Summer Reading and Fun

How is the summer reading going? Are you looking for ways to make it more exiting to engage the kids on a rainy day. Share some of your projects or neat things you have done this summer with books you have read. Post links below to any online projects or just have the kids reply with a comment about the books they have been reading. Be creative...post your videos, pictures or online created story maps and other features.

Below are some ideas and links for some neat technology tools to explore. I look forward to hearing from you Lincoln students!

http://dotlearnt.com/2012/07/23/free-summer-reading-adventure-for-kids-on-itunes/ 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/48-summer-websites-kids-teachers-keith-ferrell

• We used Voice Thread last year during our Author's night. http://voicethread.com is an amazing site that allows students to create web 2.0 slide shows that become interactive and collaborative. This is a great place for students to discuss common genres and books online. Students can create a slideshow summary of their book with pictures, audio, and text. Other students can leave text, audio, or drawn comments on the book reviews. 
• Wikis are an excellent place for students to share book reviews. Wetpaint http://wetpaint.com, PBWorks http://pbworks.com, and Zoho Wiki http://zoho.com/wiki are outstanding online wikis where students can write reviews about books they have read and share them with other students. 
• Bookcasting is a recorded audio podcast about a book. A bookcast is a movie trailer-like audio review of a book that students can create and share with one another. Free online tools such as Audacity http://audacity.com, G Cast http://gcast.com, or Pod Bean http://podbean.com make recording audio and sharing simple. Bookcasts let students be creative and provide them with a great sense of audience. It has the added benefit of acting as a book review to excite other students about reading. 
• Use visual and graphic imagination to make a cartoon version of the book they have just finished. Tools like Creaza http://creaza.com, Piki Kids http://pikikids.com, or Kerpoof http://kerpoof.com to inject a little fun into the book report. Kids can create a short cartoon or comic strip summarizing the book they just read. 

• Create a short video clip about the book. Creaza http://creaza.com, Kerpoof http://kerpoof.com, and Xtra normal text to movie http://xtranormal.com are all great online tools that allow kids to create short movie clips. They can create an interview type show where they interview characters in the book, create a short movie trailer for the book, or actually have characters act out portions of the book. 
• Create virtual and online trading cards for characters or real people from history they have been reading about http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/trading_cards_2/ 
• Get into geocaching. Everyone loves a scavenger hunt! Get in on the latest outdoor craze with geocaching, where families search for hidden "caches" or containers using handheld GPS tools (or a GPS app on your smart phone). Try a variation on geocaching called earthcaching where you seek out and learn about unique geologic features. Find more details about geocaching plus links to geocaching websites in this article from the School Family website, Geocaching 101: Family Fun for All, in Every Season. Then have your child create a blog about it using http://edublogs.org/ or www.sparktop.org 

Credit to www.teacher.monster.com for some of these ideas.