BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr.

Workshop Outline

  1. Introduce website and how to get to URL (
  1. Login for teachers/students during school hours (7am-5:30pm):

Username: bwel

Password: bears

  1. Login for teachers after-hours (24 hour access for lesson planning):

Username: bwel_teacher

Password: bears

  1. Go to section “BrainPop Educators” to sign up for a free educator account. This will give you access to the free professional development community on the site.

*See BrainPop Educators Tips, Tools & Resources handout*

(Features include: News about BrainPop expanding resources, Curriculum Calendar, Lesson Plans, Teacher/Student-made Video Tutorials, Answer Keys for Activity Pages, Graphic Organizers, Info on Curricular Tie-ins to integrate lessons, Interactive Whiteboard Resources, Just for Fun – posters, stickers, bookmarks, clip art, Info on upcoming Webinars)

*Sign up for free monthly newsletter*

Username: ______

Password: ______

You will receive an activation email after you register and then you will have

complete access to all resources on the website.

BrainPop (Grades 3 – 5):

*See BrainPop Welcome pages handout for information about navigating the BrainPop website.*

  1. BrainPop is more than just a Movie followed by a quiz. BrainPop offers activities to use before, during and after movies:
  1. Before a Movie
  1. Use quizzes as a pre-test to see what students already know
  2. Use Activity pages to review important vocabulary words
  3. FYI – high-interest reading with fun facts and statistics and a comic
  1. During Movie

i.Pause on Tim’s letter – have students turn & talk or quick write a response (can finish for HW)

ii.Note-taking with Activity pages -- *use closed captioning!

iii.Pause & discuss

  1. After Movie

i.Retake quiz (printed, independently; whole class – graded)

ii.FYI

iii.Experiment

iv.Timeline

v.Activity Pages

  1. Show movie (Science.  Diversity of Life Ants)
  1. PAUSE on Tim reading letter. Tell that all movies start with a real question received from a student or teacher, and encourage teachers/kids to write in.
  2. SHOW Q & A LINK to email Tim & Moby
  3. Point out play/pause feature, and encourage pausing & discussions throughout viewing. Teachers should preview movies to decide where to pause & key points to discuss.
  1. Show features
  1. Supplemental Activities: Activity Page, Experiment, Timeline, FYI
  2. Quizzes
  3. Review (pre or post)
  4. Graded
  5. Printed
  6. Share ideas for how to hold kids accountable without needing to print each time (laminate, dry erase marker…)
  7. Share ideas for how to involve the maximum number of kids (sign language, corners of the room, game show)
  1. Spread out 1 movie over a week
  2. Day 1: introduce topic, brainstorm, KWL, take quiz as pre-test
  3. Day 2: review previous day’s discussion, show movie
  4. Day 3: take quiz, try supplemental activity
  5. Day 4: try different supplemental features, watch related topic movie, independent assignments…
  6. Day 5: revisit movie, quiz, culminating activity

BrainPop Jr. (Grades K – 3):

*See BrainPop Jr. Welcome pages handout for information about navigating the BrainPop Jr. website.*

  1. Many features similar to BrainPop – movies and quizzes
  1. Features different from BrainPop
  1. Supplemental Features: Game, Activity, Belly Up, Word, Wall, Read About It, Write About It ,Talk About It
  1. Spread out 1 movie over a week

i.Day 1: introduce topic, brainstorm, KWL (show Templates in Educators section!), take Easy Quiz as pre-test, review Word Wall

ii.Day 2: Pop—A-Joke! Review previous day’s discussion, show movie, read suggested book from Read About It, Talk About It

iii.Day 3: take Hard/EasyQuiz, Use Game and/or Activity (can do multiple features with small groups for differentiated instruction), Draw About It, Write About It

iv.Day 4: Continue Draw About It, Write About It

v.Day 5: revisit movie, Hard Quiz, culminating activity

vi.Share other ideas of how to stretch a topic out over a week

Where to Go for Help After this Workshop

  1. BrainPop Educators page:
  • Lesson plans
  • Video tutorials
  • Professional development – handouts and info on webinars (webinar archive)
  • Much, much more!
  1. Go to the BrainPop homepage and click on “Tour” at the bottom for a short video tour of the website.

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