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=Interactive Whiteboard Resources =

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ActivExpressions for Classroom Activities
//(Teacher Guest Post - Ms. Phillips, High School English & Literature Teacher) //


 * ActivExpressions for Opening Activities **

When my class is working on a specific unit (poetry, fiction, etc.), I like to use the ActivExpressions as my opening activity. On a flip chart, go to Insert, then Questions. Once there, you can write multiple choice & true/false questions, ask the students put items in order, or type in a text or numeric answer. There are also a couple other options for the math-type people.

What I like to do is have the questions come up in random order. This ensures that the students don't simply memorize the answers in order, nor can they peek at what their neighbor is doing. On your computer screen, you can monitor student progress & see how many questions students answered correctly, & you can also see which answers he or she chose when they missed a question. Currently, I have given the poetry review for seven days. Most students see their scores increase significantly in just three days, & the constant repetition of material seems to improve the tests scores as well.

You may also choose to let the student see the correct answer when he or she has missed a question (I choose not to do this; I'd rather they looked it up in their notes). One last fun thing that you can do is choose what the device will say after a question has been answered. At the moment, a correct answer in my class gets a reply of "Glitter!" & a wrong answer gets "mud". I like to change them every few days. Mainly because I can. I highly recommend the ActivExpressions.


 * More Ideas for Using ActivExpressions in Your Classroom **

Do you occasionally find yourself with a few minutes left over at the end of the period? And it's that class where you can't just say, "read quietly," because it's full of kids who were squirrels in a previous life?

I have a solution for you.

Have the kids grab an ActivExpression. Open up ActivInspire to a blank page. On the toolbar, there is a circle icon with a question mark on it. This is the express poll. You can use this without having any questions written up in advance, and it allows you to do multiple choice, true/false, sort in order, as well as text and numeric answers.

When you click on it, another similar icon will appear on the screen. Hover the mouse over it, and your options will appear. When you choose the option you want, the voting period will start. When all the kids have sent in their answers, stop the polling. Now this is where it gets fun, at least for me. If you want to keep track of correct answers, there is an option for you type it in. On the top of the "Vote Results" screen, there is an icon that looks like a multiple choice test, with and A and B answer, with the B checked. Click on that, and you can enter in the correct answer, and ActivExpression will keep track of how many each student answered correctly.

I use this at least once a day. It's a good way to review and it keeps the kids from swinging from the light fixtures…

Scholastic - Interactive Whiteboard Activities
Great activities for teachers & students to use for all grade ranges & subject areas on their Promethean boards. They work as individual activities on computers or whole group activities on Promethean boards. These activities are designed for Interactive whiteboards with activities for language arts, social studies, science & math, & learning games & teacher tools.

//Last Updated - April, 2013//