Make Five

Here's a simple math game to practice addition, subtraction or multiplication. You can use this on the whiteboard or have pairs of students take turns on a computer. All you have to do is click on the math problem that goes with the number at the top. It is similar to tic tac toe and students are trying to make a line of 5 correct answers. Each student will be designated with their own color. Have fun practicing those facts!

The House of Scary Words

I know...this sounds like a Halloween story. It's not! This is an interactive book which allows students to read the story and change words and pictures to make their own book. The book can be printed out to add to your classroom library.

The book is 17 pages long with quite a bit of reading to it and it doesn't seem to have a spot to stop and save. It looks like you need to finish the project in one sitting. At the end you will see a print button and a save as a pdf. If the kids save the book, remember to have them save it in their file. Hope your kids have fun writing their book!

Tales of Curiosity

I was looking for a short video about Paul Revere this weekend and followed a link from Surfnetkids to Tales of Curiosity. I didn't find what I wanted however I did find a small collection of videos that might be of interest to you.

I particularly like the video of A Visit from St. Nicholas read aloud with the great illustrations from the book. It's less than 6 minutes and most kids would enjoy this.

A Curious Trip in the Solar System was also good however there are pictures of the gods and some are scantily dressed. Check the video out before you show it to the children. It is certainly not offensive but I am sure the kids will giggle when Mars comes up on the screen!

I'm going to bookmark this site and watch as they add new videos. This looks like a keeper!

Writing Fix

Thanks to TipLine for sharing this resource! Writing Fix is a website from the Nevada Wrting Project. It's been around since 2001 and I keep wondering how I missed this great resource. You find all you need for writing here...prompts, lessons, ideas, activities, professional development...anything and everything.

Have you run out of ideas for writing topics? Click the prompt link and you will be given a random writing prompt to use. I was given one to describe my first kiss! Now I wouldn't share that one with kids but you can click again to get another prompt!

I found guides you can print, books you can order but most importantly I found ideas and samples. Sometimes I just need to see the project to decide how I might use the lesson.

Expect to spend some time here. It's a great website and is packed with lots of information that can help you with writing in the classroom.

WatchKnow

This is a wonderful resource for teachers. Here's how they describe their service:

“What is WatchKnow? Imagine hundreds of thousands of great short videos, and other media, explaining every topic taught to school kids. Imagine them rated and sorted into a giant Directory, making them simple to find. WatchKnow--as in, "You watch, you know"--is a non-profit online community devoted to this goal.”

The site is easy to navigate. Just go to the left side to search subject areas and click away. A good number of videos are hosted by YouTube which is blocked here in WV but other hosting services are included.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is just around the corner. Here are some links to some good resources.

Pete's Powerpoint Station has hundreds of slide shows for all kinds of topics. Check out the link for his Veteran;s Day powerpoints.

VA Kids has some neat games. This link takes you to a word jumble. Take a few minutes to review other things on this site.

Education World has a basic webquest of Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It asks students to explore the Unknown Soldier website and then answer 5 questions.

Histroy.com has a number of videos on Veteran's Day. Check them out before you share them with the kids and remember that streaming video sometimes has stops and starts!

Fact Monster has lots of information about Veteran's Day. Anything you want to know is right here.

Thanks to Anne Marie and Larry Ferlazzo for sharing resources

Scholastic Webcasts

Did you miss the RL Stine webcast last week? You can still watch it. Just click on this link to watch a recorded session. RL Stine Webcast

Many students were able to watch the 39 Clues webcast and it was GREAT!!! I think we all loved this. In case you missed it, you can still watch it by clicking on this link. 39 Clues Webcast

I'll keep a look out for upcoming webcasts and let you know when they are happening. This really is a great way to motivate the kids to read, read, read!