September 17, 2011: Constitution Day

Constitution Day and Freedom Week are here! Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the September 17, 1787 signing of the United States Constitution. The purpose of Freedom Week is to educate students about the sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of our country and the values on which it was founded. There are many excellent online resources to support learning about this document. Here are just a few:

Try SMART Exchange Search: Constitution  or...

• BrainPop: Constitution
• Constitution Day Wiki
• Congress for Kids: Constitution
• Infographic: 10 Minute Guide to the Constitution
• Road Map to the Constitution
• Scholastic Constitution Resources
• School House Rock Preamble (linked at top)
• White House Kids: Constitution

Digital Communicators: Wednesday Morning Elective Class

We will be creating and publishing digital images, stories and informational writing across the year using a variety of technology tools.  Our individual and collaborative products will be published online in an anthology format full of informative articles, creative images, and fiction writing. We will use tools such as Storybird, Zooburst, and and Wikispaces, to name just a few. Student investigators will also interview, survey, and take photographs to gather facts about happenings around our school, and publish articles on our class site to share with our school community. We will also focus on meeting project deadlines, giving/receiving feedback on our work, choosing graphics for message impact, and digital citizenship.

ROE Technology Toolbox & Grade Level Websites

I'd like to introduce the ROE Technology Toolbox, a new site that organizes Web 2.0 creation tools for students. These tools are excellent options for students with teachers to build global connections, create presentations, collaborate within and among classrooms, record voice and sound, make charts and graphs, and edit images. While the year progresses, more tools will be added as we learn about them. Look for links to student projects too. New Technology Applications TEKS will be officially adopted in 2012-2013 so we are beginning to phase them in this year. The last revision took place in 1998!

Grade-level websites are in development over the course of the upcoming school year too, and they can also be accessed on the homepage of the Tech. Toolbox site. Each grade level is collaboratively developing new pages with updated learning resources for each of their IBPYP planners and including specific subject area resources also. Over the course of the upcoming school year, all of these sites will evolve to provide great learning opportunities for our students across the curriculum.

Back to School Overview

Creating Virtual Pinboards with Pinterest

Pinterest can be a great teacher tool for creating virtual pinboards of all the inspiring images and ideas we encounter online for later use in our work. Visual bookmarks are 'pinned' while at the same time citing back directly to the source. Here are some instructions on how the pinning process works.

You can add your own notes and descriptions, as well as tags that will define and organize your boards for you. What a great way to expand your PLN while organizing, sharing, and discovering great professional ideas! For now it is by-invite only. Email me for an invite, or sign up directly with Pinterest, and you will receive one a short time later. My boards are viewable here. I have collected quite a few Reading Strategy ideas and kid-friendly Infographics so far.

Summer Learning Notes

Ideas and resources from my summer learning:

Conferences and Online Learning
* TIBS: Internationalism in IBPYP @ Rice U.

* SimpleK12 online webinars 

* TCEA Summer Conference:Technology Learning in Elementary Classroom
* Edutopia Summer Boot Camp

Resources

• Fall 2011 Lunch and Learn Webinars via TCEA

• TCEA Recommended iPad Apps (cross-curricular)

• Edtech2020  and the 'New Normal' (Session Resources)

• Gail Lovely: Early Reading and Technology Resources, slides and Student Interactives

• EDU Teacher: reference and resources for Ed. Tech.

• Happy Birthday T.A. TEKS via Fried Technology (Revisions to TX Technology Applications with project examples from bie.org)

• iClassroom (T. Harkey--mobile learning considerations)

• ICT Magic Show (Web 2.0 tools in pageflip format)

New Tools

Wix: flash-driven website builder

Popplet: interactive mindmaps and concept-mapping

Edistorm: share + organize ideas via online sticky notes

Juxio: interactive posters

Sliderocket: sleek slide presentations

Vocaroo: easy audio recorder

Wetoku: quick video interviewing tool

Screenr: screencasting

Class Blogmeister (integrated classroom + student blogs)

Google: What do you love? Search

Many more great free webinars are coming up soon sponsored by Simple K12--see full list HERE. On-demand webinars are accessible also. 

(backchannel notes)

More Summer Reading Ideas & Recommendations

Find great e-freebies if you have an eReader via KindleKids Corner

Howard B. Wigglebottom Animated Books (free!) by Howard Binkow

13 online stories and a new one added each month at Barnes & Noble Studio

Find resources on ROE Summer Reading page that include information on local reading incentive programs and much more!

Student Book Recommendation: (submitted via this form)


The BFG by Roald Dahl is a fascinating book about a little orphan girl who suddenly hears a noise and looks out her window where she sees a giant monster sort of thing. She really doesn't know what it is. Later on in the book she finds out what it is, what he likes, and what that weird noise was. They soon become friends and the giant has a mission for the girl. But I can't tell you what that is. You have to read the book!

--By Bailey (3rd Grader) Rating: 8 out of 10 stars


Additional sites with recommended mobile learning apps:

• Apps4Kids
• Best Apps for Kids
• iKid Apps.com
• iKids Blog