The hardest part about utilizing the many online resources available to educators is finding the best ones. Usually, if you do a Google search for an educational topic, your results are ad-laden commercially based sites that aren’t even close to “cool,” or they are so full of information, it is hard to know where to begin.
The National Geographic site is one of those it which it is hard to know where to begin. The key feature to exploring the National Geographic site is to know what your topic is. When you know your topic, the site seems to do the connecting of resources for you by connecting topics to its many interactive resources, photo galleries, blogs, etc. A good starting place for educators on the National Geographic sites is called Xpeditions. The Xpeditions site has lesson plans, activities and maps for topics ranging from oceans, droughts and presidential birth places. They are organized by grade level as well. My favorite most recent discovery on the National Geographic site is called The Infinite Photograph . It starts with one photograph, but when it is clicked on, becomes an infinite mosaic of other photographs. If you double-click on a photograph, you can find out the information about it. The Infinite Photograph would be a great filler or rainy-day recess activity. It may also work on a Smart Board and the students could then choose which part of the photograph to close in on.
The coolest sites always seem to be found by someone else in my experience. I write them down whenever I can in a file I call Ideas Galore. I have two favorites that aren’t necessarily the most educational, but can fill in holes in your classroom or in your day.
The first site I love is called Wordle. According to the Wordle site, “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.” A toy, yes, a toy. Click on ‘Create your own,’ ‘paste in a bunch of text’ and click go. I used this tool to create an addition to the Class Covenant sheet that we all signed at the beginning of the year. I highlighted words that we wanted to have present in our classroom such as listen, kind, respect, etc. Once you click go, you can even edit the font, positioning and the color scheme on your own.
The second site is for pure entertainment. I saw it used as a reward for good behavior in a 5th grade classroom. It is called Will It Blend. Silly things are put into a blender and then we wait to see what happens. Great for a room of 17 boys I imagine.
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I agree that the best websites are ones that other people pass on to you. I looked at the National Geographic website, and I can see myself using this when creating lesson or trying to find activities for an introduction. The social studies curriculum we are using is extremely weak, so anything I can add to make it better is a plus.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I find interesting sites, but I am not sure how to connect it to a curriculum area. The Will it Blend site is fun and engaging, but how could it connect? Maybe it would fit into science. The students are leaning about the three states of matter. Maybe this would be a fun way to see if a solid turns to a liquid when it is blended. For a solid to really change states it needs to be heated, but the fourth graders would not know that at the start of the unit. Maybe I will try to include it in my unit plan. It would surly be something different.
If you come across any other great sites, I would love to add them to my list. My favorites folder on my computer contains many useful sites. I just need to back them up, so I don't lose all my resources.
I agree with Rose that Will It Blend has the closest connection to science--states of matter is perfect, especially with that silly putty demo--but I also see the possibility of working it into a conversation/unit on advertising. I've sent that link to a bunch of friends who've all written back to tell me, "I want that blender!"
ReplyDeleteMost of all, I appreciate the idea that Joanna "rewards" her kids with a peek at what's new on Will It Blend. What a great non-candy, non-toy acknowledgment of a well-functioning class!