Book Gravy

Hi there! It's Tech Tuesday again, and time to share an online app that I find useful for organizing thoughts, and sparking collaboration and conversation for group projects, teacher presentations, and more. Where to find it? Visit the Popplet website at www.popplet.com . Then log-in or register as a first-time user.  The Popplet app is also available for android phones and iPhones.  You can use the free membership that allows for 10 Popplet presentations, or upgrade for more features. What will you find? Every Popplet project begins with a blank canvas.  From there, double-click to add a popple, and then insert text, links, pictures, and YouTube clips, and draw inside the popples.  Popples can be moved by clicking on them and dragging them around the canvas or by dragging them into each other to form links between popples.  The popples can also be resized, relabeled, and color coordinated for organizational purposes. Collaborators for a popplet are invited by e...

Today, I'd like to share a free online encyclopedia published by DK, Dorling Kindersley.  This website puts together the vivid photography DK is known for in print, and combines it with a user-friendly format that is ideal for information discovery, from pre-K to high school. Where to find it? Go the the DK Find Out! website:   http://www.dkfindout.com/us/   There are also websites for parents and teachers. What will you find? The home page always displays a topic of interest that can be explored.  Currently, for fall, the home site visually displays how leaves change color, then provides a link for further discovery. From the home page, students can search for topics of interest using the query search box, or select one of the available topics, which include animals, space, and other high interest subjects.  The home page also provides quizzes, videos, articles, and other options for students to explore.  A search results bar is located at the bottom of ev...

Read Alouds for October Creepy  Carrots! Written by Aaron Reynolds, pictures by Peter Brown. The black and white (and orange) illustrations give this scary story a creepy, classic horror film feel.  And the creepy carrots will make you think twice next time you select carrots from the salad bar.  Great for ages 5-12.  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams, illustrated by Megan Lloyd A fun, engaging book that invites audience participation.  The students have fun making all the silly and scary sounds, and trying to figure out what will become of the little old lady and the clothes that follow her home.   Ages 5-8   Harper Collins. Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden Paperback, by George Levenson, photographs by Shmuel Thaler  Follow this pumpkin patch from seed to jack-o-lantern, and back to seed.  The vivid photographs and rhyming text make this a great intro...

It's Tech Tuesday, and today I'm sharing software that may change the way you look at presentations. Prezi  software offers a new way of presenting information.  As the website states, "Unlike static slides, Prezi combines motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to engage your audience and help them remember your message." Where to find it? You can access prezi by going to www.prezi.com .  Then log in or register as a first time user.  You can also log in through your Facebook account. What will you find? Each prezi begins with either a template, or a clear canvas, on which you will organize all your media.  As you construct your prezi, you can create it to show the whole canvas, zoom in on a particular area of the canvas, or zoom in even further for more detailed information.  You create an order for the information you are presented, similar to slides, and change the order as needed. Before beginning your first Prezi, you can take the interactive tutori...

It's Tech Tuesday! Today, I'm sharing a website that is already available to anyone using Fontana Unified SD computers.  World Book Online is an excellent research tool that provides different websites for the different grade level needs. Where to find it? World Book can be accessed on site from the Redwood Elementary School's website  and from the library home page .  To sign on from home, use the Fontana Unifed School District's Student website . What will you find? Once on the World Book Online website, you will find several products, each tailored to function for the different learners in grades K-12: Early World of Learning - For children ages preschool through grade 2, this resource provides things to read, watch, play and print or do (like coloring pages).  It provides dozens of beginning reader books to read and to be read to , and the option to print out readers for future use. Kids!  - The website uses images to engage young learners. There are i...