Computational Thinking in STEM Activities

18 03 2019

I’ve been working with 7th and 8th graders on various STEM projects and having a blast! It is so much fun to watch kids excited about learning and utilizing computational thinking in order to accomplish a given task. The latest project we worked on was a volleyball machine.  The project can be found at https://www.sciencebuddies.org/

We gave them no assistance – this video was it – and the designs they came up with were phenomenal. The excitement when their designs worked was contagious. The collaboration in helping one another solve a problem with their design was what every teacher loves to see. The fact that the activity culminates in a competition motivated them even more. And for the teacher .. besides generating excitement among their students it satisfies various math and science standards.

There are so many valuable sites with projects that will excite students and make them THINK! This is just one of them. Enjoy 🙂


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Categories : Art, Math, Motivation, Science

Binumi – a Video Project Tool

19 01 2018

Binumi is an AWESOME tool for digital storytelling video projects. There is a free version that should be adequate for your needs. It has a huge library of video clips as well as sound files that can easily be dragged and dropped to your storyline. Adding text as well as your own files are easily done but if you get stuck there is a short tutorial right within your project screen – just look for the i which gives you an overview of the editor. I’ve  included a short video to give you an introduction and if you have any questions contact me. I’d be more than happy to help! Go to https://www.binumi.com/ and create your free account Enjoy!


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Categories : Video, Web 2.0 Tools

FREE Resources for your Chromebooks – Great Idea for a Collegial Circle

13 12 2017

Hi all
Hope your year is going well.

I’ve spoken about Curriculum Pathways before but now have webinars for each discipline created by the company. For those who do not know, Curriculum Pathways was created and is maintained by SAS, a top data analytics company. It is their philanthropic activity due to their deep interest in education. The resources are among the best I’ve ever seen and used. They include interactives, web inquiry, web lessons, … A great thing about Curriculum Pathways is that everything is standards aligned with emphasis on higher order thinking skills. There will NEVER be a cost! Everything is free! There will never be a push to a premium account. There is none!

Most activities are for middle and high school but there are some for elementary. Complete lesson guides are included and many additionally have worksheets that can be printed or completed on students’ Chromebooks. You can filter by subject, grade level, standards, activity, Chromebook, and more. The search is quite robust. Each of these webinars is approximately 45 minutes and could be used as a great base for a collegial circle so activities could be shared with your colleagues.

When you first open the video, it may say no content – just ignore it. It will start by itself. Don’t even bother pressing Play.

Math: https://youtu.be/Xnjy8FRM7fc

Science: https://youtu.be/ABj7eaooQU8

English Language Arts: https://youtu.be/oECsv0iQhCY

Social Studies: https://youtu.be/2zTr_UAiyac

Spanish: https://youtu.be/9vsagH5gfcE

I PROMISE you! You will not be disappointed in Curriculum Pathways!!!

Have a great week,
Barbara


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Categories : Common Core, English, Health, Internet Tools, Math, Science, Social Studies, Web 2.0 Tools

Writing Reviser – a Google AddOn

29 03 2017

Back in 2014, I wrote about SAS Curriculum Pathways and the many interactive tools and lessons available for free. They are still there but now they are moving to Chrome!!! The Writing Navigator is a tool AND app that helps students move from planning to drafting to revising to publishing. You will have to create an account but its free.

And NOW, SAS has included an add-on to Google Docs for the Writing Reviser! Any teacher I’ve shown this tool to has been blown away!
To get it, go to Tools, Get Add-ons in a Google Doc: 
When you want to use the Writing Reviser just go back to your AddOn tab and Open the Addon! I can’t even tell you how much is available with this add-on. I could not do it justice. Here’s some images but you really need to try it to see its power.

Sentence Economy Information

Verb Tenses

Misplaced Modifiers

Enjoy!


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Categories : Google Apps, Internet Tools, Websites for your Classroom

SWAY an online FREE Presentation Tool

11 12 2016

Have you ever used SWAY? It is an incredible FREE online tool that can be used to create presentations/lessons. Since it is strictly online, it works well with Chromebooks. A VERY cool thing about SWAY is that it intuitively offers content based on the words you place on your “cards”. The content offered is Creative Commons – You can embed YouTube, Geogebra, Tweets, Google Maps…

The example above was created by me and all content was in the Sway library for me so I never had to leave the site.

Sways can be private or public so sharing is encouraged! The following example is one that I found – I chose it because it gives some really good ideas. If you click on the … in the right corner, you can open full size in a new tab. Enjoy!

 


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Categories : Web 2.0 Tools

New to Kahoot!

3 11 2016

Hi all!

I know many of you use Pear Deck, Quizizz and Kahoot in your classrooms. I want to share what’s new with Kahoot!

It’s called Jumble and you need to move your tiles to put them in order. There are several example games ready for you to use including a Word Jumble, Film Trivia, Halloween Fun, Political Jumble, and Build the Equation.

political-jumble

MATH TEACHERS – it seems as though we are often left out 😦 BUT.. you are going to LOVE creating equations through jumbling! Click on the following link to learn more about Jumble. Scroll down to find the example games. jumbleHave some fun! CREATE and SHARE!!!


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Categories : Art, Business, English, Health, LOTE, Math, Motivation, Music, Science, Social Studies, Web 2.0 Tools

Google Slides as a BackChannel

21 08 2016

Hi all! – welcome back! Hope you had a relaxing summer!

As you know I’ve retired from the classroom but what some of you did not know is that I am still the director of MTRACT and am SO looking forward to working with you this year:) Please contact me (bknab@msd.k12.ny.us) with any ideas you may have for MTRACT course offerings!

It’s been a busy summer! I attended a CTLE workshop and will have all updated information posted on both this site as well as the MFT site this week.

Have you ever used TodaysMeet in a workshop or with your students? Did you know that Google Slides now includes a Presenter View that acts as a backchannel? What a great way to give your students the opportunity to ask questions as they watch a presentation. I’ve attached a video to give you a better idea as well as a HOW TO. Enjoy and have a GREAT year!


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Categories : Google Apps, Websites for your Classroom

SAS Curriculum Pathways

21 04 2014

Hi everyone,

Is spring in the air? It’s Saturday – end of our break and I’m really hoping that spring has kicked winter OUT and we will begin to enjoy the fruits of spring.

At Berner we were mesmerized by the assembly where a holocaust survivor reached out to our kids with the ultimate message to be aware, to get involved, to stand up to bullies. How many times have we heard “If you see something, say something”?

This lesson for middle school from SAS Curriculum Pathways on The Diary of Anne Frank seemed appropriate for me to share with you.

SAS Anne FrankSAS supplies free tools to help students create:

The writing planner guides students through the “process of generating ideas and organizing them into a plan for writing”.

The writing drafter helps students “develop coherent sentences and paragraphs” from the organized ideas in their plan.

The writing reviser helps students revise their writing into their final project.

SAS provides FREE quality resources for ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies and Spanish. Email me for a username and password.

 


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Categories : English, LOTE, Math, Science, Social Studies, Uncategorized, Websites for your Classroom

Teachers Pay Teachers

23 01 2014

Hi Everyone,
Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. My life has been very hectic of late. I was trying to think about what to write and remembered a teacher at my last workshop speaking of a site called teacherspayteachers. She said she found some really good lessons and it has actually given her some time off on weekends! So… I decided I’ll take a look and tell you about it.

You can sign up for free either as a buyer or buyer/seller with royalty payments or choose the premium account with no transaction fees and pay 59.95.

Grade levels start with Pre-K and ends with Post Secondary and Adult Ed.

TPT Subjects

 

Take a look at the major subject areas to the left. The right arrows will take you to various topics (too numerous to mention). Specialty subjects include everything from business to health to speech and even ASL!

TPT Resources

Types of resources include worksheets, lesson plans, DBQ’s, SMART Board activities, PowerPoint, assessments, ExamView question banks, webquests, clip art, used books and on and on…. see the image to the left or better yet, click here to visit the site and see for yourself see all it has to offer. Membership is free and I believe it’s certainly worth a look 🙂

Let me know what you think – have a great day!
Barbara


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Categories : Websites for your Classroom

Share My Lesson

26 10 2013

Hi everyone,

Since my return to the classroom, my eyes have been opened to how busy you all are! It’s been a whirlwind but I am really enjoying being back with the kids!

I thought I’d remind you about a great resource for Common Core lessons. I shared this with you last year but it warrants a reminder! Share My Lesson is sponsored by AFT and NYSUT. It is a site that contains more than 250,000 resources by teachers for teachers and is FREE! You will find activities, worksheets, games, lesson plans, flashcards, puzzles, posters, assessments and MORE…. You can borrow, but more importantly, SHARE! It’s so important that we work together in these trying times.

shareMyLesson Elementary and MS

Early Elementary
44,065 resources, including activities, worksheets, games, lesson plans, flashcards, puzzles, posters, assessments and other ideas for you to use with your kindergarten, first- and second-grade students.

Late Elementary
34,111 resources, including activities, worksheets, games, lesson plans, flashcards, puzzles, posters, assessments and other ideas for you to use with your third- fourth- and fifth-grade students.

Middle School
60,126 resources, including activities, worksheets, games, lesson plans, flashcards, puzzles, posters, assessments and other ideas for you to use with your sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.

shareMyLesson HS

High School
172,269 resources, including activities, worksheets, games, lesson plans, puzzles, posters, presentations, assessments and other ideas for you to use with your high school students.

shareMyLesson Special Population

Special Population
3,722 special populations resources, including activities, worksheets, games, lesson plans, flashcards, puzzles, posters, assessments and other ideas for you to use with your students.


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Categories : Art, Assessment, Business, Common Core, English, Health, LOTE, Math, Music, Science, Social Studies

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