March 2016 Picks

March Blog | App of The Month | What's Happening |
New- Online Practice | New- Printables | New- Answer Keys |
Teacher Resources | Parent Resources | Technology Tips |
Other Areas of Interest | Common Core | SAT and ACT Test Preparation

March brings Music in Our Schools Month, Women's History Month, Daylight Savings Time, Pi Day, St Patricks's Day, First Day of Spring, and much more. Visit our monthly newsletter to see all the details.

March Blog: Whys and Hows of Critical Thinking

Whys and Hows of Critical Thinking

This month's blog Whys and Hows of Critical Thinking discusses the importance of critical thinking skills for priming the pump of educational development, as well as covers specific types of critical thinking developmental activities that you can bring in to your classroom regardless of student age or subject matter.

App of the Month

Every month we are going to feature a different, and hopefully FREE, iPad/iPod/iPhone/Android educational application. Visit our ever-changing app page.

The App of the Month for March is BrainPOP ( iOS / Android ). Bring learning to your fingertips™ with the BrainPOP Featured Movie app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, as well as Android devices. Watch a different animated movie every day, then test your new knowledge with an interactive quiz – free!

BrainPOP is available for both Apple and Android devices.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later on Apple devices and Android 2.3 or higher on your Android device.

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH?

Here are some of the March events that you can celebrate or make note of this month:

1. Music in Our Schools Month - Celebrate and enjoy music in your classroom this month. Make your own instruments, play with virtual instruments, and learn about different genres of music with on our Music Resources page. We also have Music and Dance resources for Kindergarten and Pre-K aged children.


2. Women’s History Month- Did you know that March is National Women’s History Month? You can learn about Women in World History and Women in American History. Learn about list of honorees for 2016, and other resources from the National Women’s History Project.


3. Dr. Seuss’ Birthday (3/2) - Fun fact: Green Eggs and Ham was written with a mere 50 words. Dr. Seuss is a staple in children's literature. Celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday with lesson plans and activities all correlating with his books. Learn about his life. Find activities for all of Dr. Seuss' books. Here are some Dr. Seuss themed great printables and resources. Also check out our Online Stories page for more classroom reading resources.


4. Daylight Savings Time Begins (3/8) - Remember to set your clocks an hour ahead today. Learn about the history of Daylight Savings Time and why we "spring forward" an hour today. Work on time telling skills with these resources for First, Second, and Third Grade.


5. Pi Day (3/14) - Happy Pi Day! Learn about the history of Pi. Apply Pi in your math lesson today. Check out these ways these teachers have celebrated Pi Day in their classroom. Learn about Pi through this "irrational" webquest. For high schoolers, try the Pi Day Challenge, a series of logic based puzzles all about Pi.


6. St. Patrick’s Day (3/17) - Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in your classroom with I4C! We have St. Patrick's Day history, games, crafts, and activities on our St. Patrick's Day resource page.


7. First Walk in Space (3/18/1965) - Learn about space walks and Alexei Leonov’s experience outside of the spacecraft. You can also check out our General Astronomy page for other resources on Space.


8. First Day of Spring (3/20) - Welcome to Spring! Today, learn about what causes the change of seasons. Also check out these spring themed worksheets and activities and crafts you can use in your classroom.


9. First Map of the United States Published (3/31/1784) -Ever wondered what the United States looked like when the nation was first created? Abel Buell’s work was the first to be submitted for copyright. Check out our Maps page for more resources on maps of the United States, interactive maps, and printables.

New- ONLINE PRACTICE AT I4C

Internet4Classrooms now offers Online Practice and Interactives, covering Kindergarten to Eighth Grade Common Core Mathematics. Look for a rapidly growing variety of thousands of practice quizzes tied to the Common Core State Standards, School Subjects, Activities, and Holidays.

Check out our Online Practice Quizzes! More grades and subjects coming soon!

New Online Practice Quizzes Available!

We have released many new online quizzes this month supporting the Common Core Standards.

Try them out, and then use them with your students as:

• Bell Ringers,
• In Class Assignments,
• Homework or
• Extra Credit.

Here is a list of new quizzes by grade.

New- COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS PRINTABLES AT I4C

Internet4Classrooms offers Printables, covering Kindergarten to Sixth Grade Mathematics. Look for a rapidly growing variety of thousands of practice worksheets tied to the Common Core State Standards, School Subjects, Activities, and Holidays.

Check out our Common Core Printables! More grades and subjects coming soon!

New Printables Worksheets Available!

We have released thousands of new printables worksheets this month supporting the Common Core Standards.

Try them out, and then use them with your students as:

• Bell Ringers,
• In Class Assignments,
• Homework or
• Extra Credit.

Here is a list of new worksheet sets by grade.

New- Answer Keys




New Worksheet Answer Keys Available!

We have released thousands of new answer keys for our printables worksheets this month supporting the Common Core Standards.

Remember that you can sign up for answer key access here: https://i4c.xyz/n89msyv.

Here is a list of new answer key sets by grade.







TEACHER RESOURCES



1. Many historical events happened this month which you can cover in your classroom. Check outI4C's History page for lesson plans, videos, activities, and other resources to supplement your lessons!


2. March 14th is Pi Day! Apply Pi in your math lesson today. Check out these ways these teachers have celebrated Pi Day in their classroom and have your students learn about Pi through this "irrational" webquest. Your students can also work on their math skills with our Grade Level Skill Builders, our free Online Practice quizzes, and our free Common Core Math Printables for Kindergarten to Eighth Grade.


3. Spring brings unpredictable weather. Explore these Elementary Science tools.


4. Name that tune! Celebrate Music In Our Schools Month with I4C's music lessons and resources ranging from music sheets and instruments to percussions and opera.


5. Remember to visit our Teacher Tools section! This home page contains all the topics you may need to use during the school year.


6. Go to our grade level help for lesson plans, activities, instructionals, and tools organized by grade and subject.



PARENT RESOURCES



1. Did you know that March is National Craft Month? Check out these Spring themed crafts you can do with your child this month. Internet4Classrooms also has Arts and Crafts Resources for Pre-K and Kindergarten aged children.


2. Read with your child this month! Here are some great reading resources just for parents. Check out our Elementary School Stories page and prep for upcoming assessments with our Reading Comprehension Practice resources.


3. March is Music in Our Schools Month. Enhance your child's music education with Internet4Classrooms. Make your own instruments, play with virtual instruments, and learn about different genres of music with your child on our Music Resources page. We also have Music and Dance resources for Kindergarten and Pre-K aged children.


4. Be sure to check out I4C's collection of free educational iPhone and iPad apps for you and your child!


5. You can always visit our Parent Resources page to get grade level practice sites, find online sources, and information pertaining to homework, special needs, reading help, and more.


6. Don't forget our Technology Tutorial section in case you need refresher courses in your computer skills.





TECHNOLOGY TIPS



1. Geekiest Windows Accessory: the Math Input Panel- Starting with Windows 7, Microsoft has included a new tool called the Math Input Panel, which is by far the geekiest program included in Windows by default. The old champ used to be the Calculator with its Scientific, Programmer and Conversion modes. With the Math Input Panel, you can write well-formed mathematical expressions and then have those inserted into other programs that support MathML or Mathematical Markup Language. Read more in the tutorial found HERE.


2. How to Make Your Computer Talk/Speak What You Type- There is cool feature in Windows that allows you to make your computer talk or speak whatever you tell it! This method takes advantage of a built-in API installed on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10 called SAPI (Speech Application Programming Interface). Making your computer say what you want is pretty easy actually! In this tutorial, you are shown how to create a VBS script that will take a text input from a user and then speak it. Read more in the tutorial found HERE.


3. How to Specify a Starting Point for YouTube Videos- Have you ever wanted to share a YouTube video with someone, but wished it did not have to start at the very beginning? For example, if you want someone to see something that happens 6 minutes and 23 seconds into the video, you either have to let them watch it from the beginning or tell them they need to skip to that point. Instead, you could make yourself look cool and tech-savvy by sending them a link to the video that starts right where you want it. Read more in the tutorial found HERE.






We also have other basic instruction in Microsoft Office, including Word 2007, Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007.





OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST



1. Resources for Educators - In this section you can find classroom resources for Exceptional Children, Smartboards, Character Education, Web 2.0 Resources and other topics.
2. Resources for Parents - Parents can find resources
   on assisting their children with homework, time management, Internet Safety, subject area resources, grade level resources and more.




Common Core State Standards at I4C




Our Common Core State Standards are full of resources for every individual standard. Students can take control of their own learning by clicking on the page with the standard number, and choosing their own resource to practice that skill.




Check out our Common Core Math High School Algebra Standards, Common Core Math Standards, and Common Core ELA Standards.




SAT and ACT Test Preparation

Free Online Practice Resources for ACT Tests and SAT Tests! I4C now offers free SAT and ACT vocabulary and math quizzes. Join our SAT and ACT Test Preparation program and log in as much as you'd like. Students can take practice tests on 5000 vocabulary words or over 1000 math problems. Parents and Mentors can log in to monitor your scores - including seeing which vocabulary words that were missed. Interactive quizzes allow the test taker to retake and study as much as they want.




Sign Up Here for ACT Test & SAT Test Preparation!