Commonlit

CommonLit delivers high-quality, free instructional materials to support literacy development for students in grades 5-12.  Commonlit is a free collection of fiction and nonfiction texts which you can search by lexile, genre, grade level, theme, devices and state standards. Once in an article, students have access to tools such as a dictionary, text to speech, translation, and highlighting.  The text is paired with similar text and related media such as videos.  Student names can be easily imported from Google Classroom, where teachers can then assign text and obtain assessment reports.

Fakebook

Fakebook is a free tool at www.classtools.net which allows teachers and students to create imaginary profile pages for study purposes.  You can use "Fakebook" to chart the plot of a book, the development of a character, a series of historical events, debates and relationships, etc.  Here are easy start up instructions!  However, if you would prefer, I am happy to come and teach this tool to your class for you!

Reflector 2: How to project your Ipad via your Laptop

Directions for Reflector2: Projecting ipads via your laptop
Step 1: Connect your computer to the projector then follow the directions below as shown on the pictures. Double click on the “Spotlight” icon in far upper righthand corner. Type in the word “Reflector2,” you will then see appear in applications. Double click on Reflector2 in applications to open. 

Step 4:
You will now be able to see the ipad on your computer and therefore on the projector.
Important other tidbits:

1.

Each ipad that you enable to project on your computer will be visible on the screen so you probably want to do just one at a time. See below for how to manage multiple ipads connected to your computer. (This is also important if a kid tries to project something inappropriate - you can see
which computer it is and shut them down). WHENDONE,HAVEEACHIPADTHATHASCONNECTEDDISCONNECTBY SWIPING UP FROM THE BOTTOM AGAIN AND CLICKING ON “IPAD” AND TURN OFF MIRRORING.
In the picture above you’ll also see a record button. This allows you to record a lesson, like a “how-to” lesson, which you can then share as a Quicktime movie.

2. 3.