It's a 3D World

As our students become increasingly technologically proficient, it can be challenging, let alone costly, to design activities that incorporate this growing skill set. Thankfully, Google SketchUp offers a free package that easily allows students to turn a 2D image into a 3D visualization. Perhaps you are asking students to explore Frank Lloyd Wright and want them to design their own buildings, or maybe you want your 5th graders to bring their story's robot characters to life. Google Sketchup allows them to do it on both PC and Mac platforms for FREE.  

The link below takes you to the basic SketchUp site, but once you're there, be sure to click on the EDUCATION link for info. about using it with your students.  

Let me know if you end up using it!

Google Sketchup Main Site

Bubble Up

I just came across a splendid tool that is free and easy to learn. Bubbl.us allows students and teachers to brainstorm, establish hierarchal webs, and much more. It's simplified format makes it great for students to use, yet the text buttons can be customized to fit a variety of tasks. Plus, it's easy to embed in your website or other documents. Sounds like an ad, doesn't it? Really, I'm just enthused about how I'll use it in my classroom. I'm thinking that plot sequencing and web diagrams are perfect applications. Let me know what you're doing with it!

Here's the link to Bubbl.us: https://bubbl.us/