StudyJams

So, it's mid August and I have resigned myself to the fact that my summer is nearly over.  As it has every August for the last 20 years (yes, I said 20) my mind starts to think about the upcoming school year and I start to get back into gear.  After a few minutes of going through the hundreds of articles I've ignored in my Google Reader account, an came across StudyJams.   This site created by Scholastic provides students with videos and songs that help them learn various topics in science and math.  The videos provide review at the end and, in some cases, the opportunity to practice the skill (in the case of math.) The videos are high quality and memorable.  They are also FREE!!! There is no login. No need to sign up.  I would say that this site would be appropriate for 3rd to 7th grade students. Not to be a "the glass is half full" type, but I do wish that scholastic provided an embed code for their StudyJams so that teachers could embed the videos directly on to their web sites, blogs, wikis, or Moodle courses. 

Go Animate

I just learned about "Go Animate" while at our annual Summer Technology Institute.  Go Animate is a wonderful Web 2.0 tool that allows users to create animated videos using various pre-made elements or their own.  This could be a great way for teachers to introduce a new topic or material or for students to show what they know about a topic.  This would be an excellent tool for students to use for book reports or presentations.

Below is my first attempt.

GoAnimate.com: The First Day by ryan.palmer

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!