Posts on “ summer ”

Hi, BrainPOPpers! My name is Angela Watson, and I’m the Educational Editor for BrainPOP Jr. Part of my role is to oversee the development of lesson plans on BrainPOP Educators. Are you already humming the tune of School’s Out ? We’re excited to share a new summer and beyond opportunity for BrainPOP Educators. Starting in June, we’re going to award BrainPOP Educator t-shirts to the top three lesson plan submissions every month! For those of you eager to get your hands on a BrainPOP t-shirt, here is your golden opportunity! We’re looking for lessons that highlight creative uses of any BrainPOP resource, so please share your ideas for incorporating BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., or BrainPOP ESL into high-quality instruction and classroom activities. You can check out our existing lesson plans to get an idea of how other educators are using BrainPOP and see the type of lessons we’re looking for. We value your time and appreciate your expertise. We made the submission form quick and easy. Click here to submit your lesson plan.  Angela will contact you via email if your lesson plan is accepted and published, and let you know if you’re one of our 3 monthly t-shirt winners! That’s not… Read the Rest»

A few tips for planning for the upcoming school year (not to harsh your mellow!): Academic Standards Tool –> super simple to see how BrainPOP fits into the curriculum you’re already teaching! Browse our Lists of Topics –> BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., and BrainPOP ESL all provide a list of topics. Bookmark it, or print & keep in your planning notebook for easy access at grade level meetings. Use our Spotlights! Each month, BrainPOP features 2 Spotlights, or collections of resources for timely topics. Check out our archives and plan accordingly for common monthly themes. Align BrainPOP topics to your scope & sequence. Split up into subject area teams to tackle efficiently, and share with entire staff for cross-curricular connections. What are your planning strategies? Efficient tips to integrate BrainPOP into your curriculum? Please share!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! Don’t forget about our July Spotlight: Red, White & Blue, to get your fill of American history the fun way!

School may not be in session for most of you during the month of July, but BrainPOP is! Coming next month are Spotlight: Animals and Spotlight: Red, White & Blue.

Using BrainPOP for Summer Programs TODAY! Wednesday, June 23 4:30 PM EDT Duration: 1 Hour Whether you’re winding down the school year or gearing up for summer school, we’ll share enough creative ideas to get you through with a smile on your face! Explore possibilities of BrainPOP and other 2.0 tools to help engage your students with a daily dose of BrainPOP or longer lasting projects RSVP: http://summerprograms.eventbrite.com

Can mammals lay eggs? What causes hiccups? And what on earth is a cnidarian? For answers to these and other burning questions, don’t miss our Spotlight: Weird Science. With topics from Aliens, Giant Squid, and Carniverous Plants to Bats, Nanotechnology, and even Boogers, this is the perfect resource for scientifically curious students – and grown-ups! BrainPOP Jr. topics include Fossils and Camoflage, and we’ve got a highly relevant activity to go along with Ocean Habitats to explore oil spills.

You too can travel back in time thanks to our Spotlight: Ancient Cultures. Visit the Roman Republic, the Great Wall of China, and Mesoamerica. Meet the Sumerians and the Incans. Discuss the Odyssey with Homer. K-3 students can tour Ancient China and Ancient Egypt. We’ve also got three great lessons based on the Spotlight’s content. How are you using this months’ spotlights with your students? Please share ideas below!

Keep this list of BrainPOP movies handy, and check our online Curriculum Calendar for additional tie-ins. ♦ June 5: Show our Humans and the Environment movie and BrainPOP Jr.’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle movie; it’s World Environment Day. ♦ June 6: Travel back in time to 1944 Normandy with our World War II movie, on the anniversary of D-Day. And, author Cynthia Rylant celebrates a birthday today. Show BrainPOP Jr.’s Cynthia Rylant movie and talk about the writer’s work. ♦ June 8: Sail the seven seas on World Oceans Day with our Oceans movie. ♦ June 11: Score big points with our Soccer movie and mark the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. ♦ June 12: Remember Anne Frank on her birthday with our Anne Frank movie. ♦ June 14: On his birthday, introduce military leader and counterculture icon Che Guevara with our Che Guevara movie. It’s also Flag Day; let BrainPOP Jr.’s U.S. Symbols movie tell the class more. ♦ June 18: All you need is love – and our movie on The Beatles – to celebrate Paul McCartney’s birthday. ♦ June 19: In various states across the U.S., “Juneteenth” marks the 1865 abolition of slavery in Texas. Dig… Read the Rest»

Before the long weekend begins, mark your calendars! Join us in June for one of our free weekly webinars, taking place every Wednesday at 4:30 pm EDT unless otherwise noted. The month kicks off with “P.O.V. of a New Subscriber” (June 2), followed by Using BrainPOP to Explore New Energy Resources” (June 9). Next up, we’re joined by Dave Kootman for “Digital Storytelling With BrainPOP” (June 16), and then “Using BrainPOP for Summer Programs” (June 23). Get the details and RSVP – space is limited. Did you miss a past webinar? Visit our Archives. Have a great  l o n g  weekend, everyone! Interested in joining a summer webinar? Let us know what topics you’d like to hear about, and when you’d like to hear about them! We’re happy to provide statements of participation.

We have recently switched webinar platforms and we’ll now be using Elluminate Live! for all of our free webinars. Elluminate offers many features we think you’ll love, including more intuitive participation and collaboration tools, sound options, and support. If you’re not already familiar with Elluminate, please take a few moments to familiarize yourself and confirm that your computer is configured correctly before this weeks’ webinar. Here are answers to our most frequently asked webinar questions: 1. All of our webinars are FREE. 2. You’ll receive a reminder email a few days prior to each webinar with a link to access the webinar. 3. Our webinars open 10 minutes early, and start promptly. 4. You need a computer with internet and headphones to participate. Make sure you configure your computer to ensure the best audio and video quality. 5. We record and archive our webinars so you can watch them at your convenience, or share them with colleagues. 6. We’re happy to provide you with a certificate of participation. Details provided in each webinar. As always, if you should have any questions do not hesitate to get in touch. Are you interested in attending webinars over the summer? What topics would… Read the Rest»