BrainPop Jr.
BrainPop Jr. is a great tool for not only K-3 teachers to use but also for the students and parents to use. There is a fee to use all of the resources on BrainPop; however, there are still tons on free resources on the site that can be used. The subjects that are free include everyhing from classifying animals to bullying to nouns, etc. The resources include word walls, lesson ideas, quizzes, games, activities, etc. I have actually used BrainPop as an additional resource in one of my past lessons. It was a great tool and even I learned more about the subject through BrainPop then what I already knew. For more information on Brain Pop and to see other reviews: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/brainpop-jr. For the actual BrainPop website: http://www.brainpopjr.com/
Dolphin Tale
Dolphin Tale is a movie with the themes of courage and survival. It is based on the true story of an injured dolphin named Winter. It has many of positive messages throughout the lesson and is educational in the sense that you learn about marine animals, specifically dolphins. I can see myself using this in a lesson on marine life and endangered species. Dolphin Tale is also a book and Scholastic has teaching resources for both the book and movie avaliable for teachers at http://www.scholastic.com/winterstail/. You can see the movie webiste for more info at http://dolphintalemovie.warnerbros.com/index.html#/home and at winterstail.com there are resources and curriculum materials for the field trips to aquraiums, as well as books and teaching materials on other animals who have faced challenges like injuries Winter faced. For reviews check out http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/dolphin-tale.
