While browsing the SMART Board tagged Delicious bookmarks, I ran across iboard.co.uk. This is a GOLD MINE of interactive resources for all subjects to be used on the SMART Board or any interactive whiteboard. There are 15 free sample activities offered, but there is also a special going on right now for schools. Create a school account and have full access to *all of the resources for 6 months (along with a link to your account to share with your teachers). Once the trial period is over, there are several options that you can read about on the site. This is the perfect time to create an account, as in 6 months most schools will be out for the summer and you can then evaluate the need to continue the service. *Note: The site says once you register you will have access to all of the materials; however, only the Numeracy activities are showing in my Library. I have contacted the site about this and will let you know what I find out.
Another cool thing about these activities is that you can download the thumbnail and direct link to the activity so it can be launched from your own website or SMART Notebook file! You can also print the activity once completed. If you are in the United States like me, please know that these activities use “pounds” instead of “dollars”, among other variations. Here is one of the Year 2 Geography sample activities that I know lower grade teachers will like: What’s the Weather? Please check out the resources and leave a comment about any goodies you find within the site!
This is a great advent calendar called Santa’s Home from http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk. It is from 2007, but it works just fine for any year. Click on each day to see what goes on in Santa’s Home before Christmas! This would work great for PreK-2nd grade, or even older depending on the class.
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology has many K-12 interactive learning objects for various math and science topics. Some of the topics include the Water Cycle (seen below), Plant Reproduction, and Multiplying Decimals. Most of the learning objects contain student and teacher resources, as well as animations and quizzes on the topic. These all work great on the SMART Board! To find the complete list, I simply searched “learning object” on their website.
ClassTools.net offers free templates and generators that can be used to create resources for the classroom. Resources made on ClassTools.net can be saved as a web page or embedded into a blog. Below is the Burger Diagram that can be used in planning a writing assignment or essay. From the site:
A burger diagram is a simple essay planning tool. Students make basic notes covering their introduction, three main sections, and a conclusion. It is a useful way of ensuring that students think about structuring their essays in a logical format.
Tip for SMART Board use: It may be a bit time consuming if you use the Notebook on-screen keyboard to type in the information for the diagram. I recommend filling in the information ahead of time, then saving or embedding it. You could then use the screenshade and reveal each section as you go along.
Don’t forget to check out all the other templates as well, such as the Random Name Picker and Timeline Creator.
