Today I spent a great day facilitating and working with our regional Math 5/6 PLC teachers. Some great sharing and professional discussions took place during out time together. I thought you might enjoy the energizing activity we started our morning with…

Truthfully, I can’t find the original site that inspired the PowerPoint activity, but the following blog post does go into a bit more detail… Inspirado: Numerology – What Your Birth Date Reveals About You! If you use the birthday personality PowerPoint with your students remind them that these types of activities are all in fun! Members of our PLC agreed that the activity was a quick, fun way to incorporate some basic math skills and the student data could be used to introduce or revisit simple data analysis and graphing skills.

I’ve had a couple of very busy weeks.  It seems like it has been a while since I have had time to share my Friday Favorites.  I hope you enjoy the resources I have managed to discover during small snippets of time.  Feel free to share your favorite finds of the week using the comment link found at the bottom of this post. Have a sweetheart of a weekend!

1. Gajitz Tech Evolution: 18 Gadgets that Used to be High-Tech – a fascinating look back…fun to show students. My how far we have come!
2. BooksShouldBeFree.com – the title says it all…”Your source for free audio books. Download one in mp3, iPod and iTunes format today.”
3. The State of the Internet – I’m always amazed by the statistics…this is a great YouTube video to share with students. Monitor it closely, however…some of the comments were not appropriate for student viewing despite the fact that the video was excellent in terms of content.
4. Evolution of Dancing – still the most watched YouTube video of all time…guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and memories from the past (unless you are too young to remember).

   Evolution of Dancing Part II – and of course…what would the top viewed YouTube video be without a sequel?
5. It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs – a fascinating article that received over 7,000 comments.
6. Wisebread: How Much Caffeine Is In That? – so…what is your caffeine intake?
7. A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything – I continue to be fascinated by flip-books…amazing
8. Emerging Edtech: 100 Ways to Teach with Twitter – some great ideas and resources here.
9. 35 Activities Your Students Can Do To Learn Respect – some great ideas here for classroom teachers
10. Kathy Schrock’s Assessment and Rubric Information – you can always count on Kathy. I have used her rubric information for years. She has added new material recently that includes rubrics for Web 2.0 and more. It’s time to revisit this site, especially if you have not checked it out in a while.

What kind of book-lover/mother/educator would I be if I did not acknowledge Dr. Seuss’s birthday today? I dedicate this post to the memory of the man who made so many children and adults happy, successful readers.

Click on the screenshot image (found at the top of this post) to access the Happy Birthday Dr Seuss portal site I researched and developed as we celebrated Dr. Seuss day in our school. The site includes information about Dr. Seuss, his books, quotes (with buttons that students can use to have the phrases read to them), and links to games and online activities that feature the characters and imagination of the beloved Seuss. Explore the orange circles found at the top of the site to access the numerous links and resources I put together.

You can also gain access to four free digital Seuss books when you download and open a free kidthing account (you do need to download and install the program on your classroom or home computer). Use the code KTCODE-NEA5RAA to receive free books that you can project from your computer. The offer is good through March 30th, do don’t wait too long! I have pasted a copy of the offer I received below. I know it sounds too good to be true, but believe me these books are free!  Click on the image below to go to the site and register for your free account. And, yes, they are trying to sell books, but I have to tell you I was impressed with kidthing. Let us know what you think by using the comment link found at the bottom of this post.

In addition to being a Dr. Seuss fan, I have been a long-time fan of the International Children’s Digital Library site. Whenever I share this site with librarians, foreign language teachers, general education teachers, and of course students we are all in awe at the number, quality, and diversity of books found on this site. Registration is optional, but if you register you can…

• select the language you prefer to use
• return to the last page you were reading
• save your favorite books in a personal bookshelf
• access these features from any computer

Enjoy the books and resources I have shared today and send happy thoughts upward (and around you) as you think of all the wonderful men and women who have shared their writing talent over the years.  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!