Nov

21

Smart Board Tutorial #3 – Linking Within Notebook

November 21, 2009 | | Leave a Comment

Greetings-

Attaching my Jing Screencast to this post that will discuss the ways to attach/link within Notebook Files to make navigation easier on yourself as a teacher.

I found out the hard way when I first began making multi-page Notebook Files that it was in the best interest of the lesson to not continuously be manually clicking back and forth between your Notebook pages. This was especially crucial for me as a 1st Grade teacher, because down-time is the enemy of teachers of 6-7 year olds.

So when I started building my Everyday Mathematics Unit Lessons, I wanted a way to navigate through the lesson seamlessly and know exactly where I wanted to go within my daily lessons. That is where the concept of a Table of Contents page came to mind for each lesson in the unit. I could then link to each lesson through the text in the T.O.C.

So below is a short introduction on how to do this so you can begin to create a more smooth lesson with less down-time for your students.

If anyone reading this blog has an idea/”how to” question dealing with Notebook Software Lesson Development, please email me at blingle78@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Nov

15

Smart Board Tutorial #2 – Text Tricks Vol.1

November 15, 2009 | | Leave a Comment

Greetings-

I thought I would like to venture into a new realm of professional development and try to share some tips that were helpful to me when I first started using the Notebook Software that came with my SMART Board. I am hoping that once these tutorials are in place, that they will be helpful to some of you when it comes to creating your own awesome Notebook Files for your students.

Tonight’s tutorial is going to be a start of some really cool tricks you can do with the text within a Notebook File that will give your student’s the “wow”  and the “how did you do that” factor. I was approached to try and come up with a way that a student or teacher could touch a word within a sentence and have it “transform” or “reveal” some hidden text behind it to correlate with a lesson. I must stress the really awesome thing about the Notebook Software is that what I am about to show is not the only way to accomplish this goal. In Notebook there are usually many ways to accomplish the tasks you would like to do within a lesson, and none of them are the wrong way.

So, attached below is my second shot at using Jing and Screencast together and the Tutorial that came out of it. As before if the video below is too little for you, you can click here to see the Full Screen version (or just click the far right hand side of the video toolbar below).

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Nov

14

SMART Board Tutorials – #1 Adding Audio

November 14, 2009 | | Leave a Comment

Greetings-

I thought I would like to venture into a new realm of professional development and try to share some tips that were helpful to me when I first started using the Notebook Software that came with my SMART Board. I am hoping that once these tutorials are in place, that they will be helpful to some of you when it comes to creating your own awesome Notebook Files for your students.

The one thing that I have learned from my PLN (Professional Learning Network) over the last two years is that when you have some knowledge to share, it is so much to better to share it rather than just sit on it and never let anyone in on the secrets.

So, having said that, my initial and 1st tutorial will cover the topic of how to add and embed audio sound into a Notebook File without ITunes or any Media Player from opening up separately. Take a look below:

If you would like to see this video tutorial in a larger screen version please click here.

Please share your experiences with this resource in your own classroom with all of us in the comments section!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Oct

8

Unit 2 – Everyday Mathematics

October 8, 2009 | | 2 Comments

Greetings-

Well, the beginning of the school year certainly has taken away the daily aspects of keeping up with the likes of a blog, so I have had to put the blogging on the back burner until I can better handle these multiple tasks.

I am posting today about the latest addition to the Box.net shared folder I have created. It is a Notebook file that correlates with the 1st Grade Everyday Math Unit 2: Everyday Uses of Numbers.

EVD2.3

Below is the Table of Contents page that links you to each individualized lesson with the unit.

EVD2.0

Make sure to check out the Weather, Change, and Thermometer links within each days lesson plans. They are linked to specific daily calendar items that can be covered throughout the lesson now.

EVD2.1

Above is the Story of Money page where you can chart various topics about each coin. Look for specific links back to the lesson you were at in the top right (or sometimes top left) corners. If you notice a Light Blue Open Book Symbol on a Notebook page, this will link you back to the table of contents.

EVD2.2

One of the fun things that I have enjoyed doing through the construction process of these lessons, is trying to incorporate the interactive parts of the Notebook software with the Everyday Math games that the children play in the classroom. Above is an example of this. By adding the Flash-Based Die and creating a game board, we now have a Notebook version of the Penny-Nickel Exchange Game for the children to play on the SmartBoard.

If you have any questions as to how to work with this particular file, please feel free to contact me.

When I post lessons like this one and in the future I will be then posting the lessons onto my Box.net Share folder that is located at this Box.Net Link and is conveniently placed at the top right hand side of this blog.

Thanks for stopping by,
Bill

Aug

31

Speakaboos Speak to Our Class

August 31, 2009 | | Leave a Comment

Greetings,

With the start of the school year beginning for some already and some of us in the coming weeks, I am going back to the original plan for this site, which is to share some insight and depth into websites that could be considered useful in day-to-day classroom activities.

I will still be posting Notebook Lessons here when I complete them, but those may be few and far in between once the school year begins.

Tonight’s addition to the blog is a site ,called Speakaboos,that was listed in a teacher’s magazine (Scholastic Instructor) about a year ago and has been building it’s content since its inception in 2007. One of the big factors for me right off of the bat when I visit a site is the general aesthetics of the home page. I try not to fall into the whole “book by the cover” deal when it comes to websites, but more often than not, a home page that has a pleasing look, is one that is worth visiting. Speakaboos passed the initial “eye test” for me and is an overall great site to visit time and again.

Speak1

I think the About Us from the developers sums up the site really well, “Speakaboos brings classic children’s entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through amazing celebrity performances, beautiful illustrations, and original music. At Speakaboos, children develop literacy skills while learning about technology in a safe and fun environment.”

The site is divided up into six different sections of stories in Speakaboos, “Favorites, Fables, Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Songs.” The site has the help of celebrity readers with most of the audio stories and they all do a phenomenal job with being a good role model for fluency and expression.

speak2

The story above is from the Fairy Tales section and is read by Jim “Tuna” Halpert (aka John Krasinski) from The Office. Most of the stories are at a good length as well, so that the audience does not get bored at all during the listening. I have been overly impressed with all of the stories that my students and I listened to last school year. Below you will see some of the imagery that coincides with the telling of the story, the whole impact of the artist’s drawing and the telling make for a pleasant experience.

speak3

An additional bonus to the site that has been growing since the inception is the addition of comprehension worksheets that will connect the learners to the story.

speak4

Also a good addition is the activities page where the students and visitors can play games, print activities to do at home, sing some karaoke, send e-cards, participate in contests, & write in a diary. The Record Your Own section is still being worked on and I am very interested in how this turns out, because that would be a very cool addition to this already stellar site for children.

speak5

As with all of the posts that will be listed on this Blog, the site above is listed and categorized within the Moodle Companion Site. At the end of each post I will be listing exactly where to find this resource within the Moodle Companion Site.

{Box 15 – Teacher Resources} ~ {Kindergarten – 5th Grade Resources}
Speakaboos – Beginning Readers

Please share your experiences with this resource in your own classroom with all of us in the comments section!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Jul

27

Everyday Mathematics — Smart Board Style!!!

July 27, 2009 | | Leave a Comment

Greetings,

After two weeks of pruning and tweaking I believe I am satisfied with my first attempt at “Smart Boarding” an Everyday Mathematics Unit. I have had grand illusions of one day having all of my Scott Foresman Reading Street and my Everyday Math Units all rolled into snug and interactive Notebook Files for me to catalog away and add and delete as needed from year to year. So far I am 1/30 in Reading Street and now 1/10 in Everyday Math. I believe the toughest job is done now, since I have foundations set in both formats, I can just add and delete to the existing files. Well enough jabbering, onto the Notebook File.

When I first conceptualized this plan in my head I wanted to be able to utilize my Teacher’s Manual without holding the manual all the time, so I thought what if I took the main points I wanted to hit out of each day’s lesson and put it up onto a Notebook Page…Below is what I came up with.

A Table of Contents page with a link to each day’s lesson if you click on the text. Within each lesson at the bottom left hand side you will see an image of a Book. This is your link back to the Table of Contents at any point you would need to navigate back there. There are also links to the T.O.C on the Notebook Pages that will get used daily as part of the daily routine (Weather, Temperature, Days in School, etc.). This allows for easy navigation back to the lesson for the day (whatever it may be).

Here is a look at a common Notebook Page from the Everyday Math Lessons. The lesson number and description will be located at the top of the page and the points of emphasis for that lesson will be located within the box. You can see the T.O.C Link at the bottom left. The coins on the bottom right will take you to…

the “How Many Days in School” Notebook page. With my students I have them daily tell me with coins how many days we have been in school to help reinforce the coin recognition/counting/exchanging skills. You can see I have the T.O.C Link on this page in the top left hand corner

One thing to watch for within the lesson pages is items that I have boxed around in white lines. These items have links to either pages within the Notebook file or to Web sites to reinforce the skills being taught. Also, Math Journal & Home Link pages are linked to their pdf links by just clicking on the text.

Below is some more screen shots from the Notebook File…

Here is a look at the Daily Attendance Chart that I have done for years in the classroom every morning for the first half of the school year.

Tally Mark Charting

Monthly Weather Chart

If you have any questions as to how to work with this particular file, please feel free to contact me.

When I post lessons like this one and in the future I will be then posting the lessons onto my Box.net Share folder that is located at this Box.Net Link and is conveniently placed at the top right hand side of this blog.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill