Resources
GCDS has FLIPGRID fEVER!
Flipgrid is a video discussion platform- and it's AWESOME. Students can capture short videos to share ideas, respond to questions and have discussions with teachers and classmates. 6th, 7th and 8th graders have loved responding to teachers and each other!
HERE is a link on how to sign up.
Click HERE for ideas on how to use FlipGrid with your students.
Check out this video to learn more.
Find and create engaging videos for students
I've become a huge fan of EDpuzzle. In it, you can find a variety of videos and edit them to make them engaging and track student learning. It links to Google Classroom, so you can post your edited videos directly to your classroom.
Click HERE to check it out.
Presentation & INFO GRAPHIC Websites
Most MS/US students (if not all) are proficient Google Slides users- it has become their “go to” platform for presentations. And many teachers have been assigning Google Slides for culminating project assessments. While Google Slides are terrific, below is an alternate list of websites for students (and teachers!) to use to create visually appealing presentations. From comic strips to movie making, this list offers you and your students a variety of presentation platforms. I encourage you to explore these sites to find alternatives to traditional project presentations, and to spice up your assessments! GCDS has paid subscriptions to many of these sites. See below.
Adobe Spark is an integrated suite of storytelling applications for the iPad, iPhone, and web developed by Adobe Systems. It comprises three separate design apps:Spark Page, Spark Post, and Spark Video . (sign in with google)
A simple way to make your own beautiful ebooks, right on your PC or Tablet. Book Creator is ideal for making all kinds of books, including children's picture books, photo books, comicbooks, journals, textbooks and more. (Ideal if you download the app onto the iPad.)
Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated Gami video.
(sign in with google)
Buncee enables you to easily bring together all kinds of content (buncee artwork, photos, videos, drawings, audio, and links) onto one digital canvas, making a cloud-based, shareable creation. (sign in with google)
Storybird is a visual storytelling community. A global hub of readers, writers, and artists of all ages. Storybird lets anyone make gorgeous, art-inspired stories in seconds.
(sign in with google)
Create Animated Videos & Presentations
(username: Nbasinet@gcds.net password: powtoon16)
“Prezi is a presentation tool that can be used as an alternative to traditional slide making programs such as PowerPoint. Instead of slides, Prezi makes use of one large canvas that allows you to pan and zoom to various parts of the canvas and emphasize the ideas presented there.” (sign in with google)
“Teachers and students use Biteslide to research, create, and present school projects. They create slidebooks - an innovative blend of images, video, and text. “ (sign in with google)
“Haiku Deck is a free app that makes presentations simple, beautiful, and fun. Haiku Deck Zuru is a powerful new application that uses artificial intelligence to instantly transform your ideas into beautiful presentations. Haiku Deck Zuru beta is available exclusively for Haiku Deck Pro subscribers.” (sign in with google)
“Bookemon is a unique book creation site built for parents, teachers and young authors. Bookemon offers online and mobile apps for our members to create quality soft cover and hardcover printed books as wells as ebooks. Members can purchase their own books for family and friends or to offer them for sale at Bookemon's Store.”
(username: nbasinet@gcds.net password: bookemon)
“Create interactive images. Make your images come alive with video, text, images, music and more.” (sign in with google)
“Piktochart is a web-based infographic application which allows users without intensive experience as graphic designers to easily create professional-grade infographics using themed templates.” (sign in with google)
“Create your own infographic with no tech or design skill required. Visme is a simple tool you can use to translate your ideas into engaging content in the form of presentations, infographics, and Reports.” (sign in with google)
“Create & collaborate in Padlet. It is a free application to create an online bulletin board that you can use to display information for any topic. Easily create an account and build a new board. You can add images, links, videos, and more.” (sign in with google)
Smore lets you design and share online flyers/posters. No design or tech experience needed. The templates are creative and easy to use.
(username: nbasinet@gcds.net password: smore)
Canva is an online graphic design platform. It offers free access to a wide assortment of design tools and options. Creative and easy templates. No design experience necessary.
(sign in with google)
Create animated comic-like movies in GoAnimate. It is a cloud-based, animated video creation platform, designed to allow people with no background in animation to quickly and easily create animated videos. Kids LOVE it.
(username: knewhouse@gcds.net password: GCDS2016)
StoryBoard That
A terrific digital online storyboard creator. An extensive image library, with flexible layouts and intuitive design allows students to get creative and have fun telling their “story”.
(username: nbasinet@gcds.net password: storyboardthat)
Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows. Kids LOVE it.
(username: nbasinet@gcds.net password: animoto)
(Student Project Created with StoryBoardThat)
formative Assessment websites
Kahoot is a free, game based learning platform. You can create a Kahoot game or find pre made games. Games are asked in real-time for an unlimited number of players, creating a social, fun game-like learning environment.
Socrative is a cloud-based student response system. It allows teachers to create simple quizzes that students can take quickly on laptops – or, more often, via classroom tablet computers or their own smartphones.
Today'sMeet is a back channel chat platform for classroom teachers and learners. Designed for teachers, Today'sMeet takes great care to respect the needs and privacy of students while giving educators the tools for success.
Padlet is a free application to create an online bulletin board that you can use to display information for any topic. Easily create an account and build a new board. You can add images, links, videos, and more.