The Flocabulary Blog

December 12, 2011
Flocabulary Team

Six New Word Up Vocabulary Videos

The Word Up Project used to just teach interdisciplinary vocabulary words through songs and activities. But now we're amping it up: We're working with a talented team of animators to bring you videos for every single Word Up song. (Yup, all 98 of them for grades 2-8.) We could wait till we had all of the videos to release them, but we know you'll want them ASAP. So each Monday, we are releasing our newest videos. Watch the six new videos we released today, and check in next Monday to see the newest crop. The New Videos 4th Grade Vocabulary:…

Read on!

November 30, 2011
Flocabulary Team

Scientific Method Interactive Activity

The academic name "Scientific Method" is misleading. It conjures bubbling beakers and lab coats and pocket protectors. And it's true, scientists use the Scientific Method to make decisions. But it's not just scientists. The Scientific Method is a smart way to make decisions that students are probably already using every day. This Scientific Method interactive activity allows students to practice using the scientific method on common occurrences. So when they actually need to use it for science class, it'll be no sweat. Scientific Method Lesson Plan Objective: Students will be able to define and follow the steps of the scientific…

Read on!

November 30, 2011
Flocabulary Team

Industrial Revolution Lesson Plan

[jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media-jrev/industrial-revolution-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images-jrev/industrial-revolution-image.jpg] Check out the lyrics and more. Every aspect of life changed during the Industrial Revolution, from food to work to housing to what people did in their free time. Innovative inventions spurred many of these changes. This lesson plan will challenge students to decide which invention changed the world the most. Industrial Revolution Lesson Plan Lesson Objective: Think critically about different Industrial Revolution inventions and support an opinion about which invention is most influential. Materials: Industrial Revolution video, Debate Worksheet, computer access for research, student notebook or document to take notes. 1. Play the free Flocabulary video,…

Read on!

November 29, 2011
Flocabulary Team

Edublog Award Nominations 2011

This past year, we jumped full force into the world of educational blogging, Twittering and PLN-ing. (Last year we didn't even know what PLN meant!) And the amazing stories of teacher collaboration and brainstorming have delighted us at every turn. Since we're new to this world in many ways, we'd like to take this opportunity to nominate those of you out there who have made us most welcome over the past year in the online education community. We can't wait to get to know more of you! For Best individual Blog: Cybrary Man's Educational Websites We'd say this is less…

Read on!

November 23, 2011
Flocabulary Team

The US President Who Made Thanksgiving a National Holiday…

...and the other president you can thank for the crazy shopping afterward. Most of us associate Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, but Turkey Day wasn't official until good old Honest Abe came along. Abraham Lincoln is the US president who made Thanksgiving a national holiday, and he did it in the midst of the Civil War. He proclaimed the first official national "day of thanks" on November 26, 1863. From then on, Thanksgiving was observed on the last Thursday of each November. Then in 1939, in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt had an idea.…

Read on!