Archive for the ‘Lesson Plans’ Category

The Trick to Image Fill in Notebook 10

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Designing engaging, dynamic, and interactive lessons is the key to using SMART Notebook to its full potential. One way to spice-up your page is using image fill as a fill effect.

The trick to remember about image fill, whether you are using this to fill a background or to fill a shape, is that you have to save a picture as a file on your computer. Images from the gallery cannot be used in this way. Here is what I recommend:

  1. First, visit a website that you like to use to find images. For example, images.google.com or bing.com/images will allow you to search for any image you’d like. Whichever site you end up using is fine. Remember, after you type in your search term, click on the thumbnail view of the image so you can access the full size image.
  2. After the page has loaded with the full size image, you will want to right click and then select “Save Picture As…” or “Save Target As…” Choose where on your computer you want to save this picture, name the file, and then press “Save.”
  3. Now, when you are creating a page for your lesson and you want to add an image to fill the background, all you have to do is open up the Properties tab in Notebook, select “Fill effects” from the menu, select “Image fill” and click “Browse” (just below the blue square).
  4. After you select browse, you have to find the picture on your computer. Once it is located, select it, click “Open,” and the image should be placed on the background or within the shape you have chosen to fill.

A tip to remember is that if you have a small image and are using it for the background, the image will begin to tile. To avoid the tile effect, search for images that are 800×600. For example, if I wanted to search Google images for a picture of the ocean that is 800×600 my search term will look like this “ocean picture 800×600.”

Using a small image to fill the background is possible. All you have to do is place the picture as an object on your notebook page. Position it into the top left hand corner of your screen. Using the resizing circle you are going to pull the picture all the way over to the right and then down so that the image will fill the page. Don’t forget to lock the picture in place so that it cannot be moved.

SMART Notebook 10.6: This may change everything (Part 2)

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Hola everyone and welcome back!

I wanted to pick-up where we left off last Monday. The following videos will further demonstrate how we can blur the lines between content and the tools we use to access that content. In this first example I created a supportive research environment using the Transparent Background option in Notebook 10.6, a web browser, and Diigo.

In this next example I revisit the use of the Transparent Background and an old NY state exam found on Regents prep. It’s funny really, because I went back and examined my original video and saw that I was still allowing older tools to define my use (change is a slow process). So, here is another attempt that should make things much easier.

Thanks for watching everyone!

‘Tis the Season

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

2009-12-07_1338It is that time of year again, and those of us here at Tequipment are in the spirit of giving! If you’re looking for holiday activities to use in your classroom, check out The Polar Express lesson. This file was created to be used in conjunction with the popular book by Chris Van Allsburg. Within this file there are many interactive activities that will help your students practice their researching skills, increase their vocabulary, track narrative elements, and explore cross-curriculum concepts.

Visit the Downloads section in the Educator Resource Center (ERC) to download the Polar Express lesson and customize it to fit your classroom’s needs. Don’t forget to click on the attachments tab for a Word document describing how to use and edit the file. Happy Holidays!

Gettysburg Address Lesson

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

We’ve created a file on our Educator Resource Center for the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Download it here.

Pinpoint Your Google Searches

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

logoGoogle boasts that it has the most ‘hits’ of any website on the Internet, with billions of hits per day. While everyone is familiar with the deceptively simple search engine giant, there are many of us who don’t use its full capabilities.

In almost every search database there is a way to clarify and simplify a search in order to find precisely what a person is looking for. Additionally, since we as educators have to be more and more careful about what we expose our students to, it becomes much more important to censor out all the ‘bad stuff’ and focus in on what we need.

Below is a collection of Google words that, when used in the Google search bar at www.google.com, can narrow the search to only include information that is pertinent.

Word usage and their use in Google searches:

Symbol Example Definition
or Animal races turtle OR tortoise Animal races that are for turtles or tortoises
“ “ “don’t worry be happy” The exact phrase don’t worry be happy
+ +where fresh food market The words where, fresh, food & market (forces Google not to ignore the word where)
- Pony -tail The word pony but NOT the word tail
~ Jazz favorites ~glossary The words jazz and favorites, and both a glossary and it synonyms
.. Weight set $125..$250 Weight sets between $125 and $250
Site: Life of US Presidents site:Wikipedia.com Info on the life of US Presidents from wikipedia’s website
Allinurl: Stress tension site:edu Info on stress and tension from educational sites (.edu domain)
Allintitle: Allintitle:funny joke kids The words funny, joke and kids in the web page title
Define: Define:maudlin Definitions of maudlin from the web
Books: Books:”funny cats” Book-related info on any titles with the exact phrase funny cats
Movie: Movie:gladiator Reviews, showtimes, & locations for the movie gladiator
Music: Music:john mayer John Mayer music-related info & where you can buy the music
12345 ( 5 digit zipcode) Ice cream 11209 Where you can find ice cream in Brooklyn, NY
% of 30% of (22+46*5/9) Numerical value of a mathematical expression
10*2 (math equations calculator) 20+(3*7)/34 Numerical value of a mathematical expression
40g in oz (convert measurements) 68g in oz Conversion of x units into y units
3 Euros in US$ (convert currency) 15 deutschmarks in US$ Currency conversions

Source: www.googleguide.com

21st Century Civics

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

our_courts

Our Courts is a website envisioned by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor that is dedicated to teaching students about 21st century civics. The website includes lesson plans, games and a place where students can send messages back and forth with Justice O’Connor.

While you’re teaching about goverment also check out Alex Kane’s Bill of Rights Lesson from our Educator Resource Center. This lesson describes and reinforces students understanding of the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. After the lesson, go back to the Our Courts website and have students review what they learned by playing the Do I have a Right? game.

Myna – Easy Music Creator

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

While soundboard.com is a great source for ready-made sound clips, sometimes a teacher may want to add their own soundtrack to a lesson to further engage the students. Similar to GarageBand, programmers have developed Myna; a web-based and easy to use dynamic music creation tool.

With Myna, you can:
1. Quickly create tracks and add your own content or instrumentation
2. Export your work as an MP3 for use in a Notebook presentation


The following video describes how to use Myna in great detail

The flexibility of this program makes it a valuable resource to educators. It is easy to use and a great way to engage students.

Any soundtrack created in Myna can be downloaded as an .mp3 file. Once it has become an .mp3 file it can then be used in SMART Notebook pages. Download this file to see how Myna can be used with SMART Notebook.

*Important Note: Only .mp3 audio can be added to any SMART Notebook file.