Day 12: Chrome Music Lab

Chrome Music Lab [LINK]

Have you looked for a way for students to create music but you don't have access to the "right" equipment? Chrome Music Lab is a great intro for this! I came across this last year thanks to one of the elementary music teachers I work with. He was excited and wanted to use it in his class. The students 💖 it! *Bonus - NO accounts needed!*

The website has such a "fun" look to it - you can't help but want to click around. (I've linked to an Eric Curts post with additional details about each piece of the site ... so be sure to check that out!) There are 13 different experiments to check out. What a fun way to incorporate music into any class, or allow students to express themselves with music! 

Don't limit this resource to music class, though. These Tweets are linked on the homepage but I wanted to make sure you don't miss how others use Chrome Music Lab in:

• math class with fractions [LINK]

• science class with sound waves & frequency [LINK]

• art class with literature [LINK]

• and more! [LINK]

One thing I see that you might find "lacking" is there a way to save or share a creation. A quick & easy way to preserve and share a creation would be to screencast it. Some might lend themselves to a screenshot, too. 

Eric Curts blog with additional details: "Learning Music, Art, Science, Math and more with Chrome Music Lab"

Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

Pixel Art with Google Sheets

I was inspired last year to create a pixel art activity for students to create a pixel art book cover. I was thrilled with the positive feedback from both the 3rd grade teacher and her students as they "pixelated" the book they were reading. 💗

This week, I was asked if I thought this could work for students to create a 'book cover' for students haunted house stories they were writing. ABSOLUTELY! I shared this with the class, and once again, the creativity was flowing and I saw a lot of creativity in action. How fun! I can't wait to see the final products.

If you'd like to read a more detailed overview of this, please read "Pixelated Book Covers You Can Do".

Ready to go ahead and make a copy of the template? Please do! Take it and make it your own! 

Google Sheets Pixel Book Covers template

Google-y Halloween Fun!

Halloween is right around the corner! Did you know you can do several Halloween themed activities with your students digitally? I absolutely LOVE when people share out their holiday-themed creations.

Eric Curts has numerous cool digital activities and his "Build a Jack-o-lantern with Google Slides" is no exception! He provides an easy to grab template for anyone to grab and then share it with students. His website - ControlAltAchieve.com - is packed with activities to use all year long!

Another fantastic resource is Kasey Bell. Kasey shared her "Halloween Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings". She was inspired by the refrigerator magnets of my childhood! Love it! I'll admit, poetry is not one of my favorites, but I could DO this. Again, a template is provided, so it's an easy click and a copy is yours to share. Kasey even shares a Google folder where you can see others. 

WHY?

✓ teach copy & paste skills
✓ practice drag & drop skills
✓ encourage creativity (You'll be amazed at what your students create!)
✓ allow students to write, too!
✓ it's SO fun!

Here are BONUS math activities ↬ these aren't Google - maybe it can count since I received it through Gmail - Anthony Persico from MashUp Math sent this out 2 years ago, but it's still SUPER Awesome! He shared "7 Engaging Halloween-Themed Math Activities". I'm definitely up for Game #1 --- YUM!!!

Teaching Math with Google Drawings

WEBSITE ↬ Teaching Math with Google Drawings

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 3 & up

I can't say it enough ... Google Drawings is an often overlooked app in the G Suite portfolio. This blog post will help any math teacher use Google Drawings in their class with students. Eric Curts, the author, provides:

• a Help Guide
• a Slideshow &
• a Training Video 

This blog is the perfect way to begin using Google Drawings AND enhance your use of Drawings in your math class.

Eric is the creator on the ControlAltAchieve website and if you haven't followed him and checked out his blog, PLEASE DO! He is amazing! This entry is about using the much overlooked Google Drawing in math class. And he doesn't limit it to one or two activities ... he gives a ton!

If I was a math teacher I'd bookmark this for sure!

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