Website:  TedEd- Flipped Lesson on Time

Cost: FREE
Rating by Jules~ 5 Star

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Device: Across Platform

Rated:  Social Studies

Here is a great Ted Ed Lesson that is already flipped for you to share with your class on the topic: How did trains standardize time in the United States? by- William Heuisler. One of our teachers uses this video in the beginning of the school year when they discuss westward expansion. This is a great lesson because the kids can watch and answer questions and re-watch if needed to properly answer questions. It is also awesome for teachers because it  literally takes a couple of seconds to flip it as it is already designed with questions (and answers). Teachers can add more questions and/or delete questions as needed.  As always with Ted Ed, if the students use their login then the teacher can track the results.

Screen Cast-O-Matic Easy Video creation for recording your computer screen

 

 

Website:  Screencast-O-Matic

Cost: FREE
Rating by Jules~ 5 Star

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Device: PC

Rated: Everyone
Materials Needed:  Java on your computer, Microphone if you plan to talk in the video



This is one of my favorite websites for creating professional development videos.  I create all my "how to" videos from this site.  It is one of the more user friendly sites available without having to download anything to your computer.  Simply click on the "Start Recording" button at the top and the screen of your computer is instantly trasformed into the background for your video.  I loved this website because I can record whatever I want to teach or show someone and save the file right to my computer (which is my choice most of the time), publish directly to Screencast-O-Matic (limited space) or publish right to YouTube.  Screencast gives the option to save at MP4 (Quicktime), AVI (windows media), FLV (Flash) or GIF (Animated gif) and it gives a full set of options for the size of the file.  This is a great option again for teaching anything you would like for people to have options for rewatching or being able to pause and/or rewind to follow along.  Great for the teacher flipping the classroom or even the student creating a "teach me" presentation.  Give it a try - you won't be disappointed.

 



App:  Stack the States
iTunes Link:  Stack the States

Cost:  Free (limited) or .99 cents
Rating by Jules~ 5 Star

Difficulty:  Beginner

Device:  iPad

Rated: Everyone

 

This app is a staple on any device we own.  We started with the Free version, but the capabilities were limited so I purchased the full version for a whopping .99 cents~well worth the money!  This game is great for the 5-10 year old and even fun for the older kids.  It offers reading and comprehension skills.  It also includes deductive reasoning and visual recognition for answering the questions.    When the question is answered correctly, you get to drag the state down to stack on top of each other.  Once stacked to the top, you move on to another level.  What better to learn the United States! 



App News-O-Matic Super Cool Online News for Kids 7-11

App: News-O-Matic 

Website (for more information):  News-O-Matic-Press 4-Kids

Cost:  FREERating by Jules~ 5 Star

Difficulty Level:  Beginner

Device:  iPad

Rated:  Kids 7-11

What a cool App!  I found this app by default while searching the App Store for informational apps to add to our elementary carts.  I love this app for several reasons- 1.  very user friendly  2.  interactive  3. information is relevant to kids age 7-11, and 4.  there are five new/exciting stories each day.  I had my daughters try it out and they loved it as well.  The kids may create a login if they wish to and add their photo (although I have camera set off at our elementary). If the camera is turned off, they may choose a pre-composed photo (cartoon animals).  The five new news stories appear upon login or turning the app on.  Students may scroll down to see the previous days stories.  They can access each story with a tap.  Many of the stories are interactive by adding videos, pictures, underlined words that define the word and questions about the article for comprehension.  The stories also offer a "read to me" feature and a "go there" feature that takes them to a map of the world and pin points where they are and where the story is taking place.  Lastly, there are games that offer puzzles, mystery words and trivia about "on this date".  Overall, this is a fun app that kids will play with and not even realize that they are learning :-) !

duoLingo ~learn a language for free!

https://www.duolingo.com/

Website:  duoLingo

App:  duoLingo

Cost:  FREE
Rating by Jules~ 5 Star

Difficulty Level:  Beginner

Device:  Across Platform

Rated:  Everyone

This is one of my favorite apps from the 2013-2014 school year.  DuoLingo is an across platform app/website.  You can use it on a pc, android, iPad and as a Google App.  It is very user friendly~simply create an account and choose a language (Spanish, French, German, I think there is more to come). DuoLingo creates a  tree that will guide you through different skills.  You will begin with basic word and various verb tenses and work your way to harder language development.  It also has the ability to socially engage with others that you may want to share or compete with for fun.  The cool/awesome thing about duoLingo is that it is FREE and it saves your activity- pick up where you left off.  This game may even hook you with the hearts it hands out.  

Digitally Scanned Newspapers dating back to the 1800's

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers

Website:  Google News- Super Sweet!

Cost:  FREE
Rating by Jules~ 5 Star

Difficulty Level:  Beginner

Device:  Across Platform

Rated:  Everyone

 

Oh my goodness!  This site is so cool!  First, I visited thinking I would only see big time newspapers (NY Times, etc) but I was pleasantly surprised when I did a search with my maiden name.  I grew up in a small town in northern Michigan and participated in many sporting events that were often in the small hometown newspaper.  To my surprise, most of the articles are all now digitally saved.  They came up and it was so much fun to re-read my successes from high school.  I scanned more of the papers on the page and found some of the papers are even digitally saved from the 1800's.  This is such a neat resource and can be used in so many ways~I just had to share! 

App Review- Handwriting without Tears Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st-2nd grade

App:  Handwriting without Tears
Cost:  6.99- Well worth the Money!
Rating by Jules~ 4.5 Star

Difficulty Level:  Beginner

Device:  iPad

Rated:  3-7 years

This is an app review for one of the favorite apps from our K-1 building.  Handwriting without tears is a favorite because it offers various options for "play".  The app shows the kids where to start each stroke and will give them hints for the second time they do the letter and on the third time they start without a hint.  There are voice, music and special effects options.  Downside of the app is it only offers uppercase letters, but overall it a great app!i