Virtual Snow!

I don't know about you, but I'm already tired of winter. Blech! That "Polar Vortex" earlier this week was brutal for sure! 

While I think freshly fallen snow is beautiful, it still means it's cold outside. So, what's better than melted snow? How about some virtual snow?! At least you won't have to shovel this kind. 

Below are a few sites that allow you create snowflakes or have fun with snow...online! These sites are also good for helping students practice maneuvering a mouse correctly.

Enjoy! 

Make a Flake

Create Your Own Snowflake

Snow Flake Maker

Snowflakes

Jingle Bells...it's almost BREAK TIME!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week and is getting closer to a big holiday break!! Enjoy every moment that you can during this time of year and remember to relax!

If you are in need of some last minute fun activities for your students or for something fun to keep your own kids at home occupied, then please check out this wide variety of Jingle Bells resources below. 

Have a very Happy Holiday break, everyone! 

P.S. My TWO Year Blog-iversary is coming up quickly! Be on the lookout soon for details regarding the celebration!

First Piano Lessons: Jingle Bells

Oh, Jingle Bells...

Jinglebell Junction

Hidden Jingle Bells Game

Jingle Bells Learn and Sing

Christmas Online Coloring

Play: Jingle Bell Jump

Free Online Christmas Fun!

When I taught Elementary Computers, I would always try to give the kids a break near a holiday. I would allow them to play Holiday Games via my Live Binder site! Of course, if a child didn't celebrate a certain holiday they were given other options. I also didn't limit them to Christmas games at Christmas, or Halloween games at Halloween, etc. They were allowed to play any Holiday or Season related game. The kids LOVED it! 

In addition to the sites on my Live Binder, here are some other sites with some great games for Christmas!

Enjoy! 

Primary Christmas Games

Kidz Page Christmas

Games Games Christmas

Online Holiday Games

The Elves' Game Chest

AGame Christmas

A Kid's Heart Christmas

Best Ed Tech Sites for Kids!

I'm sure we could all name at least 5 websites that are great for kids! They are educational, safe, and fun. While we all have our favorites, it's sometimes hard to "weed through" all of the many sites out there to figure out which ones are truly "good" for kids. 

Below I am including links to many lists of both the best and favorite Ed Tech sites for kids. Feel free to also share your own! 

Thanks and Enjoy! 

101 Websites for Elementary Teachers

Top Educational Websites for Kids

Ten Best Websites for Kids

Technology Sites for Kids

Computer Lab Bookmarks

Colorful & Spooky

Kids love to color! Well, okay, so do adults at times! Sometimes, pulling out a coloring sheet is one of the easiest arts and crafts activities to do when kids are getting restless. 

Around the holidays, it's always fun to have kids help decorate in their own special way. Having them color a simple page of scenes for the season, is always fun! 

I am including links below to both printable and interactive Halloween coloring pages! Have fun! 

Printables: 

Halloween Coloring Pages

Coloring Book: Halloween

Coloring Pages for Kids

Free Printable Halloween Coloring Pages

Printable/Interactive: 

Hello Kids Halloween

Interactive: 

Primary Games Halloween Coloring

The Color: Halloween

The Kidz Page

QR Code Fun!

I have never personally used QR Codes in a classroom setting but I do find that concept very interesting! I think that with as popular as QR Codes are in today's world, incorporating them into an educational setting just makes sense. 

Now, in order for any QR activity to work, you would need enough QR readers available for student use. This could prove to be a challenge since sometimes that technology is not available. Also, most likely younger students wouldn't necessarily have SmartPhones on them as frequently as older students would. 

Still, there are so many fun ways to utilize this technology. To find QR reader apps for SmartPhones, you can try one of the following sites: 

• 708 Media
• Mobibrix

To create your own QR codes, try one of the following sites below: 

• QR Code Monkey
• GO QR
• QR Code Generator

Once you've explored these sites, feel free to create your own fun! If you'd like to try out an activity using QR codes, before you begin creating your own, try out these FREE Resources listed below! Enjoy! 

Kid Friendly Search Engine Poster

QR Codes for Alphabet

Scan to Check! Short Vowel Sounds

Word of the Day

75 Ways to Say Good Job

Once Upon a QR Code

4-3-2-1 Butterflies

Solar System QR Code Scavenger Hunt

Halloween Writing with QR Codes

25 QR Code Ideas

Interactive Math

It seems like there are more and more new and free Math games online and via apps. Math can be a hard concept for some kids, so why not making the learning more fun?! 

I hope these sites are very useful! Enjoy! 

Zombie Paintball

Free Online Math Games

Free iPad Math Apps

Elementary Math Websites

Online Math Games

Math Live

Mathematics Glossaries for Kids

Math Video Resources for Students

Animated Math Lessons for Kids

Stop, Drop, and Roll: Fire Safety!

October wears a lot of hats: Halloween, Columbus Day, Anti Bullying Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, etc. 

It is also Fire Safety Month! 

This is a topic that is not just important within a school setting, but it is also important in the home. I am including many links below that will help children understand what to do in order to be safe during a fire. 

Be sure to have an escape plan and help children understand it. BE SAFE! 

FREE Fire Safety Resources

Super Smart Fire Safety Rules for Kids

Elmo's Fire Safety Game

Fun Ways for Kids to Learn about Fire Safety

Label the Firefighter

Fire Safety: I Spy Letters and Sounds

Online Halloween FUN!

When I taught Elementary Computers, I always tried to allow my students some fun times in the lab around each holiday. I also gave them options so that if they did not celebrate certain holidays, then they could still have fun with their classmates! They loved it! 

There are so many fun games online for Halloween that are appropriate for kids and students of all ages. I am including links to many below! If you know of others, feel free to share those as well! Enjoy! 

Holidays & Seasons: Click on Halloween

Online Halloween Games for Kids

Halloween Interactive Games

Halloween Arcade

PBS Kids: Halloween

Find This Pumpkin

10 Fun, Free, Fall Finds!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I really Love Fall!! Even though I greatly dislike cold weather, I really enjoy hoodies, bonfires, crisp air, colorful leaves, and pumpkins! 

With that in mind, I decided to look for some Free activities to use in the classroom...all of which have an Autumn theme! 

I hope these are useful and fun for all! Enjoy! 

Leaf Counting SMARTboard Game

Autumn Inference Riddle Cards

My Pumpkin Seed: A Counting Story

Leaf Clip Art

Fall Fun for Fast Finishers

Candy Corn Fact Families

Roll A Sammy the Scarecrow (Free for Limited Time)

Friendly Ghost ABC Matching Game

Number Cards 1-120: Fall Theme

A Very Leaf Day: Emergent Reader

Online Science Fun!

Kids love Science! While most kids prefer for it to be hands on, sometimes that's not always available. 

There are many ways to still get Science knowledge and learning without the setup and cleanup of materials, etc. 

Below are a few links to many fun online Science games for elementary and PreK children of all ages! 

I hope they are useful and fun! Enjoy! 

Turtle Diary: Science

Learn 4 Good: Science Games for Kids

Primary Games: Science

Kidopo: Science Games

EdHeads: Simple Machines

Online Resources to Help Avoid the "Summer Slide"

As a teacher, one of the big frustrations at the beginning of every school year, is having to reteach skills to students that were taught to them at the previous grade level. 

While it's nice to have summers off, it really can "hurt" students in terms of the academic knowledge that can be lost. 

It's vital to let parents know the importance of reading, practicing basic math facts, etc. during the summer months. The more they engage in these type of activities, the more they'll retain. 

Below are some links with great resources, tips, and online activities to help students avoid the Summer Slide. 

Educational Games & Activities by Grade

12 Great Resources to Keep Math Skills Sharp

Help Your Kids Stop the Summer Brain Drain

48 Summer Websites for Kids & Teachers

Top 10 Tips for Summer Reading

Learn & Search

With today's vast resources online, it's become easier for teachers and educators to learn about the latest in education. Teachers learn best from each other and we always seem so willing to share our resources and expertise with one another. 

With that said, I am including links below to sites that will allow educators to search for great PD resources or education technology tools and resources. If you know of any others, please feel free to share. 

Thanks! 

Tioki: Connect with other Educators

EduStruct: Digital Learning Environment

EdShelf: Reviews and Recommendations of Ed Tools

Quixey: The Search Engine for Apps

Bundlenut: Create Bundles of Links

KC Tech Net Conference: Part 2

So, now on to Part 2 of the list of new sites I learned about via the KC Tech Net conference back in February. Below I am including many multimedia and student resource tools. So far, the only site that I've actually been able to use with my students, is Wonderopolis. I used it today with 2nd grade and they loved it! Please check out that site if you are unfamiliar with it. It's great! I will post more soon about how I used it with my students. 

 

In case you missed it, you can click HERE for Part 1 of the KC Tech Net links.

For now, please enjoy these 6 sites below. If you have used any of these before, I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas!

Happy April, everyone! 

StoryJumper: Publish your Own Children's Book

Tween Tribune: News for Kids & Tweens

Wonderopolis: Where Wonders of Learning Never Cease

Popcorn Box: Enhance, Remix, and Share Video

Record mp3: Record & Share Audio

Image Optimizer: Change Image File Sizes for Free

Loving Lino!!

So, last week I decided to try an interactive site with my 1st graders. I was a bit worried as we had never used a site like this before at the 1st grade level, but I felt confident with my students' abilities, so we tried it out. 

The site is Lino. It's an interactive bulletin board where you can post sticky notes, pictures, etc. I set up a board for my 1st graders (very easy to do; no sign up is required), and posed the question, "What is your favorite website?". I decided to focus on a simple question this time because I was more interested in them focusing on the task of using an online, interactive tool. This site could definitely be used at multiple grade levels for endless topics!
Well, let me say that my 1st graders ROCK!! They blew me away by how well they did and how much fun they had! They were amazed at the fact that their friend could be sitting on the other side of the room, on a different computer, yet their friend's sticky note showed up on their own computer!! 

If you have never tried this site, I highly recommend it! It's so simple to use. The one drawback is that many times the sticky notes ended up on top of each other by mistake, but that was an easy fix. I simply just went back in as me, and I was able to easily unstack them. 
I took some screenshots of their answers and posted them below. I have disabled the page I set up for them so that only I can see it now. I did this for their privacy and so as to not have any more sticky notes added to it by outsiders. 

Enjoy the link to the site (click the logo below) and the screenshots of the students' answers! 

Screenshots: