Please feel free to share this document with others and encourage them to add to the list of uses and curricular applications of these great tools.

Curricular Applications for Flickr Toys and More

One of the best ways to infuse technology into your classroom experience is to have students create their own primary data with a digital camera. Cameras are easy to use and motivating tool for students. So instead of searching the Internet for a copyright free image to use, have them create their own pictures whenever possible.

Some examples:

     1. Use Flickr toys to make a magazine cover . (FLickr Toys - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/magazine.php) Many classes make their own magazine.  Example for covers: "My Summer Vacation," , "Computer Games 4 Kidz". You name it! Students could create a magazine cover and headlines for a famous person, historical event, or story character.

 
 2. Create trading card sets .(Flick Toys - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php) Liven up grade level projects, annual "animal" or "province" reports, and other topics that are ripe for change. Make a trading card set for the Prime Ministers of Canada. Kids will want to collect the whole set! Each student could create a card or student groups could design their own trading card pack. Due to the limited space students will need to synthesize their research into smaller chunks.

• Trading the cards can be a fun game, but they can also be useful for recommended reading, books, illustrators, authors, and historical bios/dates. How would you use them? How about using them as Flash cards for vocabulary, periodical table, foreign language, etc. (Classroom Learning 2.0 Blog - http://tinyurl.com/yw4nu5)
  
• Librarians use for Trading Card Maker: Dewey Browse.  Make trading cards with different pictures and the Dewey number  where a book about the picture can be found.  If it's a picture of a bear - I can include facts about bears on the card. etc.  The students can pick a card and if they read a book about whatever is on the card, they will get a point.  After 2 or 3 points, they will be able to pick a prize.  Laminate the cards so that they can be used over and over.
• Science - create a trading card for world habitats, planets, seasons, famous inventors
  
• Social Studies - Prime Ministers, Provinces of Canada, States, Famous Leasers, Communities of Canada, States of the Union, Presidents, Provincial and State Emblems, Significant events in history, etc.
  
• Physical Education/Health - Game rules, Food Groups, How-to of various exercises, Problem solving steps
• Math - problem solving theorems, geometric shapes, Math vocabulary cards,
  

 

 
 3.  Have students make a motivational poster about a topic (Flick Toys - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/motivator.php) – reading, mathematics, science, social studies, health, physical education, art or music; special events, All About Me! – make a poster with the child’s photo and have them state a goal they wish to achieve this term, month, etc.

         I have also used motivational posters using a digital image of the student from a presentation that they had.  We took pictures of the students with the presenter from the Oak Hammock Marsh presentation when they went outside in January to do telemetry (tracking of birds).  They then took this pictures and made a motivational poster with a heading about telemetry.  Then we attached these to our epearl portfolios. 

        An even easier tool for creating motivational posters is AutoMotivator. You can use one of the supplied images or upload one of your own to create the poster. May be easier for younger students to use. 

 
 4. Students are assigned the task of creating a new CD cover for their favorite musical group.

     (Flickr Toys - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/cd.php)  Using the CD Cover maker they can personalize it incorporating their own photos into the task.

 
    5. Have students create captions for a CC licensed image. Tell a story using a series of images (like a living comic book) using the Captioner tool .

     (Flickr Toys - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/captioner.php)

6.  Have students use these image generators as part of historical figures for a history report or characterization assignments about a character in a book. (Classroom Learning 2.0 Blog - http://tinyurl.com/yw4nu5)

7. CD cover, book summaries, famous people trading cards, history calendars, book summary magazine covers, geometry terms glossary trading cards, science experiment results as a movie poster, classroom pictures calendars, classroom job ID badges (http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/virginia/2007/05/09/flickr-toys-the-ultimate-in-creativity/)

8. Use the Image creation tools at GlassGiant.com - Back to School, Keyboard Mods to make an image/slide for a students or your own PowerPoint-SlideShare-PhotoStory-VoiceThread presentation. Ex.Riding the Wave, Panic Button

9. Use the Museumr (http://www.dumpr.net/museumr.php) tool from Dumpr.com to focus on a local landmark and to stimulate conversations and ideas about that location. Use the image as a story starter for a writing activity. Ex. Virden Train Station, Virden, MB