Last week, I was honored to be receive an award from Alexandra Francisco who writes the Zarco English Tool of the Day Blog found here: http://zarcoenglish-tooloftheday.blogspot.com

The award was created to spread the word about blogs we personally hold in high regard.

For those I am awarding below, here are a few rules to follow: 

1- Copy and display the picture of the award given to you;

2- Link back to the blog that nominated you;

3- Nominate 10 different blogs yourself;

4- Inform the people you nominated, so they can in turn, continue the chain and spread the word about other great blogs out there.

Here at the Interactive Content Corner, I am focused on sharing online interactive content and ways to integrate that content into classroom instruction.  These blogs support that mission and help me on my personal learning journey.  I highly recommend:

iLearn Technology http://ilearntechnology.com/ by Kelly Tenkely @ktenkely

Sharp’s Audio Visual Blog http://sharpsav.com/blog/ by Vanessa S. Cassie @vanessascassie

ROTA:  Reading Teachers Online Arsenal http://rtoa.us/wp/ by S. Johnston-Robinett @sharnon007

Teachers Love SMARTboards http://smartboards.typepad.com/ by James Hollis @jameshollis

Bright Ideas http://slav.globalteacher.org.au/ @brightideasblog

Bits and Pieces Place http://2sparkley.edublogs.org/ @2sparkley

The Education Technology Blog http://www.educationtechnologyblog.com/ by Jonathan Wylie

Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom  http://primarytech.globalteacher.org.au/ Kathleen McGeady @kathmcgeady

The Whiteboard Blog http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/ Danny Nicholson @dannynic

Edge 21 http://cffmv.blogspot.com/ Thomas Boito @xmath2007

Thank you for your contributions, and I look forward to reading your recommendations!

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After a two month break, The Interactive Content Corner is back with a renewed commitment to sharing quality online resources coupled with realistic ways to integrate them into your instruction.

Before we continue to feature free online content, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that not all of the content you need for your classroom is free.

Before you attempt to navigate the rapidly increasing number of paid content choices, check out this post from Interactive Whiteboard Insights titled: Ten Questions You Should Ask Before Purchasing Interactive Whiteboard Content

Then download the Interactive Content Evaluation Checklist (357) to assist you in choosing the right content for your classroom.

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The Websites:

• http://www.meddybemps.com/9.692.html
• http://www.meddybemps.com/9.691.html
• http://www.meddybemps.com/9.693.html

Classroom Applications:

Practice spatial relationships with your students using all three websites which contain freely movable objects.

Whole Class Instruction:  Teach directional words by moving an object on screen and asking your students to describe where the object was placed in relation to another object.  For primary students, use this as an opportunity to simultaneously reinforce and review colors.

Reverse roles, and have your students move an object in relation to another object according to your stated directions.

Arrange two objects in relation to one another.  Ask your students to guess the relationship between the two objects.  This encourages students to consider multiple ways objects may be positioned in relation to one another.

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This post was inspired by Susanna’s post at Living-Learners about using comics in the classroom:

http://livinglearners.blogspot.com/2010/01/using-comics-in-classroom-and-have-your.html

The websites:

• http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/
• http://professorgarfield.com/pgf_comics_lab.html

Classroom Applications:

Creating online comics is a great way to have your students apply their knowledge of reading concepts to a project they can share with others.

1. Challenge your students to summarize a story they have read in a comic. Use the three panel form as a “beginning, middle, end” summary format.

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The website: 

• http://www.readthewords.com

I first learned of this site on www.ilearntechnology.com and was excited about the potential applications for classrooms.  Read The Words allows users to paste text into a box, and choose one of fifteen virtual readers to read the text aloud.  (Note: Each reader has a unique voice and some have accents or speak in other languages.) 

You can control the reader’s speed and pitch, and the audio can be listened to online, downloaded to an mp3 player, or posted on a website.  In approximately one minute, you can generate an hour long recording! 

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