1. Create a bird gallery.  Students can add comments or even create the images that are shared.

2. Display art inspired by Calder.  Each student explains her/his own piece and comments on the work of others.

3. Take photos of a tree planting inspired by Wangari’s Trees of Peace.  Upload the photos into VoiceThread and have students narrate the events and explain their importance.

Check out VoiceThread by visiting http://voicethread.com.

2. All students can benefit from having their work “read” back to them by the computer in the same manner as above.  This helps them to spot spelling and grammatical errors.  The only word processing program that I have found that allows you to do this is Pages.

3. I often take screen shots to add to written directions.  On a Mac you can do this using the shortcut: Shift Command 4.  You can also use this using the free software Jing (www.jingproject.com/).

4.  Jing is also great for creating tutorials for students that they can watch as needed.

Taking Root: http://takingrootfilm.com/

Vermont Tree Society: www.vermonttreesociety.org/

Baby Animal Names: www.stteresa.net/babyanimalnames.htm

Marsupials: www.marsupials.org/

Koalas at National Geographic Kids: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/Koala

Video of burned koala saved by fire fighter: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/animals-news/koala-australia-fire-video-apvin.html

Pale Male: www.palemale.com/

Vermont Institute of Natural Science: www.vinsweb.org/index.html

The Great Back Yard Bird Count: www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Google Maps Pale Male sightings: http://maps.google.com/maps, search for Pale Male

Boris Kulikov’s website: www.boriskulikov.com

Calder Foundation: www.calder.org/

NGA Kids MOBILE: www.nga.gov/kids/zone/mobile.htm

Videos of Cirque Calder: www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/calder/fascinations_2.shtm; www.nga.gov/education/classroom/counting_on_art/popups/pop_calder_1.htm

NGA Virtual Tour of Calder Exhibit: www.nga.gov/exhibitions/calder/realsp/roomenter-foyer.htm

www.zoobooks.com

www.kidsclick.org/midanim.html

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals

Equipment needed: computer and color printer

Software needed: Internet browser, Kidspiration or online graphic organizer software such as Webspiration or Bubblus

1. Introduce students to graphic organizer software. Explain that they will make a bubble for each fact they find about their animal.  Think out loud as you demonstrate separating a bundle of facts about hawks or koalas. Model putting the facts in your own words.  Model saving your document.

2. Allow students several classes to research their animal and collect their facts in the graphic organizer.

3. Demonstrate creating “super groupers” and sorting facts.  Have a class discussion about how you can divide up your facts.  The science teacher I collaborate with likes these categories: facts, families, and habitat.

4. Students create super groupers and sort their facts.  At the end of the class they have an outline to guide their writing.

Equipment needed: computer

Software needed: Kidspiration

1. Demonstrate Kidspiration.  Show students how to scroll through the pictures and how to place a picture on the T chart.

2. Encourage students to put at least 5 images on each side of the T chart.

3. Allow students as long as needed to finish their T chart, assisting students who need additional help.

Please feel free to email me at jphillips@wswsu.org for a copy of this template if you have Kidspiration.

Project Pigeon Watch: www.birds.cornell.edu/pigeonwatch

Read Write Think’s Comic Creator: www.readwritethink.org/MATERIALS/comic/