Software recommendation for Elementary Buildings

 

Website: Learning A-Z 
Recommended Programs:  Reading A-Z & Raz Kids

Cost: $$$- Well worth the money!
Rating by Jules~ 5 Stars
Difficulty Level:  Beginner
Grade:  Pre K- 5

Today I am going to take a minute to RAVE about Reading A-Z and Raz Kids. These are two separate learning strategies and they are offered by one company called Learning A-Z. Students and Teachers absolutely love each of these programs.   One of our Teachers recently emailed me the following statement:   "Reading A-Z and Raz-kids are the best instructional programs we have ever used".  These two programs are awesome in a couple of ways.  First is the price!  Now don't get me wrong,  I always LOVE to get apps and programs for FREE, but I also know that when I do pay some money I end up with so many more capabilities and options.  Anyway, both Raz Kids and Reading A-Z are affordable and worth every penny!

Reading A-Z  offers printable books, correlating worksheets, graphic organizers, quizzes and correlations to state standards.  They update their material every 4-6 weeks.  Raz Kids is available as an app for the iPad and offers a login for students with animated books with comprehensive quizzes for fluency, a management tool for teachers and stars for students to earn (and spend for fun rewards).

Favorite Typing Game- testing by my daughters

   Activity 1:  Cup Stacking on ABCYA
   Activity 2:  Dance Mat Typing 
   Cost:  Free
   Website:  ABCya!.com
   Website:  Dance Mat Typing

Since computer skills in our elementary schools are not actively taught.  I am always asking my daughters to practice their keyboarding skills at home.  Schools are not teaching the skills, yet by the time students are in 6th grade the state wants them to be typing at 30 Words Per Minute (WPM).  Impossible when they don't learn this at school so we are supplementing at home.  My daughters are not so excited for typing so I give them a variety of choices (I create shortcuts on the desktops for quick easy access).

The ABCYA Cup Stacking and the Dance Mat Typing are their favorite sites!  I tend to like the Dance Mat more because it shows the proper fingers to use.  Even after they play the games you could start charting their WPM by giving them a Typing Test to see where they are at: Typing Test Here.   There are all kinds of other keyboarding games on ABCYA and other sites including:   ABCYA Keyboarding,  Learn to Type (requires account).  I will continue to add more as I find good resources.  Happy Typing!

Fantastic New York Times Article to share with your students!  They Loved Your G.P.A Then They Saw Your Tweets! 

This is an eye opening article for any high school student or parent of a high school student.  It is reported that 31% of admission officers research the students' Social Media page about them.  Currently, researching the background of a student online is not formally prohibited.  There is even a growing area of concern that colleges might erroneously identify the account of a person.  All of which contibutes to a Digital Footprint and should be assessed when applying for a college.  This is a must read and discussion for high school students.

History Animated- Including Civil War, Revolutionary War, WWI, WWII

Website:  History Animated

Cost:  Free

Rating by Jules~ 4 Stars

     (This was rated a 4/5 because it has limited access for iPads- not all history links are usable by        the iPads. If you are using iPads for your classes, precheck on website on the iPad to confirm it      works (runs mainly on Java)). 

Difficulty Level:  Beginner
There is only sound for the background (music or action sounds from wars).  Students read the top or bottom of the screen.

Grade:  6-12

This is a very cool interactive History website that brings the battles of  the Civil War, Revolutionary War, WWI, WWII to life.  Students can click through at their own pace to see the movement on the maps for where the battles took place.  There are fun sound effects in the background (marching and war sounds) while students read about the Wars at the top of the page.  This website also gives book recommendations to students for reports or further learning. One of the Teachers in the High School tried this site out with the iPads without a huge success.  The teacher realized the website runs much better on a pc!  All in all- a very cool website!

Subscribe Now! Sweet Youtube Channel for a Crash Course in almost anything!

Youtube Channel: CrashCourse
Cost:  Free
Rating by Jules ~ 5 Star
Grade:  K-12
Difficulty Level- Easy 

I stumbled upon this Youtube Channel when I was researching about Digital Learning Day (which is February 5, 2014).  The guy who "teaches" in this videos is fairly entertaining with his sly remarks.  I believe his would keep the attention of any group watching.  He offers six courses in one awesome channel: John Green teaches you US History and Hank Green teaches you Chemistry. They also have playlists for past courses in World History, Biology, Literature, and Ecology.  One of our teachers uses this site but says sometimes the actors speak a little too fast. Be prepared to stop and discuss along the way!  

Must have App for every Teacher and for anyone who wants free e-books!

iPad App:  Overdrive
Cost:  Free
Rating by Jules ~ 5 Star
Grade:  K-12
Difficulty Level- Easy
Materials Needed:

1. City or County Library Card
2. Bluetooth Speaker
3. Device to play audio book

Recently, I was in an English Room at our High School.  Students were quiet, seemed tired and not engaged. I noticed the book that they were "supposed" to be reading.  It was the "The Hunger Games".  I thought to myself- oh, I love that book! I spoke with the teacher about the book and how I loved it.  He was frustrated that the kids were not engaged.  I mentioned to the Teacher that possibly playing an audio book chapter occasionally in class would help excite the kids for reading the next chapter.  He agreed and I recommended downloading the Overdrive App.  I purchased him a Bluetooth speaker at Rite Aid for $20.  He downloaded the app on his ipad, added his library card numbers and downloaded the audio book all in the same day. The kids LOVE listening to it in class!  This idea has encouraged them to read on to the next chapter!

Guided Access- iOS 7- Locking down the iPad to one App- For the Teacher and the Parent!

Device:  iPad - Settings
Cost:  Free
Rating by Jules~  5 STAR
Grade:  K-12
Difficulty Level- Easy
***See Youtube Video

Incredible option for testing students on iPads or for parents to lock an app on their ipad for a child to use! This option was just added for our Teachers giving exams this week in Datawise.  The teacher can lock down the screen in Guided Access from the testing shortcut (in our case we are using the program Datawise), block out the top tool bar so that is unusable during the test. Students are not able to look up answers on Google or anything else while locked in Guided Access.

This is also an invaluable option for Elementary Teachers and/or Parents who want to lock down the iPad to a single app for children to use.  Super easy to do and takes the mystery out of what or where a child might be in when they are using the iPads.  Watch the Video above for a quick tutorial on how to use Guided Access.