PPS Instructional Technology

Google Slides is an amazing tool.  You can make the usual presentation, but you can also do so much more!   Newsletters , posters, class newspapers, and computer-based manipulative activities are all great ways to use Google Slides in the classroom.  As our elementary teachers use their Chromebooks more and more in their classrooms, they have been looking for ways to create quick formative assessments and activities that they can assign in Google Classroom for their students to complete in order to practice skills they are learning in math, ELA, science, and social studies.  One way they are accomplishing this goal is by creating Google Slides manipulatives that they can assign to their students in Google Classroom. Here are some examples: Spelling Practice Spelling Practice Graphic Organizers Graphic Organizers Telling Time (Hour and Half Hour) Food Chain Place Value Number Charts Shapes Google Slides manipulatives are...

When I was in Todd Chappa's third grade classroom yesterday, he was excited to share this new tool he has been using with his students to help them practice taking adaptive online reading comprehension assessments.   Read Theory Read Theory is an online tool that once students are loaded into the program, they can take online adaptive reading comprehension tests.  The tests adjust up if the student is doing well, or down if the student is struggling with the content.  The program then provides the teacher with the ability to track how the students are progressing. Cost: Free Device: Internet enabled device Use in the classroom: Great for getting students reading for online testing with quizzes that are short and sweet.

There are a lot of great resources online for teaching the Common Core.  Unfortunately, it can take more time than we have to slog through all the resources to find just the right one for our grade-level and standard being taught.  Thankfully, Internet4Classrooms has cataloged many great resources.  These resources are organized by grade-level, subject and CCSS.  Check out the activities, games, printables and assessments all ready to go with just the click of a button. Uses in the Classroom:  Great for teachers who are looking for resources to supplement our current curriculum or to provide extra enrichment or remediation on a specific standard or skill. 

http://www.storylineonline.net/ Are you an Elementary teacher looking for some great online resources for listening to reading?  Do you want to expose your students to proficient readers reading great stories?  Then you need to check out Storyline Online.  This site, brought to you by the Screen Actors Guild, hosts videos of great actors reading 25 different stories.  Actors include greats such as Betty White, James Earl Jones and Melissa Gilbert. Check it out: All the YouTube videos have been added to our YouTubeEDU account, so students can access them when logged in with their PPS accounts. Uses in the Classroom: Expose students to quality reading during Daily 5 time, whole class instruction or the lab.  You can play the videos on your TEC, have students watch them individually with headphones in the lab, or set up a center in your classroom with a laptop/Desktop computer and some headphones.  Kids are sure to love listening to some of their fa...

Happy Friday All! Today's tech tip brings you a fantastic resource for spicing up your curriculum and engaging students in your content.   PBS Learning Media  has some wonderful videos that are short and on topic.  There extensive library of PBS videos can be narrowed down by grade level, subject, standard, or collection.  The best part about it?  You get quality PBS programming in bite sized chunks for FREE! Are you a middle school math teacher looking for an engaging way to connect with your students on the concept of integers?  Check out this video: Elementary school teacher looking for a way for your students to practice inferring and predicting?  Check out the Detectives Notebook Game . There are thousands of resources just waiting for you to explore.  These great games and videos are sure to help make a lesson go from bland to brilliant! Enjoy!