Mission US and Think Fast App

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! If you check in to my blog often, thank you for following my posts this year. I hope they have helped you add technology to your classroom in a meaningful way. I have several new projects in the pipeline for the upcoming year, but I will continue to share my techKNOW with you as much as possible. Each time I take on something new, I just consider my classroom getting bigger. As I begin facilitating online courses through WVLearns, I hope to continue to share my love for connecting teachers with technology and opportunities with even more educators!

That being said...here's a great interactive website for social studies that you can use to engage your students when you come back from your winter break! Mission US has a video game vibe that sends you on a journey through history. Students get to "choose their own adventure" as they play one of two quests. "Crown or Colony" follows the trials of an apprentice in Boston around the time of the Revolutionary War. Students will learn about American Revolution events and landmarks as they help Nate make decisions about which side to join in the war. If you teach the American Revolution, introducing this to your students is a must!

"For Crown or Colony" is the original interactive created by Mission US. More recently they have added the second one, "Flight to Freedom!" This one centers around slave Lucy King and her path to freedom. It has the same choose your own adventure aspect as "For Crown or Colony," only students learn about life on a plantation and escape on the Underground Railroad.

In both games, students earn badges as an incentive for completing tasks and collect "smartwords" (vocabulary highlighted in each mission). To keep a log of your progress and to continue your games at another time, you and your students can create accounts (neither of which require you to submit an e-mail account). There are also educator guides for each mission as well.

Mission US also has a free app (both for iPad and Android) called Think Fast. It is basically two separate true and false quizzes that test you on the historical facts from "For Crown or Colony" and "Flight to Freedom." Since it's free, you have nothing to loose, and your students may enjoy racing against the clock to test their knowledge. Other that that...EH, there's not much to it! The Mission US website, however, it a fantastic way to put your students in the role of a historical figure!

http://www.mission-us.org/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mission-us-think-fast!-about/id566607316?mt=8

Flocabulary

Since (teaching) life has come to a screeching, soggy halt due to Hurricane Sandy, I thought I would take some time today to get back on the blog-wagon. I hope this finds you warm, dry, and safe - and Godspeed to those of you who are in (or have survived) harm's way with this storm!

One of my students' favorite things to do this year is to listen and learn from songs and music videos from Flocabulary. Flocabulary is basically rap music for the classroom. It's clean, fun, and totally catchy. I love it. Here's the other catch - it's not free. I know, "Boooooo" - but understandable. They've got a product to sell, and fortunately, they do post free videos and songs to use in your classroom. Whenever I use a Flocabulary song to back up what I'm teaching, my students remember it and what it's about. They still can tell you the order of classification for living things from listening to "Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach." Two of the freebies right now are "I'll Be The President" on the presidential election process and "Check and Balances" for the three branches of government. Sometimes the resources are just the song, and other times they include a music video. Lyrics are on the same page, so the students can sing along (and they will...loudly and over and over again). There are also review questions and lesson plans for each song as well.

Many of the songs on the Flocabulary website are also available on iTunes for $0.99 each. You can also purchase full albums of their music such as "Math Rap" and "Beats, Rhymes, and Science." I'm pretty sure that, with the exception of the language arts songs, most of it is available on iTunes. There are also student guides (with the lyrics and vocabulary activities) and accompanying CDs of music available for purchase on the Flocabulary site if you are interested. I downloaded the songs on iTunes I thought would help my students the most and made playlists on my iPads and iPod for them to listen to as a station and in their spare time.

I've taken a while to post about Flocabulary, not just because life happens but I have been completely bummed about the fact that you now have to pay for the Week in Rap. It use to be that you could subscribe to the Week in Rap and each Friday they would e-mail you the video for the current events of the week - set to song. However, that is no longer the case and I'm not going to pay $5 a month for it. There are pricing plans for teachers on the Flocabulary website and you can test drive it with a free trial, but you'll have to check it out a decide for yourself.

http://flocabulary.com/

Music to My Ears: Tour the States!

It's Friday, it's late, and I'm tired. I have lots to say but not much energy to get it out. However, I thought before I sack out for the evening, I would share an awesome music video - "Tour the States" by Renald Francoeur. I came across this while I was "pinning" last night and found this infectious tune to be too good not to share with my students and my blog followers (Do I have any of those? For the sake of my tired teacher psyche, let's just say I do:-).

Makes you want to take a little trip somewhere, doesn't it?

 

My students love, love, love this song and its awesome artwork. By now, the "Fifty Nifty United States" song is getting a little old for my fifth graders, and the beat and lyrics to this piece have them well on their way to reciting all of the states and capitals (whether they realize it or not!). It's from an album titled Brain Beats, a collection of educational songs for this generation of students. You can purchase the Brain Beats CD from Marbles the Brain Store. The album is also available on Amazon and iTunes, and you can download "Tour the States" individually from either source for $0.99.

I haven't been able to find the music video anywhere but YouTube, so I used the YouTube Downloader to get the video to my Dropbox file to share it with my class at school. Regardless of what grade you teach, things like this that get your class excited and saying "How did they do that?" make it all worth it, even when you are out-of-your-mind tired. Good night!  



Celebrate the Fourth with TJ and the Revo!

So I just got back from a weeklong teacher institute in Colonial Williamsburg, which I will gladly blog about once I get my bearings. In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy this contemporary take on the Declaration of Independence, set to the tune of One Republic's "Too Late to Apologize." You may laugh now, but your students will love to see TJ (Thomas Jefferson), Ben Franklin, and friends groove out to these historical lyrics. Even better - look up the lyrics to this song and discuss the meaning of them with your class. You might find they are inspired to set other events in history to today's music.  Better yet - Soomo Publishing just came out with another music video, this time for women's sufferage (set to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"). I've posted both of theses videos via YouTube for convenience, but you can easily look these videos up on TeacherTube or SchoolTube to share with your class if YouTube is blocked on your school filter. Have a safe and fun Fourth of July, and remember to stay in the techKNOW this summer!

http://soomopublishing.com/declaration/

http://soomopublishing.com/suffrage/

APP Time: Presidents vs. Aliens

Yes, that's the name of this app.
In a way, it seems all sorts of wrong to follow up a tribute to Mister Rogers with something so absolutely silly. However, with the presidential election this fall, students will have a lot of interest in the presidents and the fun facts about them. So, for $0.99, the app Presidents vs. Aliens (from the same developer of Stack the States)will help your class learn about past and present commanders-in-chief, all while taking out some alien creatures.
The app asks students questions about a president and shows four pictures of the presidents (with their names) to choose from. The questions range from identifying the president, quotes, nicknames, or facts about the president or time period. You can adjust the level of difficulty and types of questions by clicking on the question mark on the main menu. I'm adding that because I had trouble figuring out where to go to adjust the level at first. This way, you can use this app for younger students who may need to work on just identifying the presidents, to really upping the ante for your "big kids" (such as yourself).
 You will be shown the correct answer if you are wrong (which is good, because some of those questions are down right hard), but if you touch the correct president, the fun begins. You will get to take the president you have correctly selected and shoot him at the mass of aliens that has infiltrated the Washington, D.C., landmark in the background. It requires a little bit of strategy, but it's great fun to send the president airborne into a sea of little neon creatures. When you have taken out all the aliens, your score will show and you will "earn" a new president for your collection. Once you collect all 44 presidents, you can proceed to the bonus games Executive Order and Heads of State, already included on the app.
Presidents vs. Aliens also teaches your students test taking skills and inferencing. For example, one of the questions might be "Who was president during the Wright Brothers' first flight?" showing the date as well. They have to use logical thinking based on the four presidents shown to determine the best answer for the time period. This is a super app to start off the countdown to Election Day in November and learn fun facts about the exective office. Hail to the chief - but watch out for that alien behind you!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/presidents-vs.-aliens/id427418941?mt=8

FREE Financial Literacy Resources from Visa

Here's a way to gain some economics resources...without spending a penny!
Practical Money Skills, a program sponsored by Visa, provides teachers with fun, interactive ways to help students learn to be smart spenders and savers. All you have to do as a teacher is go to their website and order the materials you would like for your classroom - and it's FREE. I've know about this one for a few weeks, but I wanted to wait and post about it until after I had received my order - and I can tell you that neither you or your students will be disappointed! Here's a rundown of some of the resources from Practical Money Skills that I think you'll want to check out:
Marvel Comic Book - With the movie coming out this summer, your students will enjoy reading about Spiderman and friends as they learn about managing finances...and save the world while they're at it! It's definitely geared more for upper elementary and middle school. There's also a free teacher's guide to download as well.
Money 101 Booklet - This handy little guide teaches your students important facts about saving and spending, with some fun facts and websites thrown in the mix, too. After viewing it, I'd like to get enough for each student in my class.
And now for the games!!! I was most eager about getting these to try out, because...well, you're never too old to learn to play new games. Each game came on separate CDs to run on the computer. The games run directly from the CD (you can't download them to your computer, but that's only a minor inconvenience). All of them ran perfectly and were high quality, interactive, and beneficial to learning about money and finances.
Peter Pig's Money Counter - Eh, this one was okay...if you teach K-2 (third graders might like it at the beginning of the year). Upper grades...no. Just no. However, for learning the value of different coins and counting change, this is a super resource. Students have to move the coins on the screen as they count and represent different amounts of money. I can see this being great to use on an interactive whiteboard as a class review or as a station.

Money Metropolis - Very cute (in a cartoonish sort of way), very interactive. My girls especially like it. After designing your character, your students choose a financial goal (from buying a game to going on a trip). They then have to buy and perform chores around town (which they choose from an interactive map) to meet their financial goal. The "chores" are all interactive, from mowing the lawn to sorting books at the library. You get paid if you do your job accurately and in a timely manner - another great concept to get across.
Financial Football - Oh, my. Every fifth grade boy's dream game. It looks and sounds like the NFL, right down to the background music and the animated players. You can choose your NFL team and the opposing team, as well as the level of difficulty ("rookie" is the suggested level for ages 11-14; the age levels go up to high school). As you make your plays, you answer questions about financial literacy. Best of all, there's a free app for Financial Football you can download to your iPad that's just as cool as the computer version. It's so authentically football that your students will forget they are learning.
Financial Soccer - Okay, I liked this one better than Financial Football simply because I understand soccer better than football. It's very authentically done in the style of the Soccer World Cup (which I don't know much about but my students were pretty impressed). The same concept of Financial Football is there, except it's a different ball game. There's a little more strategy with Financial Soccer though; the harder questions are closer to the best shots for the goal. Both Financial Football and Financial Soccer would be enjoyed by students in grades 5 and up, up through high school.
These are just a few of the resources available on Practical Money Skills. Check it out and choose a few things for your class! You literally have nothing to lose!
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/resources/free_materials/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/financial-football-hd/id387095643?mt=8

President's Day Websites

Since I love history and it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share two interactive websites on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln that I'm rather sweet on (the websites that is, not the presidents ; ). Hopefully you read this in time to incorporate it into your instruction before President's Day!

Discover the Real George Washington is the most awesome, comprehensive, interactive timeline ever! Developed by Mount Vernon and based on a traveling exhibit of his life, it basically brings the field trip to the classroom through cartoons, video, and pictures of Washington - all in a chronological, organized format. Students love learning about the truth behind the myths about George, his teeth (you even get to see how they made his dentures!), Martha, and his role in developing espionage strategies during the Revolutionary War - which, you will find, is incredibly cool. Your class will love it. It's a great site to show on an interactive whiteboard as a class, or have your students explore it in the computer lab. Students up through middle school would enjoy this website; although the reading and wording is above the primary grades, they would still enjoy the cartoons and some of the videos on the timeline.

Abraham Lincoln's Crossroads is for fifth grade and up. Unless you have already covered the Civil War in your classroom, you may want to wait to share this one with your class. That being said, this is my favorite website created by the National Constitution Center. President Lincoln "talks" you through the decisions he had to make during his political career. Students get to decide what they think Lincoln should do - and then find out the actual outcome. Along the way, other prominent historical figures are introduced, such as Stephen Douglas, Horace Greely, and Frederick Douglass, to name a few. It's takes a while to get through Lincoln's life, and there is a lot of reading involved. While you could introduce it in the classroom, students would probably get more out of it by going through it independently. The website a great way to review the major points in Lincoln's presidency and the Civil War. There is a broadband and a low-bandwith version of this website to choose from; it you want the animated, interactive version, choose the broadband.

Hope you elect these web resources as your February favorites!

http://discovergeorgewashington.org/

http://constitutioncenter.org/lincoln/#

APP Time: Oregon Trail

Want to go to Oregon? There's an app for that... and it's way better than the old school version we had as kids (isn't just about everything?)!

Whether you teach the Westward Movement or just need something to turn off your busy teacher brain once and a while, the $0.99 Oregon Trail app for iPad/iPhone/iPod is entertaining and educational. It's the same concept from "way back when:" get to the Willamette Valley with your wagon party, while surviving disease, low food supply, and wayward oxen - to name a few. You know the drill: choose your "career," the month you depart, then purchase your supplies so you can begin the trek to Oregon Country! Of course, along the way you learn about the famous people, diseases, landforms, and landmarks that made up this historic event in American history. If you have a VGA adapter to hook to a LCD projector in your classroom, you can play this together as a class (a little bit each day or just enough to get your class "hooked" because the road to Oregon is incredibly LONG) to enhance your study of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny.

When I downloaded it, I was expecting much less from an app less than a dollar. The graphics and activities in the app are outstanding! They are a little "cartoonish" in their depictions of landmarks and famous people, but for the sake of hooking kids on history, that gets a pass. Remember when you played Oregon Trail as a kid and it was a "big deal" to go hunting and decide how to cross the river? Yeah, that's been stepped up a notch. Your adventures on the Oregon Trail not only include hunting and river fording, but berry picking, FISHING (too much fun, I tell you), telegraphing, nailing together your wagon, and panning for gold! Oh, oh...and rafting a river is so much more fun when you get to tilt and twist an iPad instead of punching arrow keys! Hand and eye coordination at its finest, I tell you!

One thing that is kind of "eh" is that it does try to push you to buy "game cash," which is completely unnecessary to play and enjoy the game. It's just a way for the app creators to make money. However, if you just ignore that one little annoyance, the app works beautifully and allows you to complete your journey to Oregon.

There are different levels of the game, and if you have it set on easy, your students are guaranteed to make it to Oregon regardless of the missteps they take. It's fun! You learn something! And no matter how old you are...it's still fun and you learn something! Yes, I am a proud, card carrying member of Oregon Trail Addicts for Life. However, if you are looking for a rainy day recess app for your class, or another means of kicking your Social Studies instruction up a notch, it's time for you to head West!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-oregon-trail/id461393130?mt=8

APP Time: Brain Pop

I wasn't planning on doing a post in the middle of the week, but right now I'm too tired to do anything else so I might as well. For those of you that don't know, Brain Pop is an animated approach to online learning. The website chronicles the educational adventures of Tim and Moby (a robot with a kickin' personality) as they answer letters about a wide range of topics - from photosynthesis to the Civil War, and everything in between and beyond. At the end of each short, punchy movie, there is a quiz to test student comprehension of the topic, along with printable organizers and vocabulary. Although using all the full features of Brain Pop requires a subscription, there are several free movies for viewing as well...

...Which brings me to today's app! In addition to the website, there is a FREE Brain Pop app! If you have a subscription to Brain Pop, then you are able to log in and watch any and all movies from your iPad/iPod/iPhone. Even if you don't have a subscription, you can watch the movie of the day and numerous free movies as you can online.

What I like most about the Brain Pop app is that all of the movies are captioned (on the online version they are not)!!! At the bottom of the screen, students can read what Tim and Moby are explaining (or in Moby's case beeping) as they watch and listen. I think this is great for students who may have trouble staying focused on the dialogue of the movie or that aren't auditory learners. There is a quiz at the end of each movie, and scores are added to the "Hall of Fame" list so you could go back and see how well the student answered the questions.

What do you have to lose? At the very least, your students will enjoy "watching cartoons" while learning something along the way. Best of all, it's free!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brainpop-featured-movie/id364894352?mt=8

APP Time: Stack the States

At 99 cents, Stack the States is an app worth having. Students practice their knowledge of not only the shape and position of the states but also other interesting facts about the "Nifty Fifty." This was the first app I downloaded when I received my classroom iPad last year - and it was a hit from day one!

The object of the game is to literally "stack the states" as you answer questions about the location, capitals, shape, and location of the states. After selecting the correct state, you move the state on the screen as you attempt to stack them towards the checkered line. This requires some strategy, because if the stack topples over before you reach the finish line, you are back to square one! Each time you reach a level, a different state is "earned" on a USA map until you have collected them all.

I figured that this would be a great app at the beginning of the school year to reinforce the states and regions, but I expected that my class would eventually tire of it after they finally filled in the map. Nope! Once they fill in the map, there are three more "bonus games" for student to continue practicing their state geography. Students also like the challenge of "unlocking" the next level so they can engage in more rounds. It takes them a while to reach the other games, but not so much that they get frustrated and bored with this app. They've been using Stack the States since September and still love it.

Stack the States has been a great app to have students practice their basic knowledge of US geography. It also was the perfect way to show students how we would be using the iPad this year to have fun and learn at the same time. Visit the link below to start stacking!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stack-the-states/id381342267?mt=8