SMART Board Goodies

American Symbols and More

Amber Coggin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:14:31 +0000

Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day holiday! I know I did! Check out the American Symbols game from the Texas Law-Related Education site. Simply match the symbol to the correct description. The site offers many other history games as well, such as Pirates of the Preamble and Declaration Clarification.

Grammaropolis Word Sort Game

Amber Coggin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:57:50 +0000

Grammaropolis.com has a cool word sort game that works well on the SMART Board. Drag the words to the appropriate barrel (Noun, Adjective, Linking Verb, etc.) as they fall from the sky. Check it out!

The Bug Investigators

Amber Coggin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:12:31 +0000

The Bug Investigators is teaching resource for young students. There are online games, printable projects and links- all about bugs! Check out their new and improved site The e-Bug Platform for more, including the e-Bug Junior Game.

Spin to Win – Prefix/Suffix Game

Amber Coggin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:12:02 +0000

I’ve blogged about Spark Island before, but I wanted to share with you again the free interactives available. Spin to Win is my favorite! This game helps students learn prefixes and suffixes while also having fun! This game works great on the SMART Board. Check it out!

Plant Life Cycle Interactives

Amber Coggin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:13:45 +0000

It’s Friday! But wait, it’s Friday the 13th. Oh, who cares, it’s my birthday! Ok, now that that’s out of the way, one of my third grade teachers asked for some plant activities for the SMART Board, hence yesterday and today’s posts. There are two I’d like to share with you today. First is Growing Plants with Sparky (K-2) (pictured below). Included here are drag-and-drop activities for labeling a plant, helping seeds grow, ordering a plant life cycle, and matching plants to their shadows. Second is The Life Cycle of Plants (3-5). This is a very thorough interactive in that it gives information about seed growth, parts of a flower, seed dispersal, and plant identification. Included are simulations, a drag-and-drop activity, and downloadable worksheets to go along with the lesson.

To see all my posts about plants, click here.

Plant Hunters

Amber Coggin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:10:51 +0000

Plant Hunters is a super cool interactive from The New York Botanical Garden that takes students on a journey through a Conservatory while learning about plants found in different biomes. From the site:

“Travel through a world of plants in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The New York Botanical Garden. Discover 66 plants from around the globe that all live in the very same building. Each “house” of the Conservatory features a different biome, perfectly designed for the plants that grow there. You may be a Beginning Botanist now, but you can become a Professional Plant Hunter after you try out the seven different Plant Challenges.”

Check it out!

LHS Kids Arcade

Amber Coggin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:33:05 +0000

The Lawrence Hall of Science kids site is just amazing! There are projects, quizzes, research information, photos, and games on many science topics such as animals, oil spills, and plants, to name a few. The arcade currently has 14 games, and many of them work great on the SMART Board. Check it out!

Scott Foresman Reading Street Resources

Amber Coggin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:41:50 +0000

Below is a compilation of Scott Foresman Reading Street resources for grades K-5. If you know of another resource that should be added, please leave a comment and I will update the list.

Kindergarten
Literacy Maiden Kindergarten
SMART Exchange Reading Street Search
Scottsboro Reading Street Resources
Waltke’s Web
Kindergarten Kove
Kinderglynn
Cheryl Tice’s Resources
Little Book Lane Kindergarten
Falmouth Public Schools Kindergarten
Richland Parish Schools
Mitchell Elementary School Wiki Kindergarten
Collier File Hive Wiki Kindergarten

First Grade
Mrs. Langston’s Teacher Resources
Literacy Maiden 1^st Grade
SMART Exchange Reading Street Search
Scottsboro Reading Street Resources
Waltke’s Web
Cheryl Tice’s 1^st Grade Resources
Sound City Reading
Little Book Lane 1^st Grade
Tech Tool Kit 1^st Grade Resources (SMART Response files only)
Mrs. Moyer’s Resources
Falmouth Public Schools 1^st Grade
Richland Parish Schools 1^st Grade
Mitchell Elementary School Wiki 1^st Grade
George Hall Elementary Wiki 1^st Grade
Collier File Hive Wiki 1^st Grade

Second Grade
Literacy Maiden 2^nd Grade
Reading Street 2^nd Grade Wiki
SMART Exchange Reading Street Search
Potsick Place 2^nd Grade
Scottsboro Reading Street Resources
Waltke’s Web
Ms. DePrez 2^nd Grade Resources
Peru Central School District 2^nd Grade
M.S.A.D. #29 2^nd Grade Resources
Cheryl Tice’s 2^nd Grade Resources
Little Book Lane 2^nd Grade Resources
Tech Tool Kit 2^nd Grade (SMART Response files only)
Julie Hughes 2^nd Grade Resources
Falmouth Public Schools 2^nd Grade
2^nd Grade Reading Street Portaportal
Richland Parish Schools 2^nd Grade
Mitchell Elementary School Wiki 2nd Grade
George Hall Elementary Wiki 2^nd Grade
Collier File Hive Wiki 2^nd Grade

Third Grade
Literacy Maiden 3^rd Grade
SMART Exchange Search
Scottsboro Reading Street Resources
Waltke’s Web
Plymouth Schools 3^rd Grade
Cheryl Tice’s Resources 3^rd Grade
Little Book Lane 3^rd Grade
Peru Schools 3^rd Grade Spelling Words
Peru Schools 3^rd Grade Leveled Readers
Apple Orchard 3^rd Grade Printables
Mrs. Hulsey’s 3^rd Grade Trifolds
Prince’s Post 3^rd Grade Materials
Tech Toolkit Wiki 3^rd Grade (SMART Response files only)
MrsThonus’ Resources
Miss Hunt’s 3^rd Grade Resources
Reaching Our Goal Companion Website (Unit 6 only)
Falmouth Schools 3^rd Grade
Ms. Marquis Resources
Kimberly Lane’s Reading Street Family Times for Third Grade
Richland Schools 3^rd Grade Resources
Tri-Central Elementary 3^rd Grade Resources
Mitchell Elementary 3^rd Grade Resources
George Hall Elementary Wiki 3^rd Grade
Collier File Hive Wiki 3^rd Grade

Fourth Grade
Literacy Maiden 4^th Grade
SMART Exchange Reading Street Search
Scottsboro Reading Street Resources
Waltke’s Web
Cheryl Tice’s 4^th Grade Resources
Mrs. Lamb’s 4^th Grade Resources
Mrs. Howard’s 4^th Grade Reading Street Trifolds
Tech Toolkit 4^th Grade Resources (SMART Response files only)
Falmouth Schools 4^th Grade
Richland Schools 4^th Grade
Mitchell Elementary Wiki 4^th Grade
George Hall Elementary Wiki 4^th Grade
Collier File Hive Wiki 4^th Grade

Fifth Grade
Literacy Maiden 5^th Grade
SMART Exchange Reading Street Search
Scottsboro Reading Street Resources
Waltke’s Web
Cheryl Tice’s 5^th Grade Resources
Prince’s Posts 5^th Grade Materials
Tech Toolkit 5^th Grade Resources (SMART Response files only)
Falmouth Schools 5^th Grade
Richland Schools 5^th Grade
Mrs. Dingman Reading Street Spelling 5^th Grade
Mitchell Elementary Wiki 5^th Grade
Nebo Elementary 5^th Grade Files
George Hall Elementary Wiki 5^th Grade
Collier File Hive Wiki 5^th Grade

Cleaning Your SMART Board and Projector

Amber Coggin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:14:31 +0000

Today is the first day of school! I’m glad to be back after a busy summer. I look forward to another year of sharing SMART Board resources with you. As you are getting your classroom ready, you may think about freshening up your SMART Board and projector. Please check out these documents for instructions and tips.

Cleaning Your Interactive Screen

How to Remove Permanent Marker

Being SMART With Your SMART Board System

Cleaning your SMART UF55 or SMART UF55w projector (be careful!)

ISTE 2010 Reflection

Amber Coggin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:02:26 +0000

I’m sitting here in my hotel room at the end of my first ever ISTE conference. I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions I attended, as well as the networking I did through Twitter and in person while in Denver. Before I head back to Alabama tomorrow, I thought I’d share with you my thoughts about my experience.

Vendors

The vendor/exhibit area was overwhelming for this newbie, and honestly it took us a good 2 days to get through it. I enjoyed visiting booths of vendors/websites of products and sites I use and of those I knew nothing about! My students will get a kick out of the picture I took with Moby from BrainPop.com! Also, I never dreamed there would be so many great giveaways at the booths (I am most thankful for my SMART t-shirts). Unfortunately, I wasn’t the winner of any “big” prizes, but a principal from my district did win one of the new SMART Document Cameras that integrates with SMART’s upcoming Mixed Reality software.

Sessions

Before coming to ISTE 2010, a few of us gathered to create a game plan of what sessions we wanted to attend by using the ISTE Conference Planner (thanks, Dawn!). I’m really glad I did this, because the actual conference program was a little overwhelming (although it was put together beautifully). Some of the sessions I planned to attend filled up before we arrived. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes in advance if you want to get a good seat (or a seat at all). Of the sessions I did attend, I most enjoyed the session by Bret Gensburg entitled “SMART Boarding in the Classroom: Document, Develop, Deliver!” He is a wonderful presenter and knows a heck of a lot about SMART Notebook. I also enjoyed the Personal Learning Networks session about using Twitter, Ning, and other social networks as professional development and collaboration. Which leads me to…

Twitter and #ISTE10

I seemed to drain my iPhone battery twice a day due to my tweeting. I never would’ve known about half of the happenings going on at ISTE (and after) had it not been for Twitter. I highly recommend following the conference hashtag closely next year (#ISTE11 possibly?). It was cool to meet/see people in person that you follow on Twitter, and it was great to be around so many other Twitter users in one place! I would love to know how many educators joined Twitter as a result of ISTE 2010. I’m hoping to get more teachers on board in my own district, because everything I’ve learned about Educational Technology I have learned through my PLN.

Thank You

Of course I experienced more than what I wrote about above, but I’ll end with this. Thank you to the ISTE conference planners and staff that made this event a success for me and so many others. I would also like to thank the Mobile County Public School System for giving me the opportunity to attend such an amazing conference. I can’t wait to bring this new knowledge back home to Mobile’s teachers and students!