedimentary rocks using these 12 fun StudyJams! science activities.” (L:E,M; SA: S)

FlipAnim – “create flipbook animations online” (L:G; SA: A)

The Benefits of a Good Night’s Sleep -  a TED-ed lesson; “It’s 4am, and the big test is in 8 hours. You’ve been studying for days, but you still don’t feel ready. Should you drink another cup of coffee and spend the next few hours cramming? Or should you go to sleep? Shai Marcu defends the latter option, showing how sleep restructures your brain in a way that’s crucial for how our memory works.” (L:M,H; SA: A)

Feed the Dingo – “Players strive to create a balanced desert ecosystem in which each animal has enough food to survive over a period of 12 days, in this interactive game from PLUM LANDING. Players see how the different species of plants and animals in a desert depend on one another. They also experiment with how changing the amount of one resource affects the whole ecosystem. “ (L:E; SA: S)

GradeProof – “GradeProof offers automated high-quality spelling, grammar and rephrasing corrections to improve the flow and eloquence of your writing - just like a spellchecker, but on steroids..,. We have both Free and Pro plans for GradeProof offering different levels of service. You receive Spelling, Grammar and basic Phrasing suggestions on our Free plan.” (L:G; SA: A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley