Posts on “ new content ”

August 1st marked the beginning of Connected Educators Month and the 3-day kickoff event did not disappoint. The opening sessions featured panelists and speakers including senior Department of Education officials and education thought leaders who presented and led conversation on all things education. Many timely topics were covered such as the current state of education, technological trends, research focusing on the overall needs of students today, and what it means to be a “connected educator” in 2012.  One goal of the celebration is to identify how online communities and networks provide professional development and help both support and expand the scope for teachers deep in the throws of this engaging profession. Don’t miss out of the rest of the unique professional development opportunities throughout Connected Educators Month. Check the schedule often to find out how you can get involved!  Be sure to join the discussion forums to share and learn from other teaching professionals.

  Just in time for the summer olympics, check out BrainPOP’s new movie about basketball.  Join Tim and Moby for a journey through the history, the rules and the vocabulary involved in one of the worlds most popular sports.  Along with our other sport related topics, from soccer, American football and baseball,  to steroids and even muscles, BrainPOP is your go to source for sports explanations!  

As teachers we know the summer provides time to consider new ideas for the upcoming year.  BrainPOP Educator Jen Wagner has put together a list of educational game organizations that can help guide you toward bringing game based learning into your classroom.  Click through to her useful blog post to learn about organizations including our friends from Globaloria and Whyville and the Games for Learning Institute that can help support your efforts!  

Guts and Bolts?  It may sound gross, but it sure is fun!  Our newest BrainPOP developed game on GameUp leads students as they help Moby construct a cyborg Tim with a combination of organic tissue and re-purposed household objects.  Students will learn about the human body while arranging and connecting organs and systems into their complex configurations. This 11 level game encourages players to apply the scientific method while exploring the circulatory system, respiratory system, and digestive system.  A number of the movies in our Body Systems Unit, especially the Circulatory System and Digestive System topics, can assist students in successfully completing the game.  We’ve even created a lesson plan that outlines how to use the game in your classroom and includes some valuable teaching resources.  

BrainPOP has some exciting news!  We are thrilled to announce that we’ve released the “Hear It, Say It” recording tool on BrainPOP ESL.  Students will now have the opportunity to hear a phrase or word spoken by Ben, repeat it while recording their own voice, and then listen to themselves speaking the English language.  This amazing tool will enhance the support activities that accompany the BrainPOP ESL lessons by making the experience truly interactive.  Our team has been hard at work to provide you with this newest feature so, let’s hear it for BrainPOP ESL!  

Even though the school year is coming to a close for many students and teachers, BrainPOP is still rolling out new content!  This week, we mark the debut of Food Groups on BrainPOP Jr.  We all know it’s important to make good choices about what you eat so you can stay healthy. In this health movie, Annie and Moby explore the food groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, and diary. Take a peek and you’ll learn how to choose nutritious foods from each group and create balanced meals. How much of your plate should be made up of fruits and vegetables? Watch the movie and find out!  

Ayiti is the latest addition to GameUp in conjunction with Global Kids! We’re really excited to share this unique game with you. Ayiti is a turn based, strategy game that challenges players to manage a family of five in rural Haiti, and keep them all healthy, educated and out of debt. At the start of the game, the player chooses a main goal for his/her family: achieve education, make money, stay healthy, or maintain happiness. During the course of the game, the player encounters unexpected events and must make many decisions that contribute to or detract from achieving the chosen goal. Ayiti corresponds with our movie topic pages on Budgets, Fighting Hunger, Money, and United Nations. It’s great for project-based learning because of the inter-disciplinary aspects. Use our Ayiti lesson plan to get ideas for elaborating on the science, social studies, math, and health topics covered in the game. After game play, there are lots of ways you can help students make a difference in the world. More details about each one are found on the Ayiti website (including the names and contact information for the individuals and organizations listed below). Write a letter to your Congressional or Senate Representatives to find out what they are doing… Read the Rest»

Monday June 4th,  2012 3:30 pm EDT Join Michelle Metcalf, Acuity Product Manager, and Andrew Gardner, Senior Manager of BrainPOP Educators, to discuss the new collaboration between CTB and BrainPOP. Students can now receive targeted BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. movies and quizzes based on the results of Acuity assessments. Additionally, the results of students’ performance on quizzes are available from within Acuity, providing teachers with additional data points to better understand the individualized needs of their students. Hosted by Acuity via WebEx. Requires telephone and internet connection. BrainPOP will not be providing attendance certificates for this webinar. Log On (password: brainpop)  

Well, no, not really,  but two of our recently introduced topics to BrainPOP’s ever expanding library seem to reference everyone’s favorite “good man.”  Based on Bailey’s letter requesting an explanation of Cerebral Palsy, Tim’s answer touches on the various neurological, muscular and affective effects on people with the condition. Be sure to watch all the way to the end of the baseball themed movie for Tim’s deadpan “good grief!” You’ll find another “good greif” moment, beginning the Railroad History movie as Moby slams a locomotive into Tim’s house! Fortunately nobody is hurt so settle in to hear about engineering progress from horse drawn wagon ways, to bullet trains.  We also learn about the cultural impact that came with the worldwide growth of the railroad industry from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Orient Express.    Though Charlie Brown isn’t really on BrainPOP, his presence influences all kinds of animation, including our own!