April Features from Internet 4 Classrooms

April Blog | App of The Month | What's Happening |
New- Online Practice | New- Printables | New- Answer Keys |
Teacher Resources | Parent Resources | Technology Tips |
Other Areas of Interest | Common Core |
SAT and ACT Test Preparation

April brings Autism Awareness Month, National School Library Month, World Health Day, Passover, Easter, Earth Day, and much more. Visit our monthly newsletter to see all the details.

April Blog: Education at Home: 8 Tips for Success as a "Reluctant Homeschool Administrator" During Covid-19

Education at Home: 8 Tips for Success as a "Reluctant Homeschool Administrator" During Covid-19

This month's blog is Education at Home: 8 Tips for Success as a "Reluctant Homeschool Administrator" During Covid-19.

Are you a "Reluctant Homeschool Administrator"?

The new "shelter in place" paradigm is hard on everyone – especially children. Routines have been completely disrupted; discipline and social structure turned upside down; uncertainty looms and so many questions remain unanswered.

Distance learning sounds like a great solution, but it's not easy and fraught with a lack of accountability. Everyone's hoping it will work, but thoughts keep returning of a school year ending with zero or negative outcomes for a large number of children and families...

Even with successful distance learning – who knew you'd essentially be reduced to homeschooling your kids and on the front line as the primary responsible adult for accountability of outcomes. You are now... a "Reluctant Homeschool Administrator."

Have faith: The greatest opportunities are born out of adversity. You and your kids can wind up far, far ahead on the other side of this. You just need a bit of hope and the start of a plan. Once you get things moving, there will be progress and a feeling of purpose. Once things get moving, you can adjust and optimize. Things will get better quickly instead of those current feelings that collapse is imminent.

These 8 Tips will help you get started towards a better outcome as a "Reluctant Homeschool Administrator."

Guest Blogger Bill Franklin, the CEO of Internet4Classrooms, is our guest blogger this month. He has been on the faculty at The George University, has years of platform instructional experience, was a career Army Special Operations officer and also has over a decade of experience as a youth sports coach.

App of the Month

Every month we are going to feature a different, and hopefully FREE, iPad/iPod/iPhone/Android educational application. Visit our ever-changing app page.

The App of the Month for April is Stop Motion Studio by Cateater, LLC ( iOS and Android ).

Get Stop Motion Studio, the world’s easiest app to get you into stop motion moviemaking today!

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As seen on Apple's TV commercial “Life on iPad.”

Stop Motion Studio: Check out the buzz...

"Stop-motion animation is a great way to bring toys and other objects to life — and learn the basics of filmmaking."

The New York Times

"Stop Motion Studio makes it easy to create your own stop-motion movies."

The Washington Post

"All you need is an iPhone or iPad, a tripod, the right software, and a bit of creativity."

PCMag

"Stop Motion Studio Brings Out the LEGO Moviemaking Geek in All of Us."

Technewsworld

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With it’s easy to use interface Stop Motion Studio lets you create beautiful movies like Wallace and Gromit or those groovy Lego shorts on YouTube.

It's simple to use, deceptively powerful and insanely fun to play with.

Stop Motion Studio is a powerful, full-featured movie editor with a whole host of features:

• A simplistic, easy-to-use interface
  
  
• Overlay mode showing the differences between frames
  
  
• Animation guides to position animated objects more easily
  
  
• Copy, paste, cut, and insert frames at any position
  
  
• Interactive timeline so you never get lost, even if you have hundreds of frames
  

Create beautiful movies:

• Choose from a whole lot of unique titles, credits, and text cards or create your very own with the built-in editor
  
  
• Give your movie the perfect look with different video filters
  
  
• Enhance your movie with different foregrounds, backgrounds, aspect ratios, and fade effects
  
  
• Create a soundtrack using built-in music, sound effects, songs from your music library, or your narration
  
  
• Rotoscoping: Import video clips and create stunning animations by drawing over it.
  
  
• Green Screen: Change the background of your scene to make the figures you capture fly or appear anywhere you can imagine.
  
  
• Connect a keyboard and use simple shortcuts to edit movies quickly
  

Capture like a pro:

• Capture with an adjustable time interval feature
  
  
• Full camera control with automatic or manual white balance, focus and exposure, ISO and shutter speed
  
  
• Use a second device as a remote camera
  
  
• Use your Apple Watch as a remote shutter release
  
  
• Use with your Wifi-enabled DSLR camera**
  

Powerful, built-in layer-based image editor:

• Add text and speech bubbles or create titles
  
  
• Add facial expressions to LEGO® figures
  
  
• Touch up and enhance images, sketch, and paint
  
  
• Wipe away unwanted objects with the eraser tool
  
  
• Merge frames to simulate fast movement
  

Share with friends and family:

• Save to your photo library or share to YouTube in 4K or 1080p
  
  
• Save as iMessage sticker or animated GIF
  
  
• Save all images for further processing
  
  
• Easily transfer projects between devices using AirDrop, Dropbox or iCloud
  
  
• Start creating on your mobile device and continue right where you left off on your Mac
  
  
• Publish movies on Stop Motion TV for everyone to see
  

Stop Motion Studio is available for Apple and Android devices.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later on Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and Android version 5.0 and up on your Android device.

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH?

Here are some of the April events that you can celebrate or make note of this month:

1. Autism Awareness Month
   
   I4C has an Autism Spectrum Disorder page where you can find information and websites. Visit our Autism classroom tools as well as our Autism parent resources. We also have an entire area dedicated to exceptional children, including ADHD, assistive technology, learning disorders, and more.


2. National School Library Month
   
   Explore our extensive section of Library Resources. Find librarian resources, physical libraries, virtual libraries, presidential libraries, and museums.



3. World Health Day (4/7)
   
   Obesity numbers are rising and controversial food additives continue to cause harm. Reinforce good habits using our Health resources page, discussing everything from breakfast basics and food pyramids to daily hygiene, drug and alcohol abuse, and heart health. We also have links to physical education and nutrition and wellness too.



4. Passover Begins (4/8)
   
   Celebrate Passover while learning about this holiday's traditions. Explore these Passover activities and games.




5. Easter (4/12)
   
   Happy Easter! Celebrate this holiday with I4C's Easter resource page, filled with tons of fun crafts and projects.




6. Paul Revere Rides and Revolutionary War Begins (4/18-19/1775)
   
   The famous Longfellow Poem reminds us all of Paul Revere's Ride. Learn about that midnight ride, what it meant, and even see the route he took. Explore the conflicts that led up to the Revolutionary War. Find timelines, lesson plans, and interactives all explaining the cause and effects of the American Revolution.



7. Earth Day (4/22)
   
   Honor the earth today! Check out our Earth Day page for fun activities, crafts, projects, and lesson plans. We also have Earth Science resources for you to use in your classroom.



8. Hubble Telescope launched (4/25/1990)
   
   Learn about what the Hubble Telescope has discovered, view beautiful pictures of the cosmos, and find out how the telescope works. Find Hubble Telescope educational resources here. Explore our Space page for elementary school to find fun activities and check out our Astronomy pages to learn about our solar system, stars, and our universe.

New- ONLINE PRACTICE AT I4C

Internet4Classrooms now offers Online Practice and Interactives, covering Kindergarten to Eighth Grade Common Core Mathematics. Look for a rapidly growing variety of thousands of practice quizzes tied to the Common Core State Standards, School Subjects, Activities, and Holidays.

Check out our Online Practice Quizzes. More grades and subjects coming soon.

New Online Practice Quizzes Made Available in April

We have released many new online quizzes during the last months supporting the Common Core Standards.

Try them out, and then use them with your students as:

• Bell Ringers,
• In Class Assignments,
• Homework or
• Extra Credit.

Here is a list of the newest quizzes by grade.

New- COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS PRINTABLES AT I4C

Internet4Classrooms offers Printables, covering Kindergarten to Sixth Grade Mathematics. Look for a rapidly growing variety of thousands of practice worksheets tied to the Common Core State Standards, School Subjects, Activities, and Holidays.

Check out our Common Core Printables. More grades and subjects coming soon.

New Printables Worksheets Made Available in April

We have released thousands of new printables worksheets during the last months supporting the Common Core Standards.

Try them out, and then use them with your students as:

• Bell Ringers,
• In Class Assignments,
• Homework or
• Extra Credit.

Here is a list of the newest worksheet sets by grade.

New- Answer Keys




New Worksheet Answer Keys Made Available in April

We have released thousands of new answer keys for our printables worksheets during the last months supporting the Common Core Standards.

Remember that you can sign up for answer key access here: https://i4c.xyz/n89msyv.

Here is a list of the newest answer key sets by grade.





TEACHER RESOURCES



1. April is Autism Awareness Month, and we know it's becoming more recognized in our children and classrooms. Browse our Autism Classroom resources as well as parent guides. Our Exceptional Children area also combines teacher tools for ADHD, Dyslexia, Gifted, and other learning and behavior disorders.


2. Why was there a Midnight Ride? Watch this great video of how kids describe Paul Revere and the Longfellow Poem "Paul Revere's Ride." (NOTE: There may be an advertisement before the video that I4C does not control.)


3. This Earth Day, find fun activities, projects, and lesson plans you can use on our Earth Day resource page. We also have great Earth Science resources for you to use in your classroom.


4. Be sure to check out I4C's collection of free educational iPhone and iPad apps.


5. Remember to visit our Teacher Tools section. This home page contains all the topics you need to use during the school year.


6. Go to our grade level help for lesson plans, activities, instructionals, and tools organized by grade and subject.



PARENT RESOURCES




1. April is Autism Awareness Month. Learn about visual symbols and timetables that can aid in communication and find other parent resources on Autism.


2. Find fun Easter projects and Easter brunch ideas.


3. Earth Day is April 22nd. Show your children why we celebrate Earth Day. Get them involved in recycling. Check out earth day projects you can do at home.


4. Be sure to check out I4C's collection of free educational iPhone and iPad apps for you and your child.


5. You can always visit our Parent Resources page to get grade level practice sites, find online sources, and information pertaining to homework, special needs, reading help, and more.


6. Don't forget our Technology Tutorial section in case you need refresher courses in your computer skills.





TECHNOLOGY TIPS



1. Coronavirus Distance Learning & Virtual Teaching Tips:
   As if your job wasn't already stressful enough, having less than a week to prepare for indefinite long distance learning certainly adds another badge of honor on your hero cape. If you’ve been encouraged to develop plans for e-learning or your classes or already canceled, let’s help load your ever-growing teacher toolbox with some ideas and tips.
   
   Learn more in the article found: HERE


2. Distance Learning Tips for Teachers:
   Teachers everywhere are transitioning to distance learning due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Many teachers started last week and many teachers are just coming off spring break and starting very soon. This article presents distance learning tips for teachers after a week in the trenches.
   
   Learn more by visiting: HERE.


3. 20 Free Tech Tools for Online Teaching:
   If you’re looking for intuitive, practical, and FREE ed tech tools for online teaching during this pandemic, this article contains 20 tried-and-true favorites. The article lists FREE and manageable websites, extensions, and apps that won’t take you forever to learn and will work well for this kind of emergency remote learning situation.
   
   You can find out more: HERE.






We also have other basic instruction in Microsoft Office, including Word 2007, Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007.





OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST



1. Resources for Educators - In this section you can find classroom resources for Exceptional Children, Smartboards, Character Education, Web 2.0 Resources and other topics.
2. Resources for Parents - Parents can find resources
   on assisting their children with homework, time management, Internet Safety, subject area resources, grade level resources and more.




Common Core State Standards at I4C




Our Common Core State Standards are full of resources for every individual standard. Students can take control of their own learning by clicking on the page with the standard number, and choosing their own resource to practice that skill.




Check out our Common Core Math High School Algebra Standards, Common Core Math Standards, and Common Core ELA Standards.




SAT and ACT Test Preparation

Free Online Practice Resources for ACT Tests and SAT Tests. I4C now offers free SAT and ACT vocabulary and math quizzes. Join our SAT and ACT Test Preparation program and log in as much as you'd like. Students can take practice tests on 5000 vocabulary words or over 1000 math problems. Parents and Mentors can log in to monitor your scores - including seeing which vocabulary words that were missed. Interactive quizzes allow the test taker to retake and study as much as they want.




Sign Up Here for ACT Test & SAT Test Preparation.