101 ideas for using technology in the classroom

Sometimes it is difficult to put the technology in your classroom into an educational context.  This document contains many ideas for using a PC or mac in education.  

Unfortunately much of it was written prior to the uprise of the iPad so there is no reference to it but nonetheless there is plenty of relevant content for teachers and students. 

Many of the ideas come from the Victorian department of Education, Australia and can be downloaded here. 

Get Set for London 2012: Teaching Ideas

Get Set is the official London 2012 Olympics Education site.  It is very comprehensive and contains a range of activities and resources to get students involved and enthused about the upcoming London 2012 Games.

You can search for ideas by year level or teaching area.  A great starting point for London 2012 in the classroom.

Implications for Teaching

We really should try to get our kids enthused about the Olympics as it really embodies the sense of trying to achieve a personal best, dealing with success and failure and finally it encourageses health and wellbeing.

Lesson Plan Search Engine

We have recently added a number of new education sites to the Ultimate Search Engine for teachers.  

It has a database over 100 non commercial teaching websites full of great teaching ideas and lesson plans.

Be sure to check it out here.

Preschool Lesson Plans for Peter Rabbit:

A very quick post for the weekend.  Thanks, Colleen from Devon in the UK for this link to a series of teaching ideas for younger students based on Beatrix Potter's famous series about the adventures of Peter Rabbit.  Access them here and have a good weekend.

ESL Lesson Plans for teaching your first day of English

It can be tough knowing where to start with a new group of ESL students.  thankfully, Village Volunteers have put together a collection of starting points to get you started on your first day of teaching English.

They are quite effective in the manner that they are not overbearing to the students but more importantly will give you the teacher a really good understanding of where to start with them in your next session.

Download them here.

Lesson Plans and Teaching Ideas about Toys

Fact:  Kids love toys.  So I have found a collection of lesson plans from schoolsnet.com about Toys that will hopefully engage and inspire our students.  Take a look below and let me know if you have found any other great lesson plans.

Lesson plan 1: Our favourite toys

Children will be able to describe the characteristics of modern toys. Children will be able to describe how their favourite choice of toys has changed as they have grown older. Children will be able to suggest who might be able to tell children about toys in the past.

Lesson plan 2: Toys when our parents and grandparents were young

Children will be able to describe the characteristics of old toys. Children will talk about toys that belonged to our parents and grandparents. Children will be able to ask questions about toys in the past.

Lesson plan 3: Toys and the more distant past

Children will develop historical enquiry by finding out about the past from a range of sources of information. Children will be able to identify different ways in which the past is represented.

Lesson plan 4: The Punch and Judy show

Children will be able to understand that oral sources and traditional displays can tell us about the past. Children will be able to ask questions about the way people spent their leisure time in the past. Children will be able to infer information about the past by experiencing a traditional show first performed over 400 years ago.

Lesson plan 5: Teddy Bears

Children will understand that design, materials and technology can indicate whether a toy is old or new. Children will recognise similarities and differences between old and new toys. Children will be able to use the language of time.

Lesson plan 6: Story Bears

Children will be able to recognise that events in people's lives can influence what they do. Children will understand that changes in everyday life can influence the way things are represented. Children will learn about some significant children's writers.

Lesson plan 7: Dolls and Dolls Houses

Children will be able to describe the characteristics of a range of dolls. Children will recognise similarities and differences between old and new toys. Children will understand that artefacts like dolls can help us to learn about the past.

Lesson plan 8: Making a class museum

Children will learn how a real museum organises its exhibits. Children will be able to sort and group objects and explain why they have grouped them in particular ways. Children will be able to make a classroom museum and construct a time line. Children will be able to produce labels and captions for the toys on display

LEGO Teaching Ideas & Lesson Plans

LEGO has to one of the most universal and creative toys in existence.  It still captivates and inspires children of all ages think like an engineer and build something functional or simply fun.

As teachers we probably underestimate toys such as LEGO as powerful educational tools to help students learn.

Thankfully the good folks at LEGO education have put together a huge collection of lesson plans for teachers to use in the classroom covering all age groups and key learning areas.

Below is a simple idea based around 'The Hungry Catepillar' which uses LEGO to explain the lifecycle of insects.

LEGO Smart Creativity Contest Entry
By Moriah Slagell, One Day at A Time

1. I built a small caterpillar with just a few LEGO bricks to represent food 2. I added more bricks to the caterpillar and more food in front of him.(repeat 3 times) 3. Then, I took part of the caterpillar apart so I could build a cocoon then I slid the  caterpillar inside. 4. Finally, I took apart the caterpillar and cocoon and made a butterfly out of the bricks.

Access the entire collection of  LEGO Teaching Ideas here

Lesson Plased based on the Lorax

The Lorax Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Printables

The Lorax Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Printables

A to Z Teacher Stuff has an excellent selection of The Lorax lesson plans, worksheets, and printables.  There are Lorax pledge posters, Lorax worksheets, and Truffula Trees crafts.

And Apples 4 the Teacher also has an extensive collection of The Lorax lesson plans, printables, and worksheets.  There is a Lorax printable maze, Lorax counting worksheets and more.

And from The Alliance to Save Energy, a 45 minute The Lorax lesson plan for 3rd grade elementary students.  This Lorax lesson plan has students discuss energy conservation and create a collage from old magazines.

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