Smartboards in the Classroom

Here's another excellent Literacy tool to use with your students.  It allows you to build a virtual map of a word based on its definition and synonyms.  Click the comment button below to let us know how you used it in your classroom. 

Attachment(s): http://www.visualthesaurus.com

One of the most time-consuming tasks with the SmartBoard used to be creating text boxes with new vocabulary, creating geometric shapes to match, changing the background color of the boxes, rearranging the order of both geometric shape and textbox and THEN grouping them together.

The object of all this effort, of course, was to create vocabulary words or labels that can be moved around the SmartBoard to show comprehension.

Well, now a new resource has come out that eliminates all this effort. It's called "Word Magnets" and comes to us from educators in the UK. Here's the link. Have fun!

Attachment(s): http://www.xmleducation.co.uk/magnets.html

In my travels around the city working with teachers, I've met a wonderful group at JHS 45 in the Bronx.  Their response was overwhelmingly positive.  So, teachers at PS 45 who specifically work with ELA classes, please give us your feedback here.  What was the class's reaction to the SmartBoard?  Were all the students engaged?  Describe your lesson for us and reflect how the SmartBoard helped you. 

Here are some Language Arts lessons using the SmartBoard.  This group is intended for grade five.  You can change the grade level for more lessons for your class.

Attachment(s): http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/Correlated+Search+ca.htm