DIGITAL+RESOURCES

=Common Core Digital Resources = These digital resources and tools for creating, collaborating, researching, and sharing can be found in the Common Core Curriculum Maps. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, as the technologies are constantly evolving. Consider it a beginning!

Blogs
A blog is similar to a diary, but it is posted on the Internet where others can read and respond to it. It provides students an opportunity to write for an authentic audience.
 * Class Blogmeister
 * Kidzblog
 * Edublogs
 * Thingamablog
 * Thinkquest
 * Blogger

Bookmarking
These programs allow teachers to store bookmarks in one place, and allow others to access them. Delicious and Diigo are social bookmarking tools because they allow you to see what others are bookmarking in areas of interest.
 * Delicious
 * Diigo
 * Portaportal
 * Symbaloo

Edmodo
Edmodo is an easy and engaging way to manage assignments, provide a way for students to communicate and create an online classroom.
 * Edmodo

Glogster
Students can easily create and share interactive posters.
 * Glogster

Google Docs
Google Docs is “storage in the clouds” — a place that allows many students to collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and forms.
 * Google Docs

Google Earth
Google Earth lets students view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, canyons of the ocean, and other features and physical locations from their computers.
 * Google Earth

Helpful Websites
These are additional websites that provide useful information for technology integration.
 * Education World
 * Teacher Training Videos

Jing
Jing allows students to take pictures or make short videos of what they see on their computer monitor. It helps students see how others “think aloud” or follow “how to” directions.
 * Jing

Online Survey Tools
Online survey tools allow students to collect and review data on a variety of topics.
 * SurveyMonkey
 * Google Docs Forms
 * MicroPoll

Open Educational Resources
This page provides an annotated list of websites with OER (Open Educational Resources) for education teaching materials.
 * Online and Distance Learning

Picasa
Picasa (owned by Google) is a tool for easily organizing and editing pictures. Photos can be shared securely, requiring a password to view.
 * Picasa

Podcasts
A podcast is an audio or video recording that’s available on the Internet. Students can easily create these as assignments.
 * Apple: Ready. Set. Podcast.
 * Learning in Hand: Podcasting

SAT/ACT Vocabulary Builders
This is an online site where students can view videos to help build their vocabulary. Students can create their own video, in iMovie or Jing, after seeing examples on this site.
 * VocabAhead

Skype
Skype is a free “video conferencing” service. Classes can use it to collaborate with students and teachers all over the world. Classes can also use Skype to videoconference with an author or other people for research and other purposes.
 * Skype

VoiceThread
VoiceThread is a tool that allows students to create narrated stories and makes it easy for other people to comment on the stories.
 * VoiceThread

Web Browsers
Teach students to use web browsers for research, key word searches, responsible Internet use, etc.
 * Internet Explorer
 * Mozilla FireFox
 * Safari, etc.

WebQuest
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that students work with comes from the web.
 * WebQuest

Wikispaces
A wiki is a website that allows for collaborative creation and editing of web information.
 * Wikispaces

Wordle
Wordle is a visual cloud that picks out the most common words typed in text and gives them prominence by increasing size, making it easy to ascertain the essence of any text simply by looking at the cloud.
 * Wordle

University of Virginia Text Collection
UVA’s library website.
 * UVA Library

Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
A comprehensive library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology.
 * Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts

Poetry Foundation
An independent literary organization dedicated to promoting poetry to the widest possible audience.
 * Poetry Foundation

Project Gutenberg
Offers high quality e-books for free download.
 * Project Gutenberg

Bartleby
A free Internet publisher of literature, reference works, and poetry.
 * Bartleby

The American Academy of Poets
Biographies and news of over 500 American poets.
 * The American Academy of Poets

The Poetry Archive
A specific site geared toward bringing poetry into the classroom, including lesson plans and activities.
 * The Poetry Archive

Poem Hunter
A database of poetry.
 * Poem Hunter

Old Poetry
The top 500 classical poems collected into one site.
 * Old Poetry

LibriVox
A collection of free audiobooks for the public domain.
 * LibriVox

ManyBooks
A collection of free e-books for the public domain.
 * ManyBooks

Representative Poetry Online
The University of Toronto’s collection of over 3,000 poems.
 * Link

Bubbl.us
This is a visual learning tool that allows students to develop and organize their ideas.
 * Bubbl.us

Comic Life
Outlining stories in comic/story-board format helps scaffold students to the essence of a story. In addition, creating comics is engaging and inspires creativity. This program is easy to use, and the possibilities are endless.
 * Comic Life in Education

Discovery Education Streaming
This site provides digital instructional materials that take students beyond the textbook. The streaming videos are safe from advertisements and inappropriate material (a potential hazard of YouTube), and can help build students’ background knowledge on topics in a visual manner.
 * Discovery Education Streaming

Garageband
This is a recording studio that students can use to create music.
 * Garageband

iMovie
This is a way to make stories “come alive.”
 * iMovie

Inspiration
A visual learning tool that allow students to develop and organize their ideas.
 * Inspiration

Keynote
Keynote is a program that allows students to create stylish mixed-media presentations on a Macintosh computer.
 * Keynote

Kidspiration
Kidspiration is a program that allows students to visually web/map understanding of words and concepts. Free Alternative: bubbl.us
 * Kidspiration
 * bubbl.us

PowerPoint
PowerPoint is a presentation program that allows users to create mixed-media presentations on a PC.

Prezi
Prezi allows for more engaging/interactive presentations.
 * Link

SlideRocket
SlideRocket is a web application that allows students to collaboratively create stunning-looking PowerPoint-style multimedia presentations, which can then be viewed and shared online.
 * Prezi

Storykit
This is an iPod “app” that allows students to create electronic storybooks.
 * Storykit

Word
Students use Microsoft Word for writing papers, editing, annotating, etc.

Digital Cameras
A very student-friendly tool. Photos may be used in many different types of classroom lessons. Here are a few applications that your digital camera may be used for: Other ideas for using the digital camera with projects and presentations include:
 * illustrating steps in a procedure, to aid in writing “how to” paragraphs
 * using a photo as a prompt for narrative or descriptive writing
 * providing images for a school newspaper, class newspaper or newsletter
 * supplying graphics for written reports and presentations
 * e-mailing class updates to parents, with attached photos
 * providing images for class books
 * taking photos on field trips, to aid in writing about them later
 * publicizing a class play or project
 * creating a digital class archive
 * demonstrating vocabulary, emotions, compare/contrast
 * observing weather over a period of time
 * creating student portfolios
 * illustrating the process for complicated projects
 * developing a student-generated, graphical web research site as a school showcase


 * Education World: Quick! Get a (Digital) Camera!

Document Camera (“ELMO”)
This tool is a camera mounted on a stand, which is hooked up to an LCD projector. This allows the teacher or student to place books or documents under the camera and project its image onto a screen for the all to see.
 * ELMO
 * Classroom Uses for a Document Camera
 * Teaching Tips: Classroom Use of ELMO Document Cameras

Interactive Whiteboards
These are two different brand names for similar tools (Smart Board, Activeboard, etc.): whiteboards that allow for interaction using special pens.
 * Promethean
 * SMART Technologies

iPod Touches
With an iPod Touch, the possibilities are endless. These devices offer learning in the palm of the students’ hands, and access to many of the sites/programs above.
 * iPod Touch
 * Apple iPod Touch Apps for Language Arts Teachers
 * iOS Apps

Flip Video Camera
Another very student-friendly tool. //Teachers:// //Students://
 * Record performances, projects, field trips, and presentations and upload them to the web
 * Record student progress over time (i.e., fluency)
 * Record themselves teaching (as a self-assessment)
 * Record special experiences such as interviews or trips
 * Create “book talks”
 * Make commercials or advertisements, to record responses to books, projects, lessons, and units
 * “Sister” schools can record video and upload to the web to share experiences or collaborate on a project


 * Flip
 * Flip Video Recorder in the Classroom
 * How to Use Flip Cameras in the Classroom