If you’re ready to get your Easter on, then I’ve got the perfect edtech resource for you and your peeps—a poetry magnets activity containing 70+ words, or “magnets”, that can be creatively manipulated into a holiday themed poem, story, etc. via Google Slides.

So, if you’re ready to combine a little bit of Easter fun with Google Apps, then be sure to check out this must-try project in your classroom! Here’s how it works…

Click here to make your very own copy of the template. You will be prompted to download your very own copy of the original and save it to your Google Drive. It can then be shared with your students. My favorite way to do so is via Google Classroom.

Note: In order to access this resource through a school-based Google domain, your administrator must have settings in place for staff and students to access documents outside of your organization.

Classroom Connection:

The Easter Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity.

If you’re looking for a fun activity to complete with your students this St. Patrick’s Day, then all you’ve got to do is snag a copy of my holiday-themed poetry magnets activity!

Here it is: A Google Slides activity containing 60+ words and phrases that can be manipulated into a fun-filled holiday poem, story, etc.

As with my other creations, the word boxes are actually images and cannot be edited; however, they can be deleted. Plus, additional words can be generated by creating a new text box and filling it with a white background.

Before you get started on your March adventure, here are a few additional items worth noting:

» The background on the Google Slide is locked so students can avoid accidentally moving it, but it can still be changed if you wish to allow them to do so. Just right-click on the slide and select the “Change background…” option.

» Some teachers have requested that I provide a word list for each activity so I have created additional slides that include this info.

Check out a sneak preview below!

Click here to access the template. You will be prompted to download your very own copy of the original and save it to your Google Drive. It can then be easily shared with students—especially if you’re using Google Classroom.

Classroom Connection:

The St. Patrick’s Day Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity—although I think part of the challenge is to use the words provided.

When a cool concept like Magnetic Poetry is smashed with classroom technology, such as Google Slides, teachers now not only have a fun activity to utilize with students, but one that can provide struggling writers with a way to break out that inner Edgar Allen Poe in a more modern way!

So, here it is… A Winter Poetry Magnets activity containing 100+ words and phrases that can be manipulated into a wintry themed poem, story, etc. via a Google Slides deck.

As with my other creations, the word boxes are actually images and cannot be edited; however, they can be deleted. Plus, additional words can be generated by creating a new text box and filling it with a white background.

Before you get started on your winter adventure, here are a few additional items worth mentioning:

» The background on the Google Slide is locked so students can avoid accidentally moving it, but it can still be changed if you wish to allow them to do so. Just right-click on the slide and select the “Change background…” option.

» Some teachers have requested that I provide a word list for each activity so I have created additional slides that include this info.

Check out a sneak preview below!

Click here to access the template. You will be prompted to download your very own copy of the original and save it to your Google Drive. It can then be shared with your students.

✤ A shout out to Kasey Bell for the inspiration to create these digital activities! ✤

Classroom Connection:

The Winter Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity—although I think part of the fun/challenge is to just use the words provided.

Get ready to “Tech the Halls” with the 12 Digital Days of Christmas, a super charged collection of digital treasures I have curated throughout the few years. This edition features a dozen fun and festive resources that are sure to spread some holiday cheer in your classroom.

This year’s adventure begins by hovering over the interactive image below to reveal 12 Tech Treasures for 2020, including one of my most favorite Christmas sites—The North Pole, a comprehensive holiday resource that has it all for educators, students and parents. It contains dozens of games, activities, stories, crafts and more—all related to Santa’s visit on December 25. This award-winning site includes more than enough activities to keep students busy until the holiday break.

The full screen version of this interactive image can be accessed here. Then your holiday journey to the North Pole begins in the upper left-hand corner of the graphic.

Other holiday gems included in this collection are as follows…

🎅🏼 Another day, another fun Christmas-themed resource awaits you behind Tech Treasure #2. Making an appearance in the lineup is a breakout activity—a holiday-themed game, of course! If you haven’t yet jumped on the escape room bandwagon, then there’s no time like the “present” (Get it? ha!) Solve the mystery of the missing holiday by playing Holiday Hideaway, a digital breakout adventure!

🎅🏼 What’s behind Tech Treasure #3? How about one of the most visited sites from my holiday tech adventures. Brought to you by the makers of the Math Playground, check out Sugar, Sugar: The Christmas Special—a fun activity that is sure to make you think creatively! The object of the game is to guide the particles of sugar into the correct containers. See how many attempts you need to solve each level!

🎅🏼 What do you get when you combine the basics of electricity and circuitry with some copper tape, LEDs and a coin cell battery? A super cool light-up Christmas card, of course! Just click on the Geeky Girl’s Treasure #4 to learn more about how you and your students can get your holiday greeting card on?

🎅🏼 Looking for a Christmas classic gone digital? Then be sure to check out the “How the Grinch stole Christmas” app, an interactive experience that brings the Dr. Seuss holiday favorite to life via animations and fun activities. Treasure #5 is the perfect ELA addition for elementary (or even some middle school) classrooms!

🎅🏼 You might find it hard to believe, but the North Pole just sent out an alert stating that children are having a hard time believing in Santa this year. Kids these days! So, in order to keep the true spirit of Christmas alive—faith, hope and believing—it’s your job as a star photographer to snap Santa’s picture as often as you can in order to prove he’s for real. Click Tech Treasure #6 to play the Santa Paparazzi game.

🎅🏼 Be on the lookout for lots of fun with Tech Treasure #7! The Christmas Panda is on the run collecting coins and avoiding obstacles in this holiday game. Be sure to avoid the ravens in the sky when you gather your Christmas loot!

🎅🏼 Christmas is still a few days away, but it’s never too early to start keeping an eye on Jolly Old St. Nick. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will continue its annual tradition of tracking Santa as he makes his Christmas Eve trek around the world to bring gifts to all of the good girls and boys! This festive site includes games, festive music, facts about NORAD and their mission, Santa’s sleigh, his route and reindeer. Tech Treasure #8 will also provide children with an exact GPS location of Santa’s position.

🎅🏼 Bet you think decorating a Christmas tree is easy stuff… But that’s because you probably never played the Christmas Tree Light Up game! Put your logic—and patience—to the test in this super cool holiday game in which your job is to connect all of the wires and bulbs to the electrical source. Tech Treasure #9 might look easy, but think again!

🎅🏼 Who doesn’t need a cool Christmas greeting to share with family and friends? Well, you can get your Hallmark on (OK, sorta) by checking out Tech Treasure #10, the Online Christmas Card Maker. Yep, you can personalize a digital card, download your holiday masterpiece and then send it to all of your favorite peeps!

🎅🏼 Give your brain a workout with another cool activity from the Math Playground—a holiday logic puzzle known as A Blocky Christmas. Here’s how Tech Treasure #11 works: Players must use the keyboard arrows to move the puzzle pieces into place. Hint: The star piece can push and pull all other pieces. Enjoy 16 challenging levels of play!

🎅🏼 Oh, no! Santa’s running behind schedule and needs your assistance! Can you help him arrange all of the delicious candies that were made at the North Pole? Find out by playing Tech Treasure #12—Santalicious, a holiday version of Candy Crush, the match-three puzzle game that is played by millions of people all over the world!

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources embedded within the interactive images to have some fun celebrating the best holiday of the year!

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ♥ ~The Grinch #somuchmore

If you’re ready to get your festive on, then I’ve got the perfect edtech activity for you and your students—Christmas Poetry Magnets, a Google Slides activity containing nearly 100 words that can be manipulated into a holiday themed poem, story, etc. Check it out below!

As with my other creations, the word boxes are actually images and cannot be edited; however, they can be deleted. Plus, additional words can be generated by creating a new text box and filling it with a white background.

Check out a sneak peek of this super cool Christmas activity shown below!

Click here to download your very own copy of the template and save it to your Google Drive. The file can then be shared with students so they can generate their very own creation.

Classroom Connection:

The Christmas Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity—although I think part of the fun/challenge is to just use the words provided.

A shout out to edtech guru Kasey Bell, author of the Shake Up Learning blog, for the inspiration needed to develop this resource! ♥

Whether you’re looking for some neat themed lesson plans and activities to incorporate into your classroom to celebrate Thanksgiving, or maybe you’re just in search of some tech-based Thanksgiving games to keep your students engaged before the upcoming vacation… Either way, Edutech for Teachers has got you covered!

Hover over the interactive image to find tons of Thanksgiving-themed games and interactive learning activities for students and/or skip past the graphic to find additional (and recently updated) materials for teaching and learning about this popular holiday.

Check out the full screen version of this image here.

Additional Teaching & Learning Resources:

🅽🅴🆆  Thanksgiving Poetry Magnets: A Google Drawings activity containing 80+ words that can be manipulated into a story, poem + more!

🅽🅴🆆  Thanksgiving Pixel Art: Check out this super cool collection of Snoopy and Woodstock themed pixel art activities that encourage students to solve math problems in order to create a digital work of art via Google Sheets. (Bonus: Additional activities included as well!)

🅽🅴🆆  Thanksgiving Pixel Art Resource Room: A Bitmoji scene containing several holiday-themed pixel art activities for teachers to use in their classrooms. If you’re a Peanuts fan, you’ll definitely dig these projects!

🅽🅴🆆  Game of Life: Let students learn the facts of Thanksgiving and the must-have turkey foods based on the Game of Life board game. (Make a copy of the Google Slides template here to modify the content and change its level of difficulties.)

🅽🅴🆆  Thanksgiving Games, Art and Songs: A collection of Thanksgiving activities for elementary students.

🅽🅴🆆  A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: A collection of Peanuts themed videos, read alouds, music, games and drawing activities.

🅽🅴🆆  Happy Thanksgiving Reading Room: A collection of holiday-themed read aloud for elementary teachers and students.

🅽🅴🆆  Three Thanksgiving Ideas: Carve a turkey, create an animated thank you card using Google Slides and turkey dancing with Mystery Science, brought to you by Tony Vincent.

🅽🅴🆆  Ms. Rachael’s Virtual PE Room: A collection of elementary physical education themed workouts, activities and brain break exercises.

🅽🅴🆆  Thanksgiving Paper Circuit Projects: Check out five templates from Makerspaces.com to give thanks, be grateful and of course. learn how to create circuits.

» Incredibly Fun Thanksgiving Science Activities & Experiments for Kids: A collection of STEM-related Thanksgiving activities that are simple, yet fun. Pick up all the materials you need when you do your Thanksgiving dinner shopping!

» The Case of the Pilfered Pie, a Thanksgiving-themed digital breakout game created by Mrs. Yeh.

» November & Thanksgiving STEM Challenges: Build a Mayflower ship, dinner table, and turkey hideout! Check out this Pinterest board filled with November and Thanksgiving STEM challenges for elementary students.

» Thanksgiving STEM Challenge Events: A collection of five holiday challenges that follow the path of Pilgrims settling in America.

» TeachHUB.com: Fed up with building pilgrim hats out of paper bags? Then try one of these less predictable, equally educational Thanksgiving activities for kids of any age.

» Thanksgiving Classroom Activities: 25+ Thanksgiving classroom activities ideas on Pinterest.

» Kids Discover Colonial America: A unit that focuses on the founding of major settlements and daily life in Colonial America. It describes everything from the Pilgrims’ landing to the colonies’ later growth and business activities.

» Kids Discover Native America: A unit that focuses on the most fascinating details of the history and culture of Native Americans. From their spiritual beliefs, artwork, and legends to harrowing accounts of the unfair policies, diseases, and battles that nearly wiped out Native Americans.

» Multimedia Thanksgiving Turkeys: Learn more from Free Technology for Teachers about how students can create an interactive thankful poster utilizing ThingLink. (Activity can also be completed using Google Slides.)

» Scholastic News: A comprehensive site containing various resources for elementary students and teachers to learn about how the pilgrims reached America and celebrated the first Thanksgiving. Sections include The Mayflower, Daily Life, The Feast, Historical Letters, and Videos and Photos.

» Education World: Thanksgiving in the classroom doesn’t have to be limited to those lesson on turkeys. Instead celebrate this special season with some creative ideas via articles, lesson plans, site reviews, books, crafts, clipart and much more—all to help you meet all of your holiday needs. 

» Business Insider: An interesting article regarding “11 things you probably didn’t know about Thanksgiving”.

» abcteach: Games, puzzles and coloring pages designed for elementary students.

» The Best Websites To Learn About Thanksgiving: From audio and video to engaging reading activities, Larry Ferlazzo’s comprehensive list of Thanksgiving web sites includes something for everyone!

» The History Channel: Tons of videos related to the origins, history and traditions related to Thanksgiving. A few noteworthy videos include The History of Thanksgiving and the Mayflower Deconstructed.

» National Geographic for Kids: Contains a funny fill-in turkey story/Mad Lib that can be used as for a writing activity.

» Thanksgiving Web Quest: Visit Web sites about the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag and the famous harvest feast and learn new facts along the way!

» 10 Thanksgiving Myths Dispelled: A cool infographic created by Misconception Junction.

» The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving: A web adventure in which students have to answer questions along the way.

» Thanksgiving Trivia: The Huffington Post challenges you to take the ultimate quiz about Turkey Day.

» Thanksgiving Quiz: Another fun holiday quiz created by Funnel Brain.

» How Thanksgiving Works: A variety of Thanksgiving related articles and videos about the History of Thanksgiving as well as related customs, traditions and more from the creators of How Stuff Works.

» What Really Happened? Comparing Stories of the First Thanksgiving: A great feature from the New York Times Learning Network that also contains links to other useful resources.

» Eight Great Ways to Be Thankful: A printable infographic to get students thinking about what they are grateful for this season… Perfect for all ages!

Click here for a free download from Kids Discover.

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources and materials listed above to teach students about the Thanksgiving holiday.

Magnetic Poetry kits have been around for about 25+ years, providing individuals with the inspiration to create poems on refrigerators everywhere!

In fact, the informality and spontaneity of Magnetic Poetry has endeared it to educators since its inception, especially for students experiencing writer’s block. Ironically that was the impetus behind the invention of this concept in the first place. Read more about founder Dave Kapell’s ingenious idea here.

Fast forward a few decades… When a cool concept like Magnetic Poetry is smashed with classroom technology, such as Google Slides, teachers now not only have a fun activity to utilize with students, but one that can provide struggling writers with a way to break out that inner Edgar Allen Poe in a more modern way!

So, here it is… Back by popular demand—An updated Thanksgiving Poetry Magnets Google Slides activity containing 80+ words that can be manipulated into a holiday themed poem, story, etc.

As with my other creations, the word boxes are actually images and cannot be edited; however, they can be deleted. Plus, additional words can be generated by creating a new text box and filling it with a white background.

Check out a sneak preview below!

Click here to make your very own copy of the template. Then have at it!

Classroom Connection:

The Thanksgiving Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity—although I think part of the fun/challenge is to just use the words provided.

A shout out to edtech guru Kasey Bell, author of the Shake Up Learning blog, for the inspiration needed to develop this resource!

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. (Elmer Davis)

Veterans Day is an official United States holiday honoring the men and women who have served in our military forces. Maybe you’re planning to focus on this event for one class period, or maybe you’re going to incorporate a special project in honor of our American heroes.

Either way, click here to access a collection of resources located within the interactive Veterans Day Resource Room shown below to connect classroom curriculum to the day set aside to honor those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources and materials listed above to teach students about the importance of honoring the men and women who have served and/or continue to serve in our nation’s armed forces.

Back by popular demand—some really spook-tacular digital resources that are sure to creep out your students—in a good way, of course! Yep—it’s the updated version of Tech or Treat so if you’re looking for some fun activities to celebrate Halloween in your classroom, then keep scrolling…

Whether it’s writing prompts, science experiments, STEM activities, breakout games, or virtual field trips, there’s something ghostly awaiting you right here, right now…

🎃 🅽🅴🆆  Spiders, Bats and Pumpkins

Check out this kid friendly collection of Halloween themed ⁦resources curated by Katie Exum.

🎃 🅽🅴🆆  Virtual Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Take your students on a virtual field trip to a pumpkin patch via Nearpod. The GIF tutorial from Julie Smith, the Techie Teacher, explains how to do so.

🎃 🅽🅴🆆  Halloween Hyperdoc

Add some Halloween fun to your class with this spooky choice board designed by Tonya Nugent.

🎃 🅽🅴🆆  Are You Ready to Trick-Or-Treat?

🎃 🅽🅴🆆  Halloween Paper Circuits

Get into the Halloween “Spirit” by making these paper circuit light-up cards. The tutorial includes a free eBook which contains 19 Halloween themed project templates.

» Five Little Pumpkins

This Five Little Pumpkins drawing activity invites students to create their own illustration of the rhyme while introducing them to coding.  The worksheet also asks them to draw various parts of the illustration by following the algorithm’s steps.

» Create Halloween Rebus Stories with Emojis and Google Docs

Generated by Eric Curts, this Halloween rebus activity can be used for students to create and/or read. (BTW: Anyone who grew up reading Highlights magazine in the dentist office waiting room will quickly recognize a rebus. Basically, it is a story in which some of the words are replaced by images.)

» Build a Jack-O-Lantern with Google Slides

Also generated by Eric Curts, this fun, and educational Google Slides activity is a great way for students to be creative and to work on writing skills by describing the Jack-O-Lantern they build with shapes and/or drawings of their own.

» Haunted House Escape

For the Breakout EDU junkies… Check out this spooky, musical, holiday-themed digital breakout game created by Aubrey Yeh. (Designed for middle school students but could work for upper elementary or high school as well.)

» Breakout EDU: Halloween

Check out three challenging yet fun hands-on games with a Halloween twist located on the Breakout EDU site.

» 6 Halloween Paper Circuit Projects

In this project tutorial, learn how to make six different Halloween paper circuit creations. Using parallel and simple circuits, students can bring these templates to life with copper tape, LEDs and batteries.

» 100 Free Halloween STEM Activities

A collection of 100 Halloween STEM activities that are completely free via Nick’s Picks for Educational Technology.

» 31 Days of Halloween STEM Activities and Projects

The STEAM Powered Family gathered 31+ science, tech, engineering and math activities that capture a child’s interest and imagination during this spooky season. And so many of them are perfect for our young scientists! Be sure to check out this spectacular STEM adventure projects!

» Free Halloween Music, Images, Videos, and Clipart for School Projects

Another collection of Halloween goodies from Nick’s Picks for Educational Technology.

» Halloween Activity Set

Get your classroom in the Halloween spirit with these math and science activities, writing ideas and crafts. This site, powered by Scholastic, includes Halloween-themed book lists to find a perfect read-aloud title or scary stories to share with your students for independent reading.

» Halloween Classroom Activities for Any Grade

To prepare for Halloween in your classroom, check out these Halloween classroom activities from Teach HUB for new ways to sneak in some spooky lessons and ghoulish learning!

» Halloween Lesson Ideas

Math… Pick a Pumkin… Bats in the Classroom… And Historical Figure Day, an alternative to the traditional Halloween hoopla. If you’re ready to celebrate Halloween in “spooktacular” fashion, you’re sure to find a fun idea or two right here on the Education World site.

» 30 Halloween Activities for the Classroom

A collection of nearly three dozen hands-on activities (with accompanying pictures) from the Proud to Be Primary blog.

» It’s Halloween!

A Pinterest board containing 90+ Halloween sites to celebrate Halloween by Edutopia.

» The Best Sites for Learning About Halloween

A collection of all things Halloween by Larry Ferlazzo—A visual history, slideshows, vocabulary and spelling games, cloze activities, Halloween Around the World and Mia Cadaver’s Tombstone Timeout, one of the most favorite games found on the BBC site and more!

» Halloween Activities

A variety of educational sites for Halloween by 19 Pencils.

» Tech-Themed Halloween Costume Ideas

Check out and/or share some pretty neat tech-inspired Halloween costume ideas on the Tech with Us Community Facebook thread found here. A shout out to Julie Goode Smith for generating this fun post!

Classroom Connection:
Use these resources to teach and learn about Halloween in fun and hands-on ways.

Need a super cool activity to get your students back into the groove of a new school year? If so, then I’ve got the perfect edtech resource for you and your peeps—an updated version of poetry magnets, a Google Slides activity containing almost 100 words, or “magnets”, that can be creatively manipulated into a poem, story,  etc.

So, if you’re ready to combine a little bit of Back to School fun with Google Apps, then be sure to check out this must-try activity in your classroom! Here’s how it works…

Click here if you would like to snag your very own copy of this super awesome activity. Once you access the link, you will be prompted to download your very own copy of the original and save it to your Google Drive. It can then be shared with your students. My favorite way to do so is via Google Classroom using the “Make a copy for each student” option.

Classroom Connection:

The Back to School Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity, regardless how learning is occurring at the moment (in-person, virtual or hybrid). Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity.

A shout out to Alex, one of my Tech Club kids, for helping with the creation of this really swell resource! ♥ And to Kasey Bell for giving me the inspiration to add my own twist to poetry magnet activities.