1 Word Clouds for Kids at ABCya!

Yay! A kid-friendly, word cloud generator by ABCya! Because ABCya was developed for primary grade students, there is no objectionable content to contend with. Yay again!

Like the other word generators, students may copy/paste from a document or type right into the box.

Here are some of the functionalities of the program:

• One may delete a word in the cloud by right clicking and clicking "Delete"
• It will omit many common words from the cloud (i.e. a, the, etc)
• It keeps words together by using the tilde symbol (~) between the words. Ex: All~About~Me
• You can adjust the number of words used
• You may print or save your word cloud

I do like the simplicity and ease of the interface to customize the font style, color and layout. Sometimes.... there is just too many choices for our kiddos! And if you just cannot make up your mind, there is an option to "Randomize"! So have your students, check out: ABCya Word Cloud Generator!

0 Sumdog Math Games! The Hottest Web 2.0 Site! Kids are Loving This!

Students at both my school (and other schools in our district) are wild about Sumdog!

Sumdog has free math games which may be played at both home and school.  Sumdog's math games cover over 120 numeracy topics (grades 1st - 8th) which are spread across 10 levels of increasing difficulty. Click here to view the various topics and levels.. Not only are students finding these games very engaging, they are also developing their mental math skills.

To make the most of Sumdog, sign up for a free teacher login. Once logged in you:

• Set up your school: Sumdog's free logins are permanent, with as many classes as you want.
• Create free logins for all of your students: Just enter their names and class - Sumdog hides the surnames for display online.
• Set a minimum level for your classes: Focus your class on the topics they need to practice by setting their minimum training level.
• Track your classes' effort: See how many students in each class have been active recently.
• Set up activities for your students: Sumdog's competitions and challenges let you set goals for your students, and focus them on specific topics. Students may also choose which topics to practice when starting a game and becasue most of the games are multiplayer, students have the opportunity play against thousands of students worldwide.

Sumdog also has a free teacher portal where educators may find lesson plans, teacher reference documents as well as student handouts. Additionally, it has step by step tutorials for common task to assist you...How cool is that! 

Our kids are so jazzed about this site that on 22Feb12, our district will hold a contest for our schools.  The contest takes account of school size, so everyone has a fair chance of winning. The first prize is a Certificate of Merit and a full site license for "Yenka Mathematics" software (worth $750). There are also daily school prizes and student prizes.

Game On!

View the below YouTube video to learn more about Sumdog:

0 NEWSFLASH: Cool Apps for Schools in its Development!

If you are not familiar with the site, Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools, you have to check it out! It has copious amounts of Educational Technology and Web 2.0 tools for both educators and students to utilize in the classroom.  

BUT WAIT......

This great site is in the development stage of creating a wiki for apps for mobile devices called Cool Apps for Schools. If this is anything like the Cool Tools for Schools wiki…we are in for a treat!

The wiki is arranged very similar to its sister wiki; Cool Tool for Schools.  It is broken into categories with each category showing the app icon, blurb, whether it is a free or paid app, as well as the approximate grade level. Keep this in the back burner, because when it is completed, I am sure it will be a valuable resource!