Newspaper Generator

Tuning in to EdmodoCon today (it's a virtual conference put on by Edmodo...check it out here).


One teacher shared a quick and easy resource that looks really cool with lots of uses!


The Newspaper Generator creates a jpeg with your typed text that looks just like a front page! 

How cool!  I could see using it as a student project or even on an assessment!  Other ideas??

Q is for Duck

We're talking about vocabulary instruction today and, boy, do I have a fun book to share!  It's an oldy but a goody! 

Q is for Duck!

This simple alphabet book has a format that is adaptable to any grade or subject area.  Each page has a "riddle" to it to guess why that letter stands for that particular object.  For instance, G is for horse.  Why?  Because a horse gallops!

 

Can you guess why H is for owl?  Because an owl hoots!

And it's great for higher or lower students along with showing their understanding of word relationships.  (Could be good for instruction on word analogies, too!)

Here are some the teachers in my workshop course came up with for content they teach:

L is for rock, because rock is the lithosphere.

M is for water, because water moves.

D is for the Civil Rights Movement, because African Americans faced discrimination.

V is for algebraic expression, because the variable is what you're solving for.

S is for terrace farming because it looks like steps.

 

ABC Economics

We're about to wrap up our last Social Studies unit of the year.  As a review, we played "ABC Economics."  For each letter of the alphabet, students had to list a term related to economics. 



First I gave the students about five minutes to see how many words they could come up with on their own.  Then I gave them about five more minutes to get with a buddy and add to their lists.  We share out and I was pleasantly surprised with all the terms they have learned.  The winners got reallllly close to being able to find one for each letter! 

The challenge was "X," for which we decided on "X boxes are scarce goods!"  Does that count? 

Bonus, every student said they did much better with this activity than they would have at the beginning of the unit.

It's a great informal assessment that could be used with many, many subjects.  Any good ideas?