Looking for new, fun, and educational ways to engage your students with interactive whiteboard activities?  Look no further!  I've done the work for you.

Hi, I'm Lisa.  If you're new to our blog...welcome!  If you're a "regular" ... thanks for your continued support.

Lately, I've been working with some members of our teacher learning community, the EdTech UNconference, on creating a more engaging classroom through interactive whiteboards (just ONE of many technologies to use in the classroom).

Our members get lots of great workbooks to help them succeed in the classroom, and I thought I would share just some of the great activities in the SimpleK12 workbook for using interactive whiteboards.

#1 Take a Virtual Tour of the Planets
A trip to the planetarium is a great way to spark students' interest in the solar system. Instead of visiting the planetarium, why not break students up into groups and ask them to go through a virtual field trip that introduces them to the planets and constellations? Ask each group to use the information they learned as a starting point for researching more about one of the planets or constellations in order to create a presentation that they will share with the class on the interactive whiteboard.

#2 Build Virtual Field Trips
More than likely, your students are already experts at searching for information on the Web. Have students use those skills by asking them to create their own virtual field trip on a specific content-related topic.  When they're done, you can link together all of the students projects to make one virtual field trip to cover all of the information related to their topic. Use the interactive whiteboard to take your trip.

#3 Explore the World of Art
Being exposed to paintings and sculptures from different time periods is a main component of any art class. Have students take a virtual field trip on the interactive whiteboard to a museum in another country to explore collections of art from different periods. Ask students to explore the artwork of a single period more thoroughly and to use what they learned to create their own painting in that style! 

#4 Medical Anomalies
Students could watch a documentary on a separation of conjoined twins, and could then see how this surgery ties in with lessons they have had about anatomy. You can show illustrations of the different types of conjoined twins, and use the interactive whiteboard to point out the shared organs, and where it's best to separate them.

#5 Learn from the Past
Use last year's examples of student-created PowerPoint presentations to help students come up with ideas on how to best present information about the Civil War. Compare exemplary samples with ones that are lacking depth and have students give suggestions about how to make improvements.

#6 Peer Assessment in Math
Present students with fractions and have them create multiple-choice questions that test the understanding of other students in the class. Then have volunteers come up to the interactive whiteboard to choose the correct answers. Save the questions for future review.

#7 Write Stories with the Class
Pick a topic you are currently covering in class. Have students break up into small groups and brainstorm potential ideas for a story about the topic. Bring the class back together and fill in a story map using the drawing tools on an interactive whiteboard with the ideas each student group shares.

#8 Share Subject Resources
Ask students to find and select one Web site on a pre-selected topic. Then have students do a small presentation on the interactive whiteboard to navigate the content of the Web site for the class. Encourage students to include justifications in their presentations for why they selected the specific Web site to share with the class.

#9 Make Custom Activities
Experiment with using productivity tools like PowerPoint and Word to create interactive activities for your class. By exploring your skills for making interactive whiteboard activities, you can create experiences for students that are customized for their needs.

#10 Exploring the Lives of Literary Greats
Even wonder what inspired writers like Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald? Use the interactive whiteboard to take students on an interactive Web tour of the birthplaces and homes of literary greats. Then use the activity as a starting point to discuss how students can draw from their everyday experiences to come up with a great idea for a story.

#11 English Games
There are many great resources on the Internet to find games for any content area, including English. Do a search and find two or three games that you can integrate into some of your upcoming lessons. You can even try using PowerPoint to create your own Jeopardy! or quiz show type game. 

#12 Write Poetry
Pick a genre of poetry, and begin the lesson by introducing students to the stylistic requirements of it. Then write a single sentence on the board that will serve as a start to a poem and ask students to work in groups to complete the poem using a word processing program. At the end of the lesson, project each groups' poem onto the board and have them describe how they developed it to the entire class.

Please add your own ideas in the comments below!

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