13 Fabulous Science Websites

The web is full of websites that are great for teaching science to our elementary student. But where do you start? Which ones should you use? Which websites are worth your students' time? Which sites offer the best science experience for my students? I am glad you asked! Here is a list of 13 great science websites for elementary students.

1. Scientists at the Smithsonian

All of the different scientist at the Smithsonian talk about their jobs. The site has everything from a Dinosaur Hunter to a Moon Measurer. Love the variety!

2. Google Sky

Google Sky is like Google Map except it is a map of the stars. It isn't a live view but is images compiled from tools such as the Hubble Telescope. It has some really cool images and also gives an explanation of what you are seeing.

3. Project Noah

This is a website dedicated to having real people- or citizen scientists- document wild life. Wouldn't it be fun to have students submit some pics? Students can upload digital pictures of wild life and a description of their organism from their own backyard!

4. Magic School Bus

The Magic School Bus site has quite a few games and activities relate to science. Students can engage in the Space Chase or get ideas for a science experiment.

5. Everyday Mysteries

Everyday Mysteries is full of fun science facts from the Library of Congress. The site answers questions such as, "Why does pepper make you sneeze?" and, "How does sunscreen work?"

6. San Diego Zoo

The part I like about this website is the Videos and Cams section. Students can watch apes, penguins, tigers and more through live video!

7. NASA

NASA has sooooo much! It has so many different sections all created for learning. I especially like the NASA Knows sections. This section has items such as NASA Knows- Astronauts or NASA Knows- Earth. Perfect for our elementary kiddos.

8. How Everyday Things are Made 

This site is maintained by Stanford. It has a great selection of videos on how everyday items are made. Items range from chocolate to motorcycles.

9. Sheppard Software

This is a great collection of games related to science. The games include topics such as food chains, life cycles, and seasons.

10. National Geographic Kids

So much to see on this website! Students can explore videos, stories, bizarre facts, and photos. Very visibly engaging and fun! If you don't check out any other website, make sure to give this one a whirl!

11. Kids Astronomy

This site has all you would need related to astronomy. It has games, photos, and information all related to the universe around us.

12. Science Kids

Science Kids has fun facts, quizzes, games, and experiments. A fun site that has it all!

13. Science Bob

The Science Bob websites has tips for fun experiments and science fair projects. It also has an Experiment Blog where you can see how real kiddos have tried out the experiments. I especially like the videos- they are fun and engaging!

What science websites do you use in your classroom? I am always searching for the best websites for my students. I'd love to read about your finds in the comments




Need more science tips? Check out my Crazy about STEM Pinterest board!

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6 Must Try Classroom Tech Tools

Classroom technology tools are constantly changing, and sometimes it's hard to know where to start when you want to try something new.  This year, I've tried lots of new tools, and today, I'm sharing some of my favorites...

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Using Edmodo to Differentiate and Engage

While I sometimes question the amount of screen time our younger generation is experiencing,  I do believe in the theory of moderation. I do believe technology gives us an advantage in the education world and culturally that we’ve never experienced before. When I was growing up I couldn’t just talk to somebody on the other side of the world and learn something new with them with the click of a button. Today, our children can. So I try to keep up with the newest trends in technology.  Plus I try to teach my students that technology is an amazing tool but they have an obligation to stay healthy and that requires movement.

One tool I’ve been playing around with for a while Is Edmodo. I used it some last year. Then did some more research this summer and I attended the 2015 EdmodoCon and I was sold. The features are unbelievable.  

As I stated previously, I started dabbling with Edmodo last year when I came across the Global Read Aloud.  A teacher from Australia and I used it to create small groups that met once a week to collaborate and discuss Jennifer Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish. It was amazing! My students were so excited to use a platform similar to Facebook to meet with others their age. Their excitement crossed over to their love of The Fourteenth Goldfish not only because it is an amazing book but they were in control of their learning. They were able to ask questions and share connections with peers on the other side of the world.

Today I'm going to share with you how I'm using Edmodo to create self-regulated learners in my intervention classroom.  I’m using it with my sixth graders this year because they have a 1:1 classroom and they are able to bring their laptops down to my room.  

I want to share some amazing features I’m using to make learning more engaging!

Here’s what the group page looks like:

                                         

You can see the group setting and the ability to create small groups within your class group. This makes differentiating so much more simple.

Then I’ve highlighted the middle “post” portion. This is very similar to Facebook except it has education features that allow the teacher to create assignments, tests, quizzes and polls. Students can post but you need to remind them that their post are not private and can be read by all members of the group including yourself.

There is an Assignment Center for the students to quickly find assignments and all their assignment details. I don’t assign “homework” but they do have assignments that they work on in class. I’ve already found that even my reluctant speakers will ask questions in a post this way.  And I can only imagine the relief it would be for parents if there was an assigned time in the evenings that a teacher would answer any questions on Edmodo for homework help at home. The possibilities are endless.

Last but certainly not least, my apps! I’m just going to highlight the apps I'm using right now but you should definitely check it out for yourself because there are more apps then you could ever imagine.

My number one favorite is Snapshot. 

This app gives you the formative assessments needed to ensure coverage of standards. You choose the standards, your students take a short test,  the app gives you reports. Then it  offers lessons for students who may need more direct instruction regarding the standard they're not meeting. I'm using these reports as part of my students' goals & reflections notebook work. Click on the graphic to learn more about snapshot.  

 This is my second favorite app. My goal for all my students is to become self-regulated learners. With my 6th grade group I'm able to give them opportunities  to practice setting goals, asking essential questions and their ELA standards using this app. This is where I create their lessons. I give brf mini lessons, release them to work on their Blendspace assignments then  I meet with individual students to conference regarding goals, lessons and reflections. Click on the graphic to learn more about blendspace. 

I'm just now in the beginning stage of introducing this app but I felt like it was worth the mention. It's similar to GoodReads but it's for kids. They can find books, write book reviews, read others' reviews, and much more. 

I'll be posting more on my experiences with Edmodo on Looney's Literacy so be sure to follow along here. 

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4 Websites I Use in Class Daily

My students seem to love it when the electricity goes out at our school. I guess it is kind of an adventure to them.  I, however, would rather go see the dentist for a root canal. Okay, I will admit it, I am one of those teachers who freaks out when the electricity goes off at school. Technology has become such an integral part of my classroom makeup that I struggle without it. My lesson plans, my classroom management system, my morning work, and even my inside recess activities are all web-based. Which sites would I miss the most? These are the websites that I use every single day!

Still writing lesson plans out longhand? Boo! Try Planbook.com. I have used it for a couple of years now and love it. It is easy to learn and use. They have great video tutorials, and their help staff is awesome. You can organize your lessons in units, attach worksheets and PowerPoints right to the plans, and pick the standards you are teaching with a click. The website even gives you the ability to share plans with the teachers you work with and with your students. I love the ability to import and update my plans from last year! This website is a MUST have for me!

One website that has revolutionized my classroom management is Classdojo.com. I can't say enough positive things about this site! My students, parents, and I all love it. The teacher is able to reward students with points based on targeted student behaviors. The site keeps track of each behavior and teachers can customize the behaviors to their own needs-there are Positive behaviors and Needs Work behaviors. It is not only a classroom management system, but it is a fabulous parent communication platform. Parents can get real-time updates on their ClassDojo phone app about their students' behavior. You can also send messages to the whole class or to individual parents. The new Class Story feature is making it super easy to keep your classroom transparent and open by letting you post pictures of your activities. I pull this site up and have it displayed on my SMARTboard before the students even walk through the door. Oh, and if the electricity goes out, my phone has the app!

Once my students walk in the door and tap in for attendance on ClassDojo, they head for the computers. Part of our morning routine and part of the students' morning work is signing into Xtramath.org. Xtramath is a wonderful way to improve basic math fact knowledge and fluency. The site gives students practice on their individual level. Students review the facts that they have missed or taken too much time to answer. Students are given certificates when they are fluent on their facts. I love that I can change which facts I want my students working on such as moving them from subtraction to multiplication. The site is set up so that when a student finishes, they tell the next student it is his/her turn. LOVE!

My schedule this year has all my breaks in the morning. We are in the classroom from 12:00 until 3:00. This makes for a very, very long afternoon for my 3rd graders. Around 1:30 or 2:00, my students are finished, done, ready to gooooo. What to do? GoNoodle of course! GoNoodle.com comes to my rescue everyday. This site gets the students up and MOVING! We dance and stretch and, most importantly, have fun. The site is full of fun and energetic videos that are designed to get your students active and get their brains back on learning. Videos last from 1 minute to indoor recess videos of 15 minutes. My kiddos are addicted! I go home singing the songs and humming the tunes. So far this year Kitty High Five is their favorite. I have given away ALL of my indoor recess toys!

Have fun checking out each site! What sites do you use everyday?

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Computer Station Set-Up: I Use Symbaloo! Do You?

Hello Friends!

It's Jennifer here from Stories and Songs in Second to share my ideas about

Summer, Strategies, Set-Up and Stations 

with you!

I thought of sub-titling this post

Spending the Summer Setting Up Technology So That It Will Be Less Scary For Teachers, 

but then I opted for rhyme and alliteration instead of using humor.

Either way, just know that despite completing massive amounts of professional development and seminars about electronic devices and how to integrate them into my teaching practice, I remain tentative.

With the help and patience of a really nice computer guru named Gabe (who owns a local shop called Spacebar), I recently purchased two iPad minis with my Apple educator discount though!  My summer goal is to create my own menu of apps that students can use easily and independently during our daily literacy station rotations.  This blog post from Traci over at The Bender Bunch was my inspiration, and provides a great tutorial for getting started with FREE program called Symbaloo that helps you create a webmix of favorite websites and apps for easy student access.

I am so excited about how easy Symbaloo is going to make logging into our approved and
most-used websites!  I can set it as my homepage on all of my classroom computers, and bookmark it on our school computer lab computers as well.  I don't know about you, but I usually spend at least 10 minutes of my bi-weekly computer lab sessions helping students type in url addresses!  I look forward to the students having more actual screen time instead of wasting precious minutes getting everyone set up.

Photo Credit: Digital Divide & Conquer

Adding more worthy Reading and Math site links to my personal Symbaloo is at the top of my "to do" list this summer! I've been collecting ideas on Pinterest for about a year now, and you can see them here on my Tech Tips board!

Follow Jennifer Boney-Reynolds's board Tech Tips on Pinterest.

Matt Gomez also has a great link to a this Symbaloo mix with 44 FREE iPad Apps that you can download directly!  See it {HERE}.

Once I've created my first webmix, I'll be ready for this advanced Symbaloo tutorial from my friend Debbi over at 3rd Grade Pad who explains how to create a variety of webmix pages and use Padlet.  I just don't know how I would get by in the often overwhelming world of technology without a little help from my friends?!?!?

If you really want to get snazzy and jazzy,  Matt over at Digital Divide and Conquer has a direct link to the Symbaloo board pictured above.  It is loaded with 50 technology tools like Prezi, Wordle, and Blabberize that your students can use to put lots of pizazz into their presentations!

If you are also planning to revamp and refresh your classroom computer station, be sure to download these FREE iPad rule posters from TpT!  You'll find them in  Mrs. Beattie's Classroom !  Be sure to leave her some feedback love!

Another project I want to tackle this summer is  to create this charging station for my iPads! Ingenious and easy!  My kind of DIY  creating that is for sure!  Visit Teresa over at 

Fun in K/1 for a complete list of materials you will need, and download the set of FREE labels!

As always, thanks for stopping in to share ideas and learn with our collaborative group here at CTR!

We'd love to hear how you integrate technology successfully in your classroom, so feel free to leave a comment below!

Until next time, continue to share your story, keep a song in your heart, dream a little dream, and 

BE NOT AFRAID

of

technology!

Warm Regards,

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