TechMas Tip#4: ReadWorks, Free Reading Lesson Plans

Today's tip is a website, ReadWorks.org.   It's a great service that provides teachers with free reading lesson plans. Readworks.org can be used in classrooms from Kindergarten to 12th grade.  Lessons are standards-aligned and if you choose not to use their lesson plans, you can simply search their many fiction and non-fiction articles to customize your own classroom experience.  All articles are listed with a lexile score and suggested grade level and are easy to find with the search feature.

There are approximately 120 K-12 articles that are winter-themed, which is perfect for the holiday season. There are articles that have connections to topics in science, language arts, and social studies.  They are accompanied by lists of key vocabulary terms and suggested comprehension and/or discussion questions.

This year ReadWorks integrated Google Classroom into their product, so now you can distribute articles and comprehension questions via your digital class. I know there will be some teachers that will immediately ask if there is content available in Spanish. Unfortunately, there is not, BUT ReadWorks recently developed extra supports for English Language Learners during the Article-A-Day routine. To learn more you can watch this video.

Sign up to discover what is available and take advantage of the excellent resources you will find on their site.

Let me know what you think about this resource in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

~Rosie

TechMas Tip#3: Winter Magnetic Poetry with Google Slides

Does the chilly weather get your students a little over-energetic?  This is the best opportunity for you to take advantage of those creative and active minds.  Today's TechMas Tip comes to you via the Shake Up Learning blog, who created this awesome Google Slides template for Winter Magnetic Poetry.

There are over 100 tiles in the template and a word list is included on slides two and three.  You or your students can add more text boxes or remove existing tiles in order to adjust for vocabulary levels.  I do have to note that when you add a text box it may not look exactly like the original tiles.  No big deal, though. Creativity has no limits, right? You can either use this as a collaborative activity or an independent activity.  You could also use it as a writing prompt.  Regardless of how you decide to implement this in your classroom, I'm sure no two poems will be alike.

Share some of your students best creations via Twitter and be sure to use hashtag #TechMasTips and tag me, @rfluegel. Give Kasey Bell from ShakeUpLearning a shout out, as well @ShakeUpLearning,

Enjoy!
~Rosie

TechMas Tip#2: AutoDraw

Our second TechMas Tip is a cool little drawing tool called AutoDraw. I admit, I was drawn in by the fact that it uses artificial intelligence to try to predict what you are trying to draw.

However, I asked myself is there any educational value in it? As a visual learner and someone who constantly doodles when trying to focus, I have to say, YES, there are a few benefits for your classroom.

As educators we have read about the value of visualization, dual coding and nonlinguistic representation and this extends not only from our pre-reading students, but all the way to any adult learner.  If you want students to add doodles to their notes, yet they get frustrated their own drawing skills, then this is the tool for them.  If you enjoy adding icons or illustrations to your classroom materials, but don't have the time to find the perfect image, this tool can also help.  Other than that, I can see how AutoDraw can be used as a preferred activity if you have students who finish work quickly.  If students need illustrations for projects, videos, or book, AutoDraw can help them create those, too.  Being that it is a very simple tool, it does lack the capability to collaborate with others or save multiple drawings.  However, students can share or download their drawing and did I mention, it's free!

Bottom line, it has some benefits for the classroom, but it is a cool tool, too.

Have fun with your holiday doodles. Feel free to share your holiday creations with me in the comment section below.

~Rosie

TechMas Tip#1: XtraMath

Since we are in the thick of the holiday season, I thought it would be a perfect time to share a few Tech Tidbits with you.  I know it's been a while since my last post, but I do still love to share some tech goodness with you.  With that being said, let me start with my first share of the holiday season, XtraMath, a free web-based math fact fluency program that is designed to help students master addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.

I know what you're thinking, "A math fact program, really?"  Well, give me a minute.  Core math facts are the building blocks of a child’s education and essential for success with fractions, decimals, multi-digit algorithms and higher level Math. XtraMath is based on the assumption that students who regularly practice will quickly and easily recall answers when needed, freeing up mental resources for more complex problem solving.

What really won me over is their selection of languages, in particular, English ASL.  Yes, students can now get their instructions in American Sign Language. The student activities take less than 10 minutes each day and can easily be worked into a student’s daily routine. If needed, regular reports can be emailed directly to the parent or teacher’s inbox. Detailed progress reports and graphs are accessible online at any time.

XtraMath is a non-profit organization. Thanks to the support of grants and donations, XtraMath is free of any advertising, making it as aesthetically pleasing as it is mentally challenging.

If you're interested in helping lay a good foundation for any child's mathematical future, then give it a try. Yes, it's only math fact practice, but if it can support students at home, then I'm all in.

XtraMath

See you soon with some more TechMas goodies.  If you have any tips, sites, apps, etc to share, please feel free to post them in the comments.

~Rosie 

#eyebombing activity for Narrative Writing

Ok, so I've never considered myself an expert in ELA.  I've always been that geek who loves math, science and technology.  However, I came across this #eyebombing movement that may have changed that just a little bit, so I immediately had to share with you.  The purpose of #eyebombing was started as a way to create smiles on people's faces. Googly eyes are placed on inanimate objects to create a face. What better way to address point of view and perspective in narrative writings than to have students create their own characters?  What kind of stories could they create? Then, in the process, spread a little joy across your campus. I can only imagine the reaction of someone trying to drink from a water fountain with a face on it.  It's a win-win, in my opinion.

I adapted my lesson directly from Gina Ripley.  You can follow the hashtag #eyebombing on Twitter to see how other teachers are adapting this project in their classrooms.  You can also access the lesson and resources here.  I can't wait to see how creative your students will get.  Share their creations with me on Twitter by including @rfluegel and the #eyebombing hashtag.  I will love to see all those characters come to life.

Happy #eyebombing!

~Rosie F.

Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings

Halloween is just around the corner and your kids are getting a little scary.  Take advantage of that extra energy and try a little magnetic poetry using Google Drawings to get your kids to show their spooky creativeness.  

Thanks to the Shake Up Learning blog, who created this awesome Google Drawing template, you can spark your little monsters' creativity with magnetic poetry.  There are almost 100 tiles in this template, but of course, you can delete tiles or add tiles using text boxes in order to adjust to student vocabulary levels. Simply drag a tile onto the page to create a poem. You can either use this as a collaborative activity or an independent activity.  You could also use it as a writing prompt.  Regardless, how you decide to implement it in your classroom, I would love to see their creations.  Feel free to tag me on Twitter @rfluegel.  I'm sure their creativeness will be spooktacular.
~Rosie Fluegel

Quick & Easy Videos with Biteable.com

As teachers, we love to see beautiful multimedia projects from our students.  However, there are times when we would love to see what our students can create without spending too much of our time working on a more complicated app.  In comes Biteable.com, the world's simplest video maker.  In just a few simple steps you can have your own animated video ready to go. Simply pick your favorite scenes from their selection, add text, pick a theme color and choose music. Then, you're done.  Watch the video below to learn how to create your first video using biteable.com. 

What I like about biteable.com is that students are forced to a use a limited amount of text depending on their chosen scene.  This forces students to be concise with their thoughts or ideas.  I do have to note that the final product cannot be downloaded to your computer and there will be a watermark in the corner of your video. However, you can link to your video or embed it on another site.  You can create a free account by using your Google account, so getting started is even easier.  It's definitely worth looking into if you or your students are looking for a video creation tool that is new, quick and easy.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

~Rosie F.