November is here, and we have two things on our minds: elections and Thanksgiving! We have plenty of resources to power you through the crisp days of late fall—including new election- and Thanksgiving-themed content packs to inspire you in a month filled with current and historic events. We also have valuable training classes to help you refresh your skills or learn some new ones.

MimioStudio Tips and Training
Learn how to successfully integrate our products into your curriculum through sessions taught by Mimio Expert teachers. We offer a range of sessions each month—along with on-demand recorded sessions—to help teachers like you stay up to speed with the latest trends in education. 

Here are our top tips for November:

Tip 1: Adding Sounds to Images

The easiest way to do this is by utilizing the Action Settings tool. Here’s how:

• Click on the object that you want to add sound to. 
• Click Insert, then Action Settings (or right-click and choose Action Settings), and you'll see a dialog box. For the Action, make sure it's set to On Click. For the Feature, click on the drop-down menu and choose Play Sound. You'll see a Load button appear. 
• Click and search for your sound file on your computer, or drag a sound file into the white box area and drop it there. Once your sound file has been selected, click OK.
• Your object will now be linked with the sound—the blue border shows that it is interactive. To get rid of blue border, lock the object on the page where you want it placed. 

Whenever the object is clicked on, the sound will play. You can use this feature to create word recognition activities, games with positive feedback, and much more! Using the same Action Settings tool, you can also add hyperlinks to just about any resource or website. Learn more about using the Action Settings tool in our upcoming Mimio Quick Learn session “MimioStudio: Formatting II” at 8:30pm EST on November 1 and 7:00pm EST on November 15.

Tip 2: Shape Tool

The flexibility of the Shape tool allows you to add simple shapes to any MimioStudio lesson, including rectangles, triangles, stars, circles, and ellipses. For example, you can use a simple rectangle to cover answers in a lesson that students can manipulate—this is an easy way to add a small degree of interactivity to your lesson. In a vocabulary activity, try using a combination of a text box and a circle with the vocabulary word. Using the Animation tool, students can then click on the vocabulary word to magically reveal the definition or other concept. The possibilities of how to use shapes to create interactive lessons are as endless as your imagination, especially when you combine this with other tools such as Animation or Action Settings. Learn more about using the Shape tool in our upcoming Mimio Quick Learn session “A Tour of MimioStudio” at 7:00pm EST on November 7 and 7:00pm EST on November 17.

Interested in learning more about the sessions offered this month? Click here to check out our complete list!>>

Content Packs and Resources

Get Out the Vote

Our updated 2016 lesson series “Get Out the Vote!” gives students the chance to learn about the election process and become informed citizens. It offers collaborative learning opportunities along with assessments throughout to gauge student understanding.

The updated series covers a wide range of topics for grades K-12:

• Election Vocabulary: Students learn terms related to the election and their definition.
• Meet the Candidates: Students learn about each of the nominees for president.
• How Does the President Get Elected?: Many students assume that the president is elected by winning the majority of the popular vote, but how does our election system actually work?
• And much more!

Download these fun and informative lessons today! >>

Thanksgiving Content Pack and Lesson

This Thanksgiving Pack contains fun holiday images, templates, multimedia, and lessons/activities. We have recently renovated the lessons, so they utilize all the newer features of MimioStudio software. Use the templates and clipart to create your own Mimio lessons, or use our pre-made lessons/activities in the Lessons tab. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Please note that if you previously downloaded the Thanksgiving Pack, you may want to delete it before adding the new pack to your MimioStudio Gallery as the lessons have all been adapted in a wider format. More room on each page means more student interactivity and learning! Download now.>>

The Harvest Ceremony: The First Thanksgiving is an interactive lesson that lets you explore the First Thanksgiving. Learn about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, as well as the history of the event. Download it today.>>

Both of these content resources and many more can be found on MimioConnect, our online community. Here, you can:

• Find content by searching our extensive library of lesson plans for interactive whiteboards or share your own favorites with others.
• Get interactive by becoming involved in discussions on our forums, or start your own Mimio Group for sharing files and ideas.
• Learn more and get answers to your questions from Mimio Masters, or take live online or on-demand courses that suit your timetable.

November is one of my favorite months as the rush of the end-of-the-year holiday hasn’t quite set in and we still have some leaves on the trees. I hope you’ll take some time to enjoy it—and save some time preparing your lessons with these engaging and valuable resources.

Don't forget to Get Out the Vote by November 8th!