Looking for Free Online Resources for your Interactive Whiteboard?

The majority of teachers at one of my schools now have interactive whiteboards, and the last few will get theirs very soon.  Teachers are smiling a lot, and so are the students with special needs that they teach.

I'm amazed at how quickly everyone has intuitively adapted to this technology in just a few weeks.The school has access to some fee-based resources, such as United Streaming Video, TumbleBooks, and Clicker 5,  as well as the resources provided by SMARTTechnologies and Promethean Planet.  Even so, there are plenty of free on-line resources the teachers are sharing and discovering.

Everything is better on an interactive whiteboard!  The students focus their eyes intently on the screen, and listen carefully to the on-line stories.   They get up in front of the screen and manipulate items, completing academic tasks that would not be possible using paper and pencil activities or folder tasks.

This post was created as a resource for my colleagues, but I'm sharing it on my blog since I know that many teachers are looking for good interactive content for their students.

I welcome comments and links to other resources!

Resources and Links


Imagine interacting with this content on a huge screen in front of you?  The activity below is from the free Starfall website:


Zac Web Browser
The Zac Web Browser was designed by a grandfather of a young boy with autism. It is free and can be accessed via the web or downloaded to you computer. It even works with a Wii mote controller! The following video clip demonstrates the application- you'll have to wait through the short ad at the beginning:

I experimented with the ZAC browser on my HP TouchSmart and it worked well with touch interaction. Below are a couple of  screen shots of the browser:


Video Portal



Storybook Portal


HelpKidzLearn is a website with free software and resources from Inclusive Technology:

Most young people love animals.  Animal webcams from various zoos make an interesting focal point for learning and sharing, no matter what age or ability level.  The Smithsonian National Zoological Park is a great place to start!

I especially like the Amazon River Cam:

Zoos Worldwide is a great portal to the zoocam world.  If your students are learning about nocturnal animals, simply link to a webcam from a zoo that is in a time zone 12 or so hours away.

Other websites that are great for interactive whiteboards:
National Geographic Kids

   
Discovery Kids
PBS Kids 
NASA Kids' Club

National Gallery of Art Kids
Smithsonian Kids
Kids Gov   Kids Gov Fun Stuff
Natural History Museum Kids Only (UK)
e-Learning for Kids
This website has loads of learning games and courses covering math, science, health and life skills, English language, language arts, and computer skills.

"Established in 2004, e-Learning for Kids is a global nonprofit foundation dedicated to fun and free learning on the Internet for children ages 5-12  with courses in math, science, reading, health, and computers. A volunteer staff consists of education and e-learning experts and business professionals from around the world committed to making a difference."

Count Us In:  Games designed to help children understand basic number concepts.  The games were created in Flash and can be downloaded for off-line use.

Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs 
Free Online Activities for Intensive/Multiple Special Needs
(recent post and links)
Kids Online Resources
Vicki Blackwell's Website
Blackwell's Best
Teachers Love SmartBoards (SMARTTechnologies blog)
Teacher LED:  Interactive Whiteboard Resources for Teachers

Teacher LED's Interactive Clock

The AESOP for Children (on the Teacher LED website)
(This is a flip book that allows students to turn virtual pages on an interactive whiteboard.)

GREAT FEE-BASED RESOURCES

CLICKER 5
The students at Wolfe like Clicker5  activities. Imagine these screenshots on the SmartBoard:


 

 Clicker 5 was developed following the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). It includes high-quality speech with highlighting, sentence writing grides, writing frames to help scaffold writing, and on-screen talking books that highlight words automatically as they are read.  Clicker allow students to create their own talking books, record their voices, and with Clicker Paint, illustrate their creations.

Even students with little or no speech can use Clicker using customized grids.


Clicker offers a variety of active learning support options for struggling readers, such as the Planet Wobble series of talking books and related on-screen activities:
 

Teach Town
"TeachTown: Basics is a research based solution for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other special needs. The service brings together parents, clinicians, teachers and students in one comprehensive package. Subscription includes on-computer lessons, off-computer generalization activities, data tracking and communications tools that keep the whole team connected."

Screenshot of the TeachTown walkthrough:

TeachTown Research

I'll update this post as I collect additional resources.

Quest for (free) interactive activities and books on the web: Toon University, StarFall, StoryLine Online

It is the beginning of the school year, and many teachers are walking into classrooms with interactive whiteboards, thanks to the stimulus money earmarked for the schools.  

I have lots of resources for interactive whiteboards that I hope to share on this blog over the next few months. If you have some to share, please leave a comment.  I'm looking for FREE resources, but links to fully-functioning trials for inexpensive applications are also welcome.  Please share only your most favorite, high-quality sites.  Also please provide information about the site, including subject matter, grade/age level, and how it can be used with students.

Toon University

From the title of this site, you can guess that it is "cartoony".  That's ok.  Toon University offers a few free web-based activities that just might encourage you to sign up for a full-year subscription for $99.95.  This price includes 1 parent log-in and 2 child logins.  You can explore the site with a free 10-day trial.  The site allows users to toggle between English and Spanish,  and the parent-teacher log-in allows lets you see student activity, scores, and progress.

I especially like the book "I like to dance with my sister".   "My dad dances like a bird... My uncle dances like a dryer".  Cute.

Children can use the picture navigation system, which is organized by subject, or they can type in what they are looking for in the search-box in the upper left-hand corner:

To save you time, I've listed the free toon university links below:



FREE SAMPLE ACTIVITIES
(click here for flash version)

ToonBooks
The Elvis That Cried "Mouse!" (K-4th)
I Like To Dance (K-2nd)
See ToonBooks written by kids!

1st-6th Grade Language Arts / Math Games
Discovering Coin Values (1st)
Comparing Number Values (2nd)
Advanced Alphabetizing (3rd)
Prime Factoring (4th)
Geography: U.S. States (5th)
Angles (6th)

Smartoon Cartoons
The Planets Adventure! (1st-6th)
The History of Money (1st-6th)

Pre-K to K Activities
The Letter "M" (Pre-K to K)

myBrainTeaser Create Your Own Games
Click Here for Samples

I've mentioned the Starfall website in the past.  It is still free, and still going strong, for students who are reading between the K-2 level.  In addition to free interactive stories, games, songs, and thematic activities,  the StarFall site offers low-cost writing journals and books.

StarFall

Educator Information
Parent Information
Screen shot of one of the activities in the "Who Am I?" section. This is easy-to-use on an interactive whiteboard.

The Starfall music section is worth a listen, too.


Storyline Online

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation is the sponsor of Storyline Online, featuring actors and actresses from the guild who read children's books aloud.  One the website, there are downloadable lessons and activities that relate to each book.  Each video can be selected for the full screen and has captions that can be turned on or off.  These options make it good for use on a classroom interactive whiteboard.


Here is a list of stories available on Storyline Online:

To Be a Drum, by Evelyn Coleman; read by James Earl Jones
 
Guji Guji, by Chih Yuan Chen; read by Robert Guillaume
 
Sebastian's Roller Skates, by Joan De Deu Prats; read by Caitlin Wachs
 
Sophie's Masterpiece, by Eileen Spinelli; read by CCH Pounder

Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon; read by Pamela Reed

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox; read by Bradley Whitford

No Mirrors in My Nana's House, by Ysaye M. Barnwell; read by Tia and Tamera Mowry

The Night I Followed the Dog, by Nina Laden; read by Amanda Bynes  

Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco; read by Jane Kaczmarek


My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, by Patricia Polacco; read by Melissa Gilbert

Knots on a Counting Rope, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; read by Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels

Brave Irene, by William Steig; read by Al Gore

A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon; read by Sean Astin

Private I. Guana, by Nina Laden; read by Esai Morales

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, by Eileen Spinelli; read by Hector Elizondo

The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg; read by Lou Diamond Phillips

Me and My Cat, by Satoshi Kitamura; read by Elijah Wood

Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy, by Jason Alexander; read by Jason Alexander

When Pigasso Met Mootisse, by Nina Laden; read by Eric Close

White Socks Only, by Evelyn Coleman; read by Amber Rose Tamblyn

Romeow and Drooliet, by Nina Laden; read by Haylie Duff

Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson; read by Camryn Manheim

More to come!

Free webinars from CITEd, the Center for Implementing Technology in Education

CITEd, in collaboration with Don Johnston Incorporated, is presenting free webinar sessions over the next few months.

Assistive Technology: Written Productivity & Assessment 12/10/08 & 12/16/08
Presenters: Denise DeCoste, Team Leader, High Incidence Accessible Technology (HIAT), Montgomery County Public Schools

Technology Implementation: Getting to Where You Want to Be (Overview of Universal Design for Learning) 12/6/09 & 12/13/09
Presenters: David Rose, Co-Founder, CAST; Mary Thorngren, Deputy Director, Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd); and Jenna Wasson, Research Associate, CAST

Accessible Instructional Materials 101 2/4/09 & 2/10/09
Presenters: Joy Zabala, Project Manager, AIM Consortium; and Diana Foster Carl, Special Projects Coordinator, AIM Consortium

You can find links to previous Moving Forward with Technology webinars on the CITEd website.

Although the school year is nearly half over, it is not to late to move forward with technology!

Accessible Learning through Entertainment and Recreation Tools Alert: Resources for free or low cost games and applications

The people at Simply Entertainment/ 7-128 Software, make "mainstream, family-friendly, computer games that are designed from the ground up to be accessible to gamers with a variety of special needs, including: blindness, low vision, color blindness, deafness, and motion impairment".

They recently added a free on-line service for people searching for free or low-cost accessible computer games suitable for learning or rehabilitative environments.

According to the website, the Accessible Learning through Entertainment and Recreation service provides the following useful information:

• Where to get those games, at low cost, or for free
• What to look for in selecting those games, quickly and with fewer costly mistakes
• How to apply those games to your learning objectives, without a lot of mystery
• Who to go to for free help

"This information will be updated over the course of 2008, especially the growing series of How To articles."

Another resource on the Simply Entertainment/1-129 Software website is a section dedicated to links to 25 highest-rated websites that focus on games that are accessible for people who are blind. Many of the linked websites offer free on-line games.

Thanks to John Bannick and his colleagues at 7-128!