Educational Technology at IU13

The BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Monthly bulletins have fresh instructional ideas, classroom swag, and community announcements for classroom teachers. 

This Month's Question - How can I help my students organize their thoughts?

Graphic organizers as thinking organizers

• With graphic organizers, teachers can help students outline their thoughts and be ready for deeper learning. Explore and assign our variety of built-in, ready-to-use graphic organizers to individuals, small groups, or an entire class.View the video in the current BrainPop Bulletin to learn how!

Bonus Tip!

• Use venn diagrams to help students structure their thoughts and prepare for a writing extension activity, which will also help strengthen their literacy skills.  Log into BrainPop to try it out!

Also in the current Bulletin edition...

• Learn how to become a Certified BrainPOP Educator! The next Certified BrainPOP Educator (CBE) cohort begins on April 8! Hear what current CBEs have to say about the program! 

Miss anything from past bulletins?

• Scroll to the bottom of each bulletin to view past instructional practices and ideas using BrainPop.

Here are some "Timely & Relevant" resources from Discovery Education for the month of March 2024. Use Discovery Education as your daily hub of resources for your classroom with digital media and ready-to-use learning activities. Be sure to log into your instance of Discovery Education before clicking on the links in this post.

Timely and Relevant Resources

• Check out the March 2024 DE Newsletter for a list of resources that supports student learning throughout the month.  Click on the link above or the image to open and download this month's newsletter.

Explore the Ready-to-Use-Activities

• Explore DE's ready-to-use activities These time-saving activities can be used as-is or modified to meet the needs of their classroom! From Background Builders to Daily Sentence Fix-Its to Choice Boards and more – teachers can find quick grab and go resources to use anytime in the Instructional Activities Channel.

• There you’ll find this month's Activity Calendars for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5. Use them as they are or make your own copy to edit and share.

Highlighted Monthly & Timely Celebrations

• World Wildlife Day (3/3) – Travel the world to explore the largest predators and most exotic wildlife on land and in the sea.
• Pi Day (3/14) – Prepare for a mathematics party with pies and digital resources!
• St Patrick’s Day (3/17) - Discover images, videos, and articles that explain the history of this holiday and showcase the various ways countries around the world celebrate the day.
• First Day of Spring (3/19) – Discover a collection of videos, images, songs, and writing prompts that explore the science behind the seasons and their environmental effects.

Check out DE's New Content

• Life Skills Channel - Empower students with curated, high-quality resources to help them develop critical life skills in the classroom and beyond. In this channel, educators and students can explore topics like resiliency, character, personal responsibility, mentorship and citizenship, problem solving, and more.
• STEM Career Coalition - Problem-Solving Tools for Tomorrow’s Changemakers - The all-new STEM Careers Coalition's mission is to empower educators to teach STEM effectively in the classroom, focusing on equity and access to quality education, and building the next generation of solution-seekers at no cost to schools.
• Career Tours by Amazon - Career Tours are free, interactive virtual field trips that teachers can share with their students to inspire them to pursue careers of the future by showcasing the real-life people and cutting-edge technology behind Amazon’s innovations.

Information compiled in this update was provided by our partners at Discovery Education

The BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Monthly bulletins have fresh instructional ideas, classroom swag, and community announcements for classroom teachers. 

This Month's Question - How do you keep students engaged for a whole lesson?

'Noticing and Wondering': Activating BrainPOP learning beyond movies

• Students’ minds may run a mile a minute but with the ‘Noticing and Wondering' strategy, you’ll be sure to lock-in their attention and have all eyes focused on the content. You’ll be amazed to see student learning confidence grow within one single lesson.View the video in the current BP Bulletin to learn how!

Bonus Tip for Noticing and Wonder Strategy

• Once your students have listed their “noticings and wonderings” and have rewatched the movie, have them return to their Make-a-Map and add a new “I understand” column. Writing down their new learnings will help reinforce students’ comprehension. Log into BrainPop to try it out!

Connect by BrainPOP

• On Sunday, February 25th, from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm  (EST), educators are invited to a virtual event to "Discover ways to incorporate easy to implement strategies to build essential skills across the curriculum." Reserve your spot here. 

Miss anything from past bulletins?

• Scroll to the bottom of each bulletin to view past instructional practices and ideas using BrainPop.

Here are some "Timely & Relevant" resources from Discovery Education for the month of February 2024. Use Discovery Education as your daily hub of resources for your classroom with digital media and ready-to-use learning activities. Be sure to log into your instance of Discovery Education before clicking on the links in this post.

Timely and Relevant Resources

• Check out the February 2024 DE Newsletter for a list of resources that supports student learning throughout the month.  Click on the link above or the image to open and download this month's newsletter.

Explore the Ready-to-Use-Activities

• Explore DE's ready-to-use activities These time-saving activities can be used as-is or modified to meet the needs of their classroom! From Background Builders to Daily Sentence Fix-Its to Choice Boards and more – teachers can find quick grab and go resources to use anytime in the Instructional Activities Channel.

• There you’ll find this month's Activity Calendars for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5. Use them as they are or make your own copy to edit and share.

Highlighted Monthly & Timely Celebrations

• World Read Aloud Day (2/7): Share your love of reading with students on World Read Aloud Day! Explore Discovery Education's ready-to-use activities and video quizzes that highlight
  the Vooks storybooks brought to life through animation.
• Superbowl (2/11): The American Heart Association and the National Football League, working together with Discovery Education, have joined forces to amplify NFL PLAY 60’s reach and impact by inspiring physically active lifestyles in schools and homes nationwide.
• President’s Day (2/19): Explore resources that teach about current and past leaders, the role of the executive branch, and the history of the holiday.

Innovators for Impact Virtual Field Trip

• “Innovators for Impact” Virtual Field Trip with Olympian Katie Ledecky and Panasonic on February 15 at 1pm ET for students in Grades 6-12: 
  • Take a trip overseas with 3-time Olympian, 21-time World Champion, and 10-time Olympic medal-winning swimmer Katie Ledecky as she visits a future-forward region of Japan where sustainable science is being used to transform everyday life for the better. Students will explore ways that exciting innovations in robotics, smart mobility solutions, and renewal energy are being used by STEM experts at Panasonic to help make sustainable smart towns a reality.  Register today!

Information compiled in this update was provided by our partners at Discovery Education

The BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Monthly bulletins have fresh instructional ideas, classroom swag, and community announcements for classroom teachers. 

This Month's Question - How can teachers get students excited about assessments?

Gamifying traditional assessments

• Assessments don’t have to feel dull. With BrainPOP’s Quiz feature, there’s an easy way to get students excited to demonstrate their understanding. In this month’s tip, we’re sharing how you can turn assessments into play with one simple game. View the video in the current BP Bulletin to learn how!

Bonus Tip for your Four Corners game!

• If students are divided on their answers, encourage them to change their classmates’ minds! They can support their choice with reasoning and convince their peers to switch their corner.  Log into BrainPop to try it out!

Also in the current Bulletin edition...

• Watch some "Words of Wisdom" from the BP teacher community 

Miss anything from past bulletins?

• Scroll to the bottom of each bulletin to view past instructional practices and ideas using BrainPop.