Dianne Krause's List: Elementary Resources

"On October 29, 2014 the Alliance for Excellent Education hosted a webinar in its Project 24 leadership series. Project 24 is a systemic planning framework around the effective use of technology and digital learning to achieve the goal of college and career readiness for all students. This webinar focused on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1998 to protect the online privacy of children.

More than fifteen years later, as digital learning constitutes a critical component of education both in and out of school, COPPA has become yet another hurdle between teachers and connecting students to digital learning opportunities. The webinar explored what educators need to know about this law, and how they and school administrators can successfully navigate COPPA to ensure that students are afforded the full benefits of online and blended learning opportunities.  It showed how teachers can provide consent for students to register for online websites.  It explored whether or not students who are under thirteen years old can even use Web 2.0 resources without running afoul of the law.  And it dealt with how school districts assume the duty of COPPA compliance.

During the webinar, Mark Cheramie Walz gave educators straight-forward answers on how to comply with COPPA without sacrificing the potential that digital learning and online resources afford. Tom Murray from the Alliance moderated the discussion. Mr. Cheramie Walz and Mr. Murray also addressed questions submitted by webinar viewers from across the country."

"The printables encourage writing and thinking in a quick and fun way. A student's efforts to complete the printable can then become the first step in writing longer essays, poems or stories on the same subject. The printables also can be used with students enrolled in literacy and English-As-Second Language (ESL, ESOL) programs and provide an educational resource for teaching language arts."

"Newsela is an innovative way for students to build reading comprehension
with nonfiction that's always relevant: daily news. It's easy and amazing.
Register now or learn more about the impact Newsela can have on your classroom."

"Digital Passport is fun and effective.
Web-based games and videos engage 3rd - 5th graders in independent learning
Modules zero in on critical skills related to digital safety, respect, and community
Collaborative classroom activities reinforce online lessons
Students earn badges toward a Digital Passport
Teachers get robust reports to demonstrate student success
Currently available on the web and coming soon for mobile devices
Supports responsible use policies and E-rate
FREE to your school thanks to generous support from our sponsors"

"Let's consider some activities that allow a student to show understanding of a
book and that might be enjoyable. This selection of activities is also intended
to meet the needs of different kinds of learners -- or to contribute to the
development of skills beyond writing. I often allowed students choice in
deciding how they wanted to respond to a book -- they could choose from a list
like the one below."

Welcome! Here There Everywhere is a news website/blog designed for elementary school-aged children. Its purpose is to show kids how they are connected to their world and introduce them to the people and events shaping it. It credits children with being interested in and being able to understand some of the more newsy topics (though there will be lots of the fun stuff, too!). HTE can be read with a caregiver or without.

SlimeKids features an extensive collection of book trailers organized by year and by grade level as well as numerous language arts-related games in such categories as spelling, typing, vocabulary and grammar. Additionally, the website showcases an array of exceptional literacy-related resources such as author and book review websites as well as superb learning tools including reference works and search engines.

I have broken the research process up into mini-lessons, which will ultimately culminate in a larger project.

Nice creative things students can create for Christmas

The 4th Annual Elementary Technology Conference is designed especially for K-6 classroom teachers. Come join your colleagues as they share ways to engage your students with technology-rich lessons and ideas. Choose from over 16 sessions on instructional best practices to new Web 2.0 tools and more!

We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online.

We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a platform for caregivers and educators to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.

We Give Books also helps some of the world's best, most inspiring, literacy organizations by spreading the word about their great work and by providing books to the young people these organizations support.

A great wiki chocked full of resources for literacy in education including:  Brain based learning, comprehension strategies & lessons, independent reading, lesson design, videos, word study, writing lessons, written response lessons, vocabulary and more!

64 Interesting Ideas* for Class Blog Posts

There are a variety of different kindergarten activities to do mixed throughout these worksheets. Learning and fun are the key ingredients to a successful worksheet. The free activities are all original and unique to this website. Choose from over forty categories of kindergarten printables. Kids and students will enjoy the worksheets for days. The math section includes addition, subtraction, counting, fraction, place value, graphs, measurement, pattern words, and numbers activities. The English section includes reading, alphabet, writing, phonics, vocabulary, sight words, opposites, rhyming words, and spelling activities. The general learning section includes science, Spanish, social studies, dinosaur, health, zoo, language, butterfly, and coloring activities. The last section is our holiday group. This includes Easter, Christmas, summer, winter, spring, fall, Thanksgiving, and Halloween activities.

PrimaryPad is a web-based word processor designed for schools that allows pupils and teachers to work together in real-time.

NICE alternative to Google Docs for the younger students or anyone not wanting to worry about accounts.

The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Its innovative display encourages exploration and learning. You'll understand language in a powerful new way.

Instant Poetry forms.. enter your own information and a poem is formed. A lot of different options!

Shel Silverstein's website - great interactive activities for kids as well as resources for teachers and parents

Everloop is the leading online social media site for kids and tweens to connect with friends, play games, discover new talents, create and have fun in a safer environment. Created specifically for kids, loops are a central feature to the site.  Loops are small communities centered around interests in such categories as music, sports, hobbies, movies, nature, story writing, photo sharing and more. Patent-pending technology allows kids to start loops of their own or join loops that match their interests and the breadth of content on Everloop supports development of core skills including creativity, collaboration and communication. Above all, safety is the top priority and Everloop employs the most comprehensive privacy protection and 24/7 moderation technology of any social networking site built for kids to guard young users against bullying, bad language and inappropriate sharing of information. Free to join.

Youngzine is a one-of-a-kind Web site where children can learn about current news and events shaping their world -- in a simple, engaging and interactive manner. Our goal is to help parents and educators create a vibrant community of globally aware young citizens in an increasingly connected world. Along with news stories written specifically with our young audience in mind, Youngzine strives to inform using fun trivia, compelling visuals and videos.
Youngzine is more than a passive website; it is a community of children, parents and teachers who recognize the importance of living in this highly interconnected age where our actions have far reaching impact. Children are encouraged to express their views, submit articles, book reviews or travelogues, and all content is moderated by the editorial team.