A Little "Light" Reading

One of my favorite blogs to stalk, the Clutter-Free Classroom, is hosting a linky party about our summer reading plans, plus there's a contest for a $15 gift certificate. Woot! I just gotta link up!

Click the pic to go directly to the Linky Party & Contest!

Here's what I'm reading currently:

I am a huge Rick Riordan fan and have read the other Kane Chronicle books, so I had to get this downloaded to my Kindle. This is a great read for upper elementary grades and is FULL of Egyptian history and myth!

I plan on re-reading these two books and begin to map out what Daily 5 is going to look like in my classroom. I'm very excited because I'm going to a district where everyone does D5! It's going to be a great learning experience!

Here are a few I plan on reading this summer:

I really want to beef up my writing instruction next year, and this is a book

I keep seeing in the "blogosphere". It's got to be good!

This is another one I've heard buzz about. I've heard excellent things about Debbie Diller, so I look
forward to learning more about doing small groups more effectively. 

Ok, now it's your turn to link up and share your summer reading plans! Have a faboo Friday!!

Music in the Classroom Link Up

I ran across a post from Jack of All Trades, Beg, Borrow, & Teach! and Special Teaching in Middle about using music and video to help students remember concepts better, so I thought I'd link up because I LOVE using music in the classroom. They each posted some really neat video and music ideas, so go read their blogs when you are finished with mine! ;)

First of all, I love using music simply as background music. There are research-based studies that state music with certain beats per minute actually stimulates thinking and focus. With this in mind, I like to use sites like Pandora or Grooveshark to simply play what I call "thinking music" while students are working. You can search for classical music or (my favorite) Celtic music and create stations on each of these sites.

Now, if you're looking for music/video to actually reinforce instruction,  I love School House Rock. Yeah, I know, it's "old school," but the oldies never die, my friends! Another class-favorite is Teacher & the Rockbots. I've linked up a few videos we've used in class. Enjoy!

We break out the air guitars and rock out to the 50 States song.

This is another fun one the kids enjoy!

An oldie, but a goodie!

Now, it's your turn! Link up and share your favorite learnin' tunes and vids! :) 

Josh

VoiceThread

Good morning to all you Beach Bums and Surfers out there! :) You can pick which one you are. Today I am a total beach bum. I have a serious case of bed head and totally am totally content vegging out on the couch with my coffee and laptop. :)

Today I thought I'd share another fun Web 2.0 tool with you called VoiceThread. VoiceThread allows you to create a collaborative presentation using visual and audio media. You can upload scanned pictures, documents (like Powerpoints), or video. Other VoiceThread users can comment on your work as well. In general, VT is free, but there is a paid membership option which gives you more bells & whistles to work with. I've embedded my research project for my Master's degree as an example for you guys. I apologize in advance if I stutter or flub up my words. ;)

So you know what time it is now! It's comment time! How do you see yourself using VoiceThread in instruction? For me, I think this would be great as a way for students to collaborate in a digital storytelling project. Each student can illustrate a page of their story and tell it on the VoiceThread. 

It's your turn! And.... GO!