Quick Response (QR) Codes are a great and easy way to incorporate technology into your classroom.  Many teachers have started using them for end of the year projects.  Some examples are bulletin board displays with audio recordings of student’s reading their writing, white book recordings, book talks to post on novels, and scavenger hunts.  QR codes are easy to make.  You need to have a document, link, audio or video file, or picture that you can enter into the QR generator.  Then you just copy and paste the code into a Word document an print.  If you would like to learn more or would like me to come in an help you with a project like this, just let me know.

Happy tech trails, Blue Devils!

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National Geographic Kids

This website provides many resources to help your students learn science, geography and history.  The site has video clips on nature, history, animals, the environment, and space.  The animals section contains links to profiles that your students can use for research.  There are country facts and images and a news section that provides articles on a student level.  The site is engaging and interactive  Students will find it easy to use and could be helpful for end of the year projects.

Happy tech trails Blue Devils!

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Mission US: Think Fast! About the Past

From iTunes:

Test your knowledge of history as you race against the clock! Featuring characters from the online role-playing adventure game Mission US, Think Fast! About the Past is a fast-paced trivia game that introduces hundreds of fascinating facts about different eras of American history.

Players can choose from two different Think Fast “missions,” each connected to one of the Mission US adventure games. In Mission 1, the sharp-tongued Patriot Royce Dillingham challenges players to navigate 1770 Boston by answering questions about colonial history. In Mission 2, Lucy King challenges players to deliver a message to her brother, who is enslaved on a plantation in 1850 Kentucky, by answering questions about slavery and resistance during the pre-Civil War era.

Each correct answer advances players to another location on the map. Players have five minutes to move through all ten locations to complete the challenge, but answering correctly more quickly will earn a higher ranking. The clock pauses whenever explanations appear to allow players time to read them. Each “mission” includes approximately 100+ questions randomly served up during the course of the game.

The Think Fast! About the Past app, developed by Thirteen/WNET, the producers of Mission US, and Very Memorable, was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Verizon Foundation through EDSITEment, the NEH site for high quality teaching resources. Mission US, a series of free interactive US history games for tweens and teens, was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more Mission US content, visit mission-us.org. (Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this app do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.)

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Another Monster at the End of the Book

From iTunes:

** Brought to you for FREE
by a trusted Sesame Street sponsor **
** 2012 Parents’ Choice Gold Award! **
** Winner of 2012 Appy Award: Best Book App! **
** Reached #1 in Books! **
** Reached #2 in Top iPad Apps! **

There’s something waiting at the end of this book. Could it be…a monster?!? Loveable, furry old Grover is about to find out—and he’s bringing his equally loveable and furry friend Elmo with him!

In this sequel to the best-selling, chart-topping Monster at the End of This Book app, Grover invents giggle-worthy ways to prevent readers from getting closer to another monster hiding at the end of this story. But an ever-curious Elmo asks for your help to slip past Grover every time.

Young readers will delight in the very funny push-and-pull dynamic of this interactive story. And parents will know that their little monsters are reading, laughing, and learning with trusted, beloved Sesame Street characters.

Built with groundbreaking technology and bursting with innovative activities woven right into the story, Another Monster at the End of This Book will provide hours of tap-happy fun for kids (and grown-ups!) of all ages.

This app’s many features include:
- All-new animation featuring the voices of Grover and Elmo
- Engaging activities that build vocabulary and spatial-relations skills
- Word highlighting for beginning readers
- Intuitive finger-tapping, so little ones can play independently
- Bookplate personalization so you can add your child’s name!
- Parents’ tab to help you and your child get even more from the app experience

This app is being brought to you for free by a trusted Sesame Street sponsor. There is a brief message from the sponsor in the app. This message is intended for parents and designed so that children can easily close it, skipping right to the story. If you’d like to make this a message-free experience all the time, choose the “Purchase Sponsorship-Free Version” offer inside the app.

That purchase, as well as any link that could lead outside the app, is locked behind a protective “baby-gate” to create a safe reading and play space for preschoolers.

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Read Write Think

I have used this website for years now and I am excited by the changes and growth that has occurred.  At ReadWriteThink, their mission is to provide educators, parents, and professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials. There are tons of free resources for you to use.  Two of the latest additions to this site are “Student Interactives” and “Mobile Apps“.  

Student Interactives

“Engage your students in online literacy learning with these interactive tools that help them accomplish a variety of goals—from organizing their thoughts to learning about language—all while having fun.”

These are great to use with your interactive white boards and may be great for mini-lessons during workshop.  The site also has a bunch of lesson plans and the mobile app, “Trading Cards” is already installed on your iPad cart.

Happy tech trails Blue Devils!

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Two weeks ago, I featured Mrs. Reichel and Mrs. Twari who led a virtual chat with an American family in China.  Now the video of that chat is available for you to use in your classroom.  The video is in two parts which are fifteen minutes each.  I hope they help your students with their studies of China.

Part 1- School, sports, Chinese New Year, fishing, Beijing, transportation, pets, emperors, life, The Great Wall

Part 2- Food, weather, pandas, tigers, homes, clothing, funny stories, language

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This week is Children’s Book Week.

“Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children’s Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.”

This is the official site for CBW.  It contains links and resources to help you celebrate in your class.  You and your class  can vote for your favorite book, test your skills with Children’s Book Week puzzles, write with great authors who have started a story and you can help them finish the tale with  Story Starters, and much more!

Happy tech trails Blue Devils!

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Healthy Heroes – Nutrition for Kids

From iTunes:

Healthy Heroes is an amazing adventure game that teaches kids about nutrition and promotes healthy behaviours. And it’s fun and engaging!

Yogopolis is being attacked by hungry monsters, they’ll keep destroying everything until kids feed them with fruits and vegetables!

Help your child feed the Monsters with delicious and healthy food, they can be a Hero and save Yogopolis while he is learning about nutrition and getting healthy eating habits.

Why Play this Game?

Eat healthy is fundamental for the development and growth of kids. Kids with bad eating habits have low school performance.

Healthy Hero is a fun educational game that teaches children of all ages about nutrition. Download the game so kids can enjoy the cool graphics while playing and learning.

Features:
• Select from 20 cool characters, called Yogotars
• 36 fun levels
• Feed 6 hungry and funny monsters
• Choose from many fruit and vegetables to feed monsters

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For those Educreations fans out there!

And they now have BROWN!!!!

Such exciting news. Yes, I need to get out more.  All you need to do is open the app to see the new and exciting features.

Happy tech trails Blue Devils!

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Grid Drawing for Kids

From iTunes:

With a sheet of paper, a grid and a template, your children will be able to draw more than 120 drawings (60 on the iPhone).

Copying a drawing is not as easy as you think, it takes a lot of concentration and attention to the children.

While playing copying the templates, your children will exercise their observation and their logical skills with the game modes “copy”, “move” and “symmetries”, with 2 levels of difficulty (only one on iPhone).

Features:

★★★★ More than 120 templates (60 on iPhone)
★★★★ 2 difficulty levels to suit all children (1 on iPhone)
★★★★ 5 game modes: COPY – MOVE – VERTICAL SYMMETRY – SYMMETRY HORIZONTAL – FREE DRAWING
★★★★ free drawing mode allows children to express themselves freely
★★★★ right or left handed mode is available for the VERTICAL SYMMETRY game mode
★★★★ Print all templates and drawings easily with several print options
★★★★ Designed for iPad, iPadHD, iPhone, iPhone HD, iPhone 5

With this application, your children will have fun and will surprise you.

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