Special Education MangoMon Blog

Summer Activities for Students with Learning Disabilities

Lauren Grossberg — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:29:00 GMT

As summer is fast approaching, many students are thinking about fun in the sun, family vacations, and summer camp. Students may consider it a time to stop learning, but research has proven that if students do not spend any time in educational activities then their learning loss can retract by, at minimum, 2 months. This means that a student leaving the 2^nd grade and entering the 3^rd grade will still be on a 2^nd grade level. This is especially important for students with learning disabilities. This loss can put the student even further behind their classmates.

There are many fun ways that fun time, family vacations, and summer camp can be intertwined with learning.

Learning at the Beach

A trip to the local beach can be filled with learning opportunities for a child. Children love to play in the sand and romp through the waves of the ocean. While playing with children at the beach, they can learn about what sand is made up of, the importance of the ocean to the environment, and the math behind building the perfect sand castle.

The summer is also peak turtle nesting season. If you are fortunate to live in a sea turtle nesting area, you can go on a nest hunt. The nests will be marked off in the sand with information to learn about protecting the nests. Children can then learn about the different sea turtle species, their nesting habits, and hatchlings.

Websites for Learning at the Beach

Enchanted Learning Beach Activities – great activities and crafts for younger children to do while at the beach or about the beach
Frugal Activities at the Beach – list of great low-cost ideas for hands-on projects while at the beach
EPA – great website for parents/teachers to learn about the beach to then teach their children/students

Historical Family Vacation

If you are going away this summer, it is easy to tie in history by visiting some of the famous landmarks around the United States. I recently went on a school trip to Charleston and Savannah where students learned about American history by visiting various historical attractions. The students enjoyed having their ‘history book come to life.’ Many cities around the country offer educational tours of the museums, landmarks, and attractions that include the historical importance.

Websites for Historical Family Vacations

TripAdvisor History & Culture Trips in the United States – top vacation options including information on places to visit in the top 16 cities for history and culture
Learning Vacations for Kids - includes tips for parents traveling with kids to encourage learning while on vacation

Summer Camps

Many local summer camps offer fun hands-on learning and activities for the summer. Many camps also make accommodations for students with special needs. Traditional camps are typically provided through school districts, museums, and city recreation centers. Also look for other options at local nature centers, parks, or research other options in the local newspaper or online. Camps are a great way for students to learn, be active, and participate in activities with children their age away from the formal school setting. While your children will be learning things that can tie into academic curriculum, they will also be learning social skills.

Websites for Finding the Perfect Summer Camp

Choose a Camp – Choose and compare camps based on location, activity, or even special needs
Computer Summer Camp – Camps all around the U.S. geared toward technology and computing
Choosing a Camp – great website that provides information about the different types of camps for kids and their strengths and weaknesses

Article by Laura Ketcham

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The Impact of Common Core Standards on Special Education

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:00:00 GMT

Last summer the federal government moved away from the educational standards provided in No Child Left Behind into a new set of standards called Common Core Standards. Common Core Standards, commonly referred to as CCS, provide a basis for standards at each grade level for reading, language arts, and math that are to be followed by all states. Previously, each state was able to determine the standards, how they would be implemented in the classroom, and how they would be assessed at the end of the year to provide the data to the state and federal government to show academic progress. The rigor and standards for each grade level were not consistent across the states. No Child Left Behind left room for much interpretation including as to how special needs students fit into the academic puzzle. An additional document released with the standards addresses the needs for special education students and adaptations.

CCS’s Impact on Special Education

The Council for Exceptional Children has an informative article about how the change to CCS will impact the special education classroom. The CCS will be the same across the grade levels for special needs students as it is for the general education classrooms. The goal is to hold all students to high expectations of learning gains based on college and career readiness. However, for special needs students there are specific adaptations, accommodations, and assistive technology provided for students to be able to attain those high standards. The documentation provides information that struggling students should be provided with interventions and that the standards should be read in a broad manner that allows for adaptations to help students with special needs to achieve mastery of the standards at the highest level possible. The broad interpretation opens the way for changes that can be determined at the state and local level.

This change in standards with increased levels of mastery for special needs students will come with some growing pains. Special education teachers, along with general education teachers who teach special needs students in the general education setting, will need to be provided professional development opportunities to learn about scaffolding ideas, helping struggling students meet high standards, and how to meet the needs of special education students in the general education classroom. The states, districts, schools, and teachers are challenged to find the means that works best in their environment to teach the students to gain mastery in those standards that are outlined.

Reading & Language Arts Standards

The Reading and Language Arts Standards provided in the CCS are not solely for the language arts and reading teachers. The standards promote literacy across all classes. There are specific standards for reading in history, science, technology, health, and mathematics. Each grade level is broken down into various higher level categories like reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Then, it is broken down into grade-specific standards that help to achieve the goal of college and career readiness.

Math Standards

The CCS Math Standards focus on the students being able to understand math rather than just solve equations. Ideas like understanding the problem, reasoning, and modeling are integrated into the standards. The math standards do not directly address the accommodations for students who are struggling or special needs students except for the fact that they should be provided access to the high-level of standards with accommodations or assistive technology as needed. The standards are broken down into clusters and domains to outline the various mathematical concepts that the students should learn at each grade level.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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The 2011 Basketball Draft Lottery & Neurofibromatosis

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:00:00 GMT

Living in South Florida, basketball has been a hot topic this year. The formation of the ‘dream team’ including Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh has definitely created a stir. While many eyes are still on the finals and who will win the championship, this week the basketball Draft Lottery was conducted. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost Lebron James as their star player this year, definitely came out on top in the draft. They now have the first and fourth selections in the 2011 draft this summer that can allow them to pick 2 top players to help rebuild their team.

The interesting point, which connects this post to education and special needs students is that the individual who made the pick which allows the team to select the first player in the draft was the Cleveland Cavaliers owner’s son , and good luck charm, Nick Gilbert. Nick is 14 years old and became a celebrity overnight. He was dressed to impress and has had many complements on his throw-back glasses and bow tie. The unique thing about Nick is that he has a genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis. His popularity from this event will hopefully raise awareness about the disorder in hopes for a possible cure.

Neurofibromatosis

Neurofibromatosis, or NF, is a genetic disorder that caused the growth of tumors on nerve tissue. The tumors can cause various problems with the skin, skeletal system, and other neurological problems. The severity of the disorder can vary. NF is also commonly linked with other learning disabilities, epilepsy and leukemia. There is no cure for NF. Therapy is done to reduce the number of tumors and surgery can remove the tumors, however more tumors will grow back. If the tumors are cancerous, then chemotherapy is administered. The Neurofibromatosis Association is hopeful that there will be a cure within the next 5-10 years.

Nick has had brain surgery and chemotherapy to help him to manage with the tumors and secondary complications related to NF. Nick has also lost vision in one of his eyes. Despite his health issues, he is a very optimistic and energetic boy.

Nick is also the ambassador for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports research and awareness of NF. With his exposure on the Draft Lottery, I hope that Nick will be a great ambassador to encourage others to support the research of NF through various fundraising activities. May is NF Awareness Month and May 17th is also World NF Awareness Day. In conjunction with these events, during the Draft Lottery, Nick tweeted, offered special prizes, and encouraged participates to text in a donation to help support the Children’s Tumor Foundation matching all of the funds raised.

NF & School

NF can be very difficult for children in the classroom, especially if the tumors are large and in places that other students can notice like the face, neck, and arms. Some of the most well-known cases of NF are stories that have been aired on television involving teenagers who have tumors on their faces and then undergo surgery to remove the tumor.

Students with NF can struggle mastering material, have difficulty with penmanship, and language delays among social concerns and issues. Like with most disabilities, early intervention, building a good relationship between the teacher and the child and family, and understanding how the disorder will affect the child’s education are very important.

Links for Learning about & Teaching Students with NF

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Space Exploration Lesson Ideas

Lauren Grossberg — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:00:00 GMT

There are many different space-based teachable moments that will happen in 2011. Space events for this year so far include a solar eclipse, meteor shower, the super moon, and four planets can be seen with the naked eye. Still to come this year are a lunar eclipse, meteor showers, and the last shuttle launch in the United State by Endeavor. These teachable moments can capture students’ attention to learn about science topics based on real life. Teachers can find the dates and time period for these events in a Space.com’s article about the space watching season.

There are some great online resources to learn about space, the moon, the sun, the planets, and the United States involvement in the space program.

Space.com

Space.com is an article and video based website that covers and reports on the top space, space travel, and sky watching happenings. This is a great website for middle and high school students to use for research projects based on space. Topics range from how to clean up space junk, the shuttle launch rescheduled for May 16^th, photos of space, photos of earth from space to videos about various space science events.

I found the article about the launch on May 16^th to be informative and interesting. I can see middle school students reading and responding to this article in a journal entry, which would combine science and writing. I loved that the article touched on why the shuttle did not launch on the 29^th, the experiments that will be happening on this last trip, the importance of the crew, and what will happen to the shuttle after it returns.

NASA

NASA has a very extensive website about space exploration with videos, articles, and mission information. There is a specific section for teachers and another section for students.

The teacher section provides resources for teachers to use to create lessons, units, and projects for students to learn about space exploration in conjunction with the NASA website. There are resources to learn about the different events that will happen this year in space like the super moon, the solar eclipse, and the planets aligning in the sky this month.

The student section includes videos, pictures, articles, games, and experiments based on grade level. I especially enjoyed the interactive story about the shuttle. This online interactive book includes historical facts about the shuttle, the missions, how it works, how it launches, bios on astronauts, and a comments section for students to read and post comments about the activity. This is a great resource to explore further to incorporate in your classroom lessons on space.

Other Great Websites about Space:

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Online Learning Games for Review

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:00:00 GMT

With the end of the school year coming closer to an end, required content curriculum for classes is winding down. Online learning games can be used to make connections with previously taught curriculum as a recap for the school year. Here are a few websites that students can access to play online learning games.

Sheppard Software

Sheppard Software has many free and fun web-based learning games. Most of the games are aimed at pre-K and elementary students, but there are also learning games for middle and high school students. They cover all of the major subject areas including math, reading, language arts, science, and social studies. The games have great animation that will be highly engaging for students. The directions are very explicit and the students should not need much direction in completing the activities. Providing your students a list of the games that they should play during this activity will help students to review material that was learned throughout the year while building stronger skills in those areas.

Play Kids Games

Play Kids Games also has a variety of interactive online learning games. One advantage to this website is that teachers can create their own classroom pages from this site for free. Teachers can take their own content, like vocabulary words, and add them into the games. The page is then setup with the fun and interactive games based on the content the students are learning in their classroom. So far, only the online vocabulary-based games can be modified.

Do 2 Learn

Do 2 Learn is an online learning game website designed specifically for special needs kids. The free games include learning colors, numbers, emotions, sequencing, and vocabulary. There are also two sing-a-long animation sections to teach students about important concepts related to safety and speech sounds. In addition to games, there are programs and activities available for a fee that are very useful resources in the special needs classroom. These activities can be used throughout the year and then can be used at the end of the year to repeat very important concepts.

Teaching Learners with Multiple Needs

The blog, Teacher Learners with Multiple Needs, has a great post about learning games that students with special needs can play using switches. Games range from learning letters and vocabulary to matching, math, and money skills. All of the games use fairly simplistic motions, which make them great for use with switches. Some are just for fun and getting the students to use the computers and get use to using a switch, whereas other are more curriculum based.

There are many online websites that are offering free learning activities for students. Always make sure t o play the games fully before asking your students to play to ensure that they will be able to play. You need to let them know i not to select advertisements and be sure that it covers the content that you want them to be reviewing.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month

Lauren Grossberg — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:07:00 GMT

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month. Many activities and events will be held to raise money for research to find a cure for cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that causes the lungs to fail, which typically leads to an early death. Research, early diagnosis, and medications have greatly increased the life span of individuals with cystic fibrosis to the average age of 35. Children with cystic fibrosis may have difficulty gaining weight, will eat a specialized diet to lessen digestive complications, and may be taking medicines to keep mucus build up in the lungs down. Children with cystic fibrosis can attend school, play sports, and do the typical things that any child would do.

Living with Cystic Fibrosis at School

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation provides a great resource for teachers to learn how the disease will affect a child’s education at school. The handbook provides a brief introduction to what cystic fibrosis is and then covers how it may affect the student and how this will impact their education. Keeping your classroom clean, providing hand sanitizer, and allowing the student to use the restroom or leave the class if coughing, or to get a drink of water are common classroom adjustments. Encouraging the student to be active at recess, PE, or school organized sports is also encouraged to help keep their body strong. The child also needs to eat a higher calorie diet in order to continue growing, so allowing a snack time during class could also be an accommodation.

Based on my experience, the only adaptations that had to be made to the classroom environment were that the student could go to the bathroom when she needed or to get a drink of water, instead of having a limited number of bathroom passes per week. If she was out for extended periods of times due to complications from the disease I needed to keep in email contact with the classwork and assignments so that she could attempt to keep up when she was feeling okay to work at home. I also made myself available in the morning times when she would return to school to help her get caught up on assignments and missed activities.

Great Strides

Great Strides, the largest cystic fibrosis fundraiser of the year, will be held in many cities between April and May with individuals walking and being sponsored to raise awareness about this life threatening disease. The website link provides information about the walk, finding a walk in your area, and a place for sponsors to make donations toward your walk. There is also information about the foundation and cystic fibrosis to pass along to supporters.

School Fundraisers

Schools could also hold their own fundraisers to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. My school holds an annual week of fundraising and awareness for CF. This includes a “change for change” program where students bring in change to donate to the foundation, a bake sale, and a “jeans for genes” program where students make a donation to wear jeans to school for a day. Students in the art classes also create roses for the 65 Roses Project. Over the past several years the school has raised a significant amount of money to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Other school fundraising ideas include holding a benefit concert with student performers with proceeds going to the foundation, having students create rose crafts to sell at a craft sale, or holding a carwash to raise funds. Does your school participate in charity fund raising events? If so, please share your unique ideas !

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Lesson Ideas for Cinco de Mayo & Mother’s Day

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:00:00 GMT

This week we are celebrating Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day. These two special occasions provide great hands- on-learning connections in the classroom with crafts and culture.

Cinco de Mayo Lesson Ideas

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration held in Mexico honoring their victory over the French army in 1862. In Mexico, this is a relatively small holiday that is only celebrated in Pueblo. In the United States however, this special occasion has grown to celebrate Mexican heritage, food, and customs. Here are some lesson ideas to celebrate Cino de Mayo in your classroom.

Mr. Donn’s website provides not just lessons about Cinco de Mayo, but full units of lessons, activities, and resources on the topic of Mexico. This site also has a presentation to share with students, a reader’s theater lesson, and a link to games that you can play in your classroom for Cinco de Mayo.
The Teacher’s Corner has lesson plans including holding a classroom fiesta, learning Cinco de Mayo vocabulary and history, and making arts and crafts related to the holiday including paper flowers and piñatas.
Scholastic has resources on their website to teach students the history and cultural significance of the holiday. These activities are great because they are already standards based and provide great classroom instruction for an introduction on the topic. The activities are very visually oriented and would be great to complete as a class using an Interactive board.

Mother’s Day Lesson Ideas

Mother’s Day, which is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May in the United States, is a day to honor motherhood and ones’ mother. In the United States, it is typical to celebrate by having a special day for your mother. Making breakfast, buying flowers, or making a card are traditional ways to honor mothers.

Mother’s Day is actually celebrated all around the world during different times of the year. Each country has their own customs of the significance and customs of Mother’s Day. This would make a great lesson that combines the occasion, geography, and culture connection. Wikipedia has a list of the countries who celebrate Mother’s Day including the date they celebrate and their customs. Students could be paired off to learn about one of the countries and how they celebrate and then present to the class.

For younger students, crafting and Mother’s Day go hand in hand. There are many different crafting ideas for young students on Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Central provides 151 Craft Project Ideas for Mother’s Day. Some of the crafts are more complicated and intended for older children and require more material, while other craft ideas are perfect for young students like creating a frame to put a picture of themselves in, making paper flowers, or designing and decorating a greeting card
Danielle’s Place has very cute craft ideas for mother’s day that aren’t as typical. This includes creating a bookmark, puzzle cards, window clings, and jewelry made out of paper. The great thing about all of the ideas on this page is that it provides you a list of materials needed for the project, a picture of the completed project, and the steps of how to complete the project.
Enchanted Learning has projects for younger students. They include printables with starter projects ideas. They also have classroom connection worksheets with vocabulary words related to Mother’s Day.

Have fun celebrating this week! Feel free to share your crafty lesson ideas for these holidays by commenting below!

Article By Laura Ketcham

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School Weather Safety

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:00:00 GMT

April has definitely lived up to the first part of its mantra “in like a lion.” This month, parts of the United States have been ravaged by tornadoes, flooding, and fires which have destroyed homes, schools, and even entire towns. Teachers and students need to be aware of the safety precautions and measures in order to stay safe during these natural and man-made disasters.

Schools always have safety plans in case of these events directly correlating to the area of the country that you reside. However, a unique lesson about learning about weather and disasters is to go above and beyond just teaching the students about staying safe. A unique lesson idea would be to explore the ideas in more depth so that the students have a deeper understanding of the events. Since this topic is close to their actual experiences in real life, they will take away the learning from the lesson and be able to apply it if and when needed throughout their lives.

This is especially important for students with special needs. Some students may not be mobile nor have the independent skills needed to move into a safe area during a weather or disaster threat. A plan should be in place to help student reach safety including other adults and students to assist those students in need. If the students are educated on what to expect this will help the students to not panic during a real emergency.

Websites for Lesson Ideas about Fire, Flood, and Tornado Safety

Sparky the Fire Dog is a great resource for younger children to learn about fire safety in homes and schools. On this website, there are interactive activities for students and lesson plans for teachers. There are printables for a home fire safety checklist and an escape route grid that students can create.

To learn about wildfires, using the resources provided by Smokey the Bear are great to make connections with students. This website has resources for all ages of students. Older students can learn about the science of wildfires and how to fight wildfires while younger students can learn about being smart outdoors.

FEMA’s website for learning about disasters provides informative facts about the disasters along with interactive activities. There are sections on wildfires, floods, and tornados. Each section provides a written explanation appropriate for kids about the disasters, what they can do to prepare in case of the disaster, along with pictures of kids in the aftermath of the disasters that are not too graphic, but provide the students with the understanding of the impact of such an event.

Weather Wiz Kids is another website that provides fun and interactive information about weather related events. This website is written by a meteorologist directly for kids and teachers. This website has experiments and activities to learn about the weather events along with safety information and weather related information on what causes the events. There are many informative pictures that help making learning the subject visual and engaging. Lesson plans are provided for teachers to make the connections between the information on the websites and activities and assessments students can complete to show their knowledge of the subject matter.

For older kids, Discovery Channel’s “Storm Chasers” would be an engaging resource for students to learn about tornados. The show is a high energy show that gets close up images of the tornado chasers, tornados, and the devastation that they can leave behind. Students can watch clips of the episodes, play the educational games, take online quizzes about the episodes, or follow their weather tracking site based on the various episodes.

All of these lesson ideas will help to prepare students in the event of a disaster along with teaching core-curriculum science content.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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National Frog Month - Jump Into It!

Lauren Grossberg — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

April is National Frog Month and is a special time set aside to celebrate those little fun creatures found both in urban and rural settings all over the country. Nearly everyone has been fascinated by the development of a frog from a tadpole, listened to their croaking calls, or watched them leap in the grass or on the pond. There are so many engaging activities for students to learn about frogs. Books, movies, crafting activities, and even apps have been created for children to study frogs. Teaching students about frogs in the classroom is a very interactive lesson plan that children of all ages enjoy and can be tied to many subject areas.

Frog Activities Based on Books

There are many famous children’s books that have a frog as the main character. One of my favorite series, Frog and Toad, is a collection of easy reader short stories based on the adventures of Frog and Toad. Their traits and appearances hold true to the actual characteristics of frogs and toads. This story would be a great lead into a lesson about the differences between frogs and toads.

Jump, Frog, Jump! is a very cute picture book that involves repetition and the life cycle. Younger students appreciate the repetition and the rhyming while older student can use it at a spring board for learning more about frogs and other reptiles. Kcls.org has a document of a variety of lessons for reading this picture book.

Frog Activities Based on Movies & Television

The Princess and the Frog, a Disney movie that came out in 2009, is a popular frog movie for children. This story is a modern retelling of the Frog Prince. Lessons for this movie can include learning about frogs, crocodiles, and lightening bugs along with connections to learning about jazz and New Orleans. Scholastic has a website of plans and printables for lessons based on The Princess and the Frog.

National Geographic has an entire documentary style series of videos available on their website to learn about specific species of frogs like the Leopard Frog and the Bullfrog. The videos are short and designed for kids. There are facts sheets and links associated with each video for further exploration.

Kermit the Frog is a famous connection to frogs that kids of all ages will love to learn about. Students can make connections between Kermit and real frogs describing the similarities and differences. Students can also learn many academic-based lessons with the video clips of Kermit the Frog that are available online.

Frog Activities Based on Apps

One of the standard requirements for high school biology classes is to dissect a frog. The Easy Frog Dissection app is an educational guide that allows students to dissect a real frog by viewing real images of a frog with the various organs pinpointed and explained. This app is great for high school students to review and study or in lieu of completing an actual dissection.

Frogsaregreen.com has an online review of 5 of the top frog apps. U.S. State Amphibians can be used to find out which frogs live in your part of the country. Frog Flip can be used to study the variety of frogs based on their physical characteristics. Frog Dissection is a virtual application where students can dissect frogs. Pocket Frogs is a popular free game that students can play where they become the frog surviving through environment challenges.

Other Resources for Learning about Frogs

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Earth Day and Arbor Day Activities for Students

Lauren Grossberg — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22^nd and Arbor Day is celebrated on April 29^th. Both of these nature inspired celebration days offer a chance for students to learn about the earth and trees by contributing something back to their community. Many classrooms around the nation will be celebrating these occasions by planting trees, participating in environmental clean-ups, joining recycling programs, and other ecological related activities.

Both of these events provide a great opportunity for hands-on learning in the classroom that can be bridged with almost any subject area including science, math, language arts, social studies and even PE, foreign language, art, and drama.

Reading, Writing, and Drama Lesson Idea

One great idea inspired by a teacher at my school is to read the students The Lorax. This children’s fable was written by Dr. Seuss with imaginary creatures and personification shows how nature can be harmed by humans. Concerns are raised about cutting down trees, polluting lakes, and air pollution caused by industrial businesses.

In small groups, students can then reflect upon these ideas and use them to compose their own environmental story for children. Taking this lesson one step further, students could then perform a reader’s theater skit for fellow classmates based on their story. This activity ties in with both Earth Day and Arbor Day.

Science & Art Lesson Idea

eHow.com has a great article with 3 informative and engaging lesson plan ideas for Earth Day for special needs students.

The first lesson is to have students create a compost bin. The students can then see the process of biodegrading over time. This compost can then be used to plant a classroom garden. This activity gets the students active and involved outside.

The next lesson idea is to teach students about the harm plastic bags on the environment and the benefit of reusable bags. Students then students create their own reusable bags using recycled materials and cloth. These can then be used at home or in the classroom in lieu of plastic bags.

The most interesting lesson was to have students coat paper in petroleum jelly and then hang it in the school parking lot. The jelly will cause all of the air pollution caused by passing cars to stick to the paper and can then be observed or even analyzed by the students. This is a great connection into a further lesson on air pollution and how we can reduce our carbon footprint. A banner could be used to explain the project and attract community attention to local pollution.

PE Tree Lesson Activity

A simple connection to trees and PE is through learning the “tree” yoga pose. PE central provides a description of the activity and song suggestions for students to personify a tree. Students are arranged in lines with enough room to stretch out and yoga mats. They will learn tree yoga pose and then during the stretching and movements they reach up like branches, sway side to side as if the wind were blowing their leaves, and planting their feet like the trunk of a tree.

More Lesson Ideas

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iPod Touch & iPad 2 Accessories for the Classroom (Part 2)

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:06:00 GMT

This blog post is continued from the post last week on iPod Touch and iPad accessories for the classroom. The first post provides examples of screen protectors, covers, cases, and stands that are useful accessories to purchase to increase the longevity and usability of the mobile devices. This post will focus on styluses, keyboards, headphones, adaptors, and connection cables should all be considered when purchasing these portable devices. All these accessories increase the ease of use of the devices in the classroom setting for both teachers and students.

Styluses & Keyboards

If the iPad’s are going to be used as a laptop replacement device in the classroom, it is worth the investment of Bluetooth wireless keyboards. Students can type up documents for class more efficiently. The onboard keyboard is useful, but it gets tedious if you have to type or edit longer documents. Apple has a very versatile keyboard that can hold up to daily use by students. It is slim and compact, would travel easily for a mobile classroom. Users have rated this is an easy to use a keyboard and is similar in layout and spacing when compared to a traditional keyboard.

The use of a stylus with the iPod Touch or the iPad is a great addition for younger students or students who may have difficulty using the touch screen method. Many styluses are small and not made for young students. One stylus that has gotten great ratings for students is the AluPen. Viewer ratings state that it is easy to grip, more responsive, glides smoothly, and allows for more accurate writing and drawing.

Headphones

Headphones are definitely a necessity in any computer lab, even a mobile lab. This allows students to listen to academic-based websites like Learning Today, educational videos from TeacherTube, or sound embedded into Apps. I required students to bring in headphones as part of their school materials at the beginning of the year. I ask for the ear bud style headphones so they are easy to store in their backpacks. This may not work for all students or all situations. Some labs provide headphones to students. They should be durable and easily sanitized after each use. If they have headphone pads, they should be able to be cleaned or replaced.

Adaptors & Connection Cables

The iPod Touch & iPad 2 only come with a wall charger and a UBS sync cable to connect it to the computer. These cables will not be enough to use the devices in a classroom setting. At minimum, a digital adaptor or an AVG cable will be needed for the teacher in order to model the use of the iPad on a screen or interactive board.

For a mobile lab, there also must be a way to sync all of the devices easily at one time. You must also have a storage device that will allow for easy transportation throughout a school. This syncing storage device should also provide security and lock when the devices when not in use.

What are your favorite iPod Touch and iPad accessories?

Article By Laura Ketcham

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iPod Touch & iPad 2 Accessories for the Classroom (Part 1)

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

When purchasing iPod’s or iPad’s for the classroom, one must consider the accessories that will need to be purchased in order to exploit the power of the devices. Screen protectors, covers, cases, stands, styluses, keyboards, headphones, adaptors, and connection cables should all be considered as necessary additions when purchasing these devices for the classroom. Be sure to budget in these items when determining your needs for the classroom when planning to purchase.

Screen Protectors & Covers/Cases

Screen Protectors are a clear film that is stuck to the front and/or back screen of the device. This helps to protect the screen from scratches and can even help to protect the screen if the device is dropped. I have used InvisibleSHIELD from Zaag on both my iPhone and my iPad. This protective cover has proven very useful in small drops, prevented my screen from shattering on a large drop, and also prevents smudges and scratches. Another great quality of this protector is that it has a lifetime warranty. This is great for school use because of the amount of time the devices will be used and it is replaced for free.

In addition to a screen protector, you should also buy a cover or a case. This provides more protection for the device. Covers can include rubber or plastic that only protects the backing of the device or one for the front of the case as well.

For example, the Griffin Reveal is a slim-line protector case that slides over the back of the device (iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad 2). The advantage to this cover is that it doesn’t add bulk to the device, has rubber sides that make it easy to hold, and that it is made out of one piece of polycarbonate which is a strong material that can hold up to frequent use.

The iPad Smart Cover is nice, but doesn’t seem like it will hold up to use by students. It turns off the iPad automatically when shut and is magnetically attached to the side. It flips over to become a stand, but it isn’t very sturdy and I can see this breaking easily. I think it is too early to tell which case will be the best for students that will provide protection along with providing the option to turn it into a stand. Buying a case for protection and a separate stand is the better option for the classroom.

Stands

Stands are a definite extra that should considered when buying these types of devices. This is especially useful in the special education classroom. While buying a separate stand for home use may seem unnecessary, it is very useful in the classroom. Stands hold the device in a leaning position so that students could use a stylus, read from it, or use in a more ergonomic fashion. Xtand has some of the top-rated stands for both the iPod Touch and the iPad 2. These stands are durable and more stable than the stands that fold up or are built into a case. The one down side is that it is not easily transported as it doesn’t fold up.

The remaining accessories will be included in another post next week. Accessories are an important component that should definitely be thought out and planned for when building a mobile lab.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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April: Autism Awareness Month

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:43:00 GMT

April is Autism Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to spreading awareness about autism through various events that help to raise money for research about this developmental disorder. The Autism Society began holding Autism Awareness Month in the 1970’s.

Autism impacts social and communication skills. There are varying degrees of autism including Kanner’s Syndrome (classic autism), Rett Syndrome, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Autism is measured on the Autism Spectrum Disorders scale and can range from mild to severe. Autism is typically diagnosed between birth and two years of age. When the diagnosis happens at a young age, interventions can begin to help the child with social interactions and learning communication skills.

Typically, a form titled ARI’s diagnostic form is used to diagnose autism. Questions about the pregnancy, birth, developmental growth stages, and behaviors of the child are used to calculate a score. This score is then utilized in part of the diagnosis process for autism.

There are many organizations and companies that are dedicated to helping individuals with autism. Many of them provide information on this disorder, raise funds for research, and provide support for families and individuals with autism.

The Autism Society

The Autism Society is a non-profit organization that strives to improve the lives of all individuals with autism. They are actively involved in pursuing educational initiatives for children with autism as well as holding conferences and providing assistance to families with autistic children. For Autism Awareness Month, The Autism Society has an article with an annotated list of events that are happening around the United States to build awareness and raise funds for autism research.

Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks is a non-profit advocacy organization for autism research, treatments, and support. Their website provides information about autism, ways to raise money for autism research, and support for families with autistic children. The information section is a great resource for teachers to learn what autism is, theories about what contributes to the development of autism, how it is diagnosed, how it is treated, special education services provided for students with autism, and family planning for a child with autism. These valuable resources can help to lead to the diagnosis and treatment of a student with autism and make the teacher more aware of classroom modifications that will need to be made for students with autism.

The Autism Education Network

The Autism Education Network provides information about special education rights for students with autism. They also coordinate trainings, programs, and services to help support families with autistic children. There is a resource center with links, books, downloads of autism reading materials, and connections to find experts or speakers in the field of autism. This network also helps families make connections with other families with autistic children in their area.

Vizzle

Vizzle is an online learning program for students with autism. There are pre-made lessons that can be customized to meet the student and classroom needs or teachers can also create their own lessons with the large database of pictures and sounds. Students learn academic-based curriculum with the use of pictures, sounds, video, and animations. Lessons can also include teaching students social, communication, and every-day task skills.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Life Science Apps | Education

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

The featured learning applications from the Apple App Store this week are life science apps. Life science lends itself to be hands-on and engaging. Visual tools including websites, videos, and photos are easily accessible for teaching this topic. Apps are especially useful to assist in teaching this topic because of this interactive nature. Life science topics include biology, anatomy, physiology, plants, animals, reference tools, games, and application of life science. Here are a few of the interesting apps that you can find via the Life Science Learning Apps on Apple.

Butterfly Migration Game

National Geographic’s Great Migrations App is a very timely app. Monarch butterflies begin their migration north around this time of year, depending on the weather. In this game-style app students have to help guide the monarch butterflies through various weather, geographical, predator-related and physical challenges, similar to what butterflies will encounter on their journey north. There are several levels and modes (other animals that migrate) that make this app adaptable for students of a variety of levels. This would be a great way to introduce a unit about butterflies or even to conclude your unit.

This app is based off of a series that National Geographic created called Great Migrations. There are videos and an extensive website about the various animal migrations that happen each year. This would also be a great learning resource for the classroom.

Easy Dissection

Easy Dissection is an app for students to learn the biology of a frog. This tool can be used as a pre-learning resource before students actually dissect the animal or as a dissection alternative. Pins easily identify the parts of the frog and students can easily zoom in and out on the organs of the animal with a swipe of their finger. The images are of an actual frog, not an animated image of a frog, so students can see what the actual organs look like, not just a cartoon image.

Another frog dissection app is called Frog Dissection. This app is more interactive where students get to cut, pin back, and dissect the virtual frog. Labels include the function of the organ, lifecycle, and classification.

EcoBugs

EcoBugs is a super fun free educational app. There is setup required both physically and electronically that must be done by the teacher to plan the activity. Teachers should login and create an account on the Eco Bug website. Then they have to setup the habitats for the location of the virtual bugs. There is a teacher’s resource packet available on their website to help in setting up the activity and planting the locations of the bugs.

The app is downloaded to the iPod Touch or iPad and then the students are sent on a journey around the school location that the teacher chose to find virtual bugs based on the habitats that you set up. Students working in teams will use the iPod Touch to bait, name, and classify the bugs. The more bugs a group catches the more the points they earn. There are 13 additional activities for the students can complete after they have located the bugs. These activities include learning about the compass rose, classifying bugs, food chain, habitats, sorting, and identification.

What other great life science apps have you used in your classroom? Feel free to share by commenting below.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Planting a School Garden

Lauren Grossberg — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

Planting a school garden is an engaging and versatile activity for students of all ages. Many schools have green areas where a school or classroom garden can be planted. This is not a small undertaking, but the rewards are high. Many local nurseries, lawn companies, hardware stores, and even parents are helpful resources in starting a school garden.

Students who are actively involved in the planting and maintain of the garden are actively learning many different science topics like plants, weather, soil, and the whole garden ecosystem. Standards connections can also be made to nutrition, measurement, math, social interaction about science, and a love of nature. With its practical nature and application this activity provides special needs students with a great outdoor connection that can be applied to real life.

Gardening & Measurement

After the vegetables have been harvested, students can be involved in cooking a delicious meal using the fresh vegetables. This lesson involving cooking incorporates learning a life skill along with math. One popular garden based recipe is to make a ratatouille. This has been popularized by both the “Series of Unfortunate Events books” and the Disney movie about the cooking rat, Ratatouille. Here is a great kid friendly recipe for ratatouille.

Gardening & Nutrition

Childhood obesity is a concern our country is facing today. Many kids do not understand the computation of calories and how food choices affect your weight and health. Tying in learning about the vegetables of the school garden can be a meaningful hands-on way for students to learn about healthy eating. Here are some lesson ideas to incorporate learning about fruits and vegetables in the classroom.

Other Great Gardening Ideas

One great twist that my school has added to the school garden this year is to make it a living and learning garden. This is a year-round garden that involves plants, vegetables, and fruits. As the seasons change, so do the plants. Even schools located in very cold climates can use potted evergreens and plants with berries to attract wildlife and it will serve as a visual garden for the winter. An outdoor classroom is also being constructed at my school with a blackboard wall and outdoor seating for students to not only learn about the garden, but to learn in the garden.

Resources for Starting a Classroom Garden

Kids Gardening is a non-profit organization that provides online information about grants, fundraising, curriculum, and a how-to guide to getting started with planting a classroom garden. They also have a specific section that provides tips for gardening with students who have special needs.

School Garden Wizard is a website to help teachers from the beginning planning stages of creating a school garden. Information is provided on getting administrators on board, planning, creating, learning, and keeping the garden growing throughout the school year. This site is very informative and easy to follow.

BBC Kids Gardening is a great resource including information about plants, seeds, gardening facts, and activities. This is a very kid friendly site that explains gardening in kid friendly terms.

Do you have a school garden? Share your experiences by commenting below.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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April Fool’s Day Activities for Students

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:00:00 GMT

This year April Fool’s Day is Friday, April 1^st. While not a traditional holiday of either gift giving or religious importance, it is still a fun day to celebrate. Today’s traditions of April Fool’s Day revolve around playing harmless jokes on friends and family. However, the basis of the day actually revolves around topics that are great for the classroom – learning about the calendar, the first day of spring, the change of when New Year’s is celebrated, and the historical significance of a variety of pranks that we play today.

This is an especially sensitive issue as students with emotional or cognitive disabilities may not understand or become upset by the jokes or pranks that other students may be playing throughout the school day. Making special needs students aware of April Fool’s Day is important so that the students can understand the intentions of why their peers may make jokes or play pranks They could get involved in school-appropriate April Fool’s jokes as well. This day must be managed with sensitivity and direction to avoid mean or destructive behavior from any student.

History of April Fool’s Day

There are many resources available online geared for students to learn the history behind April Fool’s Day.

Wilstar.com, a website based on exploration of a variety of topics, has a history page devoted to April Fool’s Day. On this page, students learn that the significance of April’s Fools Day and how it began when the calendar was updated to the Gregorian calendar. The New Year was changed from the beginning of spring to January 1^st. The people who didn’t accept this change were considered the ‘fools’ and were made fun of for not following the new calendar. Today, different cultures put their own twist on the day including tricking people for the entire day, holding two days of April Fool’s silliness or celebrating the day on a different day of the year.

The Franklin Institute also has a great page about teaching students about the history of April Fool’s Day. This includes more information about the different calendar systems and the changes that were made and why they were implemented

April Fool’s Day Activities

Classroom activities for April Fool’s Day should be fun and engaging. Playing small jokes on your students to get them motivated always works with the middle school students. Giving the students a silly, impossible worksheet or a fake pop-quiz on pop culture are two examples. For elementary students, you can read them silly books or give them fun worksheets to learn to learn about simple jokes and April Fool’s related vocabulary. More activities can be found on this link to April Fool’s activities designed by teachers.

There is one “prank” that sent me into tears from laughing so hard as I was writing this blog. I was thinking of a classroom joke to play for my students this year and I was thinking of the traditional examples given above when I came across this idea from eHow. As a computer teacher, I can update the Google homepage, the default on computers, to search in three different ‘fun’ languages Elmer Fudd, Pirate, and Klingon. I will do a web-related activity having these settings up on the search engine without their knowledge to have a fun time. For each option, the main choices of searching, settings, feeling lucky, and search are all updated in the fun languages. For example Elmer Fudd “hunts” instead of searches, and the Pirate “Sails into Port” to login.

What are you plans for April Fool’s Day?

Article by Laura Ketcham

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Using PVC Piping for Creative Classroom Solutions

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:00:00 GMT

Teachers are thrifty individuals who use creative thinking to provide the best learning opportunities for their students in the classroom. In previous posts, I have written about low-cost and free resources that teachers can take advantage of in the classroom. Another one of these low-cost tricks is to use PVC piping for a variety of classroom needs. PVC pipe could be for practical purposes as an assistive technology device or it can be used to create interactive games and activities for students. Examples include using it to create stands, frames, simulation devices or as a play phone, tee-pee, or marble maze. PVC pipe can even be used to make instruments!

PVC pipe is made of plastic and is typically used for plumbing, sewers, and protecting wiring. Since it is made out of plastic, it is highly durable and long-lasting. Many different pipe diameters and joints can be adjoined together to make complex curves and shapes. PVC piping can be purchased from the local hardware stores and is relatively inexpensive.

Below are great resources to help you get started with PVC pipe designs in your classroom.

Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resource System (FDLRS) – PVC Idea & Instruction Booklet

FDLRS provides an entire workbook of resources for PVC pipe assistive technology devices for special needs students. This resource is very extensive and a great first-timers resource. They provide a detailed explanation of the tools that will be needed to construct the various assistive devices, provide detailed materials lists and diagrams, along with how the device can be used in the classroom. They have over twenty different devices including stands, assistive writing tools, frames, easels, and organizers. Each device has a level associated with the directions to determine the length of time and difficulty it will take to build the device.

If you are not a handy construction-minded teacher, this is one way that you can get fathers involved in volunteering at the school. Many fathers always want to help, but don’t know how. This would be a great way to get them involved in the classroom while building such useful devices for the students.

Bright Eyes Learning – PVC Pipe for Activities

Bright Eyes Learning provides ideas, examples, and instructions on how to build PVC pipe toys and activity centers for the classroom. Some of the activities are definitive, the PVC pipe is used to build a particular toy for a particular purpose, and other activities with the PVC pipes allow the students to explore in free-play activities.

The examples from their site include making play phones, a tee-pee and a marble maze. These examples have direct instructions including materials needed and models of what the project will look like upon completion. The abstract examples from the site include using the PVC pipe in activities where students use them as ‘building blocks’, as a sensory device, or as a tube for exploratory games.

To make PVC pipe into an exploratory device, you can fill a clear PVC pipe tube it with colorful nick-knacks like marbles, feathers, or glitter and then cap off the ends. Then students can use this during play-time or to learn about colors or textures. To explore further, the piping could be used to allow students to run various ball objects through the tubes to see what will come out first. It could also be used as an imaginary telescope.

The ideas and uses of PVC pipe in the classroom are endless. Have you used PVC pipe as a learning aid or tool in your classroom? Feel free to share your experiences by commenting below!

Article by Laura Ketcham

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Opening of Baseball Season – Great Classroom Connections

Lauren Grossberg — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:00:00 GMT

As covered in many of my blog posts, students are much more engaged in learning when it is a relevant topic that they are interested in – especially if it relates to the “real world”. The opening of baseball season, a favorite American past time, is one of these great “real world” events that can be connected into classroom curriculum. Opening day is March 31^st.

There are so many classroom connections with baseball that incorporate math, language arts, languages, geography, history, and even science and all fit the standards-based instruction. Here are some online resources for ideas on how you can incorporate baseball into your class curriculum.

The Teacher’s Corner – Baseball Season

The Teacher’s Corner has a wide variety of resources to teach core curriculum content in relation to baseball. These activities are great for the elementary classroom or could be adapted for older grade levels and span across many different subject areas. Activities include journal writing, vocabulary crosswords, figuring averages, the science of baseball, baseball-based review games for many different subjects, and problem solving.

The science of baseball activity was really fun and engaging. Students learn about what the ‘sweet spot’ is of a baseball, how to react to and hit a fast ball, throwing a curve ball, along with other historical facts about baseball. There are interactive activities and great animated pictures that bring the concepts to life. The comic book style of the page will also be very engaging to middle school students and is considered very popular and current.

PBS: The Tenth Inning

PBS has great resources for lesson plan ideas that connect with a documentary series about baseball entitled The Tenth Inning. This video documentary chronicles the history and impact that baseball has had on society including the first black baseball player, women in baseball, and the growth of Hispanic and Asian players. It also includes the scandals and triumphs of the baseball world from the 1990’s until today.

Among the many lessons that are found online that correlate with the video and includes “stadium consultants” where students act as the stadium managers and make choices about ticket prices and concessions, a lesson on “shadow ball” which is a warm up activity that was created by the Negro league, and “mapping baseball” where students would learn the history and growth of the baseball league. All of the lessons I looked at were very engaging and I could see my 7^th grade students really enjoying the activity and learning at the same time.

Another section on this site is “The 7^th Inning Stretch”. This page includes more open ended examples of lesson ideas including researching about the music of baseball, fantasy baseball, and the invention of the baseball.

Buddy Project

The Buddy Project has three simple lesson plans for teaching math concepts with a baseball theme. The first lesson incorporates the use of baseball cards. The teacher should provide each student with a baseball card and discuss the information that is included on the back. In this discussion the teacher would talk about the batting average and how it is calculated for each player. The students could then be given the at-bats and number of hits so they could calculate the batting averages of some of the top players.

The next lesson has students playing math baseball on Funbrain. This activity can be done individually or in pairs and is used as a review of basic math facts. Students earn a base for every question they answercorrectly. Competing against their classmates is a great way to motivate students to be more actively engaged in the activity.

The last lesson involves students solving money-based math problems in computation of salaries for baseball players. The website provides a table of real baseball salaries and then provides a quiz based on the data table information.

All of the activities on this site have companion interactive activities that students can do online or on the interactive whiteboard in the front of the class.

Happy Opening Day!

Article by Laura Ketcham

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Spring has Sprung: Spring Activities for the Classroom

Lauren Grossberg — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:00:00 GMT

This past Monday was the official first day of spring. I know in the Midwest and the Northeast this week there was a hint of spring and spring fever as the snow crocus started to bloom. Spring represents a time of renewal. Longer days, the smell of the fresh flowers, cut grass, and April coming in like a lion and out like a lamb. Spring also represents a time of the year for students to feel refreshed and renewed.

Science Activities Related to Spring Time

There are many science related activities that can be taught during the beginning of spring. Incorporating activities with plants or flowers is great during these months. This could include teaching students about the parts of a flower, pollination, and how the plant absorbs water. A fun activity for the students to do is the carnation color changing experiment. Another experiment including plants could be the traditional experiments where students can feed the plant different liquids, provide more or less sunlight or changing of other variables.

Spring also marks the vernal equinox. On this day, the amount of day light and night time will be almost the same because of the location of the sun in correlation to the equator. In the northern hemisphere, this indicates the beginning of spring including the longer days that will head into the summer. Many countries celebrate this day through a variety of festivals and customs. Teaching students through interactive lessons like the Scholastic web hunt about the equinox are fun and educational.

Spring Cleaning of the Classroom

One way students can feel like they are getting a ‘fresh’ start to spring is by participating in spring cleaning. Students can clean out their desks or lockers. They should throw away the trash, donate used items that are no longer useful to them, but are still in good condition, and keep and organize items that they will need for the remainder of the school year. This activity may seem very simplistic, but it is definitely necessary.

Students with special needs may become anxious during this process as it is difficult for some students to part with personal belongings or papers. Care should be taken by the teacher to let the students complete this process over several days and not to just take the students belongings and throw what they feel is not important away. Teachers and other students should respect the belongings of the other students and ask before touching or throwing something away. Teachers can take part in this activity by spring cleaning their desk area and closets.

Spring Craft Ideas

There are many spring crafting ideas that connect with standards-based curriculum. Kaboose has many great ideas of how teachers can incorporate learning about spring in the classroom. The ideas include printables, crafts, foods, and organization ideas. Craft ideas include making tissue paper flowers, clip butterflies, rock lady bugs, and baby jar gardens. All of these crafts can be combined together to make an artificial garden to brighten up the classroom. They also all use many recycled and reclaimed materials, most of which many teachers already have in the classroom.

Since lions and lambs are popular motifs for the weather during this time of the year, it would be great to tie in a weather lesson with making a craft of lions and lambs. The lambs can be made of cotton balls and lions out of golden yarn. The students could then write down facts of how the lion and lamb are used as metaphors for the weather. The blog Little Fun, Little Learning has a great student example of this project idea.

Feel free to share your spring lessons by commenting!

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Spring Break Activities for Students

Lauren Grossberg — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Over the next month, many students will be taking a week or more off for “Spring Break”. Spring b recess is a time for students to relax and unwind and spend time with family. This is also the time of year that typically comes right before many states administer standardized tests. Having students relax during their break is important, but teachers could provide fun and interactive activities for students to continue their academic growth without school.

Engaging Reading & Writing Activities

One way to have students to continue learning during “Spring Break” is through reading. Many schools assign students to read novels and write reports as reading assignments over Spring Break. Instead of assigning a book that all of the students read, allow the students to choose their own (level appropriate) book will be more engaging over break time. Also, instead of having the students write traditional book reports, allowing students to make multi-media projects will be more engaging. Students could summarize the story, complete a literary analysis, or personal reaction of the story by creating video, picture montage, Voki, online comic book, or Wordle.

To get students writing over spring break, you could have them keep an online diary of what they did over spring break. Students can use a site like Blogger to write their reflective journal. This journal can then be shared digitally with other students in the classroom. Students can then comment on other students “Spring Break” activities. Encourage students to expand their vocabulary and use descriptive words that are not typically used in their writing.

Less formal activities could include providing an annotated list of online learning games that students could complete during “Spring Break”. Providing parents with a goal for the amount of time the students should spend on the activities would be helpful.

Online Reading & Writing Activities

1. Primary Games – Language Arts

2. Between the Lions – PBS Kids Games & Stories

3. My Monster Poems

4. Classroom Resources – Reading Write Think

Math & Science Activities

A great science and math based “Spring Break” activity would be to have the students watch an episode of Head Rush from the Science Chanel. This is a newer TV show hosted by Kari Byron from Mythbusters. The show provides a variety of science experiments that are explained from beginning to end. Students are asked multiple choice questions about the experiment to guess what or why questions about the experiment. If students don’t have the Science Chanel at home, many of the clips and experiments can be found online at the show website or on YouTube. Students could then either perform experiments, with parent supervision of course, complete a lab write-up about which show they watched that they can then share with the class, or just watch the show for learning pleasure and then be ready to discuss the show in class after the spring recess.

Online Math & Science Activities

1. Fun Brain Math Arcade

2. Sheppard Software Interactive Math Games

3. Cool-Math Games

4. Math Playground

Article By Laura Ketcham

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National Craft Month – Time to Get Crafty

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:00:00 GMT

March is National Craft Month. National Craft Month was started in 1994 by the Craft & Hobby Association. The purpose of the awareness month is to share knowledge and ideas about crafting and encourage creativity.

While some people might consider this a commercial ploy of craft companies, this truly is the perfect time to implement craft activities into the classroom. Creative craft projects combined with content curriculum help students to build visual connections. Having hands-on projects in the classroom helps students with special needs, visual learners, and ESOL students to connect with the curriculum while be engaged and actively learning. This means that students will be learning on a higher level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Many arts and crafts store and companies are promoting National Craft Month by providing special sales, events, and crafting lessons and ideas. Teachers can take advantage of this opportunity to come up with new creative activities for the classroom.

Early Childhood Crafting Ideas

The Early Childhood News & Resources website compiled a list of online crafting resources for children. One of the resources found on this site is Freckles Crafts. Freckles Crafts provides all of the materials for a particular crafting project in craft kits so that there is no need to find all of the individual pieces.

Another resource is craftbits.com. This website has a plethora of craft ideas, many of which would be great for the classroom including an entire kids crafting section. I really enjoyed their recycled craft ideas because they show that you can be green and save green and still create a meaningful project. Being a computer teacher, I loved all of the creative ways that a CD could be used to make a sun-catcher, candle holder, invitation, and decorations.

Crafting Ideas from Crayola

Crayola has put together special page on their website to promote National Craft Month. This site is great because it provides lesson plans along with the craft idea to make the connections between the curriculum standards and the activity. Many of the resources are free and can be downloaded from their website like coloring pages and ecards. The Craft Ideas and Lesson Plans section contains over 200 classroom crafting ideas. Each idea includes a “why” section (what is the purpose of the craft activity), the steps to creating the craft, safety guidelines, and classroom connections along with a picture of the final craft.

One of the activities I liked was called “Fishing for Friends.” In this activity students learn about the other students in the classroom. Each student designs a fish for the pond and on the back of the fish they write something important about themselves. This would be a great activity for an icebreaker at the beginning of the school year. The fish could then be changed out throughout the school year to incorporate other activities like learning vocabulary words, math problems, historical dates, and events.

Other Kid-Friendly Crafting Websites

1. Craft Place

2. Teacher Place

3. KinderArt

4. Free Kids Crafts

5. Michael’s Arts & Crafts: Kids Crafting

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Connecting Concepts through High-Interest Topics: March Madness

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Teaching challenging concepts by using high-interest and timely topics helps students to make connections and increase comprehension. World and national events like a presidential inauguration, the soccer World Cup, the Olympics, shuttle launches, and large sporting events can be used in teaching lessons including math, science, social studies, and language arts.

One event coming up that many students will follow is March Madness. March Madness refers to the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament of the top 64 Division 1 teams. March Madness is also called “The Big Dance.” It is a single elimination tournament. The winner of each game moves on to the next round until the top team emerges as the winner.

The Bracket: Conducting Research & Making Predictions

One of the most popular activities associated with March Madness is the filling out of “the bracket.” The bracket is a tree-graph that is filled-in with predictions of game face-offs based on university regions and expected winners. This is an activity that students can do that actually has connections in the classroom. Students can fill out the bracket with the teams that they think will win each game, which teams will face-off against each other, and end with their guess for the final two teams and the ultimate winner. Students should develop their predictions by researching team statistics, ranks, standings, and divisions using online websites or by reading sports journals or newspapers. University websites, along with ESPN, are also appropriate student resources for conducting this research.

Getting other teachers, classes, and even the administrators involved in creating and sharing their bracket predictions make the lesson even more meaningful.

The Bracket: Math & Geography Connections

Teachers can tie in connections with math and geography using this bracket. Students can be asked questions that involve percentages and fractions. For example, what is the likelihood that a certain team will make it into the finals? What percentage of teams a student chose won during a certain bracket? What is the reduced fraction of number of teams that are in the final 16? As the games progress, students should make updates to their brackets. Additional lessons based on this can also include who had the most winning teams.

As students follow the games and find the winners and losers, geography connections can be made by having students take the teams in the bracket and locate the universities on a map. An extension can be made where students would have to conduct research about one of the universities or the cities in which schools are located.

Incorporating topics that students love while teaching the curriculum is a great way to motivate students. Highly engaging activities ‘trick’ students into mastering the learning outcomes that are desired. March Madness is a great way to make math and geography connections based on a high-interest subject.

More lessons based on March Madness:

1. Creative Parents March Madness Lesson

2. March Madness Project

3. Time out for March Madness

Article By Laura Ketcham

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The iPad 2: An Innovative Educator & Student Resource

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:48:00 GMT

Yesterday’s much awaited announcement of the iPad 2 did not disappoint. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple was on hand to unveil the new iPad at a live press conference demonstrating the new features of the new iPad 2. The iPad 2 will be available in store and online March 11^th.

In the past year, Apple’s iPad has made a significant impact on the education world. Administrators, teachers, and students have all embraced the tablet style computing device in the classroom. Many features, including the long battery life, portability, innovative 3^rd party applications, lower pricing point when compared to laptops and accessibilities options have made it a viable laptop alternative in the classroom.

From an educators stand-point, the updated options that are available on the iPad 2 will make it an even more popular device to use in the classroom. Here are the new options and how I think it will impact the education world:

Faster Processor

The iPad 2 has a new duo-core processor. This will allow students to process data at a faster speed without much lag time. Students can create projects and multi-task smoothly with this faster processor rather than using it to surf or passively learn. This will also allow app developers to create more robust apps that will be an advantage when teaching complex material in the classroom.

Camera

The iPad 2 has two cameras, one at the front of the device and one on the back. This will allow students to take pictures and videos on the iPad 2 for class assignments. The new apps, iMovie, Photo Booth, and even Face Time can be used by the students to produce polished, innovative projects.

Lighter weight & Longer Battery Life

The iPad 2 is lighter than the original iPad. This increases the ease of portability even more. The battery life has also been increased by 1 hour. The iPad 2 has a 10 hour battery life. This is one of the best selling points for its use in school. Students can use the iPad for a full day of school without ever having to charge the device.

Video Mirroring

There is now no need for any teacher to have to “jailbreak” their iPad. The original iPad had no way of connecting to a projector. This was a disadvantage to teachers who wanted to use the device to show students movies, apps, or lessons on the iPad. Now, the iPad 2 can connect to a projector using extra accessories, the Digital AV adaptor or the VGA adaport. This will allow teachers to connect their iPad 2 to either a projector or television (even HDTVs). These accessories also allow the iPad 2 to be charged during the presentation. What is displayed on the iPad 2 will be mirrored onto the larger screen.

iPad Smart Cover

Reading various sites online, there was not much buzz about the new cover that Apple has created for the iPad 2. However, as a teacher, I thought it was a great invention. The new Smart Cover, when placed over top of the iPad 2, automatically turns the device into sleep mode. When removed from the top of the iPad 2, it can be used as a stand. It fits great and aligns perfectly making for an easy transition between use and non-use. For the classroom, it will save battery life when students are not using the device along with providing a protective cover when not in use. This will be useful between transitions of students needing to focus on the teachers’ directions and not using the iPad 2 to when the students can then use the iPad 2 for the classroom lesson.

There are also many successful features that Apple has incorporated from the iPad to the iPad 2. The new device has the same pricing point as the original, along with the one-touch off and on options, and accessibility features for individuals with disabilities.

The iPad 2 will be a big hit both in and out of the classroom. I’m very excited to see the impact that it will have on education over the next year.

Article By Laura Ketcham

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Interactive Websites for Teaching Health & Hygiene

Lauren Grossberg — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:43:00 GMT

February is Dental Health Month for Kids. This is a great tie in to educate students about both dental and physical hygiene along with other health related lessons. An engaging way to teach these subjects is with interactive technology. All types of students, including students with special needs, can benefit from lessons on health and hygiene.

The ADA Classroom Resources & Ideas Website

The American Dental Association has a section of their website devoted to kids and teachers. Teachers can find many resources about educating kids about dental health care. This includes presentations, games, lesson plans, and hands-on activities. The presentations include in-depth questions that you can ask the students in a discussion about dental health along with the appropriate answers for targeted grade levels. The games section for kids includes online interactive games and videos about visiting the dentist and tooth care. The “To Tell the Tooth” game was quite fun and I can see students really getting involved in this activity.

Interactive Lesson on Nutrition via BrainPOP

BrainPOP is a popular website that many teachers like to use for interactive and fun lessons. Some of the resources on this website are available for free. One of the interactive activities available for free on BrainPOP right now is about Nutrition and the Food Pyramid.

First, the students watch the video on Nutrition hosted by Moby, the funny BrainPOP robot character that is the star of all of their movies. Each movie has several components that go along with it including an interactive quiz, Q & A section, FYI section, and various activities.

After watching the video, the students can take the online quiz. The interactive activity for this lesson is to have students classify foods into the food pyramid. This would be a great activity to use on an interactive white board where students can come up to the front of the class to fill in the answers. There is also a graphic organizer for students to write and analyze the food they ate from the day before along with a vocabulary worksheet. The Q & A section provides a list of common questions that students may have based on the topic of nutrition. The FYI section provides a more in depth explanation about how the Food Pyramid was established and updated. Students, especially visually learners, will find the activities and lessons based on BrainPOP engaging and fun.

SuperScrub & Bubbles: Grime Fighters

SuperScrub and Bubbles are cartoon characters that help to teach students about the importance of hand washing. Teachers can download the cartoon booklet to read with students. There are lesson plans, activities, and experiments to help students to learn how and when to wash their hands.

More Websites to Check Out

1. Tips for Teaching Handwashing to Young Children

2. Hand washing Activities for Kindergarteners

3. Games for teaching Kids about Personal Hygiene

Article By Laura Ketcham

Picture By SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

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Pets for Your Classroom (Real & Virtual)

Lauren Grossberg — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Students definitely benefit from having pets in the classroom. It provides the students with a sense of pride and the ability to be a care taker. Caring for a pet encourages shared responsibility. Studies have shown that it doesn’t matter if the pet is live or virtual, the same teaching outcomes can be achieved.

For special needs students, pets can provide an outlet for students to reduce tension, take responsibility, and learn how to care for the animal. These skills can then be transferred through teacher-based lessons that make the connections between caring for the animal to caring for oneself including health and hygiene.

Live Pets in the Classroom

When I did my student teaching in a fourth grade classroom, I donated a fish tank full of colorful inexpensive, fish with the approval (and excitement) of my preceptor and supervisor. I had a tank in my home for many years and was comfortable with the care and could coach the teacher. This was a great teaching tool that was easy to take care of in a classroom setting. Students would offer to come in early to help with the tasks associated with the care including feeding, water changes, water testing, and even tank cleanings. Parents also volunteered supplies for the care of the fish and one parent even helped to buy additional fish. The local aquarium store owner and staff are always willing to help teachers with their tanks and are a valuable community resource.

The learning connections included teaching the students about the various types of fish in the tank, their diet, where the fish could be found in the wild, and their water needs (appropriate pH, ammonia, and nitrate levels). When we first got the tank, each student was assigned one of the fish in the tank to research. They then made PowerPoint presentations to share with the class about what they learned about their new pet.

One of the most exciting moments for the class was when the guppy had babies. The babies must be separated immediately from the mother for them to survive. Make sure you are prepared with a separation device that can be purchased from the fish store so the mother will not eat the babies. This can be a teachable moment, but will need to be handled with sensitivity if you want to share this fact with your students.

One other tool that is definitely handy to have for break times or long weekends is an automated feeder. This doses out a daily serving of fish food automatically.

Other pets that are classroom friendly, but require a bit more care, include rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, and turtles. When choosing a pet, you should definitely research the temperament, care, and allergy concerns of that animal. Then, you can determine if it will meet the needs of your classroom. A plan should definitely be in place for the care of the animal including daily care and preparations for care over long weekends and breaks.

Here are some great online resources to help you plan to have a live animal in your classroom:

1. KinderArt: Pets in the Classroom

2. Teacher Classroom Web: Classroom Animals and Pets

3. Suite 101: Selecting the Right Classroom Pet

Virtual Pets

A great alternative to live pets in the classroom is a virtual classroom pet. I know many think of the Tamagotchi or Neopets when they think of a virtual pet. The Tamagotchi is a keychain virtual pet that has to be fed, cleaned, played with, and overall cared for like a live pet. The keychain makes noises to indicate needed care. Neopets is an online virtual pet store where students create an account, care for their pet, and play games to “pay” for the care and fun items for their pet. This site is run by Nickelodeon and has a very large child following.

Another similar virtual pet website is called Adopt Me. The classroom (or individual students) can create an account and adopt a virtual pet like a virtual cat, horse, dog, or fish. Students get to name their pet. They can then travel around town, provide care, and play with their pet. Students can see their friends pets online through their login information. The pets can also have jobs to earn money to help pay for the care and fun times with the pet. Another great classroom connection is that the students can blog about their pet through this website.

There is also an alternative to the traditional virtual pet where students can “adopt” wild animals and follow them via GPS tracking devices. Last year, my 7^th grade class “adopted” a loggerhead sea turtle named FeeBee. She is a GPS tagged turtle that was released by an environmental complex and nature center called Gumbo Limbo in Boca Raton, Florida. The students were able track Fee Bee daily to see her movements in the ocean via a website called SeaTurtle.org. Many animals can be adopted online via this website for the students to follow via GPS tracking devices including sea turtles, sharks, birds, and sea lions. This website also provides teacher materials to help you to plan how to implement this type of activity in the classroom. I planned the adoption of Fee Bee in the summer and developed many academic lessons and classroom activities around this “pet” for the entire semester. The project was evaluated as highly successful by administrators, parents, and students. Unfortunately, GPS systems may cease transmission and this must be considered carefully when choosing this type of adoption for a classroom project. Feelings of loss occur just as with the death of classroom pet.

Whether real or virtual, pets can definitely add a fun and interactive way for students to be excited about learning.

Article By Laura Ketcham

Picture By missbakersflickr

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