Our Animal Projects

We have completed our animal projects with the help of some 5th grade tech buddies. The students chose the pictures and placements of the objects. The 5th grade tech buddies helped with some of the accessibility issues, spelling words, and navigating the school's "common drive" to obtain the pictures. It has been a great, collaborative project. I look forward to doing more of these projects next year! We will continue to talk about animals (food, habitat, environment) as we wrap up this school year.

We hope you enjoy our projects!If you have a second or 2, I know the students would love to receive comments! Thanks in advance!

Kamaiya's Elephant Glog created with the help of Joey from 5th grade.

Kearia's Giraffe Glog created with the help of Maggie from 5th grade.

Malone's Kangaroo Glog  created with the help of Jeffery from 5th grade.

Jacob's Emperor Penguin Glog created with the help of Lucas from 5th grade.

* For those of you checking out this blog for the first time, be sure to check out a few of the pages so you can see what the dynamics of our classroom looks like! Thanks for stopping by!!

Learning about the Zoo

Used with CC permission- Flickr user info

With the return from spring break, we will start with a Zoo theme. Here a list of web resources that we will be using during this theme as well as resources that may be of interest to students at home. I will also be posting some of the activities as we complete them in class. If you have any pictures from recent trips to the zoo, please send them in or email them to me. It would be a great way for us to begin discussing the zoo as well as help with generalizing of information.


The National Zoo
The Cincinnati Zoo
Auckland Zoo (New Zealand)
The San Diego Zoo
The Australian Zoo
Put Me in the Zoo webquest
School Zoo Adventure webquest
Dear Zoo webquest
Online Zoo Field Trips by Scholastic
National Geographic Kids - Creature Feature


A few You Tube Videos about the zoo (I have previewed the videos and at the time of post, they were appropriate for student viewing. Please be sure to supervise your child's online time as videos can be changed at anytime.)
The Kids ABC's At The Zoo
We Are Going to the Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo Tube - Cincinnati Zoo You Tube Channel
Emperor Penguins (BBC video)
African Elephant Family in Dessert
Kangaroos
Giraffe



SchoolTube Videos (To use when creating our Glog)
African Elephant
African Elephant
Emperor Penguin
Emperor Penguin BBC
Kangaroo - Katherine's Kangaroo project
My Pet Kangaroo
Mr. Giraffe poem
My Pet Giraffe
Giraffe


iPad apps
Amazing Zoo - interactive book
Peek-a-Zoo - great for cause/effect
Guess This Animal - animal facts and guessing game
Pocket Zoo
Photo Touch Zoo

Who’s New at the Zoo? - memory game
Curious George at the Zoo

FREE iBooks

100 Bug Facts
Baby Animals

Special Education Resources

I had the opportunity to host a Facebook chat as part of Technology in (SPL) Education's celebration of Autism Awareness Month. I hosted a discussion on special education while my Cleveland counterpart, Morgan Kolis (@room5friends), fielded questions and facilitated a discussion around IEPs.

Here are some resources mentioned throughout out discussions. Keep in mind these resources are posted for your information. They are not necessarily recommended my Morgan or myself. J

Discussion about IEPs:

- Re: a question about beginning writing with a child with CP who has limited hand control – Abilitations Integrations AbiliGrip Foam Holders

- Re: An IEP for a student with apraxia- “Apraxia-KIDS”

- Re: An IEP for a student with apraxia- “Working on Reading Comprehension…”

- Re: Questions about IDEA – Ohio’s Whose IDEA Is This? from June 2010

- Re: Conversation about transitions- “Everyone’s Favorite Part of an IEP Meeting: Continuum of Placement Options”

- Re: Conversation about transitions- “Transition to Middle School”

- Re: Conversation about transitions- “Transitioning a Child with Special Needs is Always Difficult”

- Re: Specially Designed Instruction – “Examples of Good IEP Content”

Discussion on Special Education:

- For SMART Board Users- SMART Exchange

- For Resources from Starfall- Make a Calendar

- For Starfall Apps- Starfall ABC, Starfall Gingerbread, Starfall Snowman

- For wording at an IEP meeting- iAdvocate App

- For great blogs- Broxterman’s Bugle

- For great technology in special education- Teaching with Technology 2.0

- For IEP Accommodations and Modifications- A List of Typical Special Ed. Accommodations

- For more accommodations and modifications- Effective Accommodations for IEPs

- For even more – Special Education Terminology

- For programs/products that help differentiate- Learning A-Z

- For inclusion resources- “Re-Imagining Inclusive Supports”

- ShowMe Interactive App for the iPad- ShowMe Tutorial

- More Inclusive Ideas- Include. Belong. Learn.

- For materials- Making Learning Fun and KidsSoup

- For more materials- Childcare Land and Pre-School Printables

- For an Awesome Web Browser just for our kiddos- ZAC Browser

- Free Teaching Resources- Learning Page

- For a Special Education Resource- TinSnips

- A great collection of resources for autism- Positively Autism

- The book Tuesday by David Weisner- Tuesday

- Another web site- ABCmouse

- More resources- File Folder Heaven

- UDL/ Differentiation – UDL Bookbuilder

- For info. about Puberty, etc.- Puberty, Sex Ed. and the Child with Special Needs

- Visual Recipes from Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs

- Another website – sqworl

- To use flash on the iPad- Use Rover.


*This list was used with permission from MKolis.

Blog the day!

Thank you, Technology in (SPL) Education, for choosing my classroom blog as the blog of the day!

My original goal for this blog was to share the great things my students were doing in class with the parents; however, over the past year it has grown into so much more. I have connected with so many wonderful educators and parents through this blog. Please feel free to look around, explore my "classroom", and ask questions. If you are interested in more information about technology and using "web 2.0" tools with ALL students, head over to my new website, Teaching with Technology 2.0. My goal for the website is to focus on how we can create 21st century learners for ALL students (and of course, talk iPads and app!). It is a work in progress, so pardon the website's "growing pains."

Thanks again, Siva!  Who knew after your email and comment to my blog last year, this is where we would be!

~ Melanie

Thank You!

A very special THANK YOU to the Princeton voters!!

Thank you for supporting the students and staff in the recent levy. 

Thank you for recognizing and

protecting the 

PRINCETON VALUE!!

Music: "Laughter" from Portraits by Luke D. Rosen