Tech Tip Tuesdays: Worthwhile purchase -a clicker

Welcome back to another Tech Tip Tuesday. Click here to view any of the other posts in this series. As always, if there are any technology tutorials that you'd like me to feature, be sure to comment below!

This week's post is a recommendation for a simple tool and how it can be used in your teaching.










This little thing has proven to be very useful over the years. I got it cheaply on Amazon and it has been worth every cent! Don't worry, this isn't going to be a post about clicking through a PowerPoint full of information text. Here are some practical ways to use it in the classroom.

Student presentations:

In my school, it's not uncommon to see children doing oral presentations making use of a Keynote/PowerPoint presentation. You'd be amazed to see the boost of confidence they get when the clicker is placed in their hands!

Teaching new vocabulary (great for ESL/other second language):

I absolutely love having my students play Kim's game (known to Irish teachers as Cluiche Kim) to teach new vocabulary in another language. It's very simple. Pick 5 new words and put their pictures on slide 1. Then copy and paste that slide several times. On slides 2, 4, 6, etc. delete one of the pictures (moving the position of the other pictures or deleting more than one picture at a time if you want to create an extra challenge). Simply use the clicker to make the board blank, have your students close their eyes and then click to the next slide. They then need to name which picture is missing. 

Student selection:

Many of these pointers have a laser on the top. Children LOVE using these! It could be used for phonics. Put a sentence / several words on the board and ask a child to use the pointer to show the "ch" sound. Similarly, it could be used to point at the photograph representing a new word in another language. They could use it to show where they found a word on a Boggle board (with letters or numbers - if you don't know what I'm on about, Google "Math Boggle"). 

Behaviour management aid:

If you happen to use PowerPoint/Keynote for any of the above ideas, this clicker allows you to use the classroom management strategy of proximity, ie. standing close to the children who are likely to misbehave (or have already begun misbehaving!). You can still play the games or go to the next slide of a text from any corner of your classroom. This gives you endless freedom to keep a close eye on those who need it!

Credits for Tech Tip Tuesday logo:

Keyboard lettering  licensed by Dancing Crayon Designs ©www.dancingcrayon.com 

Glittery clip art from Glitter Meets Glue Designs 

Clip art frame from My Cute Graphics

Question word posters freebie

Ahoy there!

I have just added a freebie to my TPT store. It's this set of questions posters. 

I'm going to have my class fill the blank spaces with answers to these questions. Alternatively, you could get the children to put examples of questions using these words. This makes the display much more meaningful for the class.

Enjoy!

FREE Christmas pelmanism (memory) card game

It's FRIIIIIIIIIIIDAY! And for some of us, it's a long weekend! Here's a festive freebie to keep your class busy during the last week of school. It's a pelmanism (memory) game. 

I'm sure you all know how to play! Just turn over two cards. If they match, you keep the pair and go again. If not, the next person takes a turn. Continue until no cards remain. The winner is the person with the most cards.

There are 15 picture cards and 15 matching labels in this set. You can use as many or as few of these pairs of cards to challenge your children appropriately. 

They could also be used for introducing basic Christmas vocabulary to students with English as a second language. 

You can download them for free from Google Drive or my TPT store.

P.S. A quick reminder: I have been shortlisted for an Edublog Award in the "Most Influential Blog Post of the Year" category. I would really appreciate any votes. You just have to click on the thumbs up under "A Crucial Week: 10 reasons NOT to date a girl who teaches." Click here to vote!

Question prompt posters - English and Irish versions

I originally shared these posters as Gaeilge (in Irish) during the last school year. As I'm now teaching children with English as a second language, I decided to create an English version of the same. Click on the image below to download these who, what, when, where, etc. posters.

...and for anyone who wishes to get the Gaeilge version, click on the following image.

Superlative Olympics - freebies!

Here's my first ever freebie giveaway. I've created a pack to use for superlative olympics. This is useful for teaching comparatives and superlatives (e.g. big, bigger, biggest). It is particularly good for younger classes but could also be used for any age level as a team-building P.E.-type activity or during a party/fun day. I have used it while working in summer camps.

It's pretty simple to organise and play.
1. Divide the class into teams.
2. Ask each team to come up with a team name and a chant (there will be points going for the best chant).
3. Explain that they will have to nominate one person for each of the individual events (e.g. highest jump, longest hair, best cartwheel). Every team member must have at least two turns. Give out the "Children's Sheets" and allow them to select their nominees.
4. Use the cards to introduce each event (particularly if you are doing this event as part of TEFL). For each event:

• Hold up the card and announce the name of the event
• Line up the nominees and ask them to perform/present
• Announce the winners by very clearly demonstrating the use of comparatives and superlatives, e.g. "Sarah's hair is LONG, Katie's hair is LONGER buuuuut Melanie's hair is the LONGEST"
• Mark the scores on the "Superlative Olympics Scoring Sheet"

At the end of the games, tot up the scores and announce the winners. Don't forget that there are also bonus points going for the best team spirit. (This is noted in the sheet given to the children. Keep reminding them about this the whole way through the game to keep enthusiasm levels high.)

Now onto the freebies...

What's in the pack:

Superlative Olympics Children's Sheet (for nominating), Superlative Olympics Scoring Sheet (does exactly what it says on the tin) and 20 Superlative Olympics Event Cards

How do I get it?

Simply click here to download it for free from Google Docs.