Posts on “ holidays ”

Guest blogger Laura Gatto shares a delightful story of preparing her son to handle the anxiety of air travel with BrainPOP! In the week leading up to spring break, my 6-year-old son was super excited about our upcoming vacation to DisneyWorld. He also seemed a little nervous about the plane ride, so I thought it would be a good idea to watch a BrainPOP movie on FLIGHT. Perhaps it would help reduce his anxiety, at the very least it could reduce mine! So, in the brief window of time between preparing his school lunch and getting him out the door to catch the bus, we watched the movie and took the quiz together. Though our time was limited, we delved into the mechanics of movement with physics concepts like weight, drag, lift and thrust. Though he didn’t understand everything, he was interested, curious and excited! Later, I thought about our tendency to hold back teaching children certain “difficult” subjects even when we notice their excitement and interest. I stumbled upon some of my college notes from the writings of renowned cognitive psychologist, Jerome Bruner and was reminded that the foundations of any subject can be taught to anyone, at any… Read the Rest»

As we reach the end of the year, we reflect on the developments and accomplishments at BrainPOP over the past twelve months. So here it is,  the top 10 BrainPOP highlights of 2012! 10) Few in New York City were spared the devastation of Hurricane Sandy this fall.  This included many employees at BrainPOP and our office space too. Even without electricity, running water or heat many members of our district relations, customer support and production teams all rallied to help each other and did their best to continue working with you too.  We made BrainPOP free for the week as many schools along the North East and Mid Atlantic coasts were closed. 9) On the second to last day of August, we were pleasantly surprised to see BrainPOP’s mobile apps featured on the Today Show in a segment entitled “Best Back to School Apps“  with former child star (and parenting expert), Soleil Moon-Frye! 8) BrainPOP attended and sponsored our first show in Australia - As part of the ISTE Australia Study tour, VP of 21st century learning, Kari Stubbs, presented at the prestigious ACEC conference! 7) The family of BrainPOP APPs including BrianPOP, BrainPOP Jr., BrainPOP UK and BrainPOP Español were downloaded over 2 million times! 6) GameUp™ continued gaining popularity with students logging… Read the Rest»

Why are the days getting shorter? Why is it getting cold in some places and not in others? Why are there seasons? Here in the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st is the shortest day of the year and the first official day of winter! Starting tomorrow our days begin getting longer and there is a common misconception that it’s the midpoint of winter! Not so, but it can be hard to explain why to students, so check out the Solstice and Equinox topic page to explain the reason we’re not at mid-winter, and answer many other questions that come up around this short, but not coldest, day! On another timely note, are your students talking about the Maya apocalypse? Help them clarify misconceptions by checking out the Maya Civilization page.  We’ve made it free for the next few days in light of the recent apocalyptic speculation! Have a great weekend!

A new lesson ideas resource has been added to BrainPOP Educators! In it, you’ll find five unique ways that BrainPOP can be used to help students learn about holidays all year long. These ideas go beyond simple celebration tips: they challenge students to think critically about what people around the world celebrate and why. In this lesson ideas page, you’ll find ideas for having students generate and answer their own FYI questions related to a particular holiday, find out how you can empower students to research and debunk holiday myths, and learn tips for talking about stereotypes or common misunderstandings surrounding a holiday or its culture of origin. You’ll also discover ideas for year-long holiday journals that students can use to reflect on essential questions related to celebrations. Finally, you’ll access ideas for helping students compare and contrast holidays from various seasons and explore their connection to seasonal occurrences, and explore how various cultures express their beliefs and way of thinking through holiday celebrations. We hope these are teaching resources you’ll be able to use to enhance students’ English Language Arts (ELA) and social studies instruction all throughout the year as various holidays and seasonal celebrations arise. Please feel free… Read the Rest»

Tim and Moby are getting into the holiday spirit! Now through January 15th, save 20 percent when you purchase one of the 12-month Family subscriptions. You’ll have the chance to print or email a gift certificate letting your lucky recipients know. And remember, all our subscriptions now include mobile access.  For more information about the promotion, check out our promo page.  This discount only comes around once a year, so act now!

As Hurricane Sandy approaches the East Coast, people are busy preparing for the epic storm!  Need help explaining to students exactly what’s going on out there? BrainPOP is acknowledging the need for clear explanations by featuring both our Hurricanes and Natural Disasters movies on this historic day.   In addition to visually explaining the natural phenomenon of the hurricane, these featured movies also define all those tricky phrases, like “low pressure system” and “tropical depression” that the meteorolgists keeps using!   We hope you keep safe through this storm, and that today’s featured movie help you explain the origins of this extreme weather to your students.

School’s out for summer, but that doesn’t mean students can’t squeeze in some summer learning with our spotlights. July’s spotlight, Red, White, and Blue, includes movies and activities to help us celebrate our country’s independence.  Students can explore United States history through our Declaration of Independence, Causes of the American Revolution, and Thirteen Colonies movies.  And, don’t forget our very first president, George Washington!  Students can test their U.S. knowledge with the accompanying interactive quizzes and activities.  This month’s other spotlight, Animals, gives students the opportunity to learn about both domestic and wild animals.  From dogs and cats to penguins and dolphins, students can become experts on the animals they find most interesting. We also have a number of spotlights that aren’t month specific and are perfect for students to enjoy all summer long.  Why not learn about the authors who wrote the books they’re reading?  Students can extend their summer reading assignments with our Books & Authors spotlight.  We’ve included movies about classic and talented authors like Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl, J.R.R. Tolkien, and more.  Additionally, check out the Famous Scientists spotlight where students can become scientists themselves.  The Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Darwin movies offer hands-on… Read the Rest»

Wednesday, June 20 3:00PM ET: Summer Fun with BrainPOP Prepare your students for the summer send-off with BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr.! Join us as we discuss activities and strategies for keeping their minds fresh even while they’re on vacation. Students can review math, grammar, study skills, science, social studies, and more to prepare for the upcoming school year. We’ll be sure to share some creative ideas for making learning fun over the summer!

You may not realize it, but by turning to BrainPOP’s content, you’re playing a role in improving teaching and learning through technology. And that quest for teaching and learning improvement is exactly what inspired Digital Learning Day, taking place today across the country. Digital Learning Day marks the culmination of a year-long national awareness campaign by the policy/advocacy organization Alliance for Excellent Education, which is dedicated to helping students succeed in school and beyond.  Hundreds of thousands of students and teachers are currently signed up to participate, and there’s time for you to jump in as well. Start a conversation, share perspectives, and exchange your ideas. Schools across the U.S. will interact live during a virtual National Town Hall Meeting [time?] that spotlights innovative teachers and creative projects. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joins FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski for a special appearance. There’s also a daylong webcast [start/finish time?] that showcases the myriad ways digital tools are being used in real classrooms. As a trusted provider of digital content, we wanted to show our support for Digital Learning Day.  To that end, we’ve designated Blogs as today’s Featured Movie.  Blogs – a truly 21st-century medium that fosters the same kind… Read the Rest»

Ahh,  the weeks before holiday break:  sentiments of joy and unrestrained excitement compete with the realities of extreme distraction and stress.  In other words, it’s hard to get a lot done!  At BrainPOP, we recognize this and we want to help you get through to the promised land: winter break. How about a little creative BrainPOP art project? Take a look at BrainPOP Educator’s exclusive BrainPOP holiday clip art collection. Load them into your IWB software and tell a winter tale, print ‘em out and have your students make a collage, use them for holiday sight words flashcards, make holiday cards! Using your imagination, there is no limit to what you and your students can do!  We’ve just activated a new feature to upload photographs, and we’re excited to see what you and your students come up with!  So get to work, snap a photo (or save the file with a .jpg or .gif extension),  and share with the community at BrainPOP Educators.  We can’t wait to see what you do!