Second Nine Weeks Blended Learning Edition Technology News Become a Certified Google Educator! Make your lessons more engaging and meaningful by using Google tools in your classroom by training and becoming a Google Certified Educator. See more information online at the the Google for Education Training Center. GPISD Tech Updates The GPISD Technology department has made some changes to the annual Multimedia Contest. We now have some new categories and themes that you and your students will want to take a look at. Find all of the information on the district technology web page. Special Tips for Special Pops Got ELPS? Fluency Tutor for Google is a big help for struggling and reluctant ELL readers. This is a Chrome app & extension that allows students to record themselves reading and then share that content with their teacher, away from the pressures of reading aloud in the classroom. GT Tips Puzzles teach children to use their own minds to figure out how to solve problems and think in a logical way. As a child looks at various pieces to figure out where it fits or doesn’t fit, he or she is developing the skill of problem solving. Have your students try their hand at online, animated puzzles at BillyBear4 Kids.com. | Instructional Technology Highlight Teacher Spotlight: Victoria Ducote is a fifth grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Green Valley Elementary. Mrs. Ducote makes use of technology in her classroom on a daily basis. Every week she creates a PowerPoint to present and review the weekly Social Studies topic with her students. She also uses Quizizz and Kahoot for unit assessments and anytime she needs her students to “show what they know,” especially before the STAAR test. Mrs. Ducote is also a technology mentor and someone other teachers can turn to if they have questions or need assistance. She is always ready to learn new things and giving them a try. Her positive attitude and willingness to help others, students and teachers, make Mrs. Ducote a great asset to Green Valley Elementary.
Jeannie Luksch is a fourth grade Language Arts teacher at Cimarron Elementary. She constantly uses technology in the classroom with her students including using Google Classroom, a virtual classroom, to assign activities and send announcements to her students. She has created an extensive database of activities and quizzes that she delivers to her students using the Classroom Response System for them to answer the questions (clickers). She also utilizes numerous other web based programs and 2.0 tools such as Google Docs, Slides, Drawing, Plickers and Zaption as a means for her students to demonstrate their knowledge of the material taught in class. Mrs. Luksch is constantly transforming her classroom instruction and student learning by coming up with new and different ways to integrate technology into her lessons with her students. |
Created by GPISD Technology Instructional Specialists for Teachers http://galenaparkisd.com/curriculum/technology/
Web 2.0 Tools The Wizer worksheet builder compliments teachers’ experience and creativity by allowing quick creation of a wide variety of question types: open questions, multiple choice, etc.. Appy Hour Vyte the best iPhone calendar app for scheduling meetings Schedule your meetings 10x faster with our smart scheduling features Tech for Teachers Teaching Without Barriers. GoConqr gives you total control over the content you deliver to students. Create your own learning material using our full suite of powerful tools for educators.. What’s New Endless Learning Academy provide comprehensive early learning preparation for your child with this delightfully interactive educational app from Originator - Endless Learning Academy! Kids will learn across a broad and growing curriculum all while having FUN with the help of the adorable Endless monsters! | Language Arts During week 9 third grade will focus on Comprehension. TurtleDiary gives kids some extra practice on a variety of reading skills including comprehension. There is a wide range of interesting stories to practice with. A great blended learning activity to use with your students is journaling through Google Classroom. Have students complete journal assignments on a Google Doc and submit through Classroom. You can access the Docs from anywhere with internet access and not have to worry about carrying bulky journals to check/grade their entries. Math In week 16 students will be learning about personal financial literacy. Let your students play a game of Financial Football to review the financial literacy unit. Prodigy Math is a free, math game for grades 1-7 that integrates math into a game using a wizardry theme. Students complete math questions to level up and make their character more powerful. The management keeps track of how the students are doing and allows you to get reports. Check out the website for more info. Have you tried using Screencastify in your Math centers? Screencastify is a Google Chrome extension where you can create screencasts and videos with annotation tools. Record yourself and/or your screen while you type, navigate--do whatever--Screencastify will record everything. It all saves to Google Drive and while you are working with small groups, students can use the video/screencast you created to explain what to do in the centers. Science In weeks nine and ten, students will be learning about food chains. Sheppard Software has an entire section dedicated to food chains. This would be a great way to introduce the food chain concept in your classroom. At the end, students could play the Food Chain Game to show what they know. In weeks 13 and 14, students will be learning about states of matter. ABCya has a good interactive game that will introduce your students to the different states of matter as well as vocabulary words like mass and volume. A great blended learning idea is to use EDpuzzle to clip any video, insert your own notes, narrate, and add questions at any point in the video.It can also be set so that students cannot skip ahead in the video and must watch the entire video and answer the questions as they come up. Social Studies Introduce your class to the first harvest celebration, delve deeper into the relationships between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags, and take a closer look at the historical significance of the Pilgrim’s Community on Scholastic’s website. In Nov/Dec, there is a technology project focusing on people who helped shape communities, using Google Slides. For a blended learning project, you might consider using choice boards with your students, and to increase technology usage, make at least half of the choices technology-based. |
Web 2.0 Tools Smore is an easy to use online newsletter. It is a creative way to create online newsletters that are easy to read and can be updated at any time. It is free to use and your readers do not need a particular app to read the newsletter. Appy Hour Google Keep is Google’s version of sticky notes. Keep checklists, update on the go, share with others, and much more. Add notes, lists, photos, and audio to Keep Tech for Teachers Try this simple tool to schedule with your parents. Eliminate email and phone tag. Allow them to connect easily and right away. What’s New Pokemon Go is all the kids are talking about. So instead of fighting a Pokeball, use it to your advantage. Read this ISTE toolbox article about bringing Pokemon Go into the classroom. | Language Arts Looking for ways to mix it up in your classroom? Let your students practice their skills with some games: context clues and comparative and superlative. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth even more! Check out this video on making inferences. The think-aloud can be very useful as reinforcement. Add the links to your Google Classroom and let the fun begin. Math Give your students plenty of practice with dividing by 1-digit divisors with this Quizlet study set and this game by Study Jams. Jazz up your classroom centers by having students review these division videos by Khan Academy: Intro to division (no remainders) and Intro to division (remainders). Videos can serve as great review activities.
Science During week 13, mixtures and solutions will be discussed. This video is about separating mixtures. It would be a great video to put in your Google Classroom or on your teacher webpage. The students could view at home or in the lab before your lesson. Here is an interactive game that can be given either before or after. Use the flashcards from quizlet to reinforce vocabulary from the lesson. You could also use the test feature of Quizlet for a formative assessment. Social Studies When studying the Texas Empresarios be sure to include some videos as an introduction or as a review. Try these videos from Discovery Education: Texas in 1800 and Stephen Austin and Texas Expansion. Looking for bio info on Texas empresarios? The Texas State Historical Association has done to work for you!
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Web 2.0 Tools Padlet can be used for collaborating and sharing. Ask your TIS for help. Click to view sample Padlet. You can pin a tab to keep it from closing by right clicking on the tab and choosing Pin tab. Appy Hour Read Write Think Haiku app is a fun app for creating Haiku’s. Check it out! RWT Timeline Creator will give students an opportunity to create a timeline during the sequencing lessons Tech for Teachers Google Keep lets you keep notes and checklists that sync across computers and devices. Download the app for your phone and all of your lists are available on the go. Google Keep is included with your Google Apps for Education in GPISD, so get started today! What’s New Ever have that student at the back that can’t see the text on the screen? Install the CraftyText extension in Google Chrome to quickly display large text on top of the website you are projecting. | Language Arts Play this fun activity to reinforce multiple meaning words. Create a timeline while in the lab using RWT Timeline creator or Softschools Timeline Creator. Google Docs is a great way for collaborating and sharing their finished compositions. Google Docs works seamlessly with Google Classroom. Math Prime and composite numbers are better explained using Kahn Academy Students can use this Interactive Glossary to learn new terms. Interactive manipulatives are readily available on this site. Teachers and students can give it a try. Science Let students explore the properties of water with STEMscopes. Use the videos to let students preview the topic in small groups or as homework so they are ready for application in class. Use Google Classroom to share and assign videos and activities during this unit. When it is time to jump into Force and Motion, take advantage of PhET online simulations and have students fill in a spreadsheet of their predictions and results. Students can access and turn in their assignment with Google Classroom. Sign in to Discovery Education to access videos on states of matter, types of energy, and force and motion. Need to create an account? Ask your TIS for your school code. Social Studies As students analyze the events prior to the American Revolution, have them complete graphic organizers, such as the History Frame, using their Google account or the Kami extension. ReadWriteThink offers a timeline builder, which is available online and as an iOS app. Check out some other interactive timeline tools to encourage higher order thinking and allow students to visualize their learning. Do a quick Quizlet search for study sets to support vocabulary and concepts tied to the Revolutionary Period. You can share the link to pre-made sets, edit an existing set, or create your own. Post the link on your website or Google Classroom so students can access them at school and from home. |
