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BookPALS Storyline Online

http://www.storylineonline.net/

Performance Indicator ELA1.E.LR1E: Students make appropriate and effective use of strategies to construct meaning from print, such as prior knowledge about a subject, structural and context clues, and an understanding of letter-sound relationships to decode difficult words.

>>Once on the website, students will be able to print and (assemble) to stories in proper order.

Clifford The Big Red Dog: Road To Reading

http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/read/roadtoreading/index.htm

Performance Indicator ELA2.E.LR1A: Students read a variety of literature of different genres: picture books;poems;articles and stories form children’s magazines;fables, myths and legends;songs, plays and media productions; and works of fiction and nonfiction intended for young readers.

>>Students will be able to (identify) words to read and then listen to the computer voice.

I’m Reading!

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-c/index/load.htm?f

Performance Indicator ELA2.E.LR1A: Students read a variety of literature of different genres: picture books; poems; articles and stories from children’s magazines; fables, myths and legends; songs, plays and media productions; and works of fiction and nonfiction intended for young readers.

>>Students will be able to (apply) new concepts of different genres to their everyday life.

ABC alphabet and Phonemic Awareness Practice for Kindergarten, ESL (EFL), Preschool & Special Education

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/load.htm?f

Performance Indicator ELA1.E.SW2C:Students use a few traditional structures for conveying information such as chronological order, cause and effect, and similarity and difference.

>>Students will be able to (arrange) the alphabet in chronological order. Students will be able to (construct) letter sound recognition for each letter and (apply) it to a word with that letter.

Ideas for Writers – Grade 2

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/ideasforwriters/gr2/menu2.html

Performance Indicator ELA1.E.SW2G:Students observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms.

>>Students will be able to (identify) picture prompts, title ideas, and paragraph starters to help the writing process begin.

I knew that companies like McDonald’s  looked to make sure  no one would use their copyrighted materials. One thing that I did not know, was that even though the publisher gave our school district their textbooks, it does not mean I can copy whatever I want for any purpose I wanted.  I know now that I am limited to about one copy per student and the copy must be linked directly to the lesson that I am teaching.  An unfortunate thing I learned about copyright is about the video and audiotapes.  Especially during the final week of school, you can find any classroom watching a movie the teacher brought in from home.  My Kindergarteners were watching “NEMO” on the last day of school.  Even for our graduation, the music teacher had to copy a CD for each teacher to review the songs the students would be singing.  As a teacher, I never even thought that what I was doing was illegal or that there could be consequences.  The goal now is to see if I really change now that I know.

I was wondering as a teacher, what really was and was not allowed to be copied for school purposes.  As I stated before, there were many times I did not have enough to go around and had to copy for my students.  There was never a time that I thought I copied in an excess for my class.  Now that I look back on it, there were times the reading teacher would give us sample tests and we would copy them to test our students.  I can’t even remember where the tests came from.  I think off the web.  I did remember asking at one school and was told nothing in answer to my question.  What if copying those tests were a copyright infringement?  Who could come after the teachers and what would they do?   How responsible would the school district be?

What I know about copyrights

I know that I would need permission from an outside source, like a library book to copy and use in my classroom.  I thought that it was okay to copy the textbooks as often as we need because we already have an agreement with the publishers.    Recently I noticed a notice by the school copier stating that we needed written permission from the textbook publishers before making large quantities of copies.  I remember remarking that it was difficult to teach the materials without the copies due to the districts lack of adequate book funds.  If I did not have enough books for all my students, or were told not to send the books home, how else would I be able to give my students their assignments.  Copyright issues also seem to be one of those topics some people in the school just turn their head on.  I am not really that sure how important it is in the school setting.

Definitions of collaboration:

<www.thefreedictionary.com>
1. To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.
2. To cooperate treasonably, as with an enemy occupation force in one’s country.

<www.dictionary.com>
1. the act of process of collaborating
2. a product resulting from collaboration: This dictionary is a collaboration of many minds

<www.answers.com> synonym of collaboration is
coaction, cooperation, synergy, and teamwork

Three Ideas Proposed by David Rose in the UDL Podcast

1. Brain research helps us to see how the brain learns and how to better teach students based on how their brain learns.
2. Digital media can be made to teach students individually. Traditional media tells the same story in the same way every time. If a student does not get it that way, they may not learn it at all. Digital media is adapted to meet the needs of all learners.
3. Assessments also need to be individualized. If there is a dyslexic students reading a math test and they are unable to understand the words, their math grade suffers. This is not a true representation of what they understand of math.
4. I agree with Mr. Rose’s closing comments. I am one of those people that need to read something in order to fully understand the material. It was hard for me to stay focused while listening to him and trying to take notes. I did find it easier to have a copy of the notes in the sidebar and add to them as he went along. I may have been better off reading the book personally.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

The positives to letting my students have access to these documents would be so they can all read it. I may want to give them homework where they need to edit and correct simple mistakes.

The negatives to letting students have access to these documents are that you never really know who is on and what they may do to the documents. I may ask my students to edit a piece and they may want to add profanity to it. What if a student is upset and wants to act out towards another students. Would my document be a place where that can happen?

Del.icio.us – What is it?

Think about that ‘favorites’ toolbar on you server. There are many websites that you use over and over again but you want them in one place so that all you have to do is click and you are there. Now image your favorite blogs, pictures, links, videos and podcasts are that easy to find. What about someone else’s links? Pour all these ingredients into a bowl and mix. This is what Del.isio.us is. A ‘toolbar’ or page where everything you use all the time is right at your fingertips.  And the best thing about it?  If you are away from your computer, it is no problem.  Del.icio.us is available anywhere in the world as long as there is the WWW.