13 sites for MFL teaching with your Interactive Whiteboard
Foreign languages, I am ashamed to say, are not one of my strong points. I did scrape B’s at GCSE in French and German, but I am not very good. I can order a beer in most languages though. I was asked recently if I could run a Smartboard training day in France, in French which my wife thought was most amusing. I didn’t take up the offer, “Voici le tableu blanc” is about as much as I could muster. And I don’t even know if that’s correct 
Anyway, here are some useful sites that could be used to teach Modern Foreign Languages on your Interactive Whiteboard. If you can recommend any others, please put them in the comments!
Drag words onto photographs to describe the scene or mood. The default language is english, but could be used in other languages in freestyle mode.
This resource from Triptico could again have uses in many different subjects since it is quite open-ended. Use it to create drag and drop sentences in your chosen language.
Some excellent resources from a group of MFL teachers in Sunderland. Contains resources for all key stages in French, German, Spanish and Italian. Worth a visit.
I often forget to check Teachers TV for resources, but there are quite a few on there for many different subjects. These videos are designed to be used in class and would be perfect on the IWB. Register for a free account and you can download them to your computer. Remember to play full-screen!
Simple videos to introduce languages at Primary level. Includes pronunciation guides. Like this one:
Newbury Park – Language of the month
Short video clips that would be ideal to introduce different languages in Primary schools from Newbury Park school in Ilford.
Ashcombe School – GCSE French Videos
Some very useful videos here for french teaching from Ashcombe School in Surrey. Also check out their Primary MFL resources. Videos are a little small, but come with a quiz. May be better for self-study rather than IWB use. Right click on the video to play it full-screen.
Anna Graingers – MFL Resources
Visit Anna Graingers site for powerpoints, game templates and worksheets.
Crickweb has a wealth of great resources for all subjects, and that includes languages. Check out their KS2 Spanish and French resources.
Northumberland Grid for Learning has some very good primary MFL resources that are well worth a look. Including traditional story books in different languages.
If you have a Smartboard, they also have some year 1-4 Smartboard files to download.
The BBC is always a good place to look for video resources for classroom teaching. They have videos on all subjects, including French, German and Spanish at both Primary and Seconday level.
Bleu, Blanc, Rouge is a website for teachers wishing to access resources for teaching French in the Primary School. The site contains songs & rhymes, language games, art & seasonal ideas, tongue twisters, recipes & links to French stories on the net.
Lots of powerpoints to adapt and adopt for language teaching (and other subjects)
Also don’t forget that Smartboard users can use the Notebook search tool to find language resources. And Promethean users should check out Promethean Planet.
For a full list of sites for MFL teaching that I’ve found, check out my Delicious list on: http://delicious.com/dannynic/mfl+iwb
If you know any other good ones – please comment on this article and let me know!
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Storynory and Smartboard / Promethean resources
Storynory is an online treasure trove of audio stories. The site contains a mixture of new stories, fairy tales, and specially adapted myths and histories. They have published an audio story every week since November 2005 which are free to download and use.
The stories are read by Natasha Gostwick and her clear story-telling voice has won a place in the hearts of children and adults all over the world. The amazing artwork is produced by a friend of mine, the very talented Sophie Green.
StoryNory allows you to download their audio files to use in your classroom. It’s well worth a visit. You could add these stories to your own IWB resources if you wanted to.
I have been given special permission to use the images and sounds from Storynory to produce an Interactive Whiteboard resource. I have only produced one for now, as a proof of concept, but if it goes down well then I’ll make some more.
The resources include the large images with sound, plus the text of the story as well as some pages to provoke class activities and discussion.
You can find the download page over here on my Think Bank website. I’ve produced a Powerpoint version as well as an ActivInspire (note, not earlier versions) and Smart Notebook 10 version.
The audio and images are copyright StoryNory so please check their website for their terms of use.
If this is something that you like, then leave a comment below and I’ll look into producing some more.
And thanks again to Storynory for giving me permission to use their material in this way! Go check out their site now!
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Smartboard updates – Gallery Collections and Notebook Search
Here are two new updates to the Smart website that teachers will find very useful.
Smart Gallery Collections
The new SMART Gallery collections is now live. These are themed compilations of copyright cleared objects which you can download and add to your Smart Notebook gallery. You can see the list of resources here.
Finding Smart Notebook Resources
If you are looking for Smart Notebook files produced by teachers around the world, it’s now possible to search by keyword using SMART Notebook Lesson Search. This is powered by the Google Custom Search service.
This tool enables educators to search over 30 public websites to find SMART Notebook lesson activities created by teachers. Currently, there are more than 1,500 SMART Notebook files available on these sites.
The search tool can be found at www.smarttech.com/notebookfiles.
Another way to find files is to use Google to search for .notebook (or older .nbk and .xbk) files which can also provide some useful results.
Happy Searching!
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Science Songs from They Might be Giants
I’ve always been a fan of using songs to introduce science concepts, and there’s tonnes of possibilities to choose from. From proper “commercial” songs to stuff like Simple Science Videos.
Two I liked to use include They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul (electricity/energy) and Particle Man.
Well, it turns out that They Might Be Giants are releasing a new CD / DVD of Science songs and videos called Here Comes Science with catchy tunes about the periodic table, photosynthesis, the planets, the color spectrum and more.
Song titles include “Meet the Elements,” “Roy G. Biv,” “Photo Synthesis,” “Speed and Velocity and “The Ballad of Davey Crockett in Outer Space”. The CD will come bundled with a DVD of videos too.
Here’s a track they did previously – Why Does the Sun Shine:
Now there’s an updated version of Why Does the Sun Shine with the line -” The Sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma”
I can’t find mention of the album on the usual UK sites I buy CD’s from, so it may be something to look for on import from the US. It’s definitely worth looking out for when it gets released sometime in the Autumn.
Thanks to Jennifer Ouellette and David Bruggeman for the heads-up on this via their blogs.
For other songs – how about “Danger High Voltage” by Electric Six for an electricity lesson (but don’t show the video). For space lessons “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse or “Man on the Moon” by REM. Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” for a lesson about Sound – or Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize”?
Play them as the students come into the room
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11 Ideas for Music Lessons on your Interactive Whiteboard
I’ve been asked several times recently on Twitter to recommend ideas for Music lessons that involve the interactive whiteboard.
So here are 10 free resources, and one excellent paid-for resource, that will help you make music on your interactive whiteboard. More can be found on my delicious list.
Moodstream is a really interesting tool. It combines images (from Getty Images) and audio tracks to suit your mood. Would be good to investigate how different sounds and tunes affect our how we feel. Choose from combinations of happy/sad, calm/lively, warm/cool etc. Is really interesting to leave running for a while and see what it does.
Make music with Shaun the Sheep of Wallace and Gromit fame. Click on a sheep to make them bleat! Great fun. Includes a free play mode or a memory game.
Making Music from Help Kidz Learn
Simply press a piano key or run your finger down the keys on a touch screen, to play the notes. Mouse users can click on the keys. The keys are in different bright colours and marked with the note they play.
Ken Brashear has made a giant drum kit that you play simply by hitting the different hotspots on the image. Very therapeutic.
This game helps you learn how to play the piano and read music. You can learn the notes, learn the keys or both.
An interactive drum machine that lets you build up different beats to create your own drum track which you can then export as a swf file.
A simple interactive piano that lets you produce a tune and then play it back. Will show the musical notation at the same time.
A collaborative “wall of music” Click on the notes to play a track, but other people can also be using it at the same time and play music between you!
4 different games here. Compose your own music, create drum beats, music maker and piano puppet. Try them out!
A paid-for resource that is wonderful for KS1 is Musical Monsters from Q& Multimedia. Create rhythms and melodies by putting the singing creatures onto the music board, then listen to – and watch – the results.
And finally… Reindeer Orchestra
Probably best left until close to Christmas, but click on the reindeer’s noses to make them sing. Choose from several christmas carols, or free play mode.
More links can be found on my delicious list at: http://delicious.com/dannynic/music+iwb
Update:Following this tweet from GirlfromPBO on twitter:
girlfromPBO@dannynic great links in your post & bkmks but you’re missing our wiki full of teacher made lessons from across the US! mustech.pbworks.com
So for some more good ideas for music – also head over and check out their wiki at: http://mustech.pbworks.com
Don’t forget: For SMARTboard Training and Promethean ActivInspire Training, check out my Think Bank website.
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20 Interactive Whiteboard Resources for Teachers
Interactive whiteboards are a great way for teachers to engage classrooms in learning. These tools are also cost effective. The Internet has tons of free sources to help teachers learn about and use IWBs with students. Here is a list of 20 interactive whiteboard resources and activities guaranteed to stimulate learning:
General Resources
TeacherLED – TeacherLED is a site dedicated to making the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) easier and more productive. This comprehensive site features resources to use with IWBs in math, English, and geometry.
SMART – This SMART Board interactive whiteboard site provides several lesson plans and activities for teachers to use in the classroom. SMART lessons are available for a variety of ages and subjects.
Topmarks – With some of the best free educational materials for IWBs, Topmarks is a great resource for finding IWB lesson plans and activities. This educational site also features teacher resources, educational sites for classroom, and homework help.
Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom – This site for whiteboard users features tutorials, interactive websites, and software.
Eduscapes – This guide to interactive whiteboards explains different activities and resources that can be used with IWBs. Eduscapes is a good starting place for teachers who are just beginning to use this technology in the classroom.
Games and Activities
PBS – PBS provides a collection of fun, interactive SMART Board games. All of the games featured on this site are age appropriate and screened by educators.
MathFrame.co.uk – This site, created by a school teacher, houses several interactive math games specifically designed for IWBs. All activities are aimed at reinforcing mathematical concepts and skills.
BBC History Game – BBC offers several interactive activities that can be used with interactive whiteboards. This Famous People history game is a great way to teach elementary children about historical figures.
Scholastic – Scholastic provides interactive whiteboard lessons for phonics, math, science, and history. This site also features a search engine for finding more lessons across North America.
Crickweb.co.uk – Crickweb.co.uk provides 15 free resources for use with interactive whiteboards. These math activities are designed to teach elementary students the basics of math.
Math Playground – The Math Playground offers interactive math activities for middle schoolers. These games and activities work well for teachers who want to engage the entire class.
Classbrain – This game site features several interactive math games that work with IWBs. A fun game worth trying with students is Regrouping.
Funbrain – Funbrain offers several interactive educational games for use with IWBs. These fun games cover a range of subjects and grades.
Kerpoof – Kerpoof is an educational interactive website from the Walt Disney Company that can be used with IWBs. This site is a great way for children to create, discover, and learn.
Skeleton of the Beast – This interactive game from Discovery Education is a useful learning tool for IWBs. Skeleton of the Beast features four skill level timed games that teach children about prehistoric animals.
Xpeditions – Xpeditions from National Geographic provides an atlas that can be used on interactive whiteboards. This atlas explores every region of the world.
Periodic Table – This interactive periodic table site was designed for educational use by elementary to high school students. The site works with interactive whiteboards to introduce and engage children in learning the element table.
Archiving Early America – Archiving Early America features a range of short videos on American history that are perfect for use on IWBs.
Memorial Hall Museum – This free online museum features a complete interactive website for teachers. IWB teachers can view collections, online exhibits, and games.
Place the State – Place the State is an interactive geography game from Bensguide.gpo.gov. This resource can be used with IWBs to teach students about U.S. states.
Enjoy!
Don’t forget for SMARTboard Training and Promethean ActivInspire Training, check out my Think Bank website.
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Smartboard Training @ The Gherkin
I mainly deliver Smartboard training in schools and colleges, but from time to time I do get asked to do corporate training for companies who have bought one for their meeting room and want to be shown how to use it.
It’s a shame that I only show them a fraction of the things they can do, since they are usually only interested in making notes on it and saving/sharing it. As you can imagine they do not have much call for interactive games and activities. More time is spent on the Ink-aware facilities so you can write directly into Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
Anyway I was very excited about the training venue for yesterdays session as it was in London at a building called 30 St Mary Axe. This is better known as The Gherkin because of its very unusual shape. It’s a much-loved landmark, just because it’s so unusual. I’ve always wanted to get a look inside. And get a view of London from the top.
And yesterday I managed it. I did some training for the very nice people at Axa Insurance on how to use their boards and over lunch managed to get to the very top of the building and east in the restaurant on the 40th floor!
You get some great views of London. You could see the Olympic stadium being built in Stratford for London 2012 and also look across to the Emirates Stadium (The home of football!)
I took loads of pics, which are up on Flickr. Here’s a few.
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Apollo Plus 40
It’s the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo landings and there’s a lot of good stuff on the web as we hit the actual anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 (in about 30 mins time in fact)
WeChoosetheMoon is an excellent recreation of the mission in real-time. With audio and video links to experience the launch as it happened.
You can also follow Apolloplus40 for live tweets (well, as-live) and also follow @AP11_CAPCOM, @ap11_spacecraft and @ap11_eagle
The Big Picture continues its amazing series of images with a set of pics of Apollo 11. Some awesome images that are well worth storing for the next time you need to teach about the Moon.
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BBC Goes Bang – Ideas for Science Teachers
Science teachers take note. Next week, BBC One launches Bang Goes The Theory, a brand new series with a hands-on approach to science.
Presenters Jem Stansfield, Liz Bonnin, Dallas Campbell and Dr Yan Wong will pool their knowledge and curiosity to challenge the scientific principles that shape our world. It will include a series of experiments, one of which will see one of the show’s presenters, Dr Yan, being dramatically transported across a 2.5m void via magnetism: a method selected by the general public.
The series, co-produced with The Open University (OU), will be supported by free events and an interactive website. You too can do real science online and at home. It aims to bring all ages together with accessible science that encourages everyone to get their hands dirty. The Bang Goes The Theory blog, which is updated daily, will slowly establish the show — with a series of videos and exclusive pictures that follow the progress of the conception, testing, building and trialling of the contraption. A number of explanatory videos are already online.
Sounds like it could be a fun programme – a slight shame it’s going out right at the start of the school holidays so teachers can’t follow up on it immediately in the classroom.
Keep an eye on the show, and hopefully there will be clips you will be able to use after the Summer break which could be used to spark off exciting science investigations.
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About Me
Danny Nicholson : Educator, Science teacher, ICT Consultant, PGCE lecturer, Author and Web2.0 / SMART Masters/ Interactive Whiteboard Trainer. Contact me for any training requests. 
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