Lesson Ideas from the National Archives

From Richard Byrne at Free Technology 4 Teachers:

The US National Archives is a great resource for history teachers to keep in their books.

I've written about some of their services in the past (here and here) and today I'd like to remind 

you of the National Archives Today's Document feed. On a daily basis Today's Document features

a new image or document from the United States' National archives. The documents are usually 

accompanied by some additional research links and lesson plan resources.

One of the documents that I have used from the Today's Document feed was a

petition to the US Government signed by Hopi (Moqui) Chiefs. One of the interesting things about 

this document is the way that the document was signed with the symbol of each family in the tribe.

Applications for Education
This document could be used with a wide range of grade levels. At the middle school or high school

level the petition could be part of a lesson on the way the US Government redistributed land to Native 

Americans following the Dawes Act. The symbol-signature aspect of the document could be used in an 

elementary school lesson about cultural differences between European-Americans and Native Americans.

Google Add-Ons and Extensions

Here is a Googly Game board filled with live, clickable examples of Google extensions:

Extending Google Tools

For those of you (us) still using Google, I hope you find something useful!

Original Source:  A Tweet from Heather Marshall

WriteReader-Collaborative Book Creation for Elementary Classrooms

From Richard Byrne at Free Technology 4 Teachers:

WriteReader is a neat multimedia writing platform for elementary school teachers and students. The appeal of WriteReader is found in the collaboration between students and teachers. Students can create multimedia books that teachers log into to correct. As is seen the video below, each page of a book has a space for students to write in and a space for teachers to write in. Teachers use the space on the page to correct spelling errors and or make editing suggestions.


WriteReader books can include text, pictures, and voice recordings. Completed WriteReader books can be shared online and can be downloaded as PDFs to print.

Applications for Education 
WriteReader's teacher edition lets you create online classrooms. You can manually create accounts for your students or you can have your students join your classroom by entering a class code. Either way, your students don't need to have email addresses to use the service.

Creating picture books in WriteReader could be a good way for students to develop their writing skills. You could insert an image into the pages of a book and then have students write a short description of what they see. The audio commentary option could be used by students to describe what they are seeing and trying to write.

Appy Hour: Social Studies

Appy Hour will provide you with a fast-paced introductory approach to FREE apps that are appropriate for secondary students. App-teasers for Social Studies/History will be sampled. After this post you will think beyond the concept of an App as simply being a game – you will leave with a menu of appealing concrete lesson ideas you can serve as soon as you are back with your students! An iPad with all required apps will be included for use during the duration of the class.


©2011. Lisa Johnson. All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce for classroom use granted


Jog iTunes with Me

Appy Hour: ELA

Appy Hour will provide you with a fast-paced introductory approach to FREE apps that are appropriate for secondary students. App-teasers for ELA will be sampled. After this post you will think beyond the concept of an App as simply being a game – you will leave with a menu of appealing concrete lesson ideas you can serve as soon as you are back with your students! An iPad with all required apps will be included for use during the duration of the class.


Jog iTunes with Me


iPad Lessons ©2011. Lisa Johnson. All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce for classroom use granted

Appy Hour: Math

Appy Hour will provide you with a fast-paced introductory approach to FREE apps that are appropriate for secondary students. App-teasers for Math will be sampled. After this post you will think beyond the concept of an App as simply being a game – you will leave with a menu of appealing concrete lesson ideas you can serve as soon as you are back with your students! An iPad with all required apps will be included for use during the duration of the class.

Math Appy Hour (Jog the Web Tour)


Jog iTunes with Me

app_happy_math (Menu of Math Apps Sampled)

Sample Parent Handout

Check out More Apps for Math

Check Out Podcasts For Math






©2011. Lisa Johnson. All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce for classroom use granted