Heather's Blog Spot: October 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Google Maps - week 7

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I have lots of “lessons” in mind that I would love to teach to my third graders. We have actually looked at Google Earth in class before, but have not specifically used Google Maps. One thing that I would love to do with my kids is to have them start by typing in their own address for the starting point, then use the destination point as our school address. Once the kids have created that simple map, I would have them print their maps. The next step would be for the kids to type specific directions (using north, east, south, west, right, left, etc.) of the steps to take from getting from point A to point B in Microsoft Word. I can’t wait to try this lesson with my kids, as we are studying cardinal and intermediate directions in Social Studies, and we have been working on our typing skills in Microsoft Word each week in the computer lab.

Another lesson that I think would be very cool would be to map out a walking trail of the Wise Farm Preserve, which is a nature center that our school district owns. The center is located just outside of town and we can take free field trips to the Wise Farm at any time throughout the year. Classes go there for fun picnics, leaf collecting and tree identifying, finding organisms, etc. There is a vast majority of things that classes have access to out there that are educational. I would LOVE to have kids be able to pull the Wise Farm up on Google Maps and map out the trail they are going to walk, or on the other hand after we did the walk I would like to have them map out the trail they already walked afterward. I have not figured out how to get the one specific location that zoomed in to conduct something like this …if anyone has a suggestion please feel free to let me know. That would be the lesson I would like to do the best, but the other one listed above would be very fun, too. I could even give the kids a Social Studies grade on the accuracy of their map description!

*For the map above I typed in my own address for the starting point and ended with the school address.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Podcasts

Below is a link to a website that contains numerous podcasts about using an interactive Smartboard...

http://teachingwithsmartboard.com/

I chose this particular site of podcasts because our entire school district recently purchased Smartboards for all classes, K-12. The boards are very new to the teachers and some are hesitant to use them. Many teachers do not know the potential of what these boards can do. The numerous podcasts on the link above are ALL about the Smartboard. The podcasts vary from how to use the baord, creating certain lessons, using various tools in the Smartboard, etc. One of my particular favorites is the 50th episode, which lists the top 50 favorite things about the Smartboard (according to the podcasters). There are many interesting podcasts within this site. I will be referring teachers in my building to check this site out! ENJOY!