EDT650

=EDT 650: Foundations of Educational Technology =

Assignment # 4:
 Web Address:[] Grade Level: 1-2 Subject: Literacy; Word Building Technology Integration: Interactive Website, SMARTBoard, Individual Computers In this lesson, students are able to manipulate an interactive magnetic board with consonant, vowel, initial sound blends, and spelling pattern tiles. This provides students with excellent practice creating a number of types of words. This technological format allows students to practice spelling high frequency words, creating words with a particular initial blend, creating words with a particular spelling pattern, or any other variation. It also provides students with the tactile/kinesthetic learning style that is not necessarily present in all word building or spelling practice lesson plans. Students will enjoy the idea of creating new words on the magnetic board and then being able to clear the board and start again! The learning opportunities are endless!

Web Address:[| http://www.switcheroozoo.com/default.htm] Grade Level: 1-2 Subject: Science; Organisms (Habitats) Technology Integration: Interactive Website, SMARTBoard, Individual Computers In this lesson, students are able to manipulate the many factors of an organisms habitat. This allows students to visualize how each component of an organisms habitat (including precipitation, vegetation, biome, temperature, etc) has a direct and important affect on the organism itself. Students able to create the ideal habitat for an organism by manipulating these important facts. Additionally, students are able to see the effects an inhospitable habitat has on an organism. The interactive site is student-friendly and provides an excellent visual learning experience for students.

Web Address: [] Grade Level: K-2 Subject: Math; Shapes Technology Integration: Interactive Website, SMARTBoard, Individual Computers In this lesson, students are able to manipulate pattern blocks (triangle, square, parallelogram, rhombus, trapezoid, and hexagram). This allows students to become more familiar with these different shapes; identifying the different elements that make up each shape. Additionally, this interactive site gives students the opportunity to manipulate pattern blocks in a way that allows them to create different patterns. This provides students with excellent practice creating patterns of differing lengths and difficulty. Additionally, this site can be used as an assessment tool when assessing student knowledge of shapes and patterns if the necessary manipulatives are not available.

Assignment #5:
 Article Title: "Blogging? It's Elementary, My Dear Watson!"

Web Address: [] This is an excellent article that illustrates how blogging can be used in the elementary classroom. It provides several excellent examples of real-world blogs created and maintained by elementary school teachers across the nation. It also provides the reader with a basic guide on ho to create and maintain a blog of their own. Additionally, the article gives a brief, but necessary, section on the importance of safety when using blogs in an elementary setting.

Article Title: "Blogging Basics: Creating Student Journals on the Web" Web Address: [] This article first provides the reader with a definition of a blog, and how it is used on the web. It then illustrates the multitude of benefits that can be gained from implementing a blog in an elementary classroom, for both the student and the teacher. Next, it provides a brief tutorial on how to create a blog, as well as several excellent suggestions on how a blog can be used in the classroom. Finally, the article provides several "Bloging Do's" which essential outline some of the precautions one should take when using blogs with young children, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to introduce blogs to children.

Article Title: "Blogging Techniques of the K12 Classroom" Web Address: [] This article gives an excellent overview of the many uses of blogs in the school environment. It begins by providing the reader with a list of ways blogs can be used in the classroom, as well as the benefits that can be achieved. The article then provides a brief overview on the different ways a blog can be used as a classroom tool. These describe blogs as being used as an administrative tool (a means of communication between teacher and student), a discussion tool (a way to initiate conversation about a specific, teacher-directed topic), and a publication tool (students create their own blog as a way to showcase their own work).

Article Title: " How to Create a Primary Classroom Blog" Web Address: [] This is an excellent article that provides the reader with information on how to use a classroom blog to share student news, upcoming events, and homework assignments with parents. The website illustrates how to create a blog, specifically the blogging website Blogger, and then how to customize it to fit the needs of the teacher. It is an excellent article illustrating how useful blogs can be in communicating with parents.

Article Title: "The Seven-Year-Old Bloggers" Web Address: [] This is a very interesting article that perfectly demonstrates the effective use of blogs in an elementary classroom, and the benefits of doing so. The BBC News article reports about a school in Sussex, England that use blogs as a part of their daily routine. Each student has his or her own blog and posts in it things of interest to them. It has provided a creative, individualized, and technology-based outlet for students, who seem to enjoy using it very much!

My Blog: []

Assignment #7:
 Web Address: [] The Mathwire.com website is a great resource for elementary math ideas. It provides great ideas for fun games, projects, lesson ideas, etc. It organizes ideas based on theme (month, holiday, etc.) as well as math topic (number sense, fractions, etc.). The website also provides teachers with pictures of finished projects!

Web Address: [] Carl's Corner is one of my ultimate literacy resources! It has just about everything phonics related. Resources involving word families, writing, consonant blends, long and short vowel sounds, and high frequency words can all be found here, downloaded, and used free of charge. It is a fabulous resource!

Web Address: [] Intervention Central is a great resource for teachers in need of intervention ideas. It encompasses academic and behavioral intervention needs; providing information, resources, and downloads free of charge. It is a great website to go to if you're not sure what to do with a struggling student.

Assignment # 8:
 Web Address: [] The "Tumblebooks" website is an interactive site I use every day with my students. It contains hundreds of children's books, many of them well-known or new, that are narrated and have simple animation. As each line of text is read, it is highlighted on the screen, so that students can follow along. Additionally, the site allows for student interaction with a variety of games involving several of the books.