I’m always on the lookout for new ways to use digital photos. Recently I’ve been experimenting with making them into jigsaw puzzles. The results are many different puzzle making options, including templates in IntelliTools Classroom Suite and HyperStudio 5 formats, PDF Puzzle Patterns for off computer puzzles, and a links to pages where you can make online puzzles, all using your photos.

I’ve just posted finished jigsaw puzzles in four different formats that complement three of the activity sets,Petting Farm, Little Toot, and Tide Pools. You’ll find links on this page to download all the puzzles I’ve done so far. In some cases, the puzzles and the other parts of an activity set are all in one download. In other cases, you can download just the puzzles from a unit. You’ll also find links to all seven online puzzles. After seeing all these puzzles, you’ll want to make some, too!

Visiting A Petting Farm takes students on a virtual exploration. They can go to see all the animals on the farm in whatever order they wish. They also have a chance to feed and pet the animals, and when they do, they hear the sound the animal makes. When they decide to leave, students hear all the animals sound off together to bid them goodbye. Bonus: Puzzles and Photo collection!

Snow includes two anchor books, a sequencing activity, and a phonics activity using some of the “ow” words from the Snow story. There are also cloze activities in some formats. The Snow story uses photos and movies to illustrate a perpetual winter problem for those of us who live in cold areas: What can we do with all this snow? Making A Snowman answers that question! Bonus: All 7 photos used in Snow and 14 more, plus clip art!

Little Toot is a charming story about a real boat, a water taxi that operates in the Santa Barbara, California harbor. Readers get on board for a ride, with Little Toot pointing out everything along the way. Better yet, the reader drives the boat and has a chance to toot the whistle. Bonus: In the Credits page of the online version, there is a link to the real Little Toot’s web page!

Wrapping A Gift is an interactive make-it-yourself activity. Readers choose the wrapping paper and ribbons to wrap a virtual gift package. On the final page their gift design becomes part of a printable card. Bonus: Clip art collection and printable gift tags!

The Tides Pools activity set includes so much material that I have broken it into two separate study units. The first unit, Tide Pools, includes Exploring Tide Pools and two supporting books. Exploring Tide Pools is set up so that students can wander through in any order, finding exciting discoveries along the way. The second unit, Tide Pools Writing And Review, includes the tests and three writing activities. Bonus: Vocabulary Cards and a Photo Collection!

I’ve begun to create activities in HyperStudio 5® and find much to like about this new version of an old and beloved multimedia application. The biggest difference I saw right away is a modernized interface, making it much faster and easier to build activities. Bonus: Links to download players for both new and old version stacks!

Experimenting with what HyperStudio 5® can do is an integral part of using it. Saving often is the best plan, but when you’re having fun creating, you hate to break the flow of ideas. Roger Wagner gave me a quick tip on how to make a quick backup while you are working in HS5 on Mac. Bonus: A link to Roger’s Facebook page!

There is a wonderful timesaver hiding in the Edit menu of HyperStudio 5®. It’s the Group Card option under Ready Made Cards.
Image©2009 ABS Screen shot of HS5 Edit and Ready Made Cards menus showing Group Card option
Once you understand how Group Cards work and how to create them, you can make a stack much faster, come out with a much smaller file, have the layout on each card automatically match, and have a way to change settings in objects on all the cards in the stack at once. Bonus: PDF Quick Guide!