Lemon Tech Tidbits

What is Elementar.io? It is an online platform that allows students the ability to create and illustrate interactive stories. Watch this short introduction video to see it in action: http://bit.ly/2IQyHFA . How much does it cost? You can sign up for free using your G Account or filling out a few boxes of information. The free version allows you to have one class with 30 students. You are limited in the illustrations and sounds available but there are still plenty to choose from. If you want to upgrade, you can choose an $8.00 or $25.00 a month teacher plan or the $99.00 a month for a school account. Is it easy to use? Yes and No. If you want to create a simple story with no sound or animation, it is very simple to use. But if you want to spice things up, there can be a learning curve. For example, if you want to add in animation, you will need to use and understand how to use blocks of code. What grade level? This site can be used for upper elementary students in its basic form...

STORYWEAVER Do you wish for a place where children can read stories created by other children? Do you wish for a place where children can create and publish their own story? Than Storyweaver is the website for you! Storyweaver is an open source (ie free!) website that was created as a place for children to weave together the power of stories. “It is a place where students can create, read, translate, and download an endless stream of stories.” To see how to create your own story, watch this very short youtube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDPyK_sOiv8 Other digital storytelling tools include Storywars , Storybird , Toontastic , and Bookcreator .

12 Tools To Find Quality Reading Passages For Your Classroom In the article by Lisa Tanner from the blog, TeachThought ,  is a list of 12 different tools teachers can use to find quality reading passages online. Many of you are most likely familiar with some of the tools such as Newslea but there were a few that will be new.  Each tool contains a brief description and includes whether the service is free or paid. I do want to point out though that the article has one glaring omission. Nowhere in the article does the author mention using databases to find articles. The State of Kansas provides access to many free databases such as Explora . Explora lets you search for an article from a popular magazine, newspaper, or academic journal. You can browse through topics of choice or do an advanced search to find exactly what you want. You can even filter the results by lexile level. And the best part? The articles can easily be added and shared through Google Classroom. ...

Eric Curtis has a great blog post titled  Write Less to Write Better with Google Docs. There are times when it is beneficial to encourage students to write  Less  than they normally do. It’s important for students to be able to “distill their ideas down to just the most important, relevant, clear, and concise words. By putting limits on the number of words or characters our students can use, this forces students to: Summarize key points Select what is most important Choose words that best convey meaning  •  Restate concepts Avoid unnecessary filler and fluff”  (Curtis) In the blog post, Eric provides tips on using Google Docs to help limit the number of words using the  doc tool Word Count.  His instructions are very clear and practical. However, I like his  “Compose a Tweet” template  better as it ties into how students are communicating online. In the same vein ,  Alice Keeler has a blog post titled  Mock T...