Review Teaching Tools

Hi everyone, in this post I would like to share some of the web pages I normally use in class with my children students as well as with teenagers or adults. Some of the main webpages/apps we use in class are the following: Plickers, Kahoot, Gonoodle, and some other pages such as the Bouncy Balls.

gonoodle.com Go Noodle: As I mentioned in a previous post Go Noddle is great to get kids moving. It has many videos divided into different categories such as: duration, energy level, and also coordination videos, kinesthetic learning, etc.
 It is also a very easy-to-use page. Once you sign up, you need to choose a champ (there are many little monsters to choose from) sometimes, even students can choose them. These monsters grow as you watch the videos in class which is a fun thing for students to watch.

Pros: Gonoodle can be used as transitions, as a section in the class, as indoor recess activity, or as a reward after some work has been done. You can choose your favorite songs, therefore, control which videos students will choose in class (choose the short ones for transitions for example)
Cons: you need internet access, if internet is slow the videos will not play.

create and choose class

My champ. You can change your champ with the icon on the left

Choose from the different categories.

https://getkahoot.com/ Kahoot: This is a GREAT app for reviewing content, and completing quizzes in class. The teacher enters Kahoot online and creates an account. You have some options for the activities you want to prepare; a quiz or a survey. Prepare the content at home and then get a code for that specific quiz. Once in class students go to https://kahoot.it/ and enter the pin assigned for that quiz and can answer questions from their phone! great for group work or individual work.

Pros: Great app for group competition and also individual assessment of students. It is fun and engaging. Students (specially teens) get to use their phones in class for academic purposes.
Cons: both the teacher and the student need internet.

Students enter pin to play

Choose activity

Create questions

plickers.com Plickers: I love Plickers for many reasons. One is that, I can create quizzes and review content with my students in a fun and engaging way. Students do not need internet! yes, you read it right. Plickers uses pictures similar to QR codes in order to play with students. Create an account and sign in. After that, prepare your quiz and enter the names of your students in order for the software to assign a picture to each student. The teacher must print the pictures and remember which student got which picture. Once you are in class you do need access to internet (the teacher) show the questions with a projector or computer and students must show the pictures (which are labeled with a,b,c,d on each corner) in order to get the right answer, the teacher scans the pictures with her phone and gets an answer from students.

Pros: students do not need a smartphone to play this. It is easy for the teacher to spot who gave a right or wrong answer since it is shown on the screen. It is fun and engaging.
Cons: sometimes if the teacher's phone is too slow it will not scan the pictures. This may lead the activity to be slow and boring.

Example of quiz prepared for a class

Plicker cards that can be printed or bought from Amazon

Class: teacher adds students names and assigns a card to each

https://bouncyballs.org/ Bouncy Balls: This is my favorite classroom management tool. I usually use it whenever I need the class to be in complete silence for, maybe silent reading or resting time. Very easy to use, just click on the link and click on start bouncing! This page uses your microphone and catches the noise of the class which makes the balls to bounce. The less the noise the less the bouncing!

Pros: students love it! easy to use.

Cons: you need internet connection. It sometimes doesn't work, instead of getting students to be more silent they become noisier since they love to see the balls bounce! It is worth the try anyway =)

Begin Bouncing!

Summer Classes are Over!

Not long go my colleague and I finished our Summer English Classes! Every year, the institute where we work organizes summer classes where we have to teach English for two months to children ages 5 to 6. We have classes twice a week and use games and prepare crafts and worksheets for the kids. In the following pictures we show a little bit of our work during the summer, hope you all like it =)

Sightwords used in class, for children who can read 

Instruction chart, used for each group of students. The pins are used for every group

Class posters, shapes, colors, and numbers

Some of the materials used in class

Animal rugs and materials used in class

Last day of class, presentation of students work, worksheets and crafts

Students work

Paper plate crafts

We saw this in Pinterest once and thought it was a great phrase, we used hand printing in order to decorate the board and then students took this home too with the rest of their work

Get kids moving!

Not long ago we came across this awesome page gonoodle.com and were amazed by all the things we could do with it.

As children teachers we must constantly get our students moving in order to avoid boredom and also misbehavior. This page contains videos divided into different categories which get kids moving all the time. Check it out! you will not be dissapointed.

Gamification in class.

After a long talk with my colleague we realized we shared the ideas and concepts when it comes to teaching children.

Both of us have been teaching for some years now and have found out that investing in teaching materials has aided our classes and made them more dynamic and also fun.
In this entry we would like to show some of the materials we use and also explain how we use them as we think that learning through play is the best way to learn =)

These funny looking hammers can be used in order to practice vocabulary. Placing flashcards on the board and having students hit on the flashcards you say. This can also be done on the floor or with sight words.

Chalk is a great material for playing games outside the class. Maybe drawing shapes on the floor, letters, numbers, playing hopscotch or even Twister can make the class more dynamic and fun. Get kids moving!

If your children read already, sightwords are a great resource of fun! have kids put short sentences in order, maybe use sightwords of different colors for each word type (red: subject, green: verb) 

sightwords of days of the week are a must in the class, have children sequence the days and tell you what day it is today, what day will be tomorrow, and what day was yesterday

Great for playing games! one way of using dice in the class is by placing flashcards on the board with either letters or numbers written below them, have students throw the dice and tell you the vocabulary or guess what the flashcard picture is (in case it is face down)
The dice are also great for practicing math exercises. Have students throw number dice and add up the numbers and write the results on the board.
The game options are endless!

Similarly to the hammers, the fly swatters can be used in order to practice vocabulary in a fun and engaging way

We often use these awesome erasable pockets with our students (6 to 10 year olds) in the picture we placed a paper with alphabet tracing and writing exercises that children complete and later erase! super fun. Another option is to have these worksheets laminated, however we thought the pocket was a more affordable and practical option.