General+Tools

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[|ePals] ([|epals.com])

Epals.com allows teachers to search for an find other teachers and classroms interested in communicating accross nations and languages. For example an Anglophone, American classroom learning French can communicate with French-speaking students in the South of France who seek to perfect their English. This tool can work well in schools where students have access individual laptops to use at least once a week. It can offer a more robust learning experience than scavenger hunts (which can result in finding students playing online [|Sudoku]). The opportunity that epals.com provides to connect with real students can be an enjoyable, enriching experience for students. Using ePals, the Cultures and Community standards would be met.

[|Make Beliefs Comix] ([|makebeliefscomix.com])

Makebeliefscomix.com does not require an account, which makes things quick. The website provides ready made blank comic strips with a select number of pre-made characters, objects, and think-bubbles that chooses from along with the ability to add personalized text. There is a wide enough variety of characters that for a second grade level, you can use this site many many times and still create something new. The author of the website has geared his creation towards teachers, students and parents, and tips on how to use such comics in the classroom. It does not seem to offer a paid version, so the free version is the real deal! No privacy concerns exist as one has no account.

Limitations include only being able to create up to four boxes on one strip at a time. For longer comics, you need to create multiple separate comic strips, print them out, and then cut and paste them together before making copies. One cannot save the comics in that online website, but anyone can email their comic to themselves and save them that way, hence without the ability to later tweak them. There is not much room for a lot of text in these comic boxes, but again, that is the nature of a comic strip. Users of average technological abilities can navigate and create a comic for a lesson within an hour, including thinking of an idea and exploring the creative options.

An example comic strip story could go through the seven days of the week in German in the pattern of “Day/I/verb”. The story is chanted/sung and students learn to sing the story, act out the motions, order the days correctly, and then illustrate their own story with this same pattern and the same sentences, assessing their comprehension of the meaning of the verbs. Suggestions of the Langwitches blog might also lead to having fifth grade students create their own German comics around some unit theme. The teacher could choose the best one and have them record their voices reading it and upload it to iMovie. Then the second grade students could interact with it as input and would be excited to recognize a fifth grader who they likely know.

Google Docs

[|Prezi]([|prezi.com])

//Prezi.com// is a free website that is for presentations that can be used within the classroom by students or in teaching. The use of the application requires that a user name and password be created. A short tutorial is offered when you create a Prezi account which teaches you the basics of the application. You use the wheel in the upper right hand corner to change the appearance of the //Prezi.// Using the same wheel, you add text, images, and links in the order they should appear. In addition, you can have other people edit the same presentation. //Prezi// presentations are public, but you can pay to have a private version. Prezi presentations are appropriate for students in the middle through high school level.

A teacher could use //Prezi// to present about customs and traditions within a culture. For example, a Spanish teacher could use the application to create a presentation about Christmas in Mexico. Christmas in Mexico is celebrated differently than in the U.S and some traditions include- honoring a saint, las posadas, mass, foods specific to Mexico and the three kings.

Skype

Wikis