Kahoot or Quizizz - Game Based Classroom Response Systems

These two free, device neutral, online resources are sure to bring high engagement and active participation into any classroom.  The idea is simple, students answer questions in a competitive atmosphere, there will be a winner.

For both Kahoot and Quizizz, the facilitator creates a series of questions to be answered by the participants.  Each question can have a time limit before the participant must select a response.  The quicker the participant chooses a response, the more points they earn providing their choice was correct.

Using Kahoot, the questions are asked to the participants one at a time.  Participants view the projected screen, answer a question by selecting the corresponding color on their device, points are awarded, and a new question is provided.  When finished, persons with the most points will be displayed.

Using Quizizz, the facilitator starts the activity at which time participants are given questions in a random order.  The participants read the questions on their device and answer them at their own pace.  Once all participants complete the activity, persons with the most points will be displayed.


Quizizz would be a great tool to use for an entire class, or as a center since it is student driven.  Kahoot is teacher driven providing time for discussion between each question being asked.

I've tried using both resources with groups of at least 40, and each time they worked fine.

Both Kahoot and Quizizz allows teachers to create their own questions, which can include images. When finished with the activity, the teacher can save the data describing how students answered each question. Teachers can explore through the many public assessments created and shared by others.

In either case, these opportunities provide a nice review experience or possibly a motivating pre-assessment experience.  Definitely stated, the experience will be fun, highly energetic, and competitive.

HSTRY - Create Interactive Timelines

I’m always searching for new tools that allow for student creativity and critical thinking, particularly those that are device neutral with the only cost involved is time spent learning.  When new resources become accessible, I encourage teachers to implement them because often times the newness is enough motivation to get students highly engaged.  And with newness students embark on a learning quest figuring out how to use the resource enriching their critical thinking skills.

HSTRY seems to be spot on with these criteria as a tool to allow a person to put together a linear list of resources called a timeline.  Some timelines can be chronological by the calendar, while others may be viewed as different sections of a report.

 

Using the teacher login, they can create a class, then either manually add students or have students join via a class code.  The student will not need an email address, just a username and password.

One feature I look into from the student perspective is what they can view by searching public resources, which HSTRY calls timelines.  This is particularly valuable for elementary students in case they stumble upon high school curriculum inappropriate for their age level.  HSTRY only allows students to view their own timelines, or those provided to them from the teacher.  

The teacher can search timelines posted to the community, and with a click share with the class. Once a timeline is shared with the class, students will be able to comment on any item, and yes the teacher can moderate all comments.

 

Which brings me to cost.  To use HSTRY, it’s completely free.  There is a premium version which provides you with access to created content, for instance Timeline bundles about the American Revolution.

Timelines contain a series of blocks which may include a text block, an image block, a video block, a question block, or a “did you know” block.  The author is free to drag and drop the blocks freely to fit their intended linear path.  

Sharing of timelines is limited to the teacher sharing one they create or find to the students.  HSTRY is working on a feature where students can share timelines with their class, but are very hesitant at allowing students share timelines with the community.  Currently a student submits a timeline so only the teacher has view privileges.

A nice getting started task could be to have everyone create an “About Me” timeline.  Then use this tool to have students demonstrate understanding for many projects throughout the curriculum, like state reports, expedition reports, animal reports, book reviews, author biographies, science lab write ups, or even math concepts. 

Ask3, a Collaborative Screencasting App for the Classroom

Many of us in education have a few "Go To" apps we think work well in the classroom.  Some of these apps are free, while others come at a cost.

For example, Educreations is a great free screencasting app, or you can pay for a different screencasting app called Explain Everything which contains many more rich features.  However, the question comes up quite often how do students share their creative content with the class?

Try Ask3.  This is a wonderful, free, screencasting app designed for collaborative classroom use. iPad only with IOS 6.1 or later.




To begin, a teacher creates themselves a teacher account.  Then they create a class which uses a class code.

Students sign up with their first name, and the class code.  No email or online registration required for the students.

Anyone can create a screen cast video using the basic tools, such as annotations, record, and inserting images.  While creating the video one can pause and start throughout.  However, there is not a feature which allows you to modify your audio content without starting over.

Once a person thinks their video is ready to share, they upload it to the class with a title.  Everyone in the class will find all the videos in the "Bulletin Board" section.

While viewing the video one can leave comments, both in written form and as a video.  The cool aspect is you can pause the original video, then leave your video comment creating a video beginning where you paused.  A viewer can also star videos and/or comments that they want to flag as helpful.

This tool can be great for math students to share math problems or exit tickets, science students to explain concepts, social studies students to share map annotations, elementary students to share animal or state reports, and much more. 

Give this app a try, as it may become one of your "Go To" apps.

Kids Discover Holiday Specials - Antarctica and Washington DC

Kids Discover has released many awesome iPad apps full of information on various subjects, and during this Holiday Season two of these apps are now free.  Hurry and download Antarctica and Washington DC before the price jumps back up, especially if you have a classroom set of iPads.

These apps provide great non-fictional reading opportunities for students as they will learn all about topics and issues surrounding both Antarctica and Washington DC, including people, animals, and the environment.

The app also provides an opportunity to view excellent photography along with many short video clips.

You can explore among several areas, play a few educational games, or take a quiz.

 

Download these apps soon and explore, I'm sure you'll learn much from exploring with these excellent apps from Kids Discover.

iPads in a Social Studies Classroom

iPads in a Social Studies Classroom 

• GTKY Activity 
• PicCollage     (also an Android App) 
• Include at least 3 Photos, Name, Location and Grade Level, Availability of Tech

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

• Vocab Development
• Quizlet     Website    iOS app      Android App 
• Built in Dictionary on iPad
• Venn Diagram

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
• Aggregating Resources
• Saving PDFs, Photos,  and Annotating
• Educreations
• PaperPort Notes 
• iBooks
• Flipboard      (Also an Android App) 
• Following Current Events from News Sources (CNN, BBC World)
• Following trending hashtags
• For teachers:
• #sschat
• #historyteacher
• #histedchat
• Finding Resources 
• Library of Congress Classroom Materials 
• Primary Sources found on the Web

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
• OSLIS   specifically the Citation Maker 
• EasyBib
• Copyright and  Creative Credit Lessons from Common Sense Media

LUNCH  

• Assessing
• Google Forms  
• Edmodo Quizzes
• Infuse Learning
• Socrative  (Teacher)   (Student)
• Projects (below)

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• Haiku Deck (also a website)
• ThingLink  (also a website)
• Videolicious 

Additional Resources

• Apps for Social Studies