It is so much fun to see my little second graders conducting research on a topic they enjoy.
The thing is, they are second graders. So typically Google is a little advanced for them. There are so many results with several advertisements. And so many of them are not at all geared toward a second-grade reading level.
Well, I found a way around that.
Let me introduce you to a couple of kid-friendly searching sites that provide safe and appropriate content.
KidRex
KidRex is powered by Google, and offers a way for kids to search safely online. It looks a lot like Google with a cute little dinosaur, that just makes it more fun. Check out this video to learn a little more about it.
Kiddle
Kiddle is another kid-friendly search tool that is also powered by Google. This one has a fun little robot, and again, allows you to just type in what you are looking for in the search bar.
This is probably my favorite of the two because I like its larger thumbnails that show up when you search.
Additionally, Kiddle prioritizes information with the most kid-friendly sites listed first, down to sites that still have appropriate content, but will be at an adult reading level.
Hopefully these sites will help spark some new projects in your classroom!
Social media seems to be everywhere we look these days, so why not in the classroom?
This week, I am going to show you a few social media tools that you might want to try with your students.
But first, here is a little video I created using Adobe Spark's video feature about why you might consider using social media in education.
Here are some tools you should check out for your classroom if you aren't already using them.
Symbaloo
This is a great resource to use with your staff or with your students. Symbaloo is a way to collect all of the sites you or your students frequent and have them organized visually so they can easily click where they need to go. Also, you can share your Symbaloo with others, so it can be super interactive. I started one that teachers in my building could use. Here is what it looks like:
Need help getting started? Check out this tutorial:
Symbaloo also has a new feature called Lesson Plans or Learning Paths. I haven't created one of these myself, but it seems like a great way to have an entire digital lesson plan available for your students to access. I am thinking how convenient this would be to have available for when you have a substitute! Then you are still able to teach the lesson and provide access to things you would like students to view or complete, but the substitute just has to tell them how to start!
FlipGrid
FlipGrid is a video response platform that allows you to have discussions with your class. During my online courses, I have frequently used FlipGrid in order to record my reflections of my learning. I envision using FlipGrid as a way to give short presentations, explain and show steps to solve a math problem, and even provide fluency practice so students can then play back and see how they are doing. I also see this as a great way to allow staff members to provide feedback and have discussions. We all know that teachers aren't exactly jumping for the chance to share during staff meetings! 😂
Here is a video explaining how to use it!
Padlet
This is a fun tool that allows teachers to provide links to content all in one shared location. I have a unit on Wild Weather that I teach to my second graders each year. With Padlet, I can offer one page where all of my weather information is posted so my students can easily access it. You can also require that students respond with a comment or question about what they have read. Here is a screen shot of my Wild Weather Padlet, or you can view it here.
Want to learn more about creating a Padlet? Check out this tutorial.
Social media really can be a fun and engaging way to teach. Happy posting!
This week is all about planning and organizing. It's what teachers do. We plan, plan, and plan some more. So if someone tells me a way to make lesson planning easier, I say sign me up! The first tool I learned about this week was Flippity. Flippity.net lets you turn Google Sheets into quiz shows, flash cards, memory games, and more. What's better is that you just use their free templates that they provide to you. Then you have a quiz saved that you can use again and again! Check out this how-to video to learn more about creating a quiz show on Flippity.
One teaching essential we covered this week was lesson plans. My go-to site for lesson plans is Teachers Pay Teachers.
You can find lesson plans for all curriculum, grade levels, and price points. I find that many of the teaching blogs I follow also link up to their store front on Teachers Pay Teachers so you can buy the resources you are reading about. Here is a cool lesson that I am thinking of buying for my second graders who need some math enrichment.
Another great resource I like to use is PBS Parents. While it doesn't initially sound like it could be meant for teachers, there are some cool lessons that tie into video clips of PBS shows. Here is great STEM activity that teaches children about the importance of modifying designs.
Finally, here is a short little list of some essential timesaving tools. I used Adobe Spark again, but this time I made a gorgeous page for you to visit. (Yes, Teachers Pay Teachers is on there again. That is how much I love it!)
This week I got to spend some time exploring Google Drive, Google Forms, and Google Drawing for my class. Let me tell you, I definitely came away with some awesome ideas for the classroom. Probably my favorite feature of Google Drive is the ability to easily share access with others. Plus, Google has come up with various levels of access. For example, you can require users make a copy of your document so that they are not mistakingly making edits to it when you do not want them to. You can also alter the level of access someone has to a document. This would be great for sharing documents and other mediums with students.
Something new that I discovered this week is that Google offers several different templates. Within Google Drive, go to the plus sign as if you are creating a new document, sheet, or slide. Hover over the arrow next to the file type of your choice and "From a template" should pop up.
There are so many cool templates to choose from, but the one that seemed most interesting to me was the book report option in Google Slides. Everything is set up, so all a student has to focus on is the content instead of the design! Here are some of the templates available in Google Slides.
If you check out this video by dottotech, he walks you through the book report template. Additionally, he gives some basics on how to create files and share access with others.
While I love the accessibility of Google Drive, the COOLEST feature is its Optical Character Recognition, or OCR. This means that you can upload a PDF, a scan, or even a photo of text. Open the document within Google Docs, and the text will be converted into a document that you can edit. This works as long as the text is clear. Think of how drastically this can change researching and writing in the classroom! Here is a video from Teacher's Tech that further explains how to use OCR.
And finally, let me leave off with some features I am already planning on using next school year; Google Forms and Google Drawing. With Google Forms, you can create surveys, questionnaires, even graded quizzes with the ease of a few clicks! I made a form for my parents to complete at the beginning of the year that tells me about their child. Now that is one less paper parents have to worry about!
And Google Drawing allows you to create beautiful projects like my graphic organizer for sequencing.
I hope you have fun exploring all of the fabulous features Google Drive has to offer. Please share if you come across something exciting!
