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Including Inquiry-Based Learning Into Your Classroom

Sometimes you just need to shake things up in the classroom! Engagement can be a struggle, especially right before or right after long school breaks. Join us for this course where we will look at the benefits of incorporating inquiry-based learning into your classroom practice. Whether it is in a stand-alone project or incorporating the tenants of inquiry into your already existing curriculum, this course will give you the "why" behind inquiry-driven learning as well as activities, lessons, and ideas you can use right away!

Using Jamboard to Support ELA Standards

Looking for a way to support students in ELA and align to the Next Generation ELA standards? In this session, we will be utilizing Jamboard as a way for students to apply targeted skills in a collaborative way. Join us as we explore some of the standards in depth, create interactive activities, and use Jamboard to promote reading, writing, and discussion at the secondary level.

Utilizing Google Workspace for Summer Reading

Note, this course was previously aired but because of its popularity we are running a recording of this session live at this time. The presenter will not be able to address your questions, but our Professional Development team members will be in the chat box to answer any questions you have. This session can also be found in our Course Library by searching the same title.

Ready to transition your summer reading program to a more digitally-based process? In this course, we'll share tips on using different applications within Google Workspace (formerly G Suite for Education) to structure a summer reading program and push out materials. We'll also share book lists and reflection activities to keep students reading during the summer months and prevent that summer slide!

Serve Your School Community with Sora

We will explore the many features and benefits of Sora by OverDrive, including how it can be used to support literacy and learning in the classroom and beyond. We will also demonstrate how to get started with Sora, including how to sign in, borrow books, and customize your reading experience. Whether you are a teacher, librarian, or student, Sora by OverDrive is a must-have tool for anyone looking to discover and explore the world of digital reading.

Using Social Studies to Foster Effective Writing Skills

Writing happens in every classroom and in every area of life! Social studies is the perfect place for students to hone their writing skills as they craft evidence-based arguments, explanations, historical analyses, narratives, and more. In this session, we'll help you discover strategies and activities that you can use to help your students foster effective writing skills that they can use wherever they go!

Creating Digital Books for a Multicultural Book Festival

Digital books are the perfect way to reinforce literacy concepts while also tapping into key 21st century skills. In this session, we will discuss strategies for having students create their own digital books that explore their unique cultures and backgrounds. We will explore specific platforms for digital stories such as Book Creator, StoryJumper, and Google Slides. We will then dive into ideas to include in our multicultural books, tools to support English language learners, and how we can share these books to a larger audience during our multicultural book festival. Let’s celebrate reading & writing and learn about other cultures along the way! 

Celebrating Read Across America Month in the Secondary Classroom

Are you looking for ways to connect with the spirit of Read Across America for your secondary students? In this session, we will discuss a variety of ways you can explore the deeper meaning behind some of the texts of Theodor Seuss Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss, whose birthday inspired Read Across America. We will look at pieces of writing from Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein to compare and contrast social issues; use Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Dr. Seuss's The Butter Battle Book to discuss satire; discuss political cartoons during World War II; and more! We will also discuss some technology tools to support these activities, including some templates for students to write their own stories and screenplays!

Lights, Camera, Action: Bringing Fairytales to Life Through Storytelling

February 26th is a special day; it's worldwide Tell A Fairy Tale Day! There are so many amazing activities you can do leading up to this day. To celebrate, join us for a session on writing fairy tales and bringing them to life! In this course, we will be using digital tools and various platforms to storyboard and script fairy tales. We will even venture into story extensions, twists, and retelling stories from a villain's point of view!

Using Digital Tools to Write Personal Letters

Did you know that February is known as "Letter and Card Writing Month"? In this course, we will be focusing on digital tools that students can use to support letter writing skills. We will explore a variety of strategies and digital tools you can use with your students to plan, write, and share their letters!

PBL for the Elementary ELA Classroom

Project-based learning is the perfect way to engage your K-5 students in 21st century skills. How can we incorporate these skills into our ELA class? In this session, we’ll discuss how to implement PBL activities into your instruction to promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. We will also dive into how to use various tools to promote the key elements of PBL, such as research, gathering and analyzing feedback, and presenting knowledge in your classroom. Join us to review some PBL best practices to engage your elementary ELA students!

Digital Tools to Reinforce ELA Skills

Are you looking for ideas to engage students in your ELA Class? Join us for a session where we will look at tools to boost your ELA lessons in all grade bands. We'll go over resources that can help you differentiate your lessons with tools like Kami, Padlet, and more! We will also provide resources with created material for you to customize as well as create a new lesson together!

PBL in the Secondary ELA Classroom

Learn how to implement PBL activities to promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration in your secondary ELA classroom. Embracing technology in a traditional ELA classroom will not only help engage your students, but it will also improve their literacy skills and foster a classroom environment in which the traditional elements of ELA become more hands on.

Creative Storytelling with Robotics

Get ready for this twist on digital storytelling featuring robotics. In this cross-curricular workshop, we will discuss some best practices and things to consider when starting a storytelling project in your classroom. Then, we'll show you how to plan and code your device(s) to tell a story in a whole new way! We will also share some storytelling examples using one of our favorite robot friends, KIBO! You’ll get to try these skills out for yourself, so you too, can enhance your classroom's creativity!

Using Interactive Storytelling to Build Academic Vocabulary

Storytelling is a common practice that helps young children to learn important concepts, express creativity, and enhance their academic skills. The interactive component of storytelling is what helps students develop verbal and written expression, which will help improve academic vocabulary. Join us for our session where we will discuss the importance of bringing interactive storytelling into the early-age classroom by using pre-existing stories and strategies, so that your students create and share their own. We will also share some websites and activity ideas to get you on your way with storytelling in the classroom!

Tools to Support Digital Book Cover Creation

Students already know that an impressive cover can make a book stand out on the shelf. In this course, we will go over how you can challenge your students to be illustrators for the day by designing their own digital book covers. Join us as we take a deeper dive into the different programs that you can use, and the handy design tools within these websites!

Digital Journaling Activities

In today's session, we'll be learning all about digital journals. From benefits to important considerations, and even recommended tools, we'll give you all the information you need to get started with your students. Whether you're looking to switch over journal activities from pen and paper or want a unique activity to do with students, you've come to the right place! 

Using Jamboard to Support Writing Stations

Looking for ideas and graphic organizers to support your students thoughts during the writing process? Jamboard can be a great location for research, brainstorming, prewriting, and more. Join us to learn how your students can use Jamboard to organize their thoughts before writing an informative, argumentative, or narrative piece.

Limericks with Lumio

Whether you are looking for a fun St. Patrick's Day activity, celebrating National Limerick Day, or simply exploring poetry in your classroom, this session is for you! Join us as we share interactive ways to incorporate technology into your elementary and middle school lessons using Lumio. We'll even help you prepare by sharing the history and patterns behind these much loved poems.

Interactive Storytelling with Jamboard

Jamboard is an interactive whiteboard that can be used for brainstorming, creating, and sharing information. In this session, we will discuss how to create storyboards and how to use the drawing and text features within Jamboard. Join us to discuss the importance of introducing storytelling skills at an early age. We will also explore specific examples and Jamboard templates that can be used for the story creation process.

Using Book Creator to Create Digital Stories for ELLs

Digital storytelling is the perfect way to engage your English Language Learners. Join us for this session where we will review the power of digital storytelling and discuss the benefits of storytelling for your students. We will then dive into Book Creator, a website for creating digital books that incorporate drawings, narration, video, and so much more. We will explore how to get started with this digital tool and brainstorm ideas for your students to bring their stories to life. We will also explore digital story topics and examples that are sure to engage your English Language learners. Let’s get creative with this literacy tool to support our students with their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills!

Digital Word Walls for ELLs

Many of us have a word wall posted somewhere in our classroom to help our ELL students learn vocabulary. What if you could bring your word wall into the 21st century? Join us as we explore and create digital word walls! In this session, we'll show you everything you need to create digital word walls of your very own and highlight the benefits for your English language learners.

Using SMART Board to Support Literacy

Looking for more engaging literacy lessons? Well, look no further than your SMART Board. There are many features on the SMART Board that can bring your literacy lessons to the next level. You will learn how the SMART Board can foster comprehension, engagement, and collaboration among your students. Come explore how to use SMART Lab to quickly create literacy activities.