Showing posts with label Digital learning resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Digital learning resources. Show all posts
Monday, April 4, 2022
Digital Earth Day Activities
It's April! The weather is warming up here and flowers are starting to come up. April reminds me that Earth Day is around the corner. Caring for our Earth is so important and there are so many easy things we can do as citizens to help it. Educating others about the Earth is one way to help!
I am super excited to post my NEW Earth Day Digital Mini Escapes on The Importance of Plants and The History of Earth Day, as well as some other resources for your classroom.
Here are some great websites for your students to learn more about Earth Day what they can do to help the Earth every day! I love that these digital Earth Day resources are easy to use.
- 52 Ways to Invest in Our Earth: This website gives you tips about the small ways you can help our Earth.
.jpg)
- Kids Discover: Has some great content about Conservation broken up into different areas such as, Landfills, Recycling, Habitat Reconstruction, and Sustainability. You may need to sign up for a free account to view some of the content (not affiliated or sponsored).
- Animal Conservation: Animal Conservation has Disney and National Geographic Explorers in these short one minute videos showing work being done with different animals.
- National Geographic Kids: I like this website because it breaks up the information into different areas. You may want to review each section before students read to make sure there is not TOO much text to be overwhelming.
Earth Day Mini Digital Escapes
What makes a digital escape mini? In a mini escape, there is a focus on a shorter piece of text and only ONE lock to open. In these Earth Day-focused escapes, there is a non-fiction text, a short video, interesting facts, and a puzzle to solve with ONE lock.
Benefits of a Mini Escape:
- NO Prep: Just give students the link and then let them get to work!
- Shorter text: Students can focus on one topic of information
- Less time: Time is something you need, so these escapes can easily be completed in a class period or short amount of time.
- ONE lock: Having only one puzzle to solve also takes less time to complete.
Earth Day Digital Escape Room
If you have a longer class time or have time to break up this Escape Room, this one covers a lot of different topics. The Earth Day Digital Escape Room has FIVE different sections and locks. The non-fiction text covers the topics of:
- History of Earth Day
- Plants
- Water
- Recycling
- Animals
Each section will have a reading comprehension non-fiction text, video, fun things to explore, and the clue to solve. I like to use this escape during Earth Day week and do a section per day. Doing one section per day allows me to have time for reflection and other things during our Language Arts or Science time.
Here is a great preview of the Earth Day Digital Escape Room.
I love some good FREEBIES, so I have made these writing prompts to go along with these activities. I like to use these during our writing station time, just use the prompt for journals, partner writing, or even assigning students to do the writing at home. It's up to you how you want to use these!
I do have these as an Easel Activity so they are ready to go for Digital Writing!
Last, I also like this craft activity because it reaches all age levels! You can have younger students draw pictures with a word or two and older students write more content under the flaps.
Remember Earth Day is Every Day, so help our planet stay healthy!
Monday, March 28, 2022
April Fool's Day Teaching Resources
April Fool's Day is this Friday! It's the first day of our Spring Break so the kids won't be in school. I think this is probably for the best, but do love some good pranks. April Fool's Day is a day that you might not have on your radar or maybe you don't have any activities to do for this day. I wanted to do a post about April Fool's Day and activities that you can quickly add into your plans.
April Fool's Day Activities Print and Digital
An easy writing activity for April Fool's Day is to have students write jokes, idioms, or alliteration! Check out this website on writing tongue twisters using Alliteration for April Fool's Day.
Give each child a ‘spinner’ page and paper clip. Then kids spin a paper clip to find a 'name', 'who', 'where', 'with what' and 'describing word' to use in their sentence. Kids write the words from the spinner in the correct boxes on the ‘sloppy copy’ graphic organizer planning sheet. They then write a sentence using words from the boxes. The describing words make the sentences more interesting and colorful. After the kids finish, check the sentence on the sloppy copy and provide a final page for the published sentence. The kids illustrate their sentences and then share them with the class.
Some books to use for April Fool's Day with Alliteration or just good tongue twisters!
1. Fox in Socks picked this one because you could incorporate a sock day at school for this fun read. Any Dr. Seuss book is a tongue twister, but some are longer than others and are easier for students to read. I think this one is a better option for April Fools Day!
2. Animalia- Hands down this is my MUST have for Alliteration. Any age can relate to writing for this text. I have my younger learners pick words that are going to be a little easier to work with. Maybe we will do a class one if kids are super young. I LOVE this one for older kids because it is a challenge to see what verbs and adjectives they can come up! Have them work in pairs, in small groups, or individually Makes a cute class book if they all pick an animal.
An3. Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut- The "p" repetition is a fun read and is the story os a pampered princess who lives in a pink palace with her pinheaded parents, her three plump pussy cats, and her prize puppy dog.
April Fool's Day Mini Digital Escape
An easy activity for April Fool's Day is this interactive digital escape. It has idioms for students to match, riddles to solve, and games to play. The mini version is great because it is a ONE lock escape and takes less time to complete than longer escapes. A great introduction to escapes if your class hasn't experienced one yet. I like this one because it is a NO prep situation! You just share the link and assign it to students.
Here's a great video about April Fool's and the history! Have your students watch this fun video for the history of April Fool's Day. This video is also in the Escape Room above.
Check out some of these additional resources for April Fool's Day!
Have fun with whatever prank or activity you choose!
Friday, March 18, 2022
Women in History Month Biographies
Did you know March is Women in History Month?! We have been working on Biographies A LOT, because it is such a great and easy way for kids to have CHOICE in their writing/research. See my last few posts about Biographies! If you are not on the Biography train, don't worry. You can still celebrate some AMAZING Women and their contributions to history.
I have these amazing Women in History Bubbleheads. Over 50 women to choose from to write research and use character traits. A character trait dictionary is included. You can use this to supplement research, as a culminating project, or a partner quick research. Those are just some ideas on how to use this. I left some resources below on websites, books, and dates.
The bundle below includes a lapbook for women in biography research that you can use to help assist you in looking for all the facts for your project. I love the lapbook because it aids students in the process and they know which steps they need to complete.
I love this book series for biographies. It is the Who Was... I call it the Bobblehead series because they look like bobbleheads on the front of the books. These books are awesome for a print source for research. They won't have every biography, but there are alot out in print.
Some great websites to try!
- https://www.womenshistory.org/ (A great website about different women and their contributions to history!
- https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/womens-history-month
- (Great resource for elementary students to explain what it is and how it started!)
- https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/topic/women-heroes (Great biographies on Women Heroes!)
Some Important Dates for this month:
- The National Woman's Party was formed in March 1917. The group was dedicated to getting women the right to vote.
- March 1st: Title IX was passed in 1972
- March 3rd: The first major march on Washington by suffragists happened on this date in 1913.
- March 8th: International Women's Day Itwas established as a holiday in 1911.
- March 22nd: The Equal Rights Amendment was passed in 1972.
Have a great month celebrating women and all their accomplishments both past and present!
Sunday, February 27, 2022
St. Patrick's Day Math Games and Digital Escape Room Fun!
It's March! Well....... it's so close that at this point I am going to put February behind me. I am moving on to warmer temperatures, (although where I live they aren't too warm in the Midwest) and a celebration that puts a smile on my face ~ St. Patrick's Day! I am highlighting some fun St. Patrick's Day Math Games and a Digital Escape Room.
So no one loves the pinching tradition, but they love the excitement of the gold, that sneaky leprechaun and let's face it any holiday that is supposed to give you LUCK is a winner for me! For any special holiday or celebration, I am wanting something easy, fun, and engaging for my students, BUT I want them to be learning at the same time. I've pulled together a few of my favorites that are some digital St. Patrick's Day math games and a digital escape room.
For some easy, no prep digital St. Patrick's Day fun, try this digital escape room below. It has different skills your students can be reviewing such as inferences, homophones, contractions, and synonyms while they are trying to find their lost invitation to Lucky the Leprechaun's party. Haven't done an escape room before? Read below for how I set mine up and most typical digital escape rooms.
What is a digital escape room?
A digital escape room is an online game that begins with a theme or scenario. Students generally work collaboratively in groups of 2 or 3 in order to escape/breakout/solve the mystery. They are challenged to solve puzzles in order to find clues and codes. This breakout has 5 codes to break. Escape rooms are fun and engaging for students and they LOVE them!
Check out the video preview of the St. Patrick's Day Escape Room.
St. Patrick's Day Digital Math Mysteries
Digital Math Mysteries are a fun and engaging activity where students begin reading or listening to the story, solve the word problems, and click on the correct answer. If the correct answer is chosen, the story continues. If a wrong answer is chosen, a 'stopper' will tell them to go back to where they were working, and TRY AGAIN!
Check out each of the grade levels below. I have these in paper format in my store.
Check out these other resources for St. Patrick's Day Fun!
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Digital Math Games
It's almost March! Just one week away until the month that seems to last forever before Spring Break. I love March because that means that the weather is starting to turn into spring, even though it's warm one minute and cold the next! Tomorrow where I live it's going to be 60 degrees when yesterday is was a high of 20. CRAZY!
Let's talk Math Games this week! I know a lot of you are still teaching virtual, looking for classroom activities that are fun and engaging, or curriculum you can put on your personal sites so students can access them.
Math games allow students to have fun, use thinking skills, BUT are still able to review and learn concepts. These games below are great, because they show the students the wrong answer and once they do get it correct, it takes them to the next level. I post these on my website and have students complete. You can have them show their work on problems, use it as review, or have students work together or as a whole group.
If your students want more of a challenge, I use this Fraction Escape Room. It's longer, but it really CHALLENGES the students. I use it in January/February because I have already taught fractions or am getting ready to. My students love seeing which level they have passed in the game.
Check out the video preview below! Students can watch video embedded into the game on making equivalent fractions and ordering and comparing fractions. They then find the correct answers and match them to different space adventures. Once they find the answer, they get a code word they need to punch in for the LOCKS page to take them to the next level of the escape.
What are your students interested in? Whatever you are teaching in math, try some math games in your classroom. I love trying some new things in my classroom to break up these LONG winter days.
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Biography Black History Resources for DIGITAL and PRINT to use in your Classroom!
February is Black History Month and it's always my go to month to introduce a research project. Students have learned most of their writing skills to begin a project like this and it is great for ANY age level. You can tailor the research to be as in depth as you would like.
Here are the steps I follow for Biography Research. If you want to skip ahead to the resources, I totally get it! BUT here's a quick guide if you need!
1.THINK about what you want the END product to be for your students. Would it be one paragraph of writing, a paper with multiple paragraphs, or a culminating project at the end? Maybe it is a combination of all three, but you will want to think about this before you assign your project and/or research.
2. INTRODUCE the project and have students choose their biography focus from a list! I have a HUGE comprehensive list in my Black History Bubbleheads packet.
Here is also a list of a few: https://theundefeated.com/features/the-undefeated-44-most-influential-black-americans-in-history/#introduction
3. GATHER materials for research! Local librarians can pull books for you, as well as your school librarian if you have one. I ALWAYS like my students to have a PRINT resource AND a digital one (minimum) for any age.
I LOVE this book series for grades 2-5 depending on reading level! It won't have all of your research people, but it's a great start!
Here are some other websites that you may like. Remember your school usually subscribes to some databases for you, so ask about those, as well as local library!
(A great website for information! You can search by person! It gives you a SHORT bio, as well as the source information for you. Better suited to older kids for the amount of text)
(Great website! Visit Explore- History- African American Heroes if it doesn't take you there. Great for little kids with short text! It doesn't have everyone, so you may want to see who this website has first!
Great website for some video research information! Check out the Elementary video section that has videos on certain people! It's quite a few!
Great list of other books that you may want to check out for read alouds!
Short list of Black History Biographies, but breaks information down into sections! Again, not everyone is listed, but an option for you depending on what access you have to a database. You could even have students research one person together as a class (for example Martin Luther King) to see what information you want them to gather!
Here is a FREE graphic organizer I found:
You could use this as a template to tailor it how you would like students to take notes and print it OR use as a template in Google Docs.
5. CHOOSE a project! Check out the Bubbleheads for an EASY project during or after the biography research. You can have them focus on character traits for their Black History Biography.
Another project that is a little more prep, BUT will guide them through step by step is the Lapbook. It has all the parts that they will find research for. I have these both bundled together below as well.
For younger students they may also like this Reading Contract for Biographies to use. It has all the graphic organizers for taking notes in each area, as well as comprehension pages and reading strategies while they take notes and read their biography.
I love Biographies and whatever time of year, it's great for students to have CHOICE in their research! Happy February!
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Top Ten Digital Resources for Distance Learning
Happy January! It has been COLD this week! It is so hard right now with kids out sick, quarantining, and trying to keep up with who is home distance learning or eLearning. This week I wanted to highlight some things that are super easy for distance learning. Are these all the resources I have? NO. Are all of them going to be right for you? OF COURSE NOT!
Everyone is at a different place right now and what works for me, may not work for you or your classroom. I am always trying to make things easier, so hopefully some of these may be what you need!
Here's my Top 10 (at least for this month) for Digital Learning:
Getting kids to write is hard, but this is SO easy and the students love it. I promise you your students will write with this and have fun doing it. They get to choose objects, scenes, and different characters. They will have a blast!
If you haven't had a chance to use this, I think you will find these are super easy to use. They are narrated for those learners that cannot read well or need extra support. I have several of these for different seasons.
Use this digital version to get to know your classmates! Great for any time of year because things change for students or maybe you have new students added to your classroom.
7. Word Ladders
This is by far the best! Kids LOVE these word ladders. This bundle has them both paper and digital so you can use them for students no matter where they are!
Great for a research project at home or school. Students at home can work on this without being in the classroom, but still create a product like the rest of the class.
Great for a social students activity learning about your location in the world! Students look at where they live and then at the bigger picture on the map in state and country.
I have some NEW mini rooms for February! Chinese New Year, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglass! These are short reading passages about the topic or person with a video, facts, and a short puzzle at the end. These are great as a distance learning option if you need!
Everyone loves the print version of this, BUT the digital version may be what you need! You can always print the My First Journal and send it home with students. Lots of prompts and cues for young writers.
These are longer than the mini versions above. This one has inferences, homophones, synonyms, and contractions in this escape.
I do have escape rooms for other topics such as Immigration, Civil Rights, Oregon Trail, Parts of Speech and Earth Day! These are just a few! Usually you are solving 4-6 puzzles in these longer escapes.
1. How to Haiku
Great resource for this time of year as poetry begins! Doing the steps to Haiku on this eLearning lesson makes it do easy for students to do this from anywhere. It goes step by step and is a great beginning lesson for types of poetry.
I hope this list gives you some ideas to use for your students and your digital classroom!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)
Posts
All Comments
