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Google Tools 

Google Tools for Schools

(Slides from NYLA-SLMS presentation in May 2009:  slides here in pdf.)

Keeping up with Google

• Google for Educators - tips and information specifically for educators. Classroom activities, posters, news and more.
• More Google Products - Directory of Google tools and services
• Google Labs - More Google tools & services under development
• Google Help Center
• Google Blog
• Google Blog for Students
• Press Center
• Google Librarian Central - intermittent updates, not as active as the educators group.
• Posters & Bookmarks

First Things First

     Get a Google Account Here

News

• News Timeline - New in Google Labs. Select from many sources: news, blogs, photos, Time, Wikipedia, quotes and more. Select time frame (1800, 1500, 1952, etc.) And frequency: day, week, decade, etc.
  • Oil Pollution
  • Barack Obama Quotes - view by week over the last decade.
  • Meryl Streep - Movies
• Google News

Image Search

• Image Search - Search by color is new. Select color from menu bar just below the search box.
• Advanced Image Search
  • Content Type - handy to limit to News Images, clip art, etc.
  • Limit by License type to find images you can safely reuse without copyright infringement.
• Similar Images - New in Google Labs. Click on "similar images" link below some images to see a selection of images that have a similar color, shape, theme.
• LIFE Photo Archive - Great archive of photos from LIFE magazine. Browse or search.
  • To search by decade: 1790s 1890s etc.
  • In regular google image search,. limit to LIFE collection with:  source:life
• Image Labeler - make image search better, add labels to images.

More!

• iGoogle
• Google Reader
• Google Calendar
• Google Maps
• Google Earth
  • Google Lit Trips - maps and literature
• Google Books
• Google Docs
• Google Scholar
  • Google Scholar search box for your web page 
• Google Sets - Enter a few words, Google will try to create a list of similar items. Great for creating wordsearch puzzles. themed crosswords, etc.
• Google Guide Teen Cheat Sheet - quick guide to google search strategies.

Teaching Ideas

• Choose Your Own Adventure Story - Literacy lesson plan for grades 4-6 by Susan Ross. Project uses Google Docs - Presentations to create a story with 4 endings. Students work in pairs to create the stories and the presentation slides. Includes details on how to link from one slide to another. Student example: The Smallest Alien
• Class Collection of Book Reviews - Detailed lesson plan by Carol LaRow for grades 7-9. Students write reviews of 2 books. Reviews are written and shared via Google Docs. 

• Google Apps Lesson Plans - Selection of classroom-ready lesson plans for all grade levels and subject areas.
• Classroom Activities - Collection of tips and ideas for using various Google services and tools in school.