General+PYP+Resources

General Resources for the PYP Teacher


 * **Interesting Wikis and blogs to follow**
 * Sugata Mitra
 * [|Sugata Mitra's] Blog: Check out the [|Hole in the Wall Experiments]!
 * [|Mark Pentleton]


 * **PYP Specific Materials**
 * **Learner Profile**
 * Reading support
 * PYP Library
 * [|PYP Key Concepts]


 * **Key Concepts**
 * [[file:Key Concepts[1] keys.doc]]
 * [|Visible Thinking]
 * [|meeting handout.docx]


 * **Assessment Rubrics**


 * **Children's eBooks**
 * [|Children's Books for Ever]: Free children's ebooks that you can view online and or download to your local computer. The books are suitable for use on SmartBoards. There are books available in twelve languages: English, Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.


 * **Classroom Libraries**
 * [|Build and Use a Classroom Library]
 * [|A Field Guide to Classroom Libraries]
 * [|International Reading Association] (search for articles related to classroom libraries)


 * **Classroom Management**
 * Classroom Management
 * [[image:new.gif link="http://www.filedropper.com/"]][|File Dropper]: Upload and share big files, up to 5 GB, with colleagues and students.
 * [[image:new.gif link="http://lessonopoly.org/"]][|Lessonopoly]: Helps to organize activities inside and outside the classroom, create and share lesson plans.


 * **Educational Games**
 * **All Subjects:**
 * [|Handipoints]: This website has taken the star chart concept and one can create a list of items for students to do. The students then check off each task as they do it. For each task or behavior goal completed the student earns points. When the student reaches their goal they can cash in their points toward playing the Handiland game. The completed charts can be printed for offline rewards.
 * [|Kids Know it Network]: Educational games for all content areas taught in grades K-6.
 * [|Novel Games]: A large list of fun, simple, educational games. The list of games includes numerous math and word games. All of the games are free and are available in multiple formats. All of the games on the site are easily embedded into your class blog or wikisite.
 * [[image:new.gif link="http://www.sploder.com/free-game-creator.php"]][|Sploder]: Create custom puzzles and games.


 * **Assessments**
 * [|Quiz Tree]: Provides a wide variety of free educational games and activities for students and teachers. Most of the games and activities are web-based. Some of the games and activities are available as downloads for Windows operating systems.


 * **Brain Development and Training**
 * [|Fit Brains]: A collection of free games designed to strengthen five areas of cognitive brain function. While the website seems to be targeted toward an older audience there are some games that are appropriate for students at all grade levels above the third grade. Reading through the background information about site one gets the impression that the games are grounded in sound neuro-psychology. The site also has a blog with a number of interesting articles about brain science that teachers and parents will find interesting.


 * **Crossword Puzzles**
 * [|Armored Penguin]: Flexible crossword puzzle builder. You can select from a simple puzzle maker or large puzzle maker depending on the number of clues that you want to include. Armored Penguin's program also gives you the option of including or excluding an answer key.
 * [|EdHelper]: A basic crossword builder that accepts up to thirty words. Ed Helper has other basic puzzle builders for free. To use the more advanced options, like larger puzzles, you will have to subscribe to the service.
 * [|Just Crosswords]: Build crossword puzzles, save them, print them, or embed into your website or blog. Just Crosswords also has more than 300 categorized, educational crossword puzzles.
 * [|The Read-Write-Think Crossword Puzzle Tool]: Offers a crossword puzzle builder as well as pre-made crossword puzzles designed for all grade levels K-12.
 * [|Variety Games]: A free crossword puzzle maker. You can select the dimensions of your puzzle or allow your puzzle to be auto-formatted. To use the puzzle in your classroom you will have to print the puzzle.


 * **Mathematics**
 * [|Math Cats]: A website full of short math activities and math games based on word problems. The games are appropriate for students in elementary and lower middle school grades.
 * [|Multiplication]: Four pages of games for kids to use to practice the multiplication tables. (There are also addition, subtraction, and division games).
 * A World of Number Systems


 * **Spelling**
 * [|Catch the Spelling]: More than two dozen categories of spelling games. Each game has the same format; as words fall from the top of the screen, players have to "catch" the appropriate letters in the correct sequence to spell the word displayed at the top of the game. Players "catch" letters by moving a cursor at the bottom of the page.
 * [|Games Games]: Sixteen free spelling games. Most of the games seem to be designed with grades 3, 4, and 5 in mind.
 * [|Kids Spell]: Eight free games that help students learn to spell more than 6,000 words.
 * [|Spelling City]: Not only offers games, it also offers the capability for students to type a word and hear it pronounced.
 * [|Spin and Spell]: Students select a picture and then spell the name of the item. Alternatively, students can have word select for them and then identify the correct corresponding image.


 * **General Portals and Gateways for Professional and Instructional Help**


 * **Graphic Organizers**
 * Here you will find a selection of Graphic Organizers


 * **Language**
 * [|English online] - Here you will find ideas for units, lessons and assessment.


 * **Lesson Plan Goldmines**


 * **Mathematics**
 * [|NZ Maths] - You will find information on the Numeracy Project we are trialling as well as ideas for maths lessons and blackline masters.
 * [|Thinking Blocks]: Thinking Blocks provides interactive templates in which students use brightly colored blocks to model and solve problems. As students work through the problems they are provided with feedback as to whether or not they are using the correct sequence to solve each problem. There are templates and problems for addition, multiplication, fractions, and ratios. You can also develop your own problems using the modeling tool.


 * **Online References for Students and Teachers**
 * **References for Teachers**
 * [|iTools]


 * **References for Teachers and Students**
 * **Dictionaries / Thesauruses**
 * [|Enchanted Learning Picture Dictionary]
 * [|The Internet Picture Dictionary]
 * [|Merriam-Webster Online]
 * [|RhymeZone]


 * **Encyclopedias and Almanacs**
 * [|Encyclopedia]
 * [|Fact Monster]
 * [|How Stuff Works]
 * [|The Old Farmer's Almanac]


 * **Maps and Atlases**
 * [|ABC Teach] - some free resources available but the best resources can only be reached through a paid membership :(
 * [|Info Please Atlas: Map Index]
 * [|MapMaker]
 * [|World Atlas]


 * **Primary Source Materials **


 * **Podcasting**
 * [|Radio Lingua]
 * [|Crunched Productions]: Podcasting tutorials for educators


 * **Science**
 * Rain or Shine? Grades 2 - 5


 * **Teaching Resources**
 * [|A to Z Teacher Stuff]
 * [|Adventures of CyberBee]
 * [|Community Learning Network]
 * [|eThemes Resource Index]
 * [|The Gateway to Educational Materials]
 * [|Enchanted Learning] (some resources are free but to take full advantage of the resources you must pay membership fees: 20 USD single user or 120 USD for school use)
 * [|Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators] (fantastic resources!)
 * [|Top 100 Websites for Teachers] (although no longer being updated the archives are a treasure trove worth visiting!)


 * **Technology in the Classroom. **
 * [|Glogster]
 * [|Magazinify]: Magazinify seamlessly organizes all the articles you wish to read into beautiful text, order, removing all the annoying ads and popups, converts it to pdf format and mails you the magazine at the end of the day.
 * [|PDF to Word]: A simple tool that extracts the text of your PDF documents and converts it to your choice of a Word document or rich text file (RTF). To use it, simply upload your chosen PDF, choose Word or RTF conversion, and enter your email address (don't forget to opt-out of marketing emails, unless you like spam).
 * Tips for Classroom Teachers


 * **Uploading Videos to the Wiki from your personal video camera or the school camera**
 * Thanks to Nate for sharing this information:
 * If you want to post a video from the school camera (or possibly your personal camera) on the Wiki you need to convert the file from a .MOD to a .AVI.
 * **Here's how you do this:**
 * Make sure that your video is saved in a folder (not on the desktop)
 * Open the folder and click on "Tools", which is located at the top
 * Now click on "Folder Options" and a new window will pop up
 * Click on the "View" tab
 * Scroll down and find where it says: "Hide extensions for known file types"
 * Most likely the box next to these words is checked, so now you need to un-check the box
 * After you un-check the box click "Apply" and then close it
 * Right hand click on the video you want to convert and click on "Properties" and a new window will pop up
 * At the top will be the name of the file in a box, you need to delete the .MOD ending and change it to .AVI
 * Click "OK" and when it asks you if you are sure if you want to change it click "YES"
 * Now you should be able to upload your video onto Teacher Tube and after they approve it add it to your Wiki

I hope that helps and if you have any problems let me know and I can go through the process with you. -Nate


 * **Timers**
 * [|Online StopWatch]: Free website that gives you the choice of a stopwatch function or a countdown function. You can set the countdown timer for any length of time and an alarm sounds when time is up.
 * [|Online Egg Timer]: A simple website offering three countdown timers on one screen. You can set just one timer or run all three at the same time with different settings. No registration is required in order to use it. Just go to the site, set the countdown timer(s) using the up and down arrows, then click "start timers."
 * [|Timer Tab]: Free application offered through the Chrome Web Store and as a stand-alone website at [|timer-tab.com] . As a Chrome app Timer Tab can be used online or offline. The website version of Timer Tab can only be used online. Both versions of Timer Tab offer a count-down timer, an alarm clock, and a stopwatch. For the count-down timer and the alarm clock you can select a video to play when time expires or when you've reached your specified alarm time. You do this by pasting the url of a YouTube video into the "alarm" field below the timer. Also in both versions of Timer Tab you can customize the background by specifying an image url.
 * [|Timmerrrr.com]: You will find two free countdown versions. The regular Timerrr displays a dial like my grandmother used to have on top of her stove. The "egg timer" version displays an egg timer as the countdown device. Both can be used to set a countdown of up to sixty minutes.

**Page last updated: May 19, 2012**