Reading in 1st Grade - some inspirational methods

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I always enjoy hearing about different ways of making reading meaningful to our young learners. I also enjoy hearing about how different technologies are used in school.  So today was a double bonus day for me! First of all I came across this YouTube video showing how a Finish Grade 1 teacher uses <i>smart phones</i> to teach reading. </span><br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?index=4&list=PLEE385BC5A0125995&hl=en_GB" width="420"></iframe><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then, I came across the insights and experiences of a teacher, who is exploring the use and benefits of Ipads for reading in First Grade. This teacher was the Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) of the year in 2009, Richard Colosi, a first grade teacher in Canandaigua, is trying to set an example about the benefits of using the newest technology in the classroom. He's hoping to share his success stories with other teachers from across the country. The quote on his website is probably true of him. “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” -<i>Alan Kay</i> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Listen to him reporting on what he is doing.  </span><br /><br /></div><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vHJIiTzjtJU" width="420"></iframe> </h3><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">  </h3><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHJIiTzjtJU&feature=player_embedded"></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">This video of Richard in the classroom and how he explains his interest in tablets</span><br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="guid=qWms5YDg&isDynamicSeeking=true" height="266" overstretch="true" seamlesstabbing="true" src="http://s0.videopress.com/player.swf?v=1.03" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="direct"></embed> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here he demonstrates how his class uses echo reading with the iPad.</span><br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?index=9&list=UU72fyJ5FjnuLtDM7AixVZPw&hl=en_US" width="420"></iframe><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Visit </span><span style="font-size: small;">Richard Colosi's</span><span style="font-size: small;"> YouTube site <a href="http://www.youtube.com/richardcolosimedia">http://www.youtube.com/richardcolosimedia</a></span></div></div>

Reading schools Teaching Technology integration videos Reading in 1st Grade - some inspirational methods

Submitted by Fiona Beal   I always enjoy hearing about different ways of making reading meaningful to our young learners. I also enjoy heari...

Read more »

Explore the magic of Microsoft's SongSmith

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Microsoft's SongSmith is such a fun free tool to use in the classroom. If you join Microsoft's <a href="http://www.pil-network.com/" target="_blank">Partners in Learning Network</a> as an educator you can download and install this programme for free. It is really worth it!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SongSmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. Basically, you choose a musical style and beat from their options, sing into your PC’s microphone, and SongSmith cleverly creates backing music for you. That song can be saved and shared with students, friends and family, posted online, or even used to create your own music videos. I used to use it as a reward session for those students who had completed their required tasks, and it was always a big hit!</div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Introducing SongSmith</span></b></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is one of my favourite videos about Microsoft SongSmith. I find the story a bit cumbersome at times but the video definitely highlights the essence of the programme. </div><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3oGFogwcx-E?rel=0" width="420"></iframe> <b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />How do you use SongSmith? </span></b><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Here is a tutorial on how to use SongSmith from the UK Partners in Learning YouTube channel.<br /><br /></span></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LuoHejVm9hU" width="420"></iframe> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is my version of how to install and use SongSmith.</span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"></b><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0pt 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/microsofts-songsmith-and-how-to-use-it" title="Microsoft's SongSmith and how to use it">Microsoft's SongSmith and how to use it</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse12707024" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=songsmith2-120426155942-phpapp02&stripped_title=microsofts-songsmith-and-how-to-use-it&userName=fionabeal" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <embed name="__sse12707024" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=songsmith2-120426155942-phpapp02&stripped_title=microsofts-songsmith-and-how-to-use-it&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">fionabeal</a>.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Classroom uses of SongSmith </span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have been collecting ideas on how to use SongSmith in the classroom. Here are a few of them.Maybe you have some other ideas to contribute?</span></div><div id="__ss_12707133" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/classroom-uses-of-songsmith" title="Classroom uses of SongSmith">Classroom uses of SongSmith</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse12707133" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=classroomusesofsongsmith-120426160857-phpapp01&stripped_title=classroom-uses-of-songsmith&userName=fionabeal" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <embed name="__sse12707133" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=classroomusesofsongsmith-120426160857-phpapp01&stripped_title=classroom-uses-of-songsmith&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">fionabeal</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am sure you'll find this Microsoft free tool very engaging and very useful especially if you are a teacher. Why not give it a try? </span></div></div></div>

Microsoft tools Resources Technology integration Tutorials Web tools Explore the magic of Microsoft's SongSmith

Microsoft's SongSmith is such a fun free tool to use in the classroom. If you join Microsoft's Partners in Learning Network as an e...

Read more »

SA teachers – why not join the conversation from 20h30 to 21h30 each Monday evening on #edchatsa?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal </i> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not too long ago I came across an article that posed the question <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1472675119">'Is</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/03/is-twitter-the-driving-force-behind-upcoming-educational-change/" target="_blank"> Twitter the Driving Force Behind Upcoming Educational Change?'</a> and</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> that question constantly echoes in my mind. Twitter is an incredible tool for sharing, summarising, communicating, sending quick messages, using a hashtag for conferences and events – the list is endless. Undoubtedly, for the educator Twitter is a must. I, for one, have learned SO MUCH from my Twitter PLN.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, for this reason we should really welcome the initiative of Arthur Preston, Headmaster at Elkanah House in Cape Town with the <i>TweetChat for the South African Education community </i>on a Monday night from 8:30pm – 9:30pm. Needless to say the chats to date have been very inspiring with the number of educators participating growing in leaps and bounds. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">These Twitter chats are not new to education and there are a number of really good ones that happen around the world. <br /><a href="http://www.cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html">http://www.cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://edudemic.com/2012/01/20-hashtags/">20 twitter hashtags everyone should know about<br /></a></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">However this is a first for South Africa and something that our country REALLY needs – teachers and educators entering the education conversation and airing their thoughts and feelings, as well as pooling their knowledge…who knows what changes can be effected as a result!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The website<br /><br /></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arthur runs #edchatsa from a website, <b>#edchatsa: </b><b>The TweetChat for the South African education community </b><a href="http://www.edchatsa.co.za/">http://www.edchatsa.co.za/,</a> and a Facebook page <a href="http://www.facebook.com/edchatsa">http://www.facebook.com/edchatsa</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://www.edchatsa.co.za/"></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKSpeO_dYlNFSvVnFluUVgmpkp5_mwyGgFsKSJwZ2jjkMcDMwUtcamtPMkCdmGCy1rTJvqHHBZG5smgV-hbSlCuVo-ne7HpDP7H3dAk0WTNjGOaIqYIWvH6ZOocCOxC88vGoFfoYxCOg/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14oyeiSTn-ws1aHndIoBwZG6VtSyBPt1lBq5x_whgwfD5plJ3Y-2oz_SBLHExMwOH0MKhaHT3e9VHD1_GjTFEYW8R8B1mEHjxNBxb4B5cz46dQFSjWu_V1C46zLwkVTJMvFpfnDTpY4E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The website is the place to vote for upcoming topics for discussion.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What is #edchatsa?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The following explanation is taken from the website: </span></div><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">“Imagine a weekly gathering of dynamic, innovative and inspiring teachers who engage in lively debate, share resources, offer assistance, challenge paradigms and support each other. Imagine having the opportunity to engage with these teachers in their conversation or simply stop to listen and learn. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">Imagine no longer! This gathering happens every Monday evening from 20h30 to 21h30 on Twitter in the form of what is known as a TweetChat. Started in the first week of March 2012, this community of tweeting teachers continues to meet in a virtual setting every week to discuss issues which affect education in South Africa.</span></span></h3><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During the preceding week, prospective participants can vote on their choice of topic by registering their vote. The vote is quick, simple and anonymous. Voting closes at 19h30 each Monday evening and the chat begins at 20h30 sharp. Participants use the hashtag #edchatsa to keep their tweets in the chat and allow others to follow the conversation. <br /><br />The chat is moderated to ensure that participants keep on the topic, that there is some continuity throughout the hour and that courtesy and respect is maintained. At times the debate is fierce and a wide variety of opinions is expressed – this makes for lively discussion!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is important to realise that the #edchatsa conversation continues throughout the week as folks tag relevant tweets with #edchatsa. However it is on a Monday evening that the community gathers for conversation.”</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">  </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Vote for next week’s topic <br /><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Past chats have included a lively discussion on ‘Assessment’, a discussion around 'Which piece of technology could influence SA education the most' and a debate entitled ‘Mobile phones in the classroom are a good idea but create more practical problems than solutions’. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This coming Monday night 7th April should be great:<br /><span style="font-size: large;"> <br />"We will be doing something a little different this coming week – we will be spending the #edchatsa hour sharing resources and ideas. Come along with your list of indispensable websites, journals, books, blogs and be ready to share with the community</span>."</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Forum </b></span><br /><br />The site includes a </span><span style="font-size: small;">forum for discussion: “The #edchatsa twitter community is full of insightful, committed and innovative thought-leaders in the South African education space. As a member of this community you are invited to submit a blog post on a subject close to your heart as long as it has connection to education. Your post will then be published and will be available on this site for comment by others.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />You may want to introduce readers to a particular edtech tool, open debate around a particular topic, challenge paradigms or simply add insight to the #edchatsa topic of the week. You will also be able to point readers to your own blog or social media platforms”  </span><span style="font-size: small;">(taken from the website).</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Join the discussion</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So why not take a look around the <a href="http://www.edchatsa.co.za/" target="_blank">website</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/edchatsa" target="_blank">Facebook pag</a>e, and join the chatter from <i><b>20h30 to 21h30 each Monday evening</b></i>.on <b>#edchatsa</b>?</span> </div></div>

Collaboration Social networks Technology integration Twitter Website reviews SA teachers – why not join the conversation from 20h30 to 21h30 each Monday evening on #edchatsa?

Submitted by Fiona Beal  Not too long ago I came across an article that posed the question 'Is Twitter the Driving Force Behind Upcomi...

Read more »

Why not become a ‘curator’ with Scoop.it and create your own online magazine?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">You have probably heard the word ‘curator’ being bandied around? ‘Curating’ is one of the latest buzzwords and that is what Scoop.it does. (I haven’t yet investigated Paper.li but it could be similar). So, what happens is you join Scoop.it (<a href="http://www.scoopit.com/">http://www.scoopit.com</a>) and choose a topic you would like information about. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd3YR5o1KcUutzS0KdO5KwaitdkwdETQXj2ywfhOdk0uf55AlUUMRiqURrkWukZnPeD8p5fNQdpErIm2-WL6DYYzwt8sX1v9SwRwEwtFjKDgEFlMuzh_tVSx2kifcf8Z7fY8MA6cudOA/s1600-h/what%252520is%252520scoopit%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="what is scoopit" border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEf663az7R1PKnB4fAI7UzGhe_f7m0vm_ZLH7OIfot9ZqUxjaLaU1uYr92XZimvwkfXdgv9xfLNAHQHPaXy4ME9EOZ5dhNH4AlmxErDYKO3frJq8rhNDDm4EulWry7qU9QnSlu4x1-LEY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="what is scoopit" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span>  <br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scoop.it then crawls the Internet searching for articles based on the keywords you have given to your search topic.  You then curate by choosing which articles you would like to use in your magazine, and Scoop.it forms it into an attractive easy-to-read online magazine. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">What I LOVE about Scoop.it is that you can also follow topics that interest you. I follow 34 topics that interest me and Scoop.it keeps me informed in much the same way – a magazine type format for me to page through at leisure. Marvelous! When reading a Scoop.it all you do is click on a block and  it takes you to the original artecle. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">So for example… this is how Scoop.it keeps me informed about the latest on my topics of choice. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzOhWAFxY-KxPQiV28GHdvxqU8uMUrb7W4Ygd_EC_KexjMaukD2LqADixVSBrSmhNHGq-FrBCLgyjTg-Ju-D-5A_w18I-xy8n7uYELfz6oFYiRozOHs1u2jCLv5lnPIqok2170AxXNmI/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDWveT2pqVpF1KVMbO6VMGqHjWYh3cRgiLIuVbXW4_USqDXNS0Kx0iOFeaMcUrcwAG-UBzrw0bCdPAnF_BDkcmMkOlPDGzET04f7PIL-oeW8oE1ZY3AWecbKaN_KhuRSfCT2S9aJuC5g/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="271" /> </a></div><div align="left" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In case you would like to know all the steps on how to work with Scoop.it please view my Slideshare. </span></div><div id="__ss_11835738" style="width: 425px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/come-scoop-with-me-fiona-beal" title="Come 'Scoop' with me - Fiona Beal">Come 'Scoop' with me - Fiona Beal</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse11835738" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=comescoopwithme-fionabeal-120302112437-phpapp01&stripped_title=come-scoop-with-me-fiona-beal&userName=fionabeal" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="__sse11835738" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=comescoopwithme-fionabeal-120302112437-phpapp01&stripped_title=come-scoop-with-me-fiona-beal&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></div><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">fionabeal</a>.</div></div></div>

Slideshare Technology integration Tutorials Web tools Why not become a ‘curator’ with Scoop.it and create your own online magazine?

You have probably heard the word ‘curator’ being bandied around? ‘Curating’ is one of the latest buzzwords and that is what Scoop.it does. (...

Read more »

All Things Google - a collection of tutorial videos embedded on a Slideshare

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="__ss_11657693" style="width: 425px;"><span style="display: block; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px;">I absolutely LOVE this feature of Slideshare where you can embed YouTube videos within Slideshare instead of having a string of them on your blog page. Well, today I got rather ambitious and thought I would gather a collection of the Google tutorials I have been learning from recently...12 videos... to see if adding a large amount of videos would work. It seems that it does work. Well, it was a lengthy affair because I first got all the urls incorrect. You have to use the url that shows under the video after clicking on <i>'Share'</i>. Two of the videos would just not take! So, instead of redoing the whole thing and replacing my Slideshare, I thought that I would post it for now...and return to the problem on another occasion. </span><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><br /></strong><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/all-things-google-a-collection-of-tutorials" target="_blank" title="All things Google - a collection of tutorials">All things Google - a collection of tutorials</a></strong> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/11657693" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint" target="_blank">PowerPoint</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">fionabeal</a> <br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Application for teaching<br /></span></b><br />1. You could have your lesson planned and outlined on Slideshare and as you go through it your video clips and even your Screencasts if it was a technology linked lesson could be right there. If this was placed on your classroom blog the students could access it that evening to review.<br />2. Slideshare has another feature which I am going to try next where you can use a widget and include  a whole lot of lessons you have created using videos and Slideshare presentations; and can link them in a playlist down the side.  Here is an image of this done by Judi Barrett (after which I will give the link to the real thing).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvTdx8P7CEAMka2coi8gPITdbVJd4kiS3CiaIIZHbFzWArglMytvnVYeCVertXVid-_WhgnEwDG2QSK5vzdOtoRz6XhqAepan8zpn3qW-cM3bcTk2q-Du665ZhtOqpUMD1dz7G3zCzTc/s1600/example+of+slideshare+playlist.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvTdx8P7CEAMka2coi8gPITdbVJd4kiS3CiaIIZHbFzWArglMytvnVYeCVertXVid-_WhgnEwDG2QSK5vzdOtoRz6XhqAepan8zpn3qW-cM3bcTk2q-Du665ZhtOqpUMD1dz7G3zCzTc/s400/example+of+slideshare+playlist.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />You can see what I mean by viewing the real thing at: <a href="http://web2teachingtools.wikispaces.com/SlideShare">http://web2teachingtools.wikispaces.com/SlideShare</a></div></div></div>

google Technology integration Tutorials videos All Things Google - a collection of tutorial videos embedded on a Slideshare

I absolutely LOVE this feature of Slideshare where you can embed YouTube videos within Slideshare instead of having a string of them on your...

Read more »

Classroom Innovation - is your classroom like this?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The prestigious Google Academy for 2012 is coming up in London in April and applications had to be in last week. Applicants were given a choice of two topics for creating a video to accompany their online application form, 'Classroom Innovation' and 'Learning and Motivation'. I came across Martin Burnett's video on Classroom Innovation today - just love it. Don't we all want classrooms like this?  By the way, Martin Burnett was the winner of the Best Educational Wiki for 2011 <a href="http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/">http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/</a>. It is REALLY worth taking a look at his wiki.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kIPnqzZPwBc" width="420"></iframe></div>

Competitions google Technology integration Classroom Innovation - is your classroom like this?

The prestigious Google Academy for 2012 is coming up in London in April and applications had to be in last week. Applicants were given a cho...

Read more »

Create a blogging culture in your English classroom

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Recently I created a Slideshare called ‘Your blog can be a fantastic teaching tool’ and I wrote from the standpoint of the teacher using a blog to teach.  </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I posted this in an earlier blog post. Here it is just as a reminder. </span></span><br /><br /><div id="__ss_10644966" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/a-blog-can-be-a-fantastic-teaching-tool" target="_blank" title="A blog can be a fantastic teaching tool ">A blog can be a fantastic teaching tool </a></b> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/10644966" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">fionabeal</a> </div></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Today’s post examines how a blog can be very beneficial to the students in a classroom, and in this case, an English classroom.  </span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Create a blog for yourself and for your students</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">One of the best ways to start transforming your classroom is to first create your own blog and then let the students create theirs. Link their blogs to yours by using a blog roll</span>.  <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Look at the example from Mrs Albanese's class. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the perfect example of the students blogs listed down the side. This is very important because often you want the students to comment on each other’s postings and this way is easy because they simply visit your blog and easily find the rest of the students' blogs. <br /><a href="http://mrsalbanese.edublogs.org/">http://mrsalbanese.edublogs.org</a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPw1ufNvOVH7oy8VyRoQw8K1UW2Hcj-6kloR56cI7kk4wFuQ2Pr7OEjNzwtIZ0zttVSg2QIeDkalu7ii63pKbWxnPRoq0lBM9PDokdq_EQcJonBV3LaMq2ZgXjg0jT0zhS_pKYEd-SBE/s1600-h/image16.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1VIGRvAzXMOe65ThWjKzYiC_RX_dttpcxBpZEQwkqHwZ3LgiTyGgyBtXOCUOswT49qV1eeHDEASLvr_6igL736iHdpwx0rvQxCeo8XD6qwTj5g2vkRfREmPQlGJNCz6SOlX5CTgW8hw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Which blogging platform?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Naturally you want to use  platform that is safe, economical, spacious and attractive.There are many options but I will just mention four. </span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Edublogs</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now that Edublogs no longer has advertising on it it is a much better proposition to use. Edublogs provides a very small amount of storage space, so I pay for extra space yearly. You can then create student blogs yourself using something called <i>the gmail hack</i>, so that you have access to passwords. (The </span><span style="font-size: small;">Edublogger </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">is a great site with plenty of tips and tricks on how to do things like that) The only <span style="font-family: inherit;">problem is that Edublogs doesn’t allow much space on their free blogs for the learners. But it would probably do for a year of work.</span></span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/" style="font-family: inherit;">http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/</a></span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXHVJPTmqUi4eis99Mlm71PTssSB7BiGWRdnJOM81rtvf39RUxRgbnHlsGftEVLYlUSZ5c0XK6Uc6JNBbjP0xBgE5ORPSM5358OuBO1JNXap-wsCurbtax9t3ivQ7h1vIL-lhuTYHUAk/s1600-h/image40.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3bGVuKU5bqXsB0fgHSRipc5OAjwFF7CdtU_2KsKA2mQo-ff7gf_tWAaItUKoh4pINi90UBfLN4RcIv1DmZd_m0jHfI-EiUxeg7DljS2slond23nK1KFrF0BIEehqfbUKCSgwHjZdAaA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Blogger<br /></b>I particularly love using Blogger for myself because it gives loads of free space and has a nice feel and touch. The templates are also very attractive. However, it is often felt to be unsuitable for students because of “the next blog” icon at the top. <br /><a href="http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/">http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLu5kabwLa7IhZkclcgAo25bGsFtqIqOq1Uyz3dxXSAUr5uAnqD_68ygoAcHf_6xKQ9uao7PyQ8tzX5aHQkgnWEJvF5lxR4XzOddFVK-b81l06KT24-UO7FeM9FLMM_VEEoKIFTNKKBmg/s1600-h/image27.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmXpZpfrfYfnXu7D62e6_XXBnznIIggixCVaV6IeEU0lwFMsJx5NDjKcVkTl7czHwTrGx9Q4Budm_xXZnjkqNOcPm3akMT4DamGB06bH6-_Rm4VgVv_PENZJvicpwuNoSNQWxUX98kJU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Posterous</span><br /></b>Some people rave about using Posterous blogs for collaborative projects. The reason for this is that you can send an email from anywhere to your posterous blog. It then becomes a draft ready for you to edit and publish. To get details for this look at: <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28413/blog-from-anywhere-instantly-with-posterous/">http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28413/blog-from-anywhere-instantly-with-posterous/ (</a>I have since discovered that you can also post to your blog using Blogger.) Here is an example of a posterous blog used for a global collaborative project.<br /><a href="http://kstadler.posterous.com/">http://kstadler.posterous.com/</a></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Kidblogs<br /></b>There has been a lot of talk about Kidblogs being a safe and simple platform. The Kidblog ‘About page’ says “Kidblog allows teachers to monitor and control all publishing activity within the classroom blogging community.” </span><span style="font-size: small;">I haven’t personally used Kidblog, but it is supposedly really easy for creating a class blog and blogs for your students. Here is a post that tells more about the pros and cons of using Kidblog: <a href="http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/">http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/</a><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is an example of a kidlog <br /><a href="http://kidblog.org/MrsKolbertsClass2011">http://kidblog.org/MrsKolbertsClass2011</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TolFNtLTtLOZTzKi_cVKy6nRWmQuHayvh7PXuiZHhIaRYB15yBtoUZbzl8JPEgV5gh7G3IAJrTUiOZAkJzUYRyCw-be1Wx18rv6pw9HJ0ELmd8kyPpmmNHsnY_E4aRmGJ0EpaD3CnLA/s1600-h/image30.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4D68tNAFR5rE2x4CETqpz9fIGRDjbZGOVBzxBaopku-TiOfaLMbu_DviLg8EXmNwgE8cC3eyyj5JzbmZRi0Ir3ensc7n-R5rM5i3598u9WEsllG1igob1nMD4aihS7wmwl_AXvKjuVY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, whatever platform you use, just do it! </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can a blog really benefit an English class?</span><br /></span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A blog can benefit any class...any subject. But today I am going to focus on English. I was quite inspired by a post I read recently on an English Teacher's blog (</span></span><a href="http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/life-in-an-inquiry-driven-technology-embedded-connected-classroom-english/">http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/life-in-an-inquiry-driven-technology-embedded-connected-classroom-english/</a>)<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> - and this caused me to think about writing this post. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Well, I am sure you have plenty of ideas of what you can do with a blog in an English class. I will add ideas to these further along in this post.  It is certainly a fantastic way to get your students writing. To start off take a<b> </b>look at Mr Miller’s blog and see how he uses his blog for his English lessons. I like the way he also has a wiki to support the blog. In my thinking the two go together…<br /><a href="http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/">http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://mrsalbanese.edublogs.org/"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;">Notice how the teachers in these blogs give regular detailed instructions to their students.</span><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/kajohnson/">http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/kajohnson/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">  (her Grade 9 class)<br /><a href="http://msjohnson12.anewecology.com/">http://msjohnson12.anewecology.com/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> (Her Grade 12 class)<br /><a href="http://hoodsenglish.blogspot.com/" title="http://hoodsenglish.blogspot.com/">http://hoodsenglish.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqMfnIIGiACUaZ4YWjRNScP1OYDsNPfnHkCwj6Tx-ioSkArjTcCjYbhiLEGCTWsOvoHjc-b2bDzZTQkkLniN0zm3v95U0VWcpm0yl2jaobPyHdYXs1O2WnEa04OPVRKo7xqYojCMvFRE/s1600-h/image33.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHIfnB4vpdn3pzp_pBs7lhOpSnY_evUSGxR50nu-zXSuwDXBlYvTVxIxSNJERuPYaLpOYXFbpisJP7Eyag83EaVqhMQXvJiZxgyEkFUHJaGy-qF0E_SezIg17GM8EaltD98eMLqFRor4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">This teacher directs her students to using web tools. <br /><a href="http://thelamppost.ca/" title="http://thelamppost.ca/">http://thelamppost.ca/</a></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What activities can you do on a blog in an English class?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As you know English has four main strands – reading, writing, language and listening and speaking.  </span><span style="font-size: small;">These can be beautifully incorporated into blogging. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Let your learners answer questions and respond to prompts online. You could set a question on your blog and the learners can answer the question in your comment box. Notice how <i>The Hawks Talk</i> does this. <a href="http://stgeorgesenglish.com/"><span style="background-color: white;">http://stgeorgesenglish.com</span></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"></span> <span style="font-size: small;">They can then extend the conversation by answering your next question or prompt and then post comments on each others blogs.</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">2. For literature lessons, invite an author to post on your blog and let the learners comment on this post.  This is a great way to have book discussions online. You could even try and organise a Skype interview with the author and let the slearners summarise this afterwards. There must be plenty of examples of Skype chats with authors, but here is a post about one with  Scientist.<br /><a href="http://techblog.stcyprians.net/index/skype-chats-with-scientists-by-ms-n-wallace">http://techblog.stcyprians.net/index/skype-chats-with-scientists-by-ms-n-wallace</a> </span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">3. The learners identify and discuss the major points of a book, article, speech etc. </span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">4. The learners write good book summaries and assess others summaries using a rubric.  <br /><a href="http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/" title="http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/">http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/</a></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsDBcgSUCkK6wl5d-aXiS7-S12NThPI-nh9O3Nabe16I4_cKWGys8RD1xz6_8fNrp81zL4vNKi0X13GjZY93TIn6iK2nN0N4HgFkcavlzPgSC5P7GNdmT-7pSHJl9aqw-mcWxHB8v-D4/s1600-h/image43.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3moahLiXNQDo74h4_VOscur19fUa1HWaciuJq33GZk1awdNBEAs4RH25dwSl1jDOW-mIDlDBIFrnU3gv33mPGT6KzTjsIkq8Ucm8qFpYQq3-J6khxrPSeQC1b0iF9E8q9w_jr6y2m6o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">5. Let the learners post reviews of movies, books, concerts, games etc regularly.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">6. Use a blog to archive daily class notes. You (or someone in the class) could post summaries on to your class blog. This will be helpful to students who may be absent.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">7. For listening and speaking activities learners could use a MP3 player, read into it and then post it on the blog. They could concentrate on voice modulation, inflection, and tempo. The learners could then listen to each others’ speaking activities. You can virtually put anything on a blog. There’s a programme called embedit.in which gives anything the necessary HTML code which is necessary if you wish to include it on a blog or wiki</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">8. The learners could make presentations on different things and then embed their presentations on webpages. My Slideshare above mentions how useful Box.net is for this. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">9. They could learn about language conventions and then practise using the example on your blog.  You could post weekly exercises for them to do. The following is an old blog but it gives some ideas like this.</span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hargraves12.wordpress.com/">http://hargraves12.wordpress.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">You could take this further and ask them to make podcasts and even slideshows of difficult conventions.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5E9VuH1A41ytnGYVjrHHvdTU5mYlOb6f8iSr1DcJ5-FPzfA-30LxrsRS7xbt7P1fclBCZ8zVGLKZV_g9Hzr3FzRNH9pdYIbnWIl9DVyD9TXbCK1di6wfU7_8xzFBibSHVellYEQ2dFc/s1600-h/image46.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-NRlqxNo2WtA7YB6tlsHXrRC9tookHsqBERInaZh8gSGyQnpLKOfPzC_XSktFHWD1gJVAccAvg8W_GSr2hp0fR0TLwtiMGdhJQse9AgM6Eg3dwrcs4uV_WYY_QG0SQba2dywpB0tocY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">10. As they read a novel prescribe blog prompts for them to respond to. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">11. They could paraphrase sections that you post on the blog.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">12. You could teach the learners the structure of workplace documents and let them analyse them in terms of heading, font, pictures and readability etc. </span><span style="font-size: small;">They could make suggestions on how to improve them. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">13. When starting a new theme create a “<a href="http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/teaching-guides/21806">KWL chart</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">” on your blog. Have students blog about what they know, what they want to know, and eventually what they have learned. Students will be able to see other posts and scaffold their learning off the responses of others. As the educator, you can quickly assess, focus, and possibly redirect your unit to meet the specific needs of your students.<a href="http://teachinghistory.org/system/files/KWL+Chart+with+Knowledge+Questions.pdf">http://teachinghistory.org/system/files/KWL+Chart+with+Knowledge+Questions.pdf</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">14. You could link documents to a folder in Box.net (also a free programme). </span><span style="font-size: small;">Notice how Mrs Lesniak does this. <a href="http://lesniakenglish.blogspot.com/" title="http://lesniakenglish.blogspot.com/">http://lesniakenglish.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkdBtQ0oxrall9VJcOuJE2AyADJ3usv9r2WMUXGuNMBcxCLXiJdrcUCJmRejkvbrXsUD2DuMlFKd4FRvhiJjLWYq6luTm6uIs1syZbRV7Cpw7922n2sdG_0hJ4pHGdahwgY-5-4L-r-k/s1600-h/image49.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfwZU43_53AasQsjMk6KaGNrSb3wYGYym8uvQe5MupowYCRGe5qi0DDcsTW5k3fJ0YSVSsC2MqfR09V5Qb3BYApTyJtO2fSC3mT5m0IqeGyb2q16OSKn1LTdB7Y5VOoW4T3MamH2Aq1w/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">15. On your blog you could communicate with parents about classroom news, policies and events. You could publish commendable student work, writing, photos, video etc.<br /><a href="http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/" title="http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/">http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/</a></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFeMhBGlb92rwg9mUuxGASbJdEmXBHx7Hk1Ks-XLblVVFGkNeMTj1Two2Q0fkikp1NyhxUucDdCd9wwDQ_M-I5Nne0eSIjeyKdi5hMiHG9nQ23ByGk8nGDBc5QH4bbb-Eb9bPw2O4GuU/s1600-h/image52.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYyyhaoRsE-n494i6ABtUGQ53rAeZI2LaCDx7TCnjlwSuZETaZkdcX_gW4lS4a6D38A_Hmm5iEl5HVAc-hbxyGY6I7JJZrxy5uNtLEkYGa0XP8EBhNA_sjtw4ZYh6X6JJPheDSauobuM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">16. You could use your blog as a place to reflect as well.<br /><a href="http://jimburke.typepad.com/" title="http://jimburke.typepad.com/">http://jimburke.typepad.com/</a><br /><a href="http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com/" title="http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com/">http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com/</a></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><span style="font-size: small;">17. Your blog could be a blog of ideas for English teaching.<br /><a href="http://catlintucker.com/">http://catlintucker.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypJyGIVIhw-cqlY04Bl7wrXp5sAofLaveeaxNldnnxqyMa4JXOSw5p4zSaI7GME5UG_dzhTRE-ykz2ku4jzVA0MFzwBZ8H4bXqiI4U1pcV_-tfgBwsEEk8mmk_7JaGSw-e3uCb3kBGGU/s1600-h/image56.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5-ZzDIfO57Bfa25-FZBGcMB1MNMnGZnmH-YE0U9gL4pXtpSP100OCyiQWn59T_10EtTMNnpPYXC_LjtQiV8O7Q7clRXHs7I7_a8FdAtKFWsPUoEvNn1nO340WK9-d4xjK9ViG7mQpaU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">18. The learners can write journal entries, essays and poems in their blogs. They could also write book reviews<br /><a href="http://josephr4.edublogs.org/2010/07/19/my-report">http://josephr4.edublogs.org/2010/07/19/my-report</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BCfIxaKMWt3PgWpXWbbEEw2g8Kc69IL4Ns5mzhHfNDqd9Hgclt7gCwUfuRQYtljUCDDcFKLFSXY4kS7qAUMbrSvKCxhDusdgVg4mP1laZSY-PE92AnA23YR6pdYKrEUu9YolsMcZCFw/s1600-h/image8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-5ldpQ0h3iQff2TUFrypch9tYhgdu_fBgU5XcjVAMuosFy-00Cc5Ai8whwMLrJ9zwO1gHtdP2epmEakb0u064Wa9k8MGkFFm8YcJio36GV_t-HxRhQ3z2TI562pqktFLL8cMur6n2EU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Further down in the same blog – he relates his book review.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLjcbQII82OH6xom0h6IVVqBRYed1tnU_L1hxGuZ2-52tnzGQuODg1Kx_njobhyphenhypheno7alHlYGonTbpiBfD2pCjcBU9vDyLcPSlZ5YXHF9wX-2ZL2SjxiT2vCKsMKWSTZ_FhbIb8vIo6rsE/s1600-h/image11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizR14-VYGU7vciuMf432CcQtCtTyWC85GLBdYj8yV5XO8R80InbjlIJDvkW_gGenCCX1JcY6DRA3-hy0KRsnqDWWCj59y32k2FQhyphenhyphenUy6iS96Itr3nByTdfg_isLaKURerlH1eisHxyzDU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are another two posts that give a lot of ideas about book reviews. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/">http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports">http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcp92-YyqTqwoEmkhSLRkZDP03X9gmUjfKlpw2tZz5ofdyY7SE_2oCz4oQFjECV0XLiK2Y7Jxqfo6IM5qZXIcx3pRquK70b8_F6kdvVuttG5HJLcpJFZkO2hg-Kvc7HKztIJE_z6Y3Qw/s1600-h/image20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-eq-Ci-NqTakonuZhG7IIN0EDSpp_XMF93eLvTqBDDF2QXUWqDnMOudwFY7M05UrBqDEL9PC6upS5cS42th-UpUiSXEXcG6SmTz1mBWnGAilEGwI5tbQ_H3vtXDS1dC_tShWNta0FVs/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">19. Illustrate to the students how they can use technology on their blogs. You can do this by using screencasts on your blog or just be blog posts.<br /><a href="http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/">http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">20. Post homework in your blog. <a href="http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/aeharter/">http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/aeharter/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">21. I love the way this teacher posts lesson ideas in his English blog<br /><a href="http://tefltecher.wordpress.com/">http://tefltecher.wordpress.com/</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYTJ5s3c-SYomq0bskwqkp2aM_Zc6jAOPNE1DjLrVP5zWSjNJc8qQ8SSAZHXh19G-wIEVwgxIimrsafwTqnK1YNpDGZ18iOrSWaTiVH-WOCzkUIXNJrxi-dG3lSVKK1eiUg29WlGhozQo/s1600-h/image23.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjy7m-vh_OTexebAF6AteroNvcFpPqUP1zrEYGLSXevAwNUrIc9BVd4PA8ViUvotgXsrkaWyw17TArs3cSI5-_UFSEprREEdKclWvY67sFfmVqzyQmBMZHA31v7l6v4-VxfxlXZwyuEQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">22. One teacher I know of got her class to write a novel on a blog. This was eventually published. <br /><a href="http://5bwrites.blogspot.com/">http://5bwrites.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88cxHvWRN0-uAcc3wXqDCHXl45qJowIB8yIuDzWqvr4tFiIDsIsDjG_MCVxddjoKkm0YK4_tQ1QII4mwXSZ6q1bEnBHiIDy5Y9mIGk4ncvsINoazax2cHjrvHxC-fUqoauo9D_uc3D-U/s1600-h/image2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhKbRgzPMy8DDQq2CQG-BOz6TbGuzZ7iZfpVuPicUn_ZcdWfNqzsb6cGXzE0yy_az0_3m6pFYpTZ6uRCmV25seKJwjOhlQ0Ke_JdGUEmInc0jsI8hjHaF55AYo9r4vzZ18hWoHmrxx98/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">23. They could create book trailers for their blogs.<br /><a href="http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/Home+Student+Book+Trailers">http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/Home+Student+Book+Trailers</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ0KNrvksSOag-vAxpIPmu7wVuTRdfHLnmWd10s7_ruVXyNcwN_qZBM76NCpSdDEhVSP6H9RJ664WVbjJjAkS7l6IkS8phMaLcZsvXcV7fE7IVt6bX82q8XUStY5bxl2b-t_EiLKfdKHg/s1600-h/image5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSVXkVlmHucWBXsphV3vjCSF_xIk3H47Eq7JY8BKU_WKyoTL49imaJVMs1iiH0C33hLAflhARuLOm9klqYSYnNGuOF_ANwVY_QjuE8D0AZiLurQzZOukxUx5H_2l4zri10aBL1K3DXZE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Literature blogs</b><br /><a href="http://www.thebookchook.com/">http://www.thebookchook.com/</a><br /><a href="http://www.zencollegelife.com/50-best-childrens-literature-blogs/" title="http://www.zencollegelife.com/50-best-childrens-literature-blogs/">http://www.zencollegelife.com/50-best-childrens-literature-blogs/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html" title="http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html">http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/" title="http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/">http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://msdegenhardt.com/">http://msdegenhardt.com/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">(I like this teacher’s collage of books in her header)</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZORvrtpGZXkDYDoD7RvGRiWDfPb1phvzNdcuawTlEPPeRKZe7OZplyhfTQ2gHiLWzqWzg7gV3ldv4YsG68uO54AyYDPb4NmpHgZ8RDiDiB4bQYAbiWJjwqeeHZ0ucuhr78V-aZUi9bg/s1600-h/image60.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTeNaOZBKF0yWqMna78qrNQdakoy_mPIvG-yy_alodTGwMfdnAmxkRkcA3aBJm9FjICRWCmm4vHFhgQVAInICJlSLHZz9zELzHDDMa1jEG0CcUfJuWIcqxVGvOwKWgjv7TmV2l6lTV1E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">24. Don’t forget about using a fake facebook page (template in Google Docs) which could be then embeeded into the blog. This teacher created a fantastic template last year in Google docs that he is willing to share.<br /><a href="http://www.teachthecloud.com/2011/02/historical-facebook-tutorial.html">http://www.teachthecloud.com/2011/02/historical-facebook-tutorial.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0B3uy2d7pI5K6cMsvjFCtlEfxZYBl0qikhdJ3bufrw-dQK-0kAv9tBZky-xxphnB24thWwj8NwvAbCjzijIMW7dYoUu3xm6APg7w5N5z__EkAbehrt_hXJGAB7I5Ve61wS82qgTP10No/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFIvBq9DQF61KZ-HBxKxYR4U6qcgDoPjezKQen3BWX8QH3mB6vbcaDOiKDi6vARVSZIy6DtNJL3rlShQqHA_wcO2VdMyDrU_oUrJtza0KXD6P-VEMe0dX3IzIYfbcucOSi8129FBZ4_E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other useful links</span></b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br /></b><a href="http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/" title="http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/"></a><a href="http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers" title="http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers">http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers</a><br /><a href="http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/dehogue/">http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/dehogue/</a><br /><a href="http://englishwithlaura2.blogspot.com/" title="http://englishwithlaura2.blogspot.com/">http://englishwithlaura2.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="http://englishwithlaura4.blogspot.com/" title="http://englishwithlaura4.blogspot.com/">http://englishwithlaura4.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="http://englishteachinglab.blogspot.com/" title="http://englishteachinglab.blogspot.com/">http://englishteachinglab.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="http://www.huffenglish.com/" title="http://www.huffenglish.com/">http://www.huffenglish.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">A great source of ideas for English teachers</span></b></div><span style="font-size: small;"> <br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And to end off this post here is a fantastic Ning for English teachers which will undoubtedly have plenty of resources and ideas.</span><br /><a href="http://englishcompanion.ning.com/" title="http://englishcompanion.ning.com/">http://englishcompanion.ning.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfxE9lizA2t68P_Ejqpp220wAOwhTR7wMOupfjcLCz6e6nBn4q6L9NY5ctU_EJYwPdh_OXhyLaj0-Z2wTp3E-qmdrwRllysBIfqM1R1eZuqUN3zcJNdATvfZ2WqYezDOiasZRX7uiG3BM/s1600-h/image37.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XtdJ3QgPhvFPgWXxeMeREJVnI7YBweDBFbG-qIUXOvHjQI2u5rO0NbC3nFBE7Gy7wt1vpVI5jLHZZtb7x7l9rh1BrXeOIYhBhshfh1G_ejwS7faO4gBbiEHR7ZGXS_hnhil05iLxSxM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>

Blogging English Technology integration Create a blogging culture in your English classroom

Recently I created a Slideshare called ‘Your blog can be a fantastic teaching tool’ and I wrote from the standpoint of the teacher using a b...

Read more »

A recap. of our South African teachers' involvement in the Microsoft Partners in Learning Forum in 2011

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since the Partners in Learning Forum (formerly known as the Innovative Teachers’ Forum) has opened its 2012 competition and we at SchoolNet are encouraging all teachers to participate in our free online support group <a href="http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course">http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course</a> (so that we can support you with your entry), I thought I would write and tell you something about our participants last year. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Face-to-face Courses in 2011 and 2012</span><br /><br /></b>SchoolNet hosted a number of free face-to-face courses for this competition around the country in 2011 so that teachers could find out more about the requirements of the competition. We are doing the same this year and if you want to be included in one and you have heard nothing about them to date please contact <a href="mailto:almah@schoolnet.org.za">almah@schoolnet.org.za</a> to find out more.  </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkw4ff4jofIc5m5ymNC6W7GdBVXnQp8npZ4qcIk5dFJi3FuSJRxuZA4exuvGhM9aPedCbZ9diVpotDqIJTxJNzdu-f91Tw22zLjg5LTfb2oG750pdSGC1Z4_TjmNv_jC8dFNRw5So1Hc/s1600/PIL+wiki.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">New this year – an Innovative Online Support Course!</span><br /><br /></b>This year we are also including a free online support course with daily posts which you can follow at at your own pace. It will include two (optional) webinars a week where you can find out about past finalists and winners and hear what they did. If you miss the webinars they will be recorded and you will get access to the link to listen at leisure. "Where will this link be posted?" I can hear you asking. Well, the course will be run from a wiki and if you sign up we will take an extra special interest in you all the way to the final date for entries! The place to sign up is: <br /><a href="http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course">http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkw4ff4jofIc5m5ymNC6W7GdBVXnQp8npZ4qcIk5dFJi3FuSJRxuZA4exuvGhM9aPedCbZ9diVpotDqIJTxJNzdu-f91Tw22zLjg5LTfb2oG750pdSGC1Z4_TjmNv_jC8dFNRw5So1Hc/s1600/PIL+wiki.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkw4ff4jofIc5m5ymNC6W7GdBVXnQp8npZ4qcIk5dFJi3FuSJRxuZA4exuvGhM9aPedCbZ9diVpotDqIJTxJNzdu-f91Tw22zLjg5LTfb2oG750pdSGC1Z4_TjmNv_jC8dFNRw5So1Hc/s400/PIL+wiki.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last year’s entrants</span><br /></b><br />So let me tell you about last year’s entrants. Quite a number uploaded their PowerPoint entries (don’t worry, we’ll guide you through all this) by the required date and 22 were chosen because they offered something that was considered innovative for their schools. Those 22 people were elated when they heard of their success especially as they were to be whisked off to Johannesburg to the South African Finals to present their projects to the judges. They stayed in excellent five star accommodation, and for once in their lives teachers were treated like royalty! They also experienced some really innovative workshops and were sponsored to attend the ICT in the Classroom Conference which SchoolNet hosted last year. The winners received their accolades on the last night of the Conference amidst the cheering of the large crowd of educators from around the country.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They had a ball! Did you think that innovative teacher finalists could be so crazy? Look at this!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjMk7XIijPLGkYujJlLVcXWFqA_ffBy6WR5WYJGEwf-ZJcakyiuDAa6VvpsTPGZtdnTDGK1NwKmgrdOF_xAB0G-haiI_XdiQEMenutNROSI3mWiP4mJnVEnINH7ISf_zRpI8spviYbgE/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTg7n5cVCAlQKT7j5XAypexTrHn9UpGtZFxNcJ7GzIBPAJisBxR6jbsyBOlH-Ulrdq4uSIePPeLac_aimbIcLfo2VljOZ-3QtxgjjpkiGJjEdROm18PIKEijClbA2ZklQgp5ZVAD6ojTM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLMD8i_QKRKNhcPXd0Izel0zFXfCWMrzvTX1-q69HecHZ2J7BC9XervwVpWrOoO2LWeAwuCtPbX6-DlBtOfBJ2MdIDLPWTA7CRXdYzWJ-lcxWkPbrDEF7I0tWSzjHPXJ9soPzPAYX-pE/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcg8Q9yRJpZIyET3QtH7HW29rwzibME5Ib2xWqJPEFk9O3sS1LORCSAB0cWONy9WkcWuysxtafgGQ5cDEXcvjcS-11UnfxO-5c1mP3BcD1l2W9FlogppQzN8nUY8ylj2e-9QUH2hN9rr0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmTbXItvJAn6SnvelsuIk5I8teczw8lNl27T6w2N2QM0PtF2R1GxEToVEI502dQcdiyBRvkcTnK7Zr5ZOWYUBmV9res9OHPaPeXF4TpW9nIyjR_Y7XHqN_NuioMBNG7IaJYvEHX8NAQA/s1600-h/image%25255B8%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSSjafnSLvzvv148Brl_P-yvt5Gjfz5W33bpX2WvP1ZqOrilsqYvpB7Piieum4tnmWFAcN0NHk2wipBCoAvllwx7dwpp0WeFqDcLt6HSoVVG9iA8-qE67X0T3PRIrwlnH3xX6ucG8Ues/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1slaowwt8AmGw_ePz-p3SHOiXKCXOMY7CB90s-OmHZvSZoU38mbp74xl6UOsiGQsAqE_gyNArdEUrFsYSUdBgXOHvKLZhbfFRj-q2isaq72AIhQd5paJnBsSaeIrZJ58NeRe_uofkTw/s1600-h/image%25255B11%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NeP84pohNGuTotrR-7xocSLiFmJE6auL_FZCIJZ6hVkj2WtDI9C6WW2635kcLW0g66aVTZ0ScBjDtMjFTPQpuHa5nj6w4o62GgW0fiLkwSULbTqCl-18BjwzWT2UXb9NhDPTYOlTkyg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the next video (created by Lisa Gair who was a finalist), you can see them riding trolleys down the ramp at the Oliver Thambo Airport in Johannesburg on the way home, excited and happy after an AMAZING week!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-d75a4589172a86d0-407" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzI_aXffDNqUajvlv-QfZJ3asi9Yg79ooiQzcJcppyWMaoFhy3fBbgXM35ntkkb1gZxiJsK9wOSI2vR_M2aiRnR8gxKWSd-YohTkPd1U5w3FTdiQplhFR__xkcES-lAi9_8pA" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The South African winners</span><br /></b><br />The winners were:<br /><br />§ Louise Clarke and Kim Jackson of St Cyprians College in Cape Town for their class project “Tollbooth Movie Maker”; <br />§ Natalie Meerholz of Holy Rosary School in Edenvale for her class project “E-Waste Away”; <br />§ Lyneth Crighton of Brescia House in Bryanston for her class project “DigiGirlz puzzle IT out”; <br />§ Wessel Theron of Bishops Diocesan College in Cape Town for his class project “School of Rock”; <br />§ Ryan Galvin of St Nicholas Diocesan School in Pietermaritzburg for his class project “R and J in R and B”. <br /><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately we don’t have a photo of the five winners all together, but here is Louise Clarke the overall winner (along with Kim her Grade 4 colleague who was in England at the time) receiving her award and prize.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2D8cYSKjbApuwarEhw7lmq_P6WeU1_Wyh3tzbaAT0hrHzccCEs7WC2T5Rly_Qgv7hpQhmPhHNRDU9JjDdIUz84xVBTpq_l2LsomavBEGakBn1C_wuy5jVzFz09PZzSzYe7ZB1yncbkE/s1600-h/image%25255B15%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQSsqmgF3SEzKdFnyDsTNyyIGvpOnnsvx-_7uas_9v5mRKjBBON5zPQkxfqqxOsELVIz2DDR1-Hjw4jWKWg91lyzb5W1M-qbcgG2ADa1sccmMZiQKN4_gwg3wbbB1NI2FIgVFmzLctoU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Jordan finals</span><br /></b><br />The next round of the competition for the five winners was to attend the Middle East and Africa Finals in Jordan in September 2011. I have written a blog post about this if you would like to find out more. Once again it was loads of fun and Microsoft provided the most stunning accommodation. <a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2011/09/snippets-from-partners-in-learning.html" title="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2011/09/snippets-from-partners-in-learning.html">http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2011/09/snippets-from-partners-in-learning.html<br /><br /></a></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixFWhsek9eiLsYwhfxgwpF4vtIFjXeDf6Q_dXTHufmFRQE6FJk7qEFGons0i1h6HpVTwcbZvBDcsLEbeFSLTQAd9dnbmOgZEXYf02cAmx9U2dsI5Yy5CpUHbzZ6vx89-wVrwowvStk_Lc/s1600-h/image%25255B18%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ib8_KZ7ayw3USohcg5Ya7mBar39_C7-beTIcJthgAd39j7mlf3ZFDvzmmFO7cKiqe6yp_9A2S6ibgKx_vzyxY5fLq_gHW10hD30j9x3VJZ2rAZQBJghhRrcVwL12F1E53KMj1kuO66Q/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a>  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4p-JoJ7uXHkXodXKuWbaajCwFompnxYOEfxdfRUloPOigH3bmdcZamjP-jm7gZ1n2_n3pOovU1_YSDbM10uCOfZ15hcISsEcWpg1lXorpDWpiTRh8-4kGojnl9xTAGEvUiMaqBbNHak/s1600-h/image%25255B21%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaLdOJgMHDNECHlbYAObgO9v1q-q9r0UibQWRYiaJT-uIpSg4JkM20m45tmeUbOWUQjT1oUfkv5x9g6_yztYgNDlIHqB_cgum_Zzn8xhp7AckjkxuQdwfjzPc8GmxAiXcQXlkeuLYQg8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />The South African and Lesotho winners at this event were:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">§</span><span style="font-size: small;">Louise Clarke and Kim Jackson from St Cyprians College in Cape Town won the 'Collaboration' category for their Grade 4 class project 'Tollbooth Movie Maker'.<br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">§</span><span style="font-size: small;">Lyneth Crighton from Brescia House in Bryanston won the 'Cutting Edge' award for her class project 'DigiGirlz puzzle IT out'. <br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">§</span><span style="font-size: small;">Natalie Meerholz of Holy Rosary School in Edenvale came 3rd in the ‘Beyond the Classroom’ award  for her class project 'E-Waste Away'.<br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">§</span><span style="font-size: small;">Malatela  Monaheng from Lesotho came 2nd in the 'Challenging Contexts' category. </span><span style="font-size: small;">§</span><span style="font-size: small;">Wessel Theron from Bishops and Thejani Malakane from Lesotho were part of the group that won the 'group project' award in Jordan, which meant the whole group could compete in Washington.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_TEl-MUx4h459h3fVQXaf1zn5rKcllm0t-bYeHU7pFbntErED_hS7HC8lqL39Ql2e1vwwvWekXf3t04uDdAuh24kcrTjXcIsxGHIcQsje5V0FZqOLzpT4ga3-ZtUfspWR8UO5ZREbkg/s1600-h/image%25255B39%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6-kvz9WRU_gociDhn8AHdzxnXAIi458YmhWJpNPfCL6e9rmyvVApnT-jW9sNjMA8P028dS1-6MVj8y_4vLkVaXmPlH4ieEHUBUaOYsR-g1Q5UX1V2KVuoQslFQQ9qXV1hRvfN7Zb9WU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Malatela  Monaheng and Wessel Theron (Thejane is seen below)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The World Finals in Washington in November<br /><br /></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The winners from this event went on to the World Finals in Washington in November. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Here they are in Washington:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWXJUgiOI7yQnilDRsAK6hIZW-Y5a4Rfytr747vDz-ppPC3_DLowBRKICwOoRJYrs-dEfcogHHq7la74WbK0z5aR-UtKyTtISTRKyZc8saN0Vi_FrNQTdRufsP6layKdQuMcEKDAM2_FE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some of the group with the Whitehouse in the background</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVHxb80ypLsz-_v1RIQwy3lDoncTMUFYGLY85hCsjkBioyZGelwY_p-pbXpEwKCugP9fEo2W4qpy82V2GmLWg9xRi7DvEUvH-fchbP4PiKBBVbbgIdBbCrTWs61nGCsfEbjUSCHZyiGY/s1600-h/image%25255B30%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQimoehDIq2qLt0UZMixxMpkm3om60VjO8QnIrDMyjpqPiHDNJKS1zZqC_23adVbP1qvXQnOK5L8PFJ7o3oox14GcTMBreBYnNRAv3Vq3zU-KKJN0tt41yifYEwBmcb_yv55b6KPso4Q8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Natalie at her project stand</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipzwR8Zw2UiORzyVaw46xteY26SX0NS3jrefbuaKyS278Nj-gDC-PVi2kyWBzIAZF2Sw2p0Fg-hvmDCh78XSGI0xsUBptnJwuvI61lfstSVmfLpBElc2xr9-NvIgRvOOelp-Tp4qtBGE/s1600-h/image%25255B27%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQaxP99QDfNwmEiA2YPGJLz4rHCESS-Rh-_JKAZ3SklNWRuTa0QK4UQFEw7OUF-1tpCUptskLE1Ac9AMHJEFllI2qZbST5109aSE72GRFCU1ZWlE7AvGpKOrfLAgSd2Bo5zC6fkJYzN8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kim and Louise at their project stand</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeOfkqS1X1FnJfPlXOrl8yvaRKRojQIn3r9UKjpy31dlKQR_wjcKjQYnBIil7tzS2k2cERgvUJJoxgVnB0qqVNcrkn99eGjI2fx5_UOchVV2ALnelLdJhfrEANkA7Wktn9wO263EIOTo/s1600/blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeOfkqS1X1FnJfPlXOrl8yvaRKRojQIn3r9UKjpy31dlKQR_wjcKjQYnBIil7tzS2k2cERgvUJJoxgVnB0qqVNcrkn99eGjI2fx5_UOchVV2ALnelLdJhfrEANkA7Wktn9wO263EIOTo/s400/blog.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wessel and Thejane with their winning group from Jordan</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5Qy-OztlxNKejsfMucdnJr_qTC3LDEVo5M4nell1aHkdYKfV5aaOtCE2gi6W8ghcc2GTycK5b7jBUFV7jvUyUsUIkR7ay2il6PE0rz_XXl1MPb7z0h0WDh_-X8kctd5vHy59QJ8vj8k/s1600-h/image%25255B33%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECzhMrO7xL5Kmwo9LTbnapoOL6xuz8t9xGSnpCJZTIo-f2zNdmAQCysC8o8cFR1bx2sHYMlPw4AWRCBJ94mcwLFlq2JmLmfPIkD2DlNqyAnS1iflkCIw9Y1xSSjBPqiy5_bXXSmH9gbk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lyneth at her project stand</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lyneth Crighton was also interveiwed by the Global Forum team and found herself being featured on YouTube</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">      </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pkHw8M3YhU4" width="420"></iframe></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is what Natalie Meerholtz said about the event in Facebook, “Awesome closing gala dinner in Washington DC. No SA awards. The Yanks cleaned up on innovative gaming projects! There should have been a category for most spirited country - no doubt South Africa!”</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK33lewmsrMv5bTxzYgLGN0dOfuifV0dghbJhAyj6HnKtO0eFPtOSqgN7_pFzBXkG8Ae8Ur8CKjqJCPyd1L4iWXo4bbfspizhhT5IDRn9fpW3hSTwIY38lY7ip5FiHSeQqxGIYj4YhGYY/s1600-h/image%25255B36%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMyvn-2ejhzKBgGlgAmbLpH1Z0jNcbsQabg10cgvoCw9iKxLD8gMui_kiJS6rj_t8lm0JVgS22tpOP_2DQV_Cl15KIBzJZw0eVSf11bQFu1k5HJy7ohD02sXnHxoirH93BoO04FzJYsI/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The final Gala dinner when the Awards were announced</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">What this means for you!</span><br /></b><br />Please consider entering a project this year. You just never know what can happen!<br />Projects have to be uploaded by March 15th and the Awards will be handed out at the Basic Education conference in Durban in April. The winners will go on the Middle East and Africa forum in Morocco, and the winners from that occasion will participate in the Global Forum in Athens,  Greece. All expenses are paid by Microsoft each step of the way.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don’t know where to start? Sign up for our  free online support course so that we can take you through the steps and encourage you during the next 8 weeks.  <a href="http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course">http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div></div>

Competitions Microsoft Project-based learning Teaching Technology integration A recap. of our South African teachers' involvement in the Microsoft Partners in Learning Forum in 2011

Since the Partners in Learning Forum (formerly known as the Innovative Teachers’ Forum) has opened its 2012 competition and we at SchoolNet ...

Read more »

Microsoft announces the Partners in Learning South African Forum 2012

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Calling all South African teachers who are using technology in engaging ways. Entries are now open for the Microsoft Partners in Learning South African Forum 2012.<br /><br />Share your innovative lesson or project that uses ICT and you could win a trip to Morocco to attend the Middle East Africa Forum and from there, possibly the Global Forum in Athens, Greece. <br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">What do teachers need to do to enter the Microsoft Partners in Learning Forum?</span></b><br /><br />Teachers need to have run a project or lesson that uses ICT in a creative and engaging way. Teachers then need to complete the PowerPoint entry template describing their project or lesson. This entry then needs to be uploaded to the Partners in Learning Network by Monday 12 March: <a href="http://www.pil-network.com/">http://africa.partnersinlearningnetwork.com/communities/f3a5865473b842f7b690ed9f47217405/Pages/default.aspx</a> . To download the entry template please visit <a href="http://www.schoolnet.org.za/itf">http://www.schoolnet.org.za/itf</a><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Face to face workshops</span></b><br /><br />To find out about face to face Microsoft Innovation Workshops that will be taking place in February 2012 call Almah at SchoolNet on 011 403 5777 or email <a href="http://www.blogger.com/almah@schoolnet.org.za">almah@schoolnet.org.za</a>. <br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sign up for the online course</span></b><br /><br />To find out about the Online Innovation Course which will be run by Fiona Beal from 16 January 2012 email fiona@schoolnet.org.za or sign up on the wiki <a href="http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course">http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course</a> <br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Summary of important links</span></b><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>To sign up for the online course go to: <a href="http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course"><br />http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/Sign+up+for+this+course</a><a href="http://partnersinlearningforum-sa.wikispaces.com/"></a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Visit the "South African Microsoft Partners in Learning Forum" on the Partners in Learning Network at <a href="http://africa.partnersinlearningnetwork.com/communities/f3a5865473b842f7b690ed9f47217405/Pages/default.aspx">http://africa.partnersinlearningnetwork.com/communities/f3a5865473b842f7b690ed9f47217405/Pages/default.aspx</a></li><li>For further information visit <a href="http://www.schoolnet.org.za/itf/">http://www.schoolnet.org.za/itf/</a> <b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></b></li></ul><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Read more about the forum<br /></span></b><br />Read more about the Partners in Learning Forum, last years's winners, and the fantastic prizes on offer in this Youblisher.com flipbook below (just click on the writing to enlarge the pages):<br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youblisher.com/p/225372-Partners-in-Learning-Global-forum-brochure/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Partners in Learning Global forum brochure" src="http://www.youblisher.com/files/publications/38/225372/200x300.jpg" /></a></div></div><div></div></div>

Competitions Microsoft Project-based learning Teaching Technology integration Microsoft announces the Partners in Learning South African Forum 2012

Calling all South African teachers who are using technology in engaging ways. Entries are now open for the Microsoft Partners in Learning So...

Read more »

12 more places to find reading material for Foundation Phase learners

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Internet is a goldmine for reading materials.</span> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Earlier this week I wrote a post highlighting 12 websites that provide great reading material for young learners. (</span></span><a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/01/bring-technology-into-your-foundation.html" title="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/01/bring-technology-into-your-foundation.html">http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/01/bring-technology-into-your-foundation.html</a>). <span style="font-family: inherit;">These sites could be very useful to link to with the new CAPS curriculum being implemented in South Africa for Grades 1 – 3 this year since there is a big emphasis on reading. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this post I list ANOTHER 12 sites that can be used to encourage reading in our young learners.</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1. Pinky Dinky Doo podcasts</b></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.pinkydinkydoo.com/podcasts.html">http://www.pinkydinkydoo.com/podcasts.html</a><br />This site is presented by Sesameworkshop. It consists of downloadable podcasts.<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskpsYugR526oxei1ocLe5K1nt3yVCfVmwdhdKmCjZ2qDIB5YTig3X6KDzgIFSYekM3hD0efxqSSQIkttxMmk_0ime1GSfkWR30NO9pcdTe9IO5iM-xY8seDPMo0MHxuSDfiQLs5ySWzg/s1600-h/image_thumb42.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image_thumb4" border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinDmBelparjh_LQx4ZmE294R59ZNxZKDKYU2hTp5aCEpemv2zWAwIOGpw40go5mkS77Zc7ck-96NKfczCnlJWiJnmx9Iqb5Ei-BARA3w8dz7QIIuKceqwAvlS-yPsosx54w-PlzuP9bUE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image_thumb4" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. Nursery rhymes</span></b><br /><a href="http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/Foundation/nurseryrhymes/rhymes_set1.swf">http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/Foundation/nurseryrhymes/rhymes_set1.swf</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbyBIcJ-RhdroZa5cyz5cPnrL-SoJEmF31MkkP2MJ5_7gvh_A3r6jvPGXnnN3tk5UklIyb9WM6IG_pAvT7yHvMeAxQpiwDjWfoACiio0K0t-oDQjsHxWbssm2c_7629L7HIxF59MjAsc/s1600-h/image_thumb141.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image_thumb14" border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1gA9fZ-OlMguIFEEy12qkEVJ9pJy8DpKwz691stB9V2b67wpcZwJbt0VRkBu_8q8YvghsaftMHlBC-YL93xA2ufOdBILT8JOSfKeL9yDeDnyh8fYaA09ftn0g8CUCBjmtpQV6txepDs/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image_thumb14" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>3. Free kids books</b></span><br /><a href="http://freekidsbooks.org/" style="font-size: medium;" title="http://freekidsbooks.org/">http://freekidsbooks.org/</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here you will find loads and loads of PDFs to download.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXxELkoOeUZt-Elx4D3XaMZfi1IKjkL94xPPXj9bRTXzESfFr5BQmgXePCisDaJa0v4qEob9g9PNKCAPKhyj3o062ZfD2zHlgZAQ58CQGbyw3Yl-WBLP16k1KVXxmdBDXe8MFoFLh1H4/s1600-h/image8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HDCBUaTkODMjwoge2wikMvCQ2z2J16MmetYaqieqVM-LTw7m9zFBnAHe7AOMHxivxqFIEi_yWxlYDA3njU7WRiPz6R06SWQSEyngV701jtgBCGw9_CfUtG93iZhVvDomF1FaaXpgvbE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>4. Storytime for Me</b></span><br /><a href="http://storytimeforme.com/series" title="http://storytimeforme.com/series">http://storytimeforme.com/series</a> <br /><br />This site has plenty of free online stories anda large selection of talking kids stories. The only problem is that the site is overloaded with adverts, so watch where you click.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dqbhXOQk4R8aE-iJmPRji2YhemJPWpb5-FLhoiXmC62v_C09Zj0t8m9KmXFW_pollHhh9BS5WfLTN-V1Q6a1C7l34ZMHQlaP8RgrEExLnkFmX9VpkMsHTCVI7eNHcOWkhJiZRarKR7g/s1600-h/image12.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZmPFbMxreqaDCyYWiHRTXqJckTQ50c6Q1h-ibRwIN6NrVV5WNvN1Jxwn0OOfXelsbO3rEAGp0AkJr1CJE1O4qz4TUN4f588smO_pNk0_kV4p9o3Mk6g2FBKUANGYxDEXt3K-ggAzaxQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>5. Mighty Books</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.mightybook.com/" title="http://www.mightybook.com/">http://www.mightybook.com/</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This site provides plenty of animated storybooks and songs.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHXQJJe0UdgWzA4JDVf-UKSpI34P1WQk0kyJGGx5nQPW-sR0wO0HPXWHfg2D2LSgykfOBZhFzOMOwBUjSJfxd1kZNG9QmFzQzjmNBuYa0QwIJ7o81e_GeGutA4gpgmvcD1MuF19HjPWQs/s1600-h/image16.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvI4eAxc-ULdUow7X6t2gs-neSz-_Uqp0PjdWGtzxJg3xvkgVnY5-FsaiEloaP3B8_4gHmb_XeVen16UdNXxyU8SQ6b1pr9nD-puQ70bS8fZv4U_N1jec2ICqeI6JaPqdK75GDA6NtgL0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>6. Steve Barracks Best Children’s Books</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.best-childrens-books.com/free-childrens-books.html" title="http://www.best-childrens-books.com/free-childrens-books.html">http://www.best-childrens-books.com/free-childrens-books.html</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There is plenty of reading material available at this site.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLr6bx0y0QcvDEOEHnvgFKj3J88gzyGpcwmej0lsoCw5p4IpOYbdYKq8-CDi-falimUmITSuWwPTYNuRUaZ2Zc7ENU-KyLcVhMHwOsQCSskJtBIj3VpIk4GBwwUL1iu4oIRC0DQbelrZU/s1600-h/image22.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_M_xIryjw-EjqK3rpA_sEosjbDXvawyPMOvfFN908llep44Z01S66ASoMufwcDf1ce2jBYiSOaOz3PKWqM5iUx7I0lduto13vuW7uR6pKkv7NH9YXxX0SEhNqI26H6xpyQ7m-T5UHxM8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>7. Little Squirts Books for free</b></span><br /><a href="http://www.kidsbooksfree.com/" title="http://www.kidsbooksfree.com/"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.kidsbooksfree.com/</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">These are books written and illustrated by Mark Griffin</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyN_NBYbLbxncbLMCD7TpHuAz48K-K_FdsrcvLstf-HjvmSBz6eE61DuXC4FI4lk-nGRYVfIdlK9dEy8CbXoU1f7QK4vPVzy_RpjFsz3oUnSzyEK98ikZxAXqrDsbwObKrJ_65nots0YU/s1600-h/image26.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasq8eRo7xl7xGSeaMsvoySPYVrLAuMxd0G2G3rvAiFfTYtJVh998lkT-nPVjvS3rgCD-1SSdb4XUtPuDObTLjairBeyJs7SQRJQ7_myZ1uoNK2WP-qQQsc6aODX1_pjqn2hfxmzYF-vo/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">8. Storynory books</span></b><br /><a href="http://storynory.com/" title="http://storynory.com/">http://storynory.com/</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">These are free audio stories for kids</span>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnM-o0hkFXvCLHETdAbHT_qAgObJM_0uombrJZeK2zwg5eqR4mvbPBLic9VlEtj3spk4pdMKcYSha5tkgeO7pgErK72CyU8qpPPRdnyRgWAqQNgsanhSo4zqeSf04_3mjKXByJDsFIq1o/s1600-h/image33.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQvhVtOMPr9o3CsquhX7TN52DhV6zCAkKBK0-D3BgcyI0SFowMBfrwgXuiIIfpmFvD4-da8lEw3dCS69UvzgPoE7JDet9qkapqgO0Zhj-0E1KOn4v59GkYt59OqE1TQeY1A6w3OKkNMk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>9. The International Children’s Digital Library</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.childrenslibrary.org/" title="http://en.childrenslibrary.org/">http://en.childrenslibrary.org/</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The ICDL Foundation's goal is to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world.</span> <br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCjBY4RlzjqycJMmr8sGQYM47Dv4_WRlgUFO8GpeBPRNFzWon1jfUVL0-SU6lFWn8qQI1GY23LiH9okUUyKNQGR0Fh25q8LO_NjJyzuCzfahyphenhyphenDMa4qFomFjPHfd_HxUd1DC0VKulQqv0/s1600-h/image37.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ekGXY2kusreVHnMh7LRzNlWVNuFqVlCe5FR1djLCNEQhdJqRcebiP1UK_NXscQgSrtxT8tNnhTRvaB-Jah2OaI8MZ7_bYHffI1Z6Vob_lFf99oq0ncYy9dKku_AYsdwnyG6k39gsVbM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>10. Kids’ English Books.com</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.kidsenglishbooks.com/" title="http://www.kidsenglishbooks.com/">http://www.kidsenglishbooks.com/</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This is a collection of free printable books with matching audio.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHcurpi4sDsZpOstopJuRf8vl8c_8yxrdRPjdGVZr5OAPTxPKXu_nnGJcrjn0vDe1Y9L4f7Mm4ahXh9HeQ1gGlLWeMkam2J_TIfgS-PWd1utHI2fgOjcLW3JnyjxEIxaQ8u72vXYaVV0/s1600-h/image42.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi086githiIeyyJ7MRzDC4yOexsu74YW0KKQWP-3lIHv4RpZT8d1eQWpsvPl7o4VIfYKc3pwvm7aJSzAAunghyphenhyphentp6chD5tQZKfcSfmH4Tiu-HSKzUjbLYRg10IpJvT-_ApwGC29ZRyp8oE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>11. Light up your brain</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://lightupyourbrain.com/stories/" title="http://lightupyourbrain.com/stories/">http://lightupyourbrain.com/stories/</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This is a selection of free audio stories for children.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mnpYTDN3AdNqW0Ydg3etbgRpVjw90Xk6kxPtdx628S162rBjB9H4AknVyfVQM6AnkPn6gJIz-WcclfcVbArvAD-PcR6YxH1RxSnwjJNxHQ0lej1vwBkd58t11XrwCm2JMX-8BrluPMg/s1600-h/image46.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF7C0-3IJjmJu9ZqSrb7nB8aMcynRgpODTYKO1Afxhl8JglMJ-8_O3FoWEsqw-Wo0zvJbe3AVlUlXcpAFHvJQQW4ByJmJlf-nQSTOgEIzqjwOzavuuVT71mQOk7wdV8KyKwzTmvQ444ws/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>12. We Read for Kids</b></span><br /><a href="http://www.weread.org/kids/index.php">http://www.weread.org/kids/index.php</a><br /><br />Many of the links above are mentioned on this site. It is an incredible site that not only gives links to a number of places where you can find free children's books, but also also provides a multitude of good reading tips for teaching reading to children…plus all sorts of information about reading. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqs3NxBeXDXPN80Ldw77v8oJU0A1DYnrEAi2sDTAjVSQvr8O25jBSNHafOFmI6pa_sKuRpkMtQuOABVb4dV1vLeD2-kzAkn2QANAnyrVnLCUkyRsVN5EKVCMtwD1Zc2k_jOHhF09p67g/s1600-h/image51.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAP9qbwldtGCYKrwJGTIpcQPq9L9qq50Pvl_CX3VKZ-9wcZANsf4RPOLKmHJFr3zOF800WWNsZIGHQ7Hkle_109Fa1IzGfXWtmn6X2O8K0Tj8TsVNR2igG-j2uon9LnpnTemQPwL_FWPM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Application for the classroom</u></div>This last site in particular is worth dipping into. It gives some great tips for reading sessions and also had a page of reading games that one can play to stimulate an interest in words.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div></div>

Literacy Reading Technology integration 12 more places to find reading material for Foundation Phase learners

The Internet is a goldmine for reading materials. Earlier this week I wrote a post highlighting 12 websites that provide great reading mate...

Read more »