Infant encyclopedia

This is a lovely site for Smartboards - a clear visual encyclopedia on a range of topics.

Keyboard Skills

Dance Mat Typing from the BBC is a great site for children to get used to typing on a keyboard. They have to progress through different levels, and can print certificates as they complete each one.

This is a simpler and quicker typing skills game - great as a quick activity at your class computer. Would be fab for infant classes.

This is another option - it involves typing strings of letters with spaces and is good for a next step after the game above.

Writing Frames

 

There are some useful writing frames here, with prompts to help planning, and blank writing frames to help scaffold writing.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Resources to support teaching drama

Recently in school there was a bit of discussion on teaching drama, and I was racking my brains trying to remember this website.. and I've remembered!

Drama Resource is a great website which lists and explains a range of drama strategies. There are some video clips to show how they work.You could pick which strategies fit in with a class topic or story to plan a drama lesson - worth a look.

Sounds

This is an amazingly simple sound board, which you could have on your Smartboard for children to mix their own sounds for the classroom. This vould be for creating an atmosphere for storywriting, or just for creating a calm atmosphere! (P4 classes might enjoy the bird song this term).Click here.

Exploring the World from Your Classroom

Geoguesser is an addictive and fun game which involves guessing where in the world you are. You're shown a place in Google Street View, and can turn 360 degrees, or continue on down the road in search of more clues as to which country you've landed in. You may be in a snow covered or sun-baked landscape, so it's really a case of narrowing down which continent you're in by using clues such as the climate, which plants are growing, what the landscape looks like, what language road signs are in and any more you can find. You then click on a map to place a marker close to where you think the view is, and are shown how far away your guess is and are awarded points for how close you got. This will be hard for Primary children, (I'd recommend for Primary 5 and up) but will be great fun with more practise, and could generate some great discussion.

Edinburgh History

I was reminded of these fantastic websites recently. Click here for Our Town Stories which is full of fascinating stories, maps and images. Whose Town can be accessed through Glow. It's an amazing resource, with interactive resources on 14 real people who lived in Edinburgh from 1850 to 1950. A personal archive is collected in a digital box - one for each person. Each Life in a Box is stored in one of four different attics, each attic representing a different era in history. The eras are named as Victorian Edinburgh (1870s - 1890s, Brave New World (1900 - 1914), Carrot Jam and Pudding Pie (World War 2), and Change in the Air (1950s).

Maths worksheets

You may well have seen this website before, but if not it's great for extension or consolidation work. Click here to view it. It's American, so you'll need to be aware of spelling especially on measure worksheets. Thanks Rhiannon for this!

Smartboard Resources

Click here for the Modern Chalkboard website. There are a few good interactive activities based mainly on maths and grammar, but also some science and social studies files too. You need to download the Smartboard files to use, but it's quick, easy and FREE!