Tech+Activities+for+Grades+5-8

Tech Activities for Grades 5-8 Technology resources to use in your classrooms.


 * General Resources **

Internet4Classrooms @http://www.internet4classrooms.com/ Excellent resource – designed by teachers and has everything from activities to projects to plans and more.

Educational PowerPoints for Learning @http://www.kidinfo.com/Powerpoints.htm Pre-made PowerPoint presentations on a very wide variety of topics. Click on a subject and find a list of presentations that you can use, and even edit to better suit your needs.

Puzzlemaker @http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/?CFID=13047930&CFTOKEN=88698883 Create word searches, crossword puzzles and more.

FactMonster @http://www.factmonster.com/ Excellent reference site.

PBS Learning Media <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> @http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Create a free login to have access to thousands of resources by subject and grade level.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Thinkfinity <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> @http://www.thinkfinity.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">lists a huge variety of lesson plans and activities. It also allows you to search for activities based on State Standards. @http://www.thinkfinity.org/state-standards-search

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Mr. Nussbaum <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.mrnussbaum.com/index.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Although the ads are very annoying (you can get an ads-free version for a fee) clicking on the tab for the subject you’re interested in will lead to links upon links.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Language Arts **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Read Write Think <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.readwritethink.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">A whole list of lesson plans, writing activites and interactives.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Boys Read <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.boysread.org/index.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">A wonderful resource, even if you just use the book list.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Girls Read <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> @http://www.hclib.org/kids/books/booklistaction.cfm?list_num=524 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">A list designed by the Hennepin County Library.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">How To Do Research <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.kyvl.org/kids/homebase.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The Kentucky Virtual Library presents an interactive on the different steps of doing research in a “kid-friendly” format.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Free Rice <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://freerice.com/category <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Answering questions allows you to earn rice to be donated to the World Food Programme. Now has topics other than just vocabulary.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Wacky Web Tales <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.eduplace.com/tales/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Just like it’s paper and pencil counterpart, this is a fun way to teach students grammar.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Math **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Khan Academy <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.khanacademy.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This began when Sal Khan started long distance tutoring a cousin who was having trouble understanding unit conversion. It has grown to over 2,400 videos (most about 10 minutes long) covering not only math, but science and other topics as well.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">World Math Day <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.worldmathsday.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Mark your calendars. The next World Math Day will be in March 2012. You register your class, and students can then compete against students across the world, solving math problems in games which last 60 seconds. After the 60 seconds is up, they move on to another student – kind of like speed dating, but with math.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">IXL <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.ixl.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Math Practice – click on your grade and then math skill.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Sheppard Math <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm – Math section of Sheppard Software Site. Good site to explore.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">BBC Math <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> @http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/11_16/site/maths.shtml <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Interactive math games for students 11-14.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Illuminations <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://illuminations.nctm.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Site created by the NCTM. Has lessons, activities, standards and resources.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Science **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">NOVA <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Click on a category and you get a list of various media on topics in that category.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Life is BBC Earth <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://lifeis.bbcearth.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Has monthly themes, but you can click on the little magnifying glass to “see more stuff”.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Learning Science.org <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.learningscience.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Lists of interactive activites and information, categorized by type of science.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The American Library Association has put together a collection of the best websites for kids. Their science section has a large assortment of links on various science topics.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Study Jams <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/index.htm <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This can go under math or science. It’s a Scholastic product and uses everything from videos to songs to quizzes on a number of math and science topics.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The Yuckiest Site on the Internet <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The name says it all – students will love it.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Social Studies **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">History.com <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.history.com/topics <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Provides videos and information on a variety of topics, as well as a section on “This Day in History”. You may prefer to use this with a projector, as the ads and links to other programs may prove distracting to students. You might not mind if students stray to “How the States got their Shapes”, but would probably prefer they stay away from “American Pickers”.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Sheppard Software <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Geography Games of increasing difficulty. Check the other games as well by clicking on links at the top of the page.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">National Geographic Map Skills <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/toolsforadventure/games/pyramid.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Use map skills in these interactive games.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Jamestown Online Adventure <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Like Oregon Trail, but using the Jamestown Colonies.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Mr. Donn <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.mrdonn.org/index.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Has links for a whole timeline of social study categories. A word of caution, if you go to the games section, you may want to select interactive activities for your students and post or bookmark the link. The activities themselves are great, but the ads on the host page are not necessarily what you might want in school.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Make your own mummy <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/mummy.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Site from the University of Chicago allows students to simulate the steps of making a mummy.