PEEP and the Big Wide World

PEEP and the Big Wide World is a fun website for kids to explore math and science concepts. You can click on Games and interact with flash activities that target skills such as: patterns, natural cycles, counting, observation, sound, habitats, and much more! It is also a big plus if students are already familiar with PEEP; they will be engaged with PEEP's many games, activities, and videos.


http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/


Round and Round is a game where students can choose a plant or animal from the landscape and learn how its natural cycle grows and changes over time. Students then have the opportunity to place the missing cycle pieces in the correct order to see how the cycle begins and continues. I like that there is a narrator who explains each step in the cycle after it is complete.

I would also recommend checking out Music & Videos. There will be a list of This Week's Videos you can choose from, or you can see what will be playing next week. If you click on the closed captioning symbol (cc), you can have students read along while the video is playing. Great for emergent readers, ELL's, or just visual support.

To find other great math or science interactive sites, click on my LiveBinders on the right column. I have tons bookmarked! Also, if you have any great sites that you love to share please leave a comment and I'll add it to my list :)

Fuel the Brain

One thing I always loved about math is being able to use a lot of cool manipulatives with the students. However, that does not mean you have to literally drag out the materials every single time you introduce a math concept. There are a lot of great interactive math websites out there that engage students and compliment your lesson. Best of all, no clean up! Below I spotlighted a few interactive games from Fuel the Brain. Check out their website to explore more (http://www.fuelthebrain.com).

The Hungry Spider is great for primary grades. First, they pick their bug of choice and then they have fun collecting them. You can take turns as a whole group or have students practice on the computer while in centers. 

http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Interactives/app.php?ID=295



http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Interactives/app.php?ID=295



With Flash Interactive, base ten blocks or ten frames flash on the screen for a set time limit. The student then types in the number that was shown. The time decreases the more the student answers correctly and time increases with incorrect answers.  

http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Interactives/app.php?ID=29

http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Interactives/app.php?ID=29

I have to say Jelly Golf is by far the favorite of the interactive games. Students play 9 holes of fraction fun by holding and draging  the golf club to match the fraction given. Push swing and watch to see if you get a hole in one!

http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Game/play.php?ID=215

http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Game/play.php?ID=215

Random Name Pickers

Tired of pulling popsicle sticks to randomly choose students? Make it more exciting by using one of the random name pickers to select students. They are super easy to use! The first one is called The Hat and is a free software download that takes no time at all. Once it is downloaded, an icon of a hat will appear on your desktop. When you launch the program, all you have to do is click the green plus sign to add your students' names.

  

The Hat

http://www.harmonyhollow.net/hat.shtml

You then have the choice to pick individual names or pick pairs. I really like the idea of picking pairs because students never like who you pair them with anyways. Now you can tell them it was completely random :)

When you are ready, click on the hat icon in the toolbar and now you can begin randomly picking student names!

The other random name picker I like to use is on Classtools.net. It is internet based so if you don't like downloading you may prefer this one. Again, all you would need to do is add a list of your students' names. It can be copied and pasted from a word document or spreadsheet to make it easier.

Classtools.net

There are two different versions you can use for the random name picker. However, the Fruit Machine seems to be the most popular but it is still definitely worth it to try the Typewriter version out.

Easter Interactive Activities and Resources

Easter is just a few days away so here are some great interactive activities to get you through the end of the week. Check out a few of the sites below.

Easter Collection

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6073087

 This site has SO many cute resources to choose from such as flashcards, templates, PowerPoints, and interactive games. You will need to setup an account to download the resources but it's FREE so no worries there. I always like to visit this site for interactive games to use on the whiteboard...they do have tons. For the primary grades, the Egg Patchwork activity is a fun one to try out.

Egg Patchwork



http://www.iboard.co.uk/activity/3069



I mentioned this next website in a previous post but Sheppard Software really does have fabulous games. The students can interact with the Easter Egg Hunt or other spring activities listed on the site. 

Sheppard Software



http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/holidays/easter/


Primary Games also has a complete list of Easter and Spring games students could play during center or computer time. Some of them are purely just for fun so I would recommend showing them the games that focus more on a concept.

Primary Games

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/easter/games.htm



Other sites to check out....

Funschool

http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/easter/



A Kid's Heart 

http://akidsheart.com/holidays/easter/egames.htm



Welcome to Enchanted Technology!

I am so excited to officially get my blog up and going! I have been experimenting with it for the last few weeks but I think it is finally time to share it out. Of course, I will continue to tweak it here and there because the work will never be completely done. I hope you will take a moment to join the site and check back often to read the new posts. This is my first adventure into the blogging world so here I go!!! Please just let me know if you have any comments or suggestions for topics you wish to see.