Prezi

This is one that many people are familiar with but I think it is a good one to post here because the children enjoy it so much.  Prezi.com is a site that you can create sleek presentations on and is very user friendly.  It is like an updated PowerPoint, but with no slides.  Everything is created on a blank canvas.  This week I had students create a Prezi about the prefix "re".  They would write sentences and one of the words must use the prefix "re". Example: I had to redo my homework.

From there students selected pictures (built into prezi) that matched their sentences and created an entire presentation on this concept.  The students really enjoy this site.  I found that over the weekend I had students continue working on their presentation (not a requirement).  Give this website a look if you haven't done so in the past.

Live Scribe

I have been experimenting with a pen called Live Scribe.  It is an electronic pen in which you press buttons on the paper with the pen (record, stop, pause, etc...) and you write with the pen (that has ink) on the paper while talking.  It records your voice while recording your writing into the pen.  I am then able to upload the writing and voice on the computer in an audio pdf file and put these on my website.
The first one I did a mini lesson on rounding and using the "Rounding Rollercoaster" so parents knew the lingo I was using for this concept.
More recently I have had students write and record reviews of lessons that we have had in class and uploaded those to my website.  Parents are able to hear the lesson from their own children in their own words to get a better understanding of seeing what the children learn during school.  It has been fun and students are excited to write with it.
This item was donated to my class by a parent.