BrainPop Conference
Saturday, November 6, 2016
Framingham
I had the opportunity to attend a BrainPop training this weekend with my Tri-Town colleagues, Samantha Kosakowski and Paula Klipfel. This is the first step to becoming a Certified BrainPop Educator. We are interested in this certification because each of our schools has a BrainPop subscription and we would like to help our teachers and students use all of the features of this program.
We were amazed by all of the features that BrainPop has to offer.
What is BrainPop? (Source)
BrainPop is a group of educational websites with over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K-12 (ages 6 to 17), together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, mathematics, engineering and technology, health, and arts and music.
BrainPOP Jr. provides curriculum-based content geared specifically for K-3 students. The site offers a growing library of movies and interactive features across six subjects: science, health, writing, reading, social studies, and math.
Features of BrainPop
Make-a-Map is BrainPOP’s newest tool for concept mapping. Concept mapping gives students the chance to transform information into knowledge by making meaningful connections between their thoughts and ideas using BrainPOP images, keywords, and movie clips as resources to get them started.
You’ve probably seen first-hand how absorbing digital games can be for young minds. What if you could re-create that level of engagement in the classroom? By bringing the world of game-based learning into education – through GameUp – we’re doing just that. Educational games add a new way to captivate students and help them learn in a manner that’s meaningful for them.
Quality Learning Games -
- Motivate and provide goals
- Encourage participation
- Foster creative, interactive problem-solving
- Strengthen critical and systems thinking
- Pose adaptive challenges
- Spark inquiry
- Require very little prep by busy teachers
After each BrainPop video, students can take a quiz with related questions. Teachers can also use "Quiz Mixer" to create their own quizzes. Questions can be reorganized, customized, and crafted with multiple choice and open response questions.
Primary Sources (Source)
BrainPop features archival newspapers, essays, documents, photographs and video clips related to BrainPOP topics to help students experience the history they’re learning about. New primary sources are added every week, providing students with a new way to hone their literacy skills across different disciplines and media.
The auto-graded Challenge measures students’ understanding of the topic at hand with a series of relevant tasks that emphasize cognitive skills.
The materials and resources that BrainPop offers is amazing. The support for Educators can be found on their web page. There is a training link, lesson plans for standards based lessons across the curriculum.
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