Sick of PowerPoint?  Tired of listening to people drone on and on, reading their bullet-pointed slides of perfection word for word?  Try these free online programs and apps to spice things up a bit....or mix them up and use them together for a bigger impact!


1.  Go to this link and check out my other 'grownup' website.  Check out all of the presentation options!

2.  Comment below on what presentation option you are going to use.  It DOES NOT have to be something you already know how to use - take a risk and try something new!

Today we're going to use Fotor to play with the editing and correction features.  This free program does a pretty good job of repairing cracks and color repairs in old photos - and did I mention that it's free?  I am sharing with you some old family photos of my dad's mom, my baby cousin, and a family portrait from 1957 when my dad was only nine years old.  If you notice, my grandmother is in each of these photos.  

Here's your assignment:
1.  Download all 4 photos to your computer.
2.  Open Fotor and go to 'Edit a Photo'
3.  Edit the photo to fix it so that it looks better.
4.  Save the edited picture to your desktop.
5.  If you have time, repeat with the other pics.

This is a photo of my grandmother with her bike, taken around 1940.  1940s Sicily was a changing place and time.  World War II was on the verge of beginning and Italy was being ruled by Mussolini, a dictator who aligned himself and his country with Germany and the Axis Powers.  On June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain.  Eventually, the Allies invaded and liberated Italy, starting in Sicily in 1943.  For more information on Sicily's World War II history, click here.  This is a photo of my grandmother with her bike, taken around 1940.  Notice the backdrop - that is her house you see behind her.

This next photo is of my dad and his family in 1957.  My dad is nine years old in this photo, and is all the way to the right.   He is pictured with his parents, his sister, and his brother.

My grandmother with my cousin on the day of my cousin's baptism in 1972.  

This is how I remember her best:  in her kitchen, surrounded by photos of her children and grandchildren, making food for the people she loved.

1.  Typing
2.  Explore the FREE image sites here for a few minutes.  
3.  Save one of the images you like to your desktop simply by dragging it there.
4.  Create a new blog entry in Blogger describing how the image sites work. (Click on 'New Post' when you get to your Overview page in Blogger.)
**Super Challenge**  Figure out how to get the picture you saved to your desktop into your blog post.
5.  Comment 'Done' to this blog post so I know you did the assignment.

The second rotation of the school year ends tomorrow - that went by so fast!  Grade 5 students brainstormed the different tools we used over the course of the last couple of months.  Wow, we did a lot! We forgot to add 'Taking Notes in Coggle' to our Popplet....

1. Check Iditarod.com for any updates or changes. Watch the videos. Read the articles.

2. Type when you are ready.