Gamequarium News

Many of you know my goal is to organize the Internet for teachers andstudents. I have discovered a tool that is helping me with that goal! I have been working on creating custom search engines using the Google’sCo-Op Tool (still in beta) for specific grade levels and subject areas. The Co-Op Tool allows for the specification of sites that are included in the search results.

Below are the grade levels, subject areas, and topics for which I am building custom search engines. My goal is to build 10 (or so:) “ultimate” search engines for each of these areas by including only the best websites for each category. By carefully selecting the sites to include and adding refinement tags, these search engines will allow teachers to more easily find high quality Internet resources. In addition, these custom search engines will provide safe places for students to search.

Grade levels:
Pre-K – Grade 2
Grades 3-6
Grades 6-8
Grades 9-12

Subject areas:
Reading
Math
Science
Social Studies
ESL/ELL

Topics:
Online Teacher Tools
Interactive Whiteboard Resources

What do I need from you? If you know of high quality sites that should be included in one of the custom search engines, please send it to me (diana@gamequarium.com ). I will be making these search engines available to everyone. I hope to post them this weekend and continue to refine and customize them over time.

Thanks in advance for your time and contribution!

:-Diana
Diana Dell
Gamequarium Webmaster
diana@gamequarium.com

MITC Attendees,

Thanks for your attendance at my session at MITC. As promised, here are the resources that I provided on the CD....(and a few more:)

If you have questions, comments, or need resources for a particular topic, please feel free to email me. I read and respond to all of the emails that I receive and look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Learning!

:-Diana
ddell@vp.l2.mo.us
diana@gamequarium.com

Gamequarium
http://gamequarium.com/
Gamequarium is a portal to online, educational, interactive games and learning activities. The term "portal" is synonymous with "doorway." The purpose of Gamequarium is to provide a doorway to the Internet for teachers, parents, and students who are seeking interactive, instructional online resources.

Readquarium
http://gamequarium.com/readquarium/index.html
This is a section of Gamequarium devoted to literacy. Find numerous online resources correlated to the National Reading Panel's 5 key areas of reading instruction.

Sites to Review
Additional sites about reading instruction and technology integration:
National Reading Panel
http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/
Online Talking Books
http://my-ecoach.com/online/webresourcelist.php?rlid=4984
Technology's Impact on Learning
http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/tiol.html
Marc Prensky
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/
Reading Key Vocabulary Program
http://readingkey.com/

See sample projects below:
PowerPoint to aid Vocabulary Development
PowerPoint to aid Fluency Development

Here are links and information to a few of the game creation tools I was asked about:

Quia
Make Games Customized to Your Curriculum
Quia Handout Created for Valley Park Teachers

Spellmaster.com
Note: These handouts were created for Valley Park Teachers. You will need to modify the location of where the files are saved.
Interactive Tutorial
Spellmaster Handout

My eCoach
http://my-ecoach.com/ This site has many reading resources. It also feature builders that allow teachers to create web-based activities.

Sample projects and templates created using software found in most schools:

Nifty Thrifty Fifty Resources
http://gamequarium.com/niftythriftyfifty.html

Example/Templates of Graphic Organizer that can be created with Inspiration:
Character Analysis
Literary Analysis
Vocabulary Mapping

Example/Templates of reading projects created with PowerPoint
Vocabulary
Non-Linear Book Talk
Book Comparison
Book Report
Story Elements

Example with Excel
Portable Word Wall

Fluency Center with Sound Recorder
Instructions

Check out more reading goodies

Handouts and presentations that can be used to share information about these resources with parents and teachers:

Reading and Technology: Make the Connection-
PowerPoint Presentation
Handout (pdf)

Sharing Information about Gamequarium-
PowerPoint presentation
Handout for teachers (pdf)
Handout for parents (pdf)

I will be presesnting a session about reading and technology at the Morenet Instructional Technology Conference, Monday, October 23 at Tan-Tar-A in Osage Beach, MO.

Attend this workshop to learn about the critical components of reading instruction and to discover why today's educators must integrate interactive technologies into reading instruction. I have correlated a multitude of Internet resources and technology applications that address the National Reading Panel recommendations in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This presentation will be held in a lab so you will have an opportunity to explore these resources.

This is an update to the presentation that I gave at the 2006 Midwest Educational Technology Conference (METC) in January. I have added many additional resources.

:-Diana

As a result of the user survey that was posted recently, I added 12 pages of interactive algebra activities. The survey revealed that many middle and high school students use Gamequarium in a variety of ways. Numerous requests have come my way for resources to meet the learning needs of these more advanced students.

The Algebra topics covered include:

ALGEBRA TILES
INTEGERS
VARIABLES
EQUATIONS
ORDER OF OPERATIONS
PATTERNS
EXPONENTS
INEQUALITIES
GRAPHING TOOLS
MIXED PRACTICE
PROBLEM SOLVING
SLOPE

I will continue to expand the algebra pages and add additional topic for middle and high school students as my time permits. If you are aware of any wonderful interactive resources, please send them my way.

:-Diana