Creating Readers: Informational Text

​Infotext - Sites and Apps​

http://crossroadsnorthlibrary.pbworks.com/w/page/109004050/Rev%20Up%20Reading%3A%20Informational%20Text

​

​Be a better reader by getting in some good practice - here are some sites and apps to give students appropriate articles at their reading level. 

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Stage App: Turn Your iPad into an Interactive Document Camera

​D

isplay and annotate student work

http://classtechtips.com/2015/05/10/stage-app-turn-your-ipad-into-an-interactive-document-camera/

​"​The perfect app for turning your iPad into a presentation tool is Stage: Interactive Whiteboard and Document Camera. It lets users switch from a white board, image background, and camera all while writing on the screen.

​"​

 

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Bloxels: design and play

​An​

 innovative way to create games and characters

http://www.litlgeeks.com/holiday-of-play-mattel-with-bloxels-and-nabi/

​Litlgeeks reviews the  Bloxels Video Game Builder set, calling it  "

a ​

creative, innovative way to create games and characters."  Bloxels comes with "pixel" trays

​ that allow the user​

 

​to

 create characters and levels.  (Read the full review and see video demo on the site.)

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Creative Ways of using Google Slides

Re-imagine the power of student projects
http://www.teachercast.net/2014/10/19/creative-ways-using-google-presentations/


Listen to Jeffrey Bradbury explain how to get creative with Google Slides:

"We have all sat through BORING PowerPoint presentations… right?  In this session, we are going to learn how to use Google Presentations in a more creative and collaborative format than you have ever imagined! Learn how you can use Google Presentations in ways OTHER than the traditional slide show and reimagine the power of student projects...."

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5 Google Apps Templates for Kindergarten

Use Google Apps with younger grades
http://alicekeeler.com/2016/03/21/5-google-apps-templates-kindergarten/

"Google Classroom makes it easier to use Google Apps with younger grades. Create a copy of the templates below, adjust the title and make tweaks to the template to suit your learning objective. In Google Classroom create an assignment and click on the Google Drive icon to add the template. Change the default from "Students can view the file" to "Make a copy for each student."

Alice Keeler has so many great ideas, it's hard to keep up! Check her site for many more useful tweaks.

How to link to a YouTube video in full screen mode.

Get the "big screen" experience

https://www.youtube.com/embed/w6d7NEAdIyU

Don't you hate the busy screen you see when you show a clip to your class? Wouldn't it be great to be able to get a link to just the video itself?  

There are two ways to do this.

1) Copy the URL of the video from your browser address bar, and replace watch?v=  with v/ . This will force the video to load in full browser page mode.

or 2) find the Youtube video you want to share, click on the "embed" tab to see the html code, copy the link from the https up to the ?rel= . (see below)

In both cases, the resulting link will load the video, completely filling your browser window without related videos or other distractions.Try it with a clip you want to share!

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Using Video Effectively in the Classroom

Be an active and reactive viewer

https://www.graphite.org/blog/using-video-effectively-in-the-classroom

"When it comes to video, students shouldn't just get it; they should also have something to say about it. Students need to be active and reactive viewers -- comprehending and critiquing, reading and reacting, getting and giving knowledge. [On this site] you'll find great tools, tips, and strategies for helping to foster both of these essential media-literacy skills."

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Try Green Screen in Miniature

Doing it "tiny" : Green Screen on a small scale

https://conni-workshops.wikispaces.com/Green+Screen+in+Miniature

Video explanation and demo, screen shots and parts lists, ideas and apps, a movie set in a pizza box:

"Traditional Green Screen MovieMaking can be overwhelming involving setup, equipment and even software. Thanks to the iPad, we can bring this editing process down to a manageable size for use in the classroom. The smaller scale also provides for quick and easy setup/breakdown of equipment and supplies when you have multiple classes or limited space in your classroom."

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How to make 1000's of Versions of an Exam Using Moodle

"Sometimes you just need to test..."

http://jonbergmann.com/make-1000s-versions-exam-using-moodle/

"This video explains how to make thousands of versions of the same exam using  Moodle, a learning management system that is used by many schools across the world."

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Computational Thinking - a guide

A conceptual framework of computational thinking

http://community.computingatschool.org.uk/files/6695/original.pdf

In light of the recent BC Ministry of Ed announcement about coding and computational thinking, here is a document produced in the UK on the same topic.

"This guide aims to help develop a shared understanding of the teaching of computational thinking in schools. It presents a conceptual framework of computational thinking, describes pedagogic approaches for teaching and offers guides for assessment. [...] Computational thinking lies at the heart of the computing curriculum but it also supports learning and thinking in other areas of the curriculum."

Source:

http://computingatschool.org.uk/computationalthinking

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Free, Printable Bingo Cards by Bingo Baker

Generate hundreds of random cards

https://bingobaker.com/

Okay, let's face it. Sometimes you just need a bingo game to consolidate vocabulary, switch gears, or just refocus the class energy.

"Bingo Baker makes it easy to create bingo cards. You can generate hundreds of random cards and print them using the printer-friendly PDF (with no ads or watermarks). You can also save paper (and waste electricity instead) by playing your bingo game online (it works on the iPad)."

See also: Word Search labs: https://wordsearchlabs.com

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Make your own text messages - ifaketext.com

Send me a text, Christopher Robin

http://ifaketext.com

Imagine if the characters in a novel or historical figures could text message each other...now they can. (Create text messages in other languages too!)

"ifaketext.com allows you to create a conversation between two people and present it as a text message conversation. Simply type in the specifics of the owners phone, carrier and time, then add in the lines, and press the submit button. (Thanks CL) "

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Powerful QuickTime Features That You Might Not Know

Use QuickTime to combine many clips into one

http://www.wondershare.com/multimedia-tips/top10-features-quicktime-mac.html

Lots of great tips in this post; read the whole thing. But I really like number 9: "You can use QuickTime to combine video clips into one. QuickTime is far simpler than iMovie."

• Step 1: open a movie in QuickTime and place your movie "playhead" cursor at the end of the clip.
• Step 2: Drag & drop the 2nd movie to the open window. Then repeat to add more movie clips.
• Step 3: Export, or click the "Close" button and save the movie as a single file.
  

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City Creator - Medieval, Modern or Snowy

Be creative, build a city!

http://www.citycreator.com/

Indulge your inner creator and build cities in one of three scenarios. If you want to save your cities and come back later, you'll need an account, but students can play with no account and simply screenshot their creation. (Returning to the same computer later will allow you to continue building since cookies from the site will keep track of changes.)

Young kids can have fun practicing mouse skills, and the resulting cities can be used as a story prompt, or illustration for an existing adventure, or even language practice for ELL or other language classes. ("Je vois deux maisons, un camion et trois voitures.") It's not mobile friendly!

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