A New Look for Gallimore Learning

I am in the middle of renovating gallimorelearning.com. I don't know if people actually like the orange color scheme, and I'm wondering if it is a bit too hard to read. I'm changing it to match this layout. Please preview the site and leave your comments or ideas.
Here are some questions to consider:

Is the site easy to navigate?
What do I need more of?
What are you having a hard time finding?
What do you need as a teacher?
How can gallimorelearning make your life easier as a teacher?

Thanks for your input in advance.
I'm working to make our lives easier. I just need a little feed back.

Diorama (Foldables Part 3)

Dioramas in the classroom can be a wonderful teaching tool. They are very cheap and easy to make. The students only need two sheets of regular (or construction paper), scissors, and glue (or staples if you want to be really cheap; staples also work a lot quicker because you do not have to wait for the glue to dry.)
When you think of a diorama you may be reminded of the old shadow boxes that you made when you were little. These shadow boxes were generally made from old shoe boxes, construction paper, and enough glue to keep Elmer's in business. However, the modern diorama is a very close cousin to the foldable. Here is how to make one.

To create a simple diorama, take a square piece of paper. (8 1/2" X 8 1/2" works well) Fold the paper diagonally, open it and fold it on the other diagonal. Then, cut on one fold to the center. Bring one of the flaps over the other flap and staple. This makes a little tent shaped space for your scene. Color the scene, add the setting, and then you can also have your students write a small paragraph about why they chose specific things.

Once the diorama is complete you can have the students combine four of the dioramas together, and they can be used to compare or contrast various ideas.

Foldables Part 2

Think about it! People learn though the use of their senses, so logically a better way to teach would be to involve as many senses as possible. In creating and using the foldable, many of the senses are involved from tactile to auditory.
Foldables can be used to teach vocabulary terms, concept mapping, and as study aides. However, the list is only limited by your imagination. Here are some ways that I have used foldables in my classroom.

Now for some usable ideas:

• Foldables for Vocabulary Terms-
• Have the students fold the paper in half by making the longer sides of the paper come together.
• The students can now write the new terms on the front side of the foldable.
• Using a pair of scissors the student can cut under each term to create term tabs.
• Once these tabs are flipped open, the student can write either the definition or a personal connection to the term.
• Because of the tab the students can actually quiz themselves, then open the tab to check their answer.
  
• I use this a lot at the beginning of a lesson.
  
• This method can be for any subject, from kindergarten through college.

• Foldable as Concept Maps-
• Have the students fold the top of the paper until it meets the middle.
• Then fold the bottom so that it also meets the middle of the paper.
• Basically the paper should now be folded in thirds with the two short sides touching.
• The students should now fold the paper in half so that the newly formed shorter sides are touching.
• Once you unfold the paper four squares should be present.
• The students can now label these squares as you see fit
• Whether you are teaching story elements, compare & contrast, outlining, or even just simply reviewing the chapter. You can use this foldable for all of these depending on what you have you kids write on the top.
• Story Elements
• Kids should write "Characters", "Plot", "Setting", and "Conclusion" in the four squares.
• They can write the key details on the back side of each square, these squares can be cut to allow each square to be opened independently
  

• Compare & Contrast
• Kids should write the things being compared in each of the four boxes
• They could then write how the items are different on the backside of the terms square.
• Once the foldable is opened similarities between the four terms can be written in the central box.
  
• This foldable can be used like a Venn Diagram, except up to four things can be compared.

• Outlining
• Kids could write the "Key Term" on the top of each square.
• The details can be written on the back side of the term.
• The children can write a summary of what they have outlined in the center of the opened foldable.
  

I will write about other ways to incorporate foldables into your lessons as the weeks progress. I guess this could be considered my first series.
Well, I hope that I have given you some useful ideas. Enjoy

A Drug Free Me

As my students filed into the cafetorium, I heard some of them remark, "Man! I'm too old for a puppet show!" However, as they sat down and watched the actor do silly dances across the stage their "macho" attitudes started to change. They began to laugh at the silliness that they were witnessing, but all the while they were chanting along with the anti-drug rap.

Once the actors called for volunteers, my children were waving their hands frantically, trying to become involved in sharing the Kiwanis Club's message.
A few of my kids were actually picked to be part of the band during one of the segments. The other students laughed at the wigs the band wore, as they danced across the stage. My kids were now saying, "Man! I wish that I was picked! I can dance too!" They ended up really enjoying the show and they learned how to say no to drugs and deal with peer pressure.

Happy Holidays!!! (Christmas Activities and Testing Strategies)

Cheers to whatever you're celebrating this time of year! Whether it's Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Years, or just enjoying some time away from work. Enjoy every moment. I will be including some great holiday activities in this post to help ease your party planning.

However, this time of year does mean one thing for most teachers. It means the
year is about halfway over. Not to be a "Grinch", but testing is right around the corner!!! I always get nervous around this time of the year. I wonder if I have done all that I can to cram as much information into those tiny little brains as much as humanly possible. Then again what if my kids just freak out once they get the test and everything that was learned just fades away. I know that I'm over reacting, but deep down many of us feel this way.

So my question is how are you preparing your students for the upcoming testing sessions?

I teach 6th grade in Louisiana so we take the ILeap, which is basically a comprehensive test which includes several constructed responses. Below are some sites that I have found really helpful in getting my kids prepared for Standardized Testing.

(Right click on the links below to open in a new tab or window.)

1. Louisiana Pass-- A great site for Math review.
2. PSSA Math Practice Grade 5 (PDF)
3. Houghton Mifflin Math-- Test Prep, Brain Teasers, and Testing Techniques
   
4. Brain Child-- Preparation for many different state tests.
   
5. Test Taking Tips-- Several ways for your kids to stay cool under testing pressure.
6. Leap4Fun--Engage up to four players in this interactive board game. (Perfect for the one computer classroom)

Be sure to leave comments on your favorite standardized testing tips. As a community we can help each other to reach the demands of accountability.

I was going to incorporate a "Test Prep" section into Gallimore Learning, but there are so many tests out there, that it's hard to easily organize them all.

Now that I have stressed you out, it's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy some class holiday party plans.

Holiday Ideas

Happy Hands Wreath-- for lower elementary

• Trace about ten hand prints on green paper. Glue them onto a wreath shaped chunk of cardboard. Decorate with glitter, fake berries, a bow, whatever...they are adorable. You can also use the same hand prints and shape them into Christmas trees with the fingers pointing down, and then let them decorate with beads, sequins, popcorn, whatever to make a cool tree.

Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids -Craft Spoon Christmas Tree

You'll Need

1. Wooden craft spoons;the spoons that come with ice cream cups.
2. Acrylic paint
3. Fabric paint tubes
4. Paint brushes
5. Yellow fun foam or felt
6. Craft glue
7. Scissors
8. Pin backs or ribbon

Step 1. Paint five wooden spoons with green acrylic paint.

It will take just a few minutes of drying time before
handling. Children can do the next step while waiting.
Step 2. Cut the star from the fun foam or felt.
I prefer fun foam. It's easier for kids to cut & glue.
Step 3. Glue the craft sticks in a fan shape to make the tree.
Step 4. Make dots with the paint tubes, for the decorations.
Step 5. For an ornament or gift tag; glue a ribbon loop
to the back.

To make a pin, attach a pin back. Pin backs can be found plain or with self adhesive strips
already attached.

Pine Cone Tree

Supplies needed:

• Pinecones (purchase green or spray paint)
• Green paint
• Mini-pots
• Stars
• Sequins
• Glue

Christmas Wreath Game

Suspend a large Christmas wreath in a doorway at a convenient height from the floor. Prepare in advance "snowballs," made of cotton batting covered with white tissue paper.

The players stand about eight feet from the wreath, and take turns, one at a time. Each is given three "snowballs," and the one who succeeds in throwing all three, one at a time, through the wreath, is given the prize.

To make it more exciting, sides may be chosen, and each one of the three snowballs numbered, one being 5, the other, 10, and the third, 20. If the ball numbered 5 goes through, it counts 5 for that player's side. If it does not go through, it is a loss, and so on. The side scoring the most points is victorious.

Get free holiday clip art here

Free Teacher Stuff

How many times have we fallen for this trap?
It usually includes a few shareware programs, horrible trial programs, or an endless clicking of links that lead to the first page that you came from.
Leave a comment listing all of your good ed-tech or teaching stuff.

Edubuntu

Hear what the creators of Edubuntu have to say:

"Edubuntu is a flavour of the Ubuntu operating system, which is optimised for classroom use. It has been developed in collaboration with teachers and technologists around the world. The aim of Edubuntu is that an educator with limited technical knowledge and skill should be able to set up a computer lab, or establish an on-line learning environment, in an hour or less, and then administer that environment without having to become a fully-fledged Linux geek. This is our first step towards that goal.

Principal design goals of Edubuntu are centralized management of configuration, users, and processes, together with facilities for working collaboratively in a classroom setting. Equally important is the gathering together of the best available free software and digital materials for education.

Edubuntu is built on top of the solid and stable Ubuntu base, and incorporates the LTSP thin client architecture, as well as Education-specific applications, aimed at the 6-18 age group. It also aims to allow resource poor environments to maximise their available (older) equipment.

Based on Ubuntu, the new Edubuntu features a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, any other package you can imagine available from the network, and a commitment to security updates for 18 months after each release. We will also be pursuing establishing a network of professional technical support from many companies around the world as this distro grows."

TO DOWNLOAD Click Here