Posts on “ featured movie ”

The presidential election is just around the corner and our upcoming featured movies are the perfect tools for teaching students about the election process.  From politics to presidents we’ve included movies that will make it possible for you to give students a firm understanding of how our nation’s president is elected.  It’s never too soon to start planning, so check out the list of upcoming FREE  featured movies below: 10/11 – Eleanor Roosevelt 10/13 – Political Beliefs 10/18 – Political Parties 10/20 – Branches of Government 10/22 – Democracy 10/24 – United Nations 10/26 – Political Party Origins 10/28 – Presidential Election 10/30 – John Adams

Kids need to relate to real life experiences to learn and as a teacher I strive to make those connections when introducing new concepts. This week in math we are working on conversion; learning the basics of converting gallons to quarts, to pints, to cups, and vice-versa. Before I even think about introducing the math involved, I want students to be “prepped” by building their background knowledge. So, we begin our introduction to the lesson with our class friends, Tim and Moby, from BrainPOP.   Together we watch the Customary Units movie and pause as needed to discuss. This adventure with Tim and Moby gives us solid mathematical information and a real life historical perspective; we learn that customary units are older than the metric system and that the U.S.A. never converted over from the older Imperial System. Students also learn that customary units were originally used in agriculture and trade, long before the metric system came into use. The information provided on measurement and volume activates their knowledge, so they are ready for the remainder of the lesson.   To provide reinforcement of what we just learned and to prepare students for the meat of the lesson where we… Read the Rest»

Are you searching for fun, creative ways to use BrainPOP with your students during these final weeks of school?  Have you already started the planning process for next year?  We hopefully have just what you’re looking for; check out our new lesson plans listed below.  The lessons and activities are adaptable for a wide variety of grade levels and always feature our BrainPOP movies and interactive resources! Cause and Effect: Natural Disasters *Bonus: can be used with today’s Featured Movie, Floods Stress Management Cartoons Student-Created Review Activities on the Parts of Speech Plagiarism, Copyright, and Citing Sources Documenting Learning with Digital Photography Using the Scientific Method in Real-World Problems Solar System Mobiles Metric or Customary? Rounding or Exact Answer? Geometry Q&A That’s not all, we have five award-winning lesson plans on Earth Awareness submitted by members of the BrainPOP Educators community! To view our lesson plans, you’ll need to create a free BrainPOP Educators account. The process takes only a few seconds, and will provide you with access to over 130 lessons, plus free webinars, printable graphic organizers, professional development, and more! We invite you to submit your own lesson plans to share how YOU use BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., and… Read the Rest»

Aysha Ames is a fourth grade mathematics teacher in Montclair, New Jersey. BrainPOP has been an essential component of her classroom for the past two years and she is always finding new and creative ways to use iPod Touches, other mobile devices, and technology with her students. Check out how she uses the BrainPOP Featured Movie App in conjunction with her Morning Meeting. As a mathematics teacher of 75 students I find that it’s often hard to address current and historical events in a class period when there’s so much subject matter to teach. I was at a crossroads…I wanted to connect my students with the world around them, but I had difficulty finding the time!  Then I discovered…there’s the BrainPOP Featured Movie App for that! I think Morning Meeting is a great way to foster a spirit of community in my classroom. My homeroom students and I generally like to discuss the day’s historical significance and current events; however, there was a huge disparity in students’ background knowledge.   I would often find that certain students would dominate the discussion while others would remain silent. I would have no idea what my students previously knew about the topic, or what… Read the Rest»

Whether your students are a bit older and actually experienced the September 11th terrorist attacks or you have youngsters with inquiring minds, the news of Osama bin Laden’s death marks an important point in America history.  To help you address difficult questions and engage in discussions about this sensitive issue, access to our September 11th topic is free. For additional support, we encourage you to use our BrainPOP Educators September 11th Lesson Plan with your students. On this milestone and always, we remember the victims of September 11th, 2001. Tell us how you’re addressing this topic or how you worked the movie into your learning environment. Share your thoughts, ideas, or suggestions by posting below.

If the kids in your life have seen the news in the past few days, they’ve seen the devastating weather that’s plaguing parts of the U.S.  It’s scary stuff.  To help explain what’s happening, we’re offering free access to our Tornadoes topic. For more relevant topics, explore our Spotlight: Natural Disasters. Need some tips on working the topic into your lessons? Use the Tornadoes quiz, Q&A, or KWL chart for an idea of what students already know and what they want to learn. As new questions crop up, return to the topic and add to the KWL chart. Use our printable and typeable Activity Pages to reinforce concepts. The In Practice feature of the Tornadoes FYI is another way to review: have the class come up with tornado safety tips or come up with their own safety plan. Amid the recovery efforts, our thoughts go out to everyone affected by this devastation and to those helping to provide relief. How are you addressing the tornadoes with your students? Please share your tips, thoughts, or ideas.

Cicely A. Day teaches 4th and 5th graders at PLACE @ Prescott Elementary in Oakland, CA.  Check out how Cicely used BrainPOP’s Featured Tsunami movie to teach the science behind the natural disaster occurring in Japan; inspiring her students to ask questions and explore answers! Empower your students to learn something new every day with our BrainPOP Featured Movie. This go-to free resource changes regularly, providing timely and calendar-aligned digital content! The recent tsunami and earthquake brought devastation to many citizens of Japan; it also brought an important teachable moment into my classroom.  The night before the lesson, I was on my computer finishing up report cards and decided to see if BrainPOP had any new featured movies or free resources available. I spotted the featured Tsunami movie and thought, “Wow, how cool is that!  My students need to know about this, I’ll share it with them soon.” I woke up the next morning, turned on the news, and saw what had happened in Japan.  I thought about the BrainPOP movie from the night before and quickly got prepared to address what happened with my students. When I got to school that morning my students were scared of the coming… Read the Rest»

Jayne Clare and Anne Rachel are two inspiring, experienced classroom teachers who’ve got their finger on the pulse of apps! We regularly refer to their website, teacherswithapps.com, a credible resource to help educators wade through the vast educational apps out there. We think what they are doing is amazing and are thrilled they’re sharing their expertise with us through a guest blog series! Check out their first BrainPOP Educators guest blog post, where they share how our BrainPOP Featured Movie App inspired them to delve into the world of educational apps. Every student, at some point, should become familiar with the legendary and dateless writings of Shakespeare. To introduce his work into your classroom, you can watch the William Shakespeare BrainPOP movie. I recommend pausing at the letter to Tim and Moby and asking your students to turn and talk or do a quick write to share what they already know about Shakespeare. You can then assign the associated Activity Pages or explore the FYI section as an added bonus. For a lesson plan idea, check out what BrainPOP Educators has to offer. Now, you might want to extend the learning just a bit further. This is where the app,… Read the Rest»

You know what sounds pretty good right now? Our Spotlight: Music, with topics from Blues, Jazz and Latin Music to Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong, and Mozart. K-3 topics include Pitch, Tone, and Beat; Musical Alphabet; and Musical Instruments. Work these movies into one of three great lesson plan ideas from BrainPOP Educators.

Making Connections with Apps Wednesday, March 9, 2011 4:30 PM EST Duration: 1 Hour Join educational app guru Jayne Clare, a classroom teacher who co-founded the app development company i-itch inc. and Teachers With Apps, a web site that tracks down the best ed apps out there. Jayne and her 6th-graders will show you how they use a range of cross-curricular apps that complement our Featured Movie app. You’ll leave the webinar inspired to jump on the app bandwagon yourself! RSVP: http://bpapps.eventbrite.com/