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Sight Words - Gajan Retnasaba
Grades
K to 3
2 Favorites
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Sight Words offers a comprehensive resource of techniques, teaching activities, lessons, and materials for teaching young children to read. Begin your exploration by Clicking the Teaching...more
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Sight Words offers a comprehensive resource of techniques, teaching activities, lessons, and materials for teaching young children to read. Begin your exploration by Clicking the Teaching Strategies. Explore the information and instructions for all teaching strategies employed in lessons. View videos, read blog posts, create and print your own flashcards, and more! Explore the history of Dolch and Fry sight words. Take a visit to Sight Word Games to find great ideas for your classroom: Bingo, Fly Swat, Fishing, Bean Bag Toss, and more... all related to sight words, of course. Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
In the Classroom
Sight Words is an excellent resource to share with parents. Include a link to this site on your class website and newsletters. Share this site with classroom tutors and helpers for use when working with students. Share this link with student teachers as an excellent resource for beginning reading instruction. Find ideas to implement in your classroom. Create flashcards for your students. Try the Sight Word Games in your own classroom as a learning center or even whole class games!
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Sign Generator - Ryland Sanders
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
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Create a personalized sign using the many templates offered on the Sign Generator. Options include personalized cakes, cartoon characters, movie marquees, and much more. Click the thumbnail...more
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Create a personalized sign using the many templates offered on the Sign Generator. Options include personalized cakes, cartoon characters, movie marquees, and much more. Click the thumbnail of the design you want, add your text into the provided lines, and click the link to finish. Your personalized sign appears on a popup image ready to save onto your computer.
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Create signs to include with multimedia projects. Customize a sign for use on your interactive whiteboard with directions for seat work or to introduce students presenting projects to the class. Have students use the images to give short story summaries using only four to six words. Create a set of class rules using one of the templates, and then print and post them on a bulletin board.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Signed Stories
Grades
K to 5
2 Favorites
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The goal of Signed Stories is to increase the literacy of deaf children; however, it is a great resource for all children. After choosing an interactive, audio, or text story, ...more
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The goal of Signed Stories is to increase the literacy of deaf children; however, it is a great resource for all children. After choosing an interactive, audio, or text story, you will see the text, hear the story and see it in sign language. Almost 100 titles are available and can be searched by topic or by browsing all titles. Some stories offer all three options others only one or two. Many stories have pause and rewind buttons, so you can replay to see signs again.
In the Classroom
Use stories on the interactive whiteboard or projector to teach story elements - pause as the story is read to allow students to retell details to the stopping point then make predictions of what will happen next. Help students understand disabilities and adaptations to disabilities through watching the stories being told in sign language. This is also a great resource for students with deaf/hearing impaired parents or students/teachers trying to learn or practice sign language. In sign language classes, consider creating your own signed story videos for children's books using a tool like Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, and share them with a tool such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.
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SIKids - Sports Illustrated for Kids &CNN
Grades
3 to 8
2 Favorites
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All about sports: top sports news stories, sports polls, displays of readers' artwork, AND MORE, this site is sure to appeal to those reluctant readers and any sports lover. Users ...more
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All about sports: top sports news stories, sports polls, displays of readers' artwork, AND MORE, this site is sure to appeal to those reluctant readers and any sports lover. Users can get up-to-date statistics from the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NBA. Readers can enjoy sports jokes.
In the Classroom
Share this site on your teacher web page or classroom desktop for fast student access to sport statistics and a way to submit creative works. Use sports statistics for math practice and to teach graphing or data organization skills. Use the sports stories as non-fiction examples for reading comprehension. Share a Top Story on your interactive whiteboard as you ask students to highlight parts of speech, cause-effect words, main idea, and more. Suddenly your students will actually READ!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Simple English News - simpleenglishnews
Grades
4 to 12
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Simple English News is a site that has very short articles about items from all over the world. It also features English in 30-Seconds videos on news topics and ...more
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Simple English News is a site that has very short articles about items from all over the world. It also features English in 30-Seconds videos on news topics and language oddities like slang and idioms. In addition, there are quizzes, participatory polls, written and oral interviews, recipes, and many other selections. This is not a site for breaking or controversial news. Besides appealing to ESL/ELL students, this site would work well with resource classes. Please remember to preview anything you wish to share, to be sure the content is appropriate for your classroom. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Check with this site to see if it has a feature on a grammar or vocabulary lesson you are preparing. Check with your administration about the feasibility of students registering to participate in polls and make comments on news articles. Refer students to the article about five special apps for learning English.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Simple English Wikipedia - Wikipedia Foundation
Grades
3 to 10
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Simple English Wikipedia is a new production of Wikipedia, focused on readers and learners with less vocabulary than native speakers of English. According to the producer, the pages...more
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Simple English Wikipedia is a new production of Wikipedia, focused on readers and learners with less vocabulary than native speakers of English. According to the producer, the pages featured here contain simpler words and shorter sentences than the regular Wiki pages. The number of pages is more limited as well, though this should grow with educators and learners contributing information. Another difference is that any slangs or idiomatic language is carefully explained to accommodate the ELL reader. The HELP pages explain how to write and submit articles for Simple English Wikipedia and have suggestions for simplifying English.
In the Classroom
Share this site with your school ESL teachers as well as classroom teachers who may have ESL students who are involved in researching and possibly even writing new articles. Bookmark this for your classroom computer. If you do recommend wikipedia as a source for research, be sure to have the discussion about its unknown authorship and usefulness as a general information tool but not as a "scholarly" resource. As a challenge to your better writers, consider asking them to write entries that you can submit to this encyclopedia on classroom topics in simpler English. They will have to analyze their own language and writing style with far greater scrutiny than ever before. Or have the class create a two-version wiki glossary of your own on curriculum topics in any discipline, using this as a model for the "easy reading" side.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Simple Sticky Notes - Simnet Limited
Grades
1 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Find your sticky notes with the click of a button. Post your important notes or lists to your home screen on your computer quickly and easily. Download the software and ...more
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Find your sticky notes with the click of a button. Post your important notes or lists to your home screen on your computer quickly and easily. Download the software and begin writing notes. Easily delete with one button. Change color, theme, or text type on each sticky note if you desire.
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Stay organized and never lose that sticky note again! Make notes for conferences, lab materials, books needed, or even parent conferences. Use on your interactive whiteboard to create a fun brainstorming session. Use as a way to motivate unorganized students. Post a link on your class web page as a tool for students and even parents! Post on student computers and fill with inspirational messages, vocabulary or spelling words, or even for reflection questions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Simplenote - automattic.com
Grades
K to 12
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Simplenote is a note-taking tool that updates information across all of your devices. Download the app for mobile devices and onto PCs. Notes update immediately, no need to save. Use...more
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Simplenote is a note-taking tool that updates information across all of your devices. Download the app for mobile devices and onto PCs. Notes update immediately, no need to save. Use the scroll bar to go back in time and find notes from a previous time. Use tags or search to find notes created. Simplenote also allows for collaboration with other users.
In the Classroom
Use Simplenote for all notes and ideas in all aspects of your busy life. Keep your file system with you all of the time! Instruct students in the use of Simplenote for notetaking needs. Share outlines and study guides with students. All members can collaborate and add thoughts. Offer as a way to improve organizational skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Site123 - Site123
Grades
4 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
It's as easy as 123 to create a blog or build your website with Site123. Click the Get Started button and choose the type of website you want. There are ...more
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It's as easy as 123 to create a blog or build your website with Site123. Click the Get Started button and choose the type of website you want. There are 16 categories ranging from blogs to music, business, photography, portfolio, creative arts, and several others. Next, add the name for your blog or website, and last, sign up with your name and email, or your Facebook or Google account. Once this is done you can start designing by choosing from templates, their royalty-free images (or upload your own), add text, videos, and music. Use your dashboard to add pages and edit at any time, even after you've published your page. An added bonus is that you can create multiple websites and/or blogs under one account and one admin username. Be sure to check out the video tutorials for building your website and all the features available to you, such as approving comments, sharing on social media, and more! If your district blocks YouTube the tutorials may not be viewable. You can then look under the settings tab, the FAQs, or write to a support person (available 24/7).
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this site for students to post or collect material for simple projects such as stories, poems, art projects, science lab write-ups, or the week's problem in math. Collect a master list of URLs to student pages on your classroom website, wiki, or blog for easy access. If students are creating pages, check with your district's policy on publishing student work. Create pages for quick link-sharing or upcoming events such as field trips, class party information, school events, science fairs, etc. Students can create simple pages to share links to include in presentations so classmates can participate on laptops. If you are beginning a major creative project such as a literary magazine or research project, Site123 is a wonderful place for writers to collect questions and ideas to be developed later.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Six Traits of Writing - Kim's Korner 4 Teacher Talk
Grades
1 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This website offers information about the Six Traits of Writing. The site provides links to lesson plans, rubrics, parent tips, writing prompts, posters, and detailed information about...more
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This website offers information about the Six Traits of Writing. The site provides links to lesson plans, rubrics, parent tips, writing prompts, posters, and detailed information about each of the six traits. Although this website tends to be geared towards elementary and/or middle school grades, all teachers could glean something from this extensive, no-frills site.
In the Classroom
Be sure you mention this site in your blog, class website, and class newsletter for easy explanation of the Six Traits model. Make a set of posters and put them into clear sleeves for each student. When put into a three-ring notebook, students can save quick writes and samples throughout the year by placing them into the appropriate section.Use this free website to help your students prepare for standardized writing tests. Team up with the science or social studies teacher and have students use the Six Trait Writing "across the curriculum" as they write essays or stories for other content areas.
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Six Word Memoirs: Six in Schools - Six Words, LLC
Grades
4 to 12
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Engage and inspire others with simple six-word memoirs. Six in Schools shares teaching guides, videos, and examples for classroom use. Browse through the examples, or use the filters...more
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Engage and inspire others with simple six-word memoirs. Six in Schools shares teaching guides, videos, and examples for classroom use. Browse through the examples, or use the filters to find examples and articles about the impact of using the six-word technique to reflect and share learning through short, concise wording.
In the Classroom
Use the ideas from this site and the teaching guides to engage students in learning by focusing on sharing ideas through only six words. This site is particularly helpful for students who dislike writing or have difficulty expanding on their thoughts. Help students explore and expand word choice options by sharing the Big Huge Thesaurus, reviewed here. After completing their six-word memoirs, ask students to use Canva Edu, reviewed here, to enhance learning by creating posters that further share their thoughts and reflections.
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Six Word Stories - Pete Berg
Grades
5 to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Six Word Stories challenges students to create a meaningful "narrative," book summary, reaction to a movie, or other literary reflection in just six words. Based on a famous one by...more
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Six Word Stories challenges students to create a meaningful "narrative," book summary, reaction to a movie, or other literary reflection in just six words. Based on a famous one by Ernest Hemingway, the site collects the writings of amateurs and professionals. Readers can search it by theme or by genre or author (including famous ones). Links include places to try similar endeavors including 2-sentence stories and fifty-word stories. Please preview: at the time of this review, there was one inappropriate comment with a curse word.
In the Classroom
Have a contest and challenge your students to submit the best 6-word story after finishing a novel, play, or poem. Try creating some together on interactive whiteboard, brainstorming first to generate possible words from which to choose, then dragging to rearrange them into a meaningful story. Make a six word story "sidebar" at the side of your class where students can work together with a partner on the IWB to generate new stories as summaries for an act of a Shakespeare play or in response to a sonnet. In a journalism class, try this for a twist on headline writing. Introduce poetry writing by having your students try their hand at expressing an emotional experience in just 6 words. ESL/ELL students often create unusual combinations in writing; why not have them display their creativity here in an acceptable form? Share this site with world language teachers also.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sketch Toy - Hakim El Hattab
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Sketch Toy is an intriguing, online drawing tool. No membership is required. Click in the blank graph paper to begin drawing. Click buttons/menus to adjust the line size and color,...more
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Sketch Toy is an intriguing, online drawing tool. No membership is required. Click in the blank graph paper to begin drawing. Click buttons/menus to adjust the line size and color, undo, or erase. Note that you must click Erase a second time to turn it off! Set your line to vibrate using different options. One of the best features of this site is the ability to take an image from your desktop and drag it onto the drawing screen. Once your image is on screen, use the image to trace and create a stencil. Then choose "SAVE" to view your artwork in a step-by-step replay. Copy the image URL and/or share using social networks. Going to the URL will "play back" the drawing process. Click Refresh to watch it over again. You can also download your image. This tool works nicely on tablet browsers. Important: Be SURE to save your image URLs in Favorites or paste them somewhere so you can find them again later. With no registration, you have no way of "saving" your works of art within the tool!
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use Sketch Toy to demonstrate symmetrical drawings. This tool is great for enhancing, creating and visualizing math concepts from basic geometric shapes and area to complex constructions and trig. Use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use for hands-on work with any geometry or trigonometry functions. Since this tool works on such a variety of devices, it would be ideal to use in a BYOD (or 1:1) geometry class. Art teachers who want to "draw in" their more mathematical students can offer this as a design option, especially when teaching about perspective. Drag in images of alphabet letters for younger students to practice tracing. In art class, pull in images of artworks (even students' own work) and have them highlight design principles such as the path of your eye in viewing this image. Annotate any image using freehand drawing and writing. Use this tool as a visual writing prompt. Transform learning by creating drawing stories where a small group adds to the drawing as they pass it around on a tablet, narrating the story among themselves. Save it and play it back for them to write down their own versions of the story. Drawing stories would be a great way to practice world language skills or for ENL students to master vocabulary!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sketchboard - sketchboard.io
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Sketchboard is an online collaborative whiteboard tool that contains unlimited drawing space. The free plan allows up to 5 users, three private boards, and unlimited public boards....more
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Sketchboard is an online collaborative whiteboard tool that contains unlimited drawing space. The free plan allows up to 5 users, three private boards, and unlimited public boards. View the 3 step tutorial to learn how to add features and use the included features. Easily share your board with other participants using the provided link.
In the Classroom
Allow students to create collaborative drawings as responses to literature. They can map out the plot or themes, add labels, create character studies, and more. Share the finished products on an interactive whiteboard, projector, or your class website. Have a group of students create a drawing so that another group can use it as a writing prompt. Use a board as a brainstorming or sketching space as groups (or the class) share ideas for a major project or for solving a real-world problem. Use this tool with students in a computer lab (or on laptops) to create a drawing of the setting in a story as it is read aloud. As an assessment idea, have students draw out a simple cartoon with stick figures to explain a more complex process such as how democracy works. If you are lucky enough to teach in a BYOD setting, use Sketchboard to demonstrate and illustrate any concept while students use the chat and drawing tools to interact in real time. If you are studying weather, have students diagram the layers of the atmosphere and what happens during a thunderstorm, for example. Introduce this tool to students who are working on group projects. Alternatively, have students use this to work as partners or as a small team to complete complex math problems or equations. Give students a problem by typing it on their board.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Skimcast - Bill Hollingsworth
Grades
5 to 8
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Read less to find out more! Pressed for time? Use Skimcast to pare down articles you need to read. Just get the facts - choose a summary anywhere from 1 ...more
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Read less to find out more! Pressed for time? Use Skimcast to pare down articles you need to read. Just get the facts - choose a summary anywhere from 1 - 99% of the material. Paste in a URL or upload a PDF. Not only will you get the entire document back with the summary highlighted, but also see a list of clickable theme words and phrases to the right of the text. Click one and see it highlighted where ever it appears in the article. Use Skimcast on the web or find a button at the bottom to add it as a Chrome browser extension on your toolbar. To more fully understand this tool, read the Top Tips.
In the Classroom
Skimcast would be the perfect tool to show students how to take notes for a report or speech or create a study guide during, or at the end of a unit of study. Work together as a class and read the sentences that are just the relevant facts. Then show students how to pull out just the important words - deleting all prepositions, articles, and connector words. Resource teachers can use Skimcast to make reading from core classes shorter and easier for their students. ESL/ELL teachers can use this tool to make the text more understandable to limited English speakers.
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Skloog - Skloog, LLC
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Use this visual bookmarking program to help you keep your online favorites/bookmarks organized. Choose to make shortcuts (tiles with the logo of the site you are bookmarking) for places...more
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Use this visual bookmarking program to help you keep your online favorites/bookmarks organized. Choose to make shortcuts (tiles with the logo of the site you are bookmarking) for places you visit repeatedly. The tiles make it visual and so easy to use! Can't find the logo? Submit a site by clicking on a button at the bottom of the home page. Access and add to your Skloog bookmarks from anywhere using any computer, your mobile phone, or email. Make Skloog one of the tools on your browser's tool bar in order to add to your favorites quickly and easily. Add or change the preset category tabs that show at the top. Search your favorites by tags, URL, or website name. An added feature is the Skloog tab in the upper right corner of the menu on your short cut page. Click to find some of Skloog's favorite sites.
In the Classroom
This resource is best used as a teacher sharing tool for sharing links, RSS feeds, and other resources for students to use on specific projects or as general course links. Use this site to share with other professionals, team members, or parents. Use the categories to save bookmarks for different units you have in your classroom. Make your Skloog page the homepage for your computer, too.Consider having a category for student use for webquests, tools you want them to use, and creative commons images, music, etc. Also, create a category where students update with suggestions from class members. Use different colored alphabet tiles on a Skloog for younger, non-reader students. For example, give each subject its own distinctive color. They will also recognize logos well before they read!
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Skyenimals - skyenimals.com
Grades
K to 4
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Skyenimals is a website just for kids to learn about real and make-believe animals. Skyenimals are mixed up and imaginary animals created by kids. Explore and choose different animals...more
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Skyenimals is a website just for kids to learn about real and make-believe animals. Skyenimals are mixed up and imaginary animals created by kids. Explore and choose different animals to find related pictures, games, puzzles, and more. Choose the activities link to find coloring pages as well as online and printable activities.
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share a link on classroom computers for use as a center. Allow students to explore their imaginative side and use this site to create their own Skyenimal to use as inspiration for a creative writing project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Skype - Skype Technologies S.A.
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Every teen and college student knows Skype, the free tool for making calls from computer to computer anywhere in the world. By downloading and installing free software and setting up...more
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Every teen and college student knows Skype, the free tool for making calls from computer to computer anywhere in the world. By downloading and installing free software and setting up a free account, you can talk and/or make a video call to a similarly equipped computer elsewhere in the world for free. Skype uses a lot of "bandwidth" so is not suitable for very slow networks. It may also be slow at high-traffic times on a good network. Some patience and pretesting is required before you can be sure it will work for your needs. Connect to classrooms, experts, authors, virtual special speakers, or interview subjects using Skype.
In the Classroom
Download and install the Skype software. If you are not allowed to install software on school computers, ask to have a single laptop available that is Skype-capable so you can borrow it or else explain to your principal that you are planning a series of Skype visits in your classroom so your techies will install it in your classroom. You will need a computer with built-in or separate microphone and speakers and optional webcam. If you plan to use a webcam, you must know how to start it. A single teacher-controlled Skype account will work in most school settings.If you prefer written directions go to More >> Get Help, and then slide to Skype Support to get started. Or ask a student to show you (without seeing your password). You will need to explore the tools in Skype to locate where to enter the SKYPE name of the person you wish to call, start the call, and answer calls. Do NOT set your copy of Skype to "remember me" on a school computer! If students are to participate in the Skype call, you may want to have a "hot seat" at the Skyping computer so they can sit at a mike so their questions will pick up better for the person at the other end.
Be sure to set Skype so it does not open every time you start up the computer. Manually start the program when needed and do not leave an obvious Skype icon on the desktop for "clever" students to find. Protect your password -- do not post it on the computer. A teacher-controlled account is best for Skype classroom use to prevent unauthorized calls by students. Your user name will show on the screen for students to see, so be aware of that when you create your account.
Anything you can do by telephone or video call you can do on a projector with your entire class. Connect the Skyping computer to a projector or whiteboard for the entire class to see if you are using video. (The video may be fuzzy, but good enough to follow a person's face.) Use Skype to talk to authors (check out their web sites or this blog for contact information). Have students write questions in advance. Use your contacts, web page "contact us" emails, and parent contacts to find others willing to Skype into your classroom. Interview scientists or government officials, deployed military personnel, or classes far away in a different culture or language. Younger students can compare weather, family life, community events, and more.
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Skype as a Learning Call - Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano
Grades
2 to 12
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Skype as a Learning Call is a PDF loaded with information on using Skype calls in your classroom. Different pages include information such as what to do before, during, and ...more
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Skype as a Learning Call is a PDF loaded with information on using Skype calls in your classroom. Different pages include information such as what to do before, during, and after a call for both you and your students. Also included are student handouts to record information from calls. Be sure to check this out as an excellent resource for getting the most of your Skype learning experiences!
In the Classroom
Print or save this PDF to use as a resource with any Skype call. Use ideas from this site for assigning student jobs during Skyping. Use the student handouts as a resource for students to complete for post-assessment. Share this site with your Skype partner before your session so that you know each other's goals and objectives for the session.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Slack - Slack Technologies, Inc.
Grades
K to 12
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Slack is a real-time messaging and video tool for teams that includes archiving and search features. Create channels for different groups or teams to include messages, files, images,...more
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Slack is a real-time messaging and video tool for teams that includes archiving and search features. Create channels for different groups or teams to include messages, files, images, and more for sharing. Drag and drop files work with Google Docs, Dropbox, Twitter, and others making it easy to share across several different platforms. Easily search Slack archives to find discussions, documents, and more. Slack's now offers free voice and video calls between teammates.
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share this resource with high school students working on group projects for better group communication, managing workflow, and more. Take the time during the first week of school or as group projects approach to model how to plan and manage group processes using such a tool. Use this tool with school clubs, as well. Manage professional discussions by creating channels for different departmental or grade level teams.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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