Ms. De Santis’ Blog

Project or PBL?

Ms. De Santis — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:02:30 +0000

Confused on project based learning (PBL)? What makes it PBL? Here is a concise comparison from Education Technology and Mobile Learning.

Smore in the newspaper

Ms. De Santis — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:52:00 +0000

After reading Number the Stars, a class created smores as newspapers. They were told the war had ended and to write an article describing the return of the Danish Jews. Here are three samples- use the scroll bars to see the entire product.

Shakespeare Uncovered

Ms. De Santis — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:30:54 +0000

As I pass classrooms, I often see copies of Shakespeare’s works. From The Taming of the Shrew to Romeo and Juliet, seems as if everyone is reading. Here is PBS site with a host of Shakespeare related videos and interactives at Shakespeare Uncovered. (from Free Technology for Teachers).

Visit my shop

Ms. De Santis — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:52:13 +0000

As part of a math project dealing with currency, the students generated their own businesses. Once the math part of the project was complete, the students produced smores (two samples below) as fliers for their business. These were then displayed on the SMART Board for class discussion.

What can you do with a Glog?

Ms. De Santis — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:41:19 +0000

The current featured post on edu.glogster features over 40 learning activities on a Glog. While some were familiar, others were new to me. Take a few minutes to scan the list and see how glogs could benefit your students. Since we are approaching the end of the year, perhaps have your current students create a welcome Glog for next year’s class? Or possibly they can share their favorite lesson? (from Joli Barker)

What students expect?

Ms. De Santis — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:02:56 +0000

While this video has more of an high school slant, I think it speaks to all students. (From Free Technology for Teachers)

Where in the world is…

Ms. De Santis — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:36:03 +0000

What if we played a game? I showed a Google Earth image and gave you a map. You tell me where you are and get points for how close you are to the target. You can zoom in or get a 360 view of the terrain or the map. This would be a great class/group activity- project the image and have the students defend their choice. GeoGuessr is not easy (I played several five image rounds and never saw a landmark I recognized- I was just glad when I selected the correct continent! I found myself checking out the vegetation, the types of vehicles and signage). (from LarryFerlazzo’s website)

Mission: Solar System

Ms. De Santis — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:02:56 +0000

Who doesn’t like space? Here is a series of activities (and support) for the new Design Squad challenge- Mission: Solar System. This website includes videos, hands on activities, videos, and assessment tools- everything you need for a great STEM project. These projects are geared for students in 4-8 grades. (From PBS Kids)

Death Valley and Education

Ms. De Santis — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:20:20 +0000

TED talks go to school- last week PBS aired a series of talks focused on education. Here is the clip from Sir Ken Robinson- his dry sense of humor coupled with his background in motivation and learning makes this a magnetic 20 minutes. Click here for more of his view’s on education.

So it was really about economics?

Ms. De Santis — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:00:09 +0000

My late spouse (and many others from what I’ve read) saw Seinfeld as “a show about nothing”.
Guess we didn’t realize economic concepts were hiding in the comedy. Check out The Economics of Seinfeld for episodes/topics. This site only includes the links (to other sites i.e., Hulu) to the episodes. (From Free Technology for Teachers)