technology+assignment

Technology Assignment: ===Here are some useful tools for second grade classroom teachers! They can be used in conjunction with my themed literature unit. ===

"True Friendship: What does it mean to be a true friend?-- a Keven Henkes Study and Themed Literature Unit".
1. [|Pintrest]education: Want to waste a couple hours? Pintrest is good for any project, but the education feed is searchable and contains a thousand options for any project. It has activity ideas, themed units and worksheets. If you need a quick idea, it is the place. I use it especially for arts and crafts and science experiments. This website has tons of themed units, I used it for ideas on Kevin Henkes books for my unit. 2. [|The Stacks]: A Scholastic site. It is a bit commercial, but it provides a forum for kids to talk about books safely. There are opportunities for kids to post book reviews and get reading recommendations. It also has games based on books and videos of author interviews. a great site to get kids interested in reading. It provides differentiation for students outside the average class range and can really excite reluctant readers. I use it especially for reading recommendations for advanced readers. In my Themed literature unit, I selected a range of books, this website provides added recomendations for students that are in a broader range of abilities than I anticipated. It can quikly sort through thousands of books to find one that is linked to the unit and at a "just right" level. 3.[| Teachers Pay Teachers]:  This is a link to the free version of this site. On it you can search for teacher created materials by grade level. Most are standards aligned. If you are slaving away over a hot keyboard to create the perfect worksheet on a standards based assignment, chances are, a well-designed version of your project is available here. I use it especially for anchor charts. I used the printouts and worksheets for ideas on activities that are linked to the skills in my TLU (writing a friendly letter and finding the main problem in a story). 4. [|Donors choose]: Is your last kickball deflated? Envious of others I-pads? Need seeds to kick-start your community garden? Donors choose is an amazing resource to expand your classroom. Submit a proposal and people can make your dreams come true. I plan to use this site to get gardening supplies to revive my schools program. This is a link to the teachers version of this site, some requests are even fufilled by Donors Choose! In conjunction with the TLU this site could be used in advance to fill gaps in a classroom library. It is especially useful to find class sets of books for the TLU, when so few classrooms have the copies required to run a large literature circle. Another option is the[| international childrens digital library], if your donors choose doesn't come through and you have the use of I-pads (we do in my class) then you can get electronic copies of these books. 5. [|Its not all flowers and sausages] Having a tough day and want to talk? This blog for educators helps teachers vent productively and get tips from other educators in the know. A great place to ask, “Is this normal?” without stirring the pot at your school. I plan to use this site on rough days, to remind me to have a sense of humor, and that I am not alone. Information on what works and what doesn't in literature circle can be found on this site, you can ask specific questions and get feedback from all over the country. This is particularly useful in my school, where other teachers are not doing lit circles and I have limited experience with them.