Need new tech ideas for fourth graders.

I want to use technolgy efficiently and effectively in my classroom. Keeping in mind that I have only 3.5 hours of actual academic teaching time, what are some ideas that you have tried and love. We study immigration, Aztecs, electricity, trees, and my favorite unit, space. Any ideas?

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Comment by Deirdre Bonnycastle on July 26, 2007 at 12:06pm: When my daughter was in fourth grade, she did a unit on "What does it take to build a pyramid?" It looked at technology, people, transportation, food, economy etc. It was a great experience for her and taught her livelong lessons about organizing and planning, as well as history and cultural appreciation.

Comment by Deirdre Bonnycastle on July 26, 2007 at 12:14pm: So for the Aztec unit, you could divide them into teams (maybe using a wiki for planning). One team could come up with a plan about how and what you would feed the workers. Another would answer what building material do you need and how would you transport it. etc They could research the Internet or interview experts through email for information about what was available in Mexico at that time. Then post their results to a Blog or Wiki.

Comment by Nikki S. Hunt on July 27, 2007 at 9:01am: You know, we already divide the students up into groups, but they do their own research. It would be great to set up a wiki and have the members researching one topic to brainstorm ideas, Maybe then they could use Voicethread to put in pictures and make comments around their findings. Thanks for the ideas!!!!