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Setting Up Your Room: Integrating Technology Centers into the Classroom
Creative ways to use technologies in the curriculum to support literacy.
Using Databases, Spreadsheets and PowerPoint
Online Resources for Elementary
Online Resources for Secondary
Publish on the Web to encourage writing!
“The unique ability of technology to enhance the professional performance of teachers and thereby the performance of students and institutions makes it imperative that teachers learn to teach with technology, not just about technology.”
School and Technology Readiness Report
The One or Two Computer Classroom
If you have only one or two computers in the classroom, you might want to create a center environment to support your curriculum. A centers approach to teaching offers the most success for integrating the computer within a lesson. It is a great way to individualize instruction…offering extended activities for the gifted students who finish quickly and remedial activities or adapted lessons for those who need them.
Creative ways to use technologies in the curriculum to support literacy.
Word Processing (i.e.,Microsoft Word)
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· Here's a way to practice the parts of speech and word processing all in one. On a piece of poster board, write a content rich paragraph and place it near the computer. Ask the students to open up the word processor and type the paragraph (keyboarding practice).
Now demonstrate the skill you specify, for example:
· BOLD all of the nouns
· UNDERLINE all of the verbs
· CHANGE THE FONT COLOR of all of the adjectives
· ITALICIZE the main idea
Students can save it to an assignment folder on the desktop, or they can personalize their own folder and start their very own electronic portfolio. Great for parent conferences!
· In the Special Education classroom have students scroll down to the middle of a blank word processing document page. Instruct them to make a line across the page using the key next to the number 0. Tell them they will use the animal category of clip art. Give them an instruction such as: Place all of the "Wild Animals" under the line, and all of the "Domestic Animals" on top of the line. You can have all of the clip art animals at the bottom of the page already so all they have to do is click and drag...or let them go to clip art themselves.
· An idea for using Word in a middle school classroom is to post a list of subject specific vocabulary words and create a cloze exercise (a word processed document where the vocabulary words have been systematically deleted from the text). Have students scroll down and type the correct word in each blank, print the document, and turn it in for a grade
· Students develop a publicity campaign for a school event-they create announcements, flyers, invitations, special calendars, banner advertisements
· Students create a classroom newspaper. In the elementary grades, each day could draw to a close with a discussion of the day’s events. Write this synopsis on the board for a student to type. At the end of the week compile the news and print.
· Journals, add graphics or digital pictures to make them more interesting
· Using the business letter template, write and fax a business letter to a local business partner to be critiqued
· Students bring in a small product that requires assembly and writes directions on its assembly. Give the product and the directions to a friend and see if they can reconstruct the product.
· Instead of the students coming up to you every time they can't spell a word: Leave one of your computers on at all times and open up a word processing program. When one of the students needs to check on the spelling of a word, have them go over to the computer, type in the word and hit spell check. Leave the word up for the next person to see, just in case. You can even save the list at the end of the day and print it out at the end of the week. It might be a good source for spelling words!
Publish on the Web to encourage writing!
Here are some wonderful sites to use:
Databases (i.e.,Microsoft Access, Apple Works)
· Databases can also be used as study guides for groups of students. For example: As students read short stories in class, students in groups could generate a record that describes each of the characteristics of the story. This database would act as a tool for analyzing each short story.
· Holiday Cookbook…Keep a database of classroom recipes shared or prepared by students
Spreadsheets (i.e., Microsoft Excel)
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Use an spreadsheet to have students compare and contrast the many
versions of Cinderella (or any other books) that are available today. Students
can work as a cooperative group each reading one version and filling in the
information on the template. A JIGSAW type of activity can be done, where one
person reads to each group, then as a class we can type in the information (an
LCD projector connected to the computer is a wonderful tool for this purpose).
http://www.tech-bytes.com/Egypt.htm#Too%20Many%20Cinderellas
·
This activity is tied to the classic story, The Elves and the
Shoemaker. Students classify shoes by various attributes such as color,
style, material, etc. Using the data the teacher guides students in making a
graph with the shoes.
http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Mathematics/Process_Skills/MPS0007.html
·
Using Shel Silverstein's Poem, Sarah Synthia Sylvia Would Not
Take The Garbage Out, students work in groups to classify the types of food
that are part of Sarah's garbage. They use a variety of graphs to display the
amounts of garbage from each food group and the garbage from the class paper
basket.
http://explorer.scrtec.org/explorer/explorer-db/rsrc/813447441-81ED7D49.2.PDF
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Vocabulary building…chart lots of stuff!
Animals, birthdays, dinosaurs, favorite treats, part of the body, favorite
vacation
spots, favorite zoo animal, etc
In the elementary classroom some of Excels basic functions can be used to help students:
· alphabetize words
· create a Bingo Game…Create a blank grid to input vocabulary words to play the game
· journal format…Keep an ongoing journal of class events for students to write daily
· KWHLQ Chart…Keep a Know - Want to Learn – How do we go about finding out- What we Learned Chart-What Questions do we still have for a thematic unit
· Question of the Day…Create a response chart to gather information on a specific question.
· Create a grid for students to make their own word searches
Slideshow Program (i.e., Microsoft Powerpoint, Hyperstudio)
Visit one of the sites listed below to provide your students with a unique Web cam experience.
http://www.educationworld.com/quote/quote.shtml
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/aussieed/quotations.htm
http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/words/wod.shtml
http://www.eduplace.com/fakeout
Online resources to support literacy in the classroom
Stories Online-Elementary
http://pbskids.org/
Grammar Gorillas-Elementary
Our friends, the Grammar Gorillas, need help identifying parts of speech. If you
click on the right word in the sentence, our friends get a banana. And you know,
a gorilla with a banana is a gorilla with appealJ
http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html
Make-a-Story-K-1
Although designed for preschoolers, this would be an excellent web site for K-1 students to create silly stories using words, pictures, and a bit of technological magic.
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/?scrollerId=stories
Adding Snap to Language Arts-Grade 1 (Using a Digital Camera)
http://webs.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/lessonPlan045.shtml
The Case.com for Kids
Perfect for the reluctant reader, there are cases to solve, scary stories, magic tricks, and contests, all of which aim to encourage students to read more.
A Word with You-Grades 4-12
Here is a daily online column, featuring little known facts about well-known words and phrases. It includes a cartoon panel and a short article. These are great, containing anecdotes that students can impart to the rest of the class as a short language presentation.
Vocabulary University-Grades 4-12
This is a collection of puzzles that enhance vocabulary development. The are three levels. Students must be registered (no charge) and then they can start working through the puzzles.
Odyssey-Grades 4-12
This site presents Homer’s Odyssey in a context that even the most reluctant learner will enjoy. You can buy the video by the Discovery Channel if you missed the broadcast.
http://school,discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/odyssey
Fake out!-K-8
The definition guessing game
http://www.eduplace.com/fakeout
Publish Your Creative Work ONLINE!
This is one of the most popular sites on the Internet where students can post their work.
http://www.cln.org/themes/publish.html
Fluency Through Fables- Upper Elementary through High School
http://www.comenius.com/fables/index.tpl
Literary Fan Club - grade 7.
This is one in a series of Web Quest Projects developed to
encourage students to research their favorite author through an
interdisciplinary approach that integrates art into the learning.
http://www.itdc.sbcss.k12.ca.us/curriculum/literaryfanclub.html
Children’s Literature Web Guide-Grades 8-10
This is an extensive guide to support children’s literature on the Web. There are many stories here that can be used in class, on a one-to-one basis, or as a learning center. It also has a list of journals, and research guides, discussion groups, conferences, teaching ideas, and much more.
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html
Be a TV Critic-Middle and High School
Media literacy and writing come together for this lesson.
http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/classrooms/angie/media/projects/critic/critic.html
Asking the Tough Questions-Grades Middle and High School
One of the most important skills needed to write a good biography is to be able to ask good questions. There are several factors involved in asking good questions. The student must decide what information they are looking for, and then construct questions that help them find the right answers. It is important for students to know where they should look for the answers to their questions. Students who are skilled at finding information are able to push themselves to higher levels of learning.
http://www.bham.wednet.edu/bio/biomaker.htm
Indispensable Writing Resources
You'll find resources for writing or researching a paper, including links to
reference material and writing-related Web sites.
http://www.quintcareers.com/writing/
Electric Soup-Middle and High School
ELECTRIC SOUP, Hunterdon Central Regional High School's cyber-mag, is based upon a belief in the energy and importance of words. This literary magazine project utilizes technology to deliver electronic impact to words.
http://homer.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/esoup/index.html
American Heritage Book of English Usage-Middle and High School
A detailed look at grammar, style, diction, word formation, gender, social groups and scientific forms, this valuable reference work is ideal for students, writers, academicians and anybody concerned about proper writing style.
Burning Press-Grades 8-12
This is a collection of topical sections dealing with such aspects as "WWWWeb-based intermedia,””vizlit” (visual literature) and “audioart”,(performance and sound poetry), and several other topics.
http://www.burningpress.org/bphome.html
Writer’s Resource
A great site for aspiring writers. This site gives students contact with authors
and writing experts, with articles, advice, interviews, and guides on how to
write well.
http://www.resourcehelp.com/qserwrit.htm
Croak - Online Science Mystery-High School
CROAK is one of a series of online science mysteries created for Access
Excellence, a national science education program. Through Access Excellence,
high school biology and life sciences teachers gain access to colleagues,
scientists, and critical sources of new scientific information via the World
Wide Web.
http://www.accessexcellence.org/croak/
The Dickens You Say!-High School
Download almost all of the Charles Dickens published literary works.
http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/CD-Works.html
BBC Radio 4-High School
Listen to some of the dramatic presentations from the BBC.
Bibliomania-High School
Bibliomania brings you free world literature online with more than 800 Classic
Texts of Classic Fiction , Classic Non-fiction, Drama, Poetry and Short Stories
as well as Study Guides, Author Biographies, Book Summaries, Reference Books,
Dictionaries, Quotations, and Religious Texts. A superb educational resource.
http://www.bibliomania.com/bibliomania-static/index.html
Multimedia Shakespeare-High School
Choose from a selection of Shakespeare’s Plays, and read both the original text and the English adaptation
http://www.lynchmultimedia.com/shakespeare.html
Digital Journalist-Grades 11 and 12
The increasing use of visual imagery in communicating concepts, ideas, and products has spawned completely new employment opportunities, and digital journalism is just one. The site demonstrates the power of visual image and the potential for the use of imagery. This multimedia magazine for photojournalism emphasizes digital collection, transfer, and manipulation to form the final product.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/
All Ages
Critical Reading in Writing-All Ages
Teaching students to think critically about information that they read is one of the most important skills for the 21st century.
http://www.criticalreading.com
A word a day-All Ages (free subscription)
The music and magic of words -- that's what A.Word.A.Day (AWAD) is about.
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/index.html
Cinderella Project –All
Ages
Welcome to the Cinderella Project, a text and image archive containing a dozen
English versions of the fairy tale. The Cinderellas presented here represent
some of the more common varieties of the tale from the English-speaking world in
the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries.
http://wneo.org/WebQuests/TeacherWebQuests/Cinderella/The_Cinderella_Project.htm
Guide to Grammar and Writing-All Ages
This extensive web site covers all aspects of written language and the structure and formation of sentences. The site features a collection of more than 150 interactive quizzes with an ask the expert service.
http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar
Library Spot-All Ages
This is a huge reference site that would be an excellent default site for libraries.
LearningPlanet.com-All ages
Enter the subject area, and whether you want printable or online interactive lessons
http://www.learningplanet.com/index.asp
Poetry 180...a poem a day
This is a huge collection of poetry, with thousands of poems from hundreds of poets. Selections are arranged by title, author and subject.
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
Student Newspapers-All Ages
This is a directory of newspapers written by students from mostly US cities. These vary from very good to indifferent.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/K_12/Newspapers
Scripts for School-All Ages
A great selection of theater scripts for K-10 students as well as a selection of scripts for teens and adults.
The Tongue Twister Database-All Ages
Tongue twisters are a fun way to encourage students to speak clearly and read what is written.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8136/tonguetwisters.html
Virtual Presentation Assistant-All Ages
This is an excellent tutorial on improving speaking skills. These are essential skills that teachers need to spend more time teaching.
http://www.ukans.edu/cwis/units/com2/vpa/vpa.htm
Writer’s Window
You can get your students’ work published online here.This site gives the teacher the opportunity to showcase student work.
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/home.html
Epals-All Ages
Over 4.5 million students and teachers are building skills and enhancing learning with ePALS. Established in 1996, ePALS has 74,686 classroom profiles bringing people in 191 countries together as cross-cultural learning partners and friends.
Fact Monster-All Ages
Fact Monster Is totally trivia but not trivial. There are loads of great facts and statistics about math, science, world news, sports, people and more. Great story starters!
FRABOOM-All Ages
FRABOOM, the Flying Rhinoceros Amazing Brain Optimization Online Machine, is a revolutionary on-demand curriculum system that delivers, via the Internet; lessons directly correlated to individual states' acedemic standards, assessments linked to each lesson, streaming animation, games, puzzles, glossaries, and illustrations, message boards linking students, teachers, and parents.