I’m am back at work today after spending most of last week in the hospital with my 3-year-old son due to a staph infection. He is doing much better now! My 5th grade students are going to be working on a presentation about famous inventors and artists. As I was researching websites to assist them, I ran across the Invention Playhouse from InventionatPlay.org. In the Tinker Ball activity, students must build a contraption in order for the ball to reach its target when released. The parts and pieces can be rotated as needed.

Tips for moving/rotating the objects on the SMART Board: Touch and hold the end of the object you’d like to rotate. Slide your finger left to right to rotate without lifting your finger. To move an object, touch and drag from the middle of the object.

Here is something fun to start out the week (and before Ida makes an appearance). AlbrightKnox.org has a wonderful selection of art-related activities on their site.  If you are studying about artists, these activities would work well on the SMART Board as a whole-class activity. On this site, students will learn about artists, paintings, and also play some fun games. Make sure you click on the easel to see the fantastic painter!

One of our third grade teachers, Beth Williams, introduced me to this wonderful site so I thought I’d pass it along to you. Fun4thebrain.com contains lots of games that work well on the SMART Board. The majority are math games, but there are some science, english, and “just for fun” games as well. Here is one of the division games, but there are many more on the website!

Wade's Workout Division Game