This is another site I found while working on the writing training pilot.  This is a quote from their site:  "Free resources for educators support collaborative student-centered learning. Our 21st century teaching and learning resources help teachers play a critical role in facilitating learning activities and posing questions that take student thinking deeper."
Very nice resource.  Worth the time to explore.  I used it to help the students in 5th grade prepare their Civic Oration speeches for competition this past year.

 

If so, then you'll want to visit RCampus.  I stumbled on this site while participating in a pilot writing assessment training this past year. 
The feature I like the best is that you can enter your student roster(s) and link it to a specific rubric.  When it comes time to grade these you click directly on the rubric for each student and the grade is calculated for you.  Very cool!  Great time saver.

 

Blocking software doesn't have to keep you from sharing the great media you can find on social network sites and places like Youtube, Teachertube, and the like.  Find the media you want to share and post the link on Zamzar.  They will email you a file for free that you can save to your thumb drive and take to school with you.
Try it out...   http://www.zamzar.com/

 

I created an Excel spreadsheet called Graph of the Day when I was teaching 4th grade self-contained.  Students went to the computer and responded to a question first thing every morning.  By week 5 (as required by our pacing guide), I had tons of real data gathered from my students which was perfect for meeting the math objectives:
4.01 Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including line graphs and bar graphs) to solve problems. TLW Define the following terms: chart, tally, table, Venn diagram, circle graph, pictograph, line plot, bar graph, double bar graph, line graph, trend, continuous data, numerical data, categorical data, columns, rows, x-axis, y-axis, vertical, horizontal, intervals, range of data, and scale. TLW Recognize charts, tallies, tables, diagrams, and graphs. TLW Explain the purpose of charts, tallies, tables, diagrams, and graphs. TLW Explain orally and in written form the advantages and disadvantages of each varying type of graph (bar, line, pictograph, and circle graph). TLW Conduct a survey to collect data. TLW Collect data from surveys, research, and classroom experiments by using charts, tables, and graphs. TLW Organize data from surveys, research, and classroom experiments by using charts, tables, and graphs. TLW Choose the most appropriate graph to display a set of data. TLW Display data from surveys, research, and classroom experiments by using charts, tables, and graphs. TLW Interpret information orally and in writing, using charts, tables, tallies, and graphs. 
At the request of my colleagues on ProTeacher, I have posted it here for download.  I hope you will find it useful.

4th_grade_daily_graph.xls
File Size: 894 kb
File Type: xls
Download File

 

Address science standards and specific objectives with Google Earth during hurricane season.  Turn on the weather and hurricane tracking layers then begin your data collection.  What a phenomenal tool!  Last year I even trained a few students to lead this activity at the teacher computer and SmartBoard so that I could move around the room and monitor the work other students were doing.  Definitely one of the more meaningful technology experiences last year.  Planning to implement it again this year.  Students even transferred their data from the ISN (interactive student notebook) into an Excel template complete with graphs of the various weather factors.  Check out this FreeTechnologyforTeachers  article for more info.

National Science Content Standard D: Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.
NC COMPETENCY GOAL 3: The learner will conduct investigations and use
appropriate technology to build an understanding of weather and climate.
CCS Objectives: Use precise weather instruments to collect local weather data.  Describe the impact of prevailing winds on North Carolina's climate. Choose a region and research weather data over a particular time period. Create a graph of weather data to determine the climate trends within a region.  Classify the chosen region into one of the five world climate zones. Describe the ocean's effect on hurricane formation.


 

If you are looking for a way to meet the modifications needed by your struggling readers during content area instruction, I have just the tool for you.  Spokentext is a website that will convert existing documents of many types into speech.  Once you have registered for your free account, you can begin creating files.  I even uploaded my test documents for translation.  Now I have read aloud accommodations available for multiple students all at the same time.  If you need more detailed information, feel free to email me at: [email protected]

    Heather Kaiser

    I have been teaching in CCS for 12 years.  I am a facilitator of mentor training, raising the bar: infusing rigor into your lessons,  and quality tools.

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