Third Nine Weeks

Technology News

Are you still using USB flash drives to save and backup your important documents? If you are on a district computer you could use your H: drive, or even better, use your Google drive! Anything you save to your Google drive can be accessed from any Internet device, worldwide! Those documents can also then be shared easily with other Google users.

GPISD Tech updates

Check out Virtual Reality in a fun way! Each principal in GPISD received a Google Cardboard device to share with their campus. If you have never seen one, or if you want your students to experience VR, see your principal!

Special Tips for Special Pops

iPads provide some special tools to help with some disabilities. Go into Settings, General, and Accessibility and you will find many tools to help with Vision and Hearing problems. You can change the text size, invert colors, turn on subtitles and captioning, among other things.

Got ELPS?

FunEnglishGames.com is a website with several games, activites, videos and more can be found to help English learners practice their English skills.

GT Tips

BrainBashers is a collection of brain teasers, puzzles, riddles, and games to keep kids thinking.

Differentiation Edition

Many activities in this edition of the TIPs Newsletter will focus on Differentiation activities using technology!

Instructional Technology Highlight

Helen Stout is a first grade teacher at Purple Sage Elementary, who has recently joined the ipad crew. She enjoys using technology to make her class fun and interactive. Her students know how to go to her webpage and click on interactive lessons. They recently started working on a research paper by going to her webpage. When her students finish their research they step it up a notch. They took their information and transfer it to the iPad. In order for them to learn the app, she worked in small groups and showed them how to use PicCollage. The above pictures are examples of their creative work. Mrs. Stout is moving up with technology; kudos to her!

Megan Potter, first grade teacher and team leader at Shirley J. Williamson Elementary, is using Class Dojo with her students. This iOS app allows her to keep track of behavior, communicate with parents, offer incentives, and much more. She has introduced the app to the rest of her first grade team, and it is catching on! Her students love to hear the ding when they earn a point for on-task behavior. She can easily send a message or even a photo to parents, with read receipts. The app keeps a timeline of student progress and saves valuable time while keeping up with documentation.

Created by GPISD Technology Instructional Specialists for Teachers http://galenaparkisd.com/curriculum/technology/

Third Nine Weeks

Web 2.0 Tools

Google Forms

Whether you want to send a quiz to your students or organize a field trip, Google forms can help you distribute and gather information.

Appy Hour

ClassDojo is the easiest way for teachers to encourage students and share their best moments with parents.

Tech for Teachers

We The Teachers is a free online social networking site for teachers. You can connect with other teachers and find and share learning materials like lesson plans and other instructional materials and educational resources.

What’s New

Google Classroom is a free web-based program that integrates your Google Apps for Education account with all your Google Apps services, including Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Calendar. It’s designed to save you time and paper.

Language Arts

Listen to the word the BINGO bug speaks and click on the corresponding sight word on the screen. Get four words correct vertically, horizontally or diagonally to get BINGO and win! This word memory game is designed to learn dolch word list. Kids have to match dolch sight words to practice their exercise.

Spanish-When working with students on story structure, Librosvivos Primaria has an interactive game that you can model to your students.

Math

This activity prepares students for Counting Money. It illustrates the value of each coin with descriptions. In this Money game, kids need to find the worth of different coins by counting them. In this activity students will choose a target sum to practice. Watch as the mystery picture appears.

Science

Scales, feathers, and fur are just a few of the different kinds of animal coverings in nature. Help the robot match the correct covering to each animal. In Jessi’s video she shows some examples of different kinds of body coverings that occur in a wide variety animals.

Social Studies

In this educational animated movie about Martin Luther King Jr. you will learn about civil rights, segregation, racism and much more. Students will enjoy watching this video Our Friend Martin over Martin Luther King Jr. This activity will help Dr. King find his way to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial so he can give his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

Third Nine Weeks

Web 2.0 Tools

Students may get unexpected search results in google. To be more at ease when your students are searching the web, try this friendly search engine with your students.

Appy Hour

Enjoy Toontastic is a great app for your students to use. This app will allow kids to create and animate cartoon characters to tell their story!

Tech for Teachers

Need a quick way to review or assess what your students know? Plickers is great way to find out how well your students grasped a lesson or review for a test. You can even use it to survey the class! All it takes is one smartphone or tablet!

What’s New

Need an instant classroom library? Zing is a digital classroom leveled library which provides access to thousands of book titles, including award winning titles, series from well-known authors, audio books, and short texts, with access to elearning and assessments.

Language Arts

Bingobaker.com is an interactive website where teachers can create customized bingo cards. They can then either print them out or have students play online. During week 17, students will be learning about main idea and details. This interactive hamburger will help students distinguish between the two and get to the meat of the story.

Spanish-During week 17 students will be focusing on Comprehension skills and strategies.

Math

One of the skills your students will have to learn in week 17-18 is to order number to 120. Teachers try this link to find different interactive activities and lessons you can do with your students for week 17-18. Students can try this less than greater than math interactive link during your station rotation for week 19-20.

Science

Coming back from the break the students will be learning about weather. Join Sid the Science kid and learn together with your class about weather. In week 20-21 students will be learning about seasons. Have fun teaching about seasons using this interactive site.

Social Studies

During week 17, students will be learning about time and chronology. Students can use this online calendar activity to explore measuring time on a calendar. During week 18, students will be studying good citizens and historical figures. Teacher Vision site features videos on the life of George Washington.

Third Nine Weeks

Web 2.0 Tools

Have students take a story summary and turn it into a comic strip using MakeBeliefsComix.com. Students can choose character and add speech and thought bubbles for the characters. Then print or save the completed comic stip to share with the class. Also, available as a app from the AppStore.

Appy Hour

Drawing Desk is an app that allow students to express their ideas using draw, paint, doodle, sketch and & scribble techniques.

ChatterPix Kids is a app that can take a picture and make it talk. Great intro into the podcast world. Innovative way to create book reports, story summaries, and creative cards.

Tech for Teachers

Go Noodle is a website that allows teachers to provide brain breaks for students during the day. These activities allow students to incorporated activity to redirect concentration.

What’s New
All teachers need a timer or stopwatch at one time or another. Leave it to Tammy Worchester to find an easy Google solution. Click on the link to see how easy it is. Google Timer

Language Arts

As we continue to prepare our students to write, StoryJumper.com will provide the students with a format to create stories. This site allows students to add scenes, photos and text to make exciting picture books to share with teachers and friend. Using Ipads, students can access Shadow PuppetEDU to create videos to tell stories, explain ideas or document their learning.

Spanish- Writing can be confusing and complicated without a plan. Storyboard That is a site that makes storytelling fun and engaging while providing structure for the writing experience.

Math

Students are always in need of review. Visit Quizlet.com and use the premade acitivites or you can create your own for your class. Examples are 2nd Grade Math Facts and 2nd Grade Math Addition/Subtraction Words. Another resource for creating flashcards is Flippity.net. This tool allows you to create online flashcards from info on a google spreadsheet.

Science

The Scholastic web site can be used for all the core subjects. The Scholastic science is a great interactive activity you can put in your centers or use in the lab. A quick and easy way to learn those key science terms is Post Cards. Students will find a picture of the term and write a note to their friends and explain the term. They can also be printed for a hall display. While studying the Lifecycle of Animals you can use the Butterfly Life Cycle Activity to review this process and watch a Canopy Cam of this amazing process.

Social Studies

You have previously studied famous people. Using this site, A Day in History you can create a time capsule for any day in history.

Another great activity for letting the students showcase what they have learned about famous people is ABC Detective.