Stay Organized with Google Keep

Stay Organized with Google Keep

First of all, let me say that Google Keep is awesome, and I cannot believe we haven't blogged about it yet. I hope you will love it as much as I do :-)

Google Keep was created for people like me who LOVE to make lists. Google Keep (unlike the sticky notes on your desktop, and desk, and floor, etc) can go with you everywhere, making it the perfect place to keep your lists and notes for home and school. 

Google Keep can be used on your computer and phone, and syncs automatically when you open it. Not only does it allow for use on-the-go, all notes placed in Keep can be individually shared with anyone with a Google account. Personally, I use this feature for sharing grocery lists with my husband, to-do lists with my coaching team, and daily tasks in the library with Elizabeth. It is so convenient. Each note can also be color coordinated to allow to find what you are looking for faster. 

The final feature I'd like to highlight is the reminders feature. Each note can be given reminder settings that will, much like your Outlook calendar, send you reminder to complete the items on the list. These can be one-time reminders, or like our Weekly Library Task List Note, weekly reminders. 

All in all, Google Keep is a fantastic tool that I think everyone will love. That's all for now. Have a great week!

                                                                   Google Keep Site

-Your Friendly Librarians

Storyboard That

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Macbeth (partial) Storyboard  

                 

                               Storyboard (partial) of the French Revolution

Storyboard (partial) Of Mice and Men

StoryboardThat engages students in digital storytelling for many different academic purposes. StoryboardThat provides you (and your students) with free three frame and six frame storyboards. Every scene can be customized in hundreds of different ways from scenes to characters to text. Have you ever assigned a video project to students only to have the end result fall flat? StoryboardThat can help students plan their video projects effectively for better end results.  StoryboardThat can help ELA students map out stories, themes of stories or show character development. It could be used to show revolutions and explain concepts in any subject.  Here is a link to teacher ideas for using StoryboardThat (scroll down to see different subjects). As always, see us in the library for assistance with using this tool in your classroom!

Link to instructions for using StoryboardThat (for teachers and students).

Tutorial Video for StoryboardThat: 

Digital Book Talks and FREE AUDIO BOOKS FOR THE SUMMER

Hello from the library!

Digital Book Talks:

This past week, I sent out a document containing 10 digital book talks for you to share with your students. If you missed that email, here's the link again.

We are going to try sending out one of the documents each week to help promote some of the awesome ebooks we have purchased for the students. I hope you find this helpful. If you have any recommendations or requests, please email me (Jackie). Thanks!

There will be another set of Digital Book Talks coming your way soon. Stay tuned!

FREE AUDIO BOOKS:

People who know me know that I LOVE coupons, the clearance section, and any way to save some money, so when I heard that everyone can get two FREE audio books each week for the entire summer, I had to check it out.

Sync YA provided two, high-quality audio books every week from May 5th- August 17th. These audio books are themed pairs of high-interest titles with the occasional classic YA title thrown in to rekindle interest in that book. This year's titles can be found here.

The best thing about these free books is that there are NO strings attached. They don't try to sell you anything, they just want people listening to these great books. If you would like to sign up, go to http://www.audiobooksync.com/ and sign up to receive the email or text message updates. That way you will never miss out on these free audio books! (See the graphic below)

The only thing you will need to take advantage of this awesome offer is an OverDrive (which everyone has through Fargo Public Schools- the login is your normal computer login). You can also choose to put the free OverDrive app on your phone to listen on-the-go.

Once we get closer to May, I will send out more instructions and a reminder about this awesome resource. I'd also love to share this with your students. Please contact Jackie or Elizabeth if you'd like us to come and help your students get set up with the OverDrive app and these free audio books.

Have a great week!

Your Friendly Librarians 

NoRedInk- Grammar Practice and Assessment

NoRedInk is an online grammar and writing program that allows teacher to track their students' progress. This is a free program for teachers that makes grammar and writing instruction more fun by incorporating the students' favorite characters into the lessons. Teachers can assign lessons and quizzes or allow students to practice on their own. 

To make an account, follow the instructions below:

1. Go to www.noredink.com/

2. Click Sign Up

3. Select "I'm a Teacher"

4. Select "Sign up with Google"

5. Once you have your account set up, add your first class and manage your students.

6. Once all of your students have been added, they can take the diagnostic test and you can start assigning lessons and practice. Explore the "View as Student" option to learn more.

As always, if you have any questions or would like help with this or any tech tool, 

please see Jackie or Elizabeth. We are here to help!

-Your Friendly Librarians

Smore

Follow this link to go to the full Smore explanation (if scroll bar isn't working)

Piktochart

Link to Piktochart Instructions

Vocaroo- Voice Recorder

Vocaroo Voice Recorder

Vocaroo is a simple, online voice recorder that allows you and your students to record audio. After the recording has been made, Vocaroo allows you to save the files as a mp3 or share via a link. These links can be emailed out or turned in via a Google Form (Check out our recent blog post on Google Forms if you'd like to try that option).

The home page is easy to navigate with a simple "Click to Record" button. 

  

For a step by step walk through of Vocaroo, check out these instructions, watch our video (below) or stop into the library. We are always happy to help!

Have a great week!

-Your Friendly Librarians