At the end of the school year, my son came home with a project. He
was asked to design and teach a lesson to his kindergarten class.
We spent time talking about the things he knows a lot about. My
son knows a lot more about the sun than the average kindergarten
student. I'm not talking about facts like the size or temperature. He
has to apply sunscreen 30 minutes before he goes outside, wear a hat,
and wear long sleeves daily to keep his body safe. He is very sensitive
to ultra violet rays.
Together, we worked on a book
writing project. He read the story to his class and created uv bracelet
kits to try out a few challenges with his classmates.
Here is his book, The Sun, on iTunes.
Here is his book, The Sun, in BookCreator On-Line.
During
the summer, Kirsten and I shared the process of publishing student
created books with the Book Creator App. You can view our examples and
others that we discovered while preparing for our session. You'll also
find a collaborative book that was created by our teachers during the
session. They are so talented!
I've been wanting to learn more about coding in elementary school and introducing teachers in my area to integrate robotics in the curriculum and during the school day. I'm loving code.org and feel like I'm am only in the beginning phase of exploring and learning. My goal is to work with the Wonder Robots and turn around sessions to share with my area TCEA Community and spread awareness in my school district and surrounding districts.
Most of the time, the extra learning has to happen at home. I really don't mind when learning is this much fun and includes bonding with my children.
I've spent two short time frames over the last two weeks working with my 4 yo son. We've been using the Go and Path App. So far, I think they are great for pre-readers. It is visual and enjoyable for a child to explore.
I will document our learning here in my blog as I continue to explore and learn. Here is the first video that shares my son's trouble shooting and first challenge with Dash.
I have been so excited about the free interactive books for the iPad that Collins Big Cat provides for our early readers. These are more than just books that read out loud. Students will enjoy the activities. There is even a story creator with the ability to record audio to tell your story.
I've been working with a group of AMAZING pre-k through 2nd grade teachers to design technology integrated lessons that are aligned with core curriculum. Shadow Puppet EDU has been one of my favorite apps since the day I discovered it. It's an app that can be used for any content.
Here is an example of what a 4 year old can create with Shadow Puppet. This student illustrated the parts of a plant with another app and used Shadow Puppet to share what he learned.
One of the key pieces of our meetings is to really evaluate all of the apps we will be recommending. We want to answer the questions we know every teacher will ask us. It's important to do this before the pre-k and kinder teachers on our title elementary schools become part of a beautiful iPad roll out. We want them to be just as excited as we are about the learning that will take place.
"Can we turn off the web image search in Shadow Puppet?" asked a teacher in our meeting. Since we are planning on creating with Pre-K students, I don't know why I've never asked that question myself. She looked into the settings and there it was! Beautiful, the answer to all of our pre-k and kindergarten worries. A teacher can turn off the web search when students are working independently to share what they have learned. A teacher can enable the web search for guided or modeled searches as
early learners are introduced to digital citizenship and searching
on-line.
I love that the creators of Shadow Puppet EDU have thought of everything. You can undo a recording per page, re-record the whole thing, you can share easily, and even share with parents using their SeeSaw Class and SeeSaw Parent App.
How To-
1. Go to the settings app on your iPad
2. Scroll down till you find the Shadow Puppet App Icon and click on it.
3. Disable the web image search and/or the Edu image search if needed.
I've had a lot of teachers asking me to share my favorite eBookresourcesfor elementary students with them. I hope you love them as much as I do!
1. Starring You Story Books
for the iPad or Starring You Story Books on the computer- Make your students the main character of the most entertaining stories
ever! Teachers will enjoy reading these stories to their students. If
you are a teacher, you can apply for free access to Storybots learning resources! Apply now, it's a must! Triple YAY!!!!
2.wegivebooks
- You will find amazing eBooks to read with your students. Create an
account and begin to enjoy free eBooks that will work on your laptop and
computer. eBooks have an age recommendation, easy search options, and
there are titles available in Spanish. This is a free resource for everyone!
3. StoryLineOnline
- StoryLine Online is a collection of great books that are being read
aloud. The Screen Actors Guild Foundation records well-know actors
reading children's books and makes graphically dynamic videos so that
children around the world can be read to with just a click of a
Storyline Online video book image. An activity guide is available for
each book. StoryLine Online works on the computer and iPad.
4. EPIC! eReader
App or use the web version at EPIC!- Here is a great collection of eBooks that are FREE for educators.
There are a variety of books for elementary age students. Some stories include audio. You will need to create an educator account to share great books with your
students. This is also a great resource to share with parents and
families. With a promo code you can share with parents, the family will
gain free access for 2 months.
Creating Snowflakes With the links to create a snowflake, consider having students create a snowflake in the classroom and take it with them to computer lab to see if they can recreate if digitally. Why did it work, why didn't it work.
Creating a Gingerbread Man Have students create a convincing piece of writing to convince the audience not to eat him. Allow them to create a digital gingerbread man in the computer lab. Extension- take a photo of the gingerbread man with your iPad and use the ChatterPix apps to have students record the plea of the gingerbread man.
Music Use the StoryBots Tap and Sing App during the class Holiday Party. Consider using the Christmas Karaoke App to enjoy singing, reading fluency, and learn a few new vocabulary words.
I know there are more things we covered, you'll find all the links in the Symbaloo.
I have been enjoying app smashing for some time now. When you combine apps, educational fireworks fly in the classroom. If you haven't already, you've got to try HELLO Crayon and Chatter Pix Kids together.
I usually recommend HELLO Crayon when teachers are looking for a free drawing app in the elementary classroom. It has a few great features to make life easy when working with lower grades, there's undo and a fill can. Trust me, that saves a lot of time when illustrating. ;)
Drawing a character from a book or an example of what you have learned in class is something that can be accomplished with paper and pencil. When sharing this, I like to share Chatter Pix to allow students the opportunity to add their voice to their drawing. Chatter Pix records 30 seconds of audio and will make it appear like the picture is talking. You can also download the creation to the camera roll for FREE! This is a great way to give voice to our Pre-K students. Imagine them drawing a circle in HELLO Crayon, they turn it into something they have seen that is an example of that shape. Now they can explain how they know a whole pizza is a circle.
Check out the how-to my buddy Joe and I created and hear a few ideas for using HELLO Crayon in the classroom here.
Here is an example of something created by a 1st grader when she used Hello Crayon and Chatter Pix Kids. She explains the problem in the story Chrysanthemum from the point of view of the character, Victoria.
Check out our how-to video for Chatter Pix Kids and learn a few ideas for classroom use here.
Beginning Letter Sounds Work Station with AR Flashcards
AR Flashcards
Using AR Flashcards app can bring in a new spin on identifying things that begin with a letter sound. AR Flashcards are augmented reality flashcards. When you use the AR Flashcard App to view the card, something magical happens! An animal appears before your eyes.
This app also includes a “camera” button. This gives the user the ability to take a photo of the Augmented Reality animal that pops out of the flashcard. If you place items, words, or yourself with the card, you can capture a nice entertaining photo or a photo that shows understanding.
Beginning Letter Sounds Work Station
Set up a work station with a basket of items that include examples and non-examples of things that start with the letter ____. Allow students to work together to sound out the names of the items. Students should place items that begin with the given letter around the AR Flash Card. Students use the camera button in the app to take a photo of their work. Have students include a name tag in the picture to identify who completed the work. The photo will be saved to the camera roll. Consider having students help to build the work station by searching for an example and a non-example at home for homework and brining it to school. The item should fit into the palm of their hand. In the video below, Joe Meza and I share how to use AR Flashcards in a Beginning Letter Sound Work Station.
Phonogram Workstation
Set up a work station with words for students to read and recognize phonograms. Allow students to work together to read words and identify words that follow rules of the phonogram they are learning. Students should place words that include the phonogram sound with the given phonogram that is built using the AR Flash Cards. I share the example of using the -er sound of her in the video below. Students should use the camera button in the app to take a photo of their work. Have students include a name tag in the picture to identify who completed the work. The photo will be saved to the camera roll. Consider challenging students to write other examples they think about on paper and include them when they take the picture.
One of my favorite apps to share is Educreations. It is app that students can use to explain their understanding, present what they have researched, or even tell a digital story. I like to pair a few apps to allow students to use their own drawings from an external drawing app to create their stories.
Step 1- Draw a character
Use a drawing app to create a character that you would like to manipulate or move in Educreations and save it to your camera roll.
In the "What's Appening" tutorial below, I used the Hello Crayon App to draw a frog character. It's easy to use and it's FREE.
Step 2- Erase the White Background
Use the Background Eraser App to erase the background your illustration and create a .PNG image file. It's very easy to use if the background is one color. With this trick, you can bring in a nice, full screen picture to use as a setting in Educreations, then use your own drawing as a "puppet."Check out the "What's Appening" tutorial on Background Eraser below.
Step 3- Create a Digital Story in Educreations
Create a digital story in Educrations by bringing in your own characters and moving them as you record. Check the "What's Appening" tutorial below. My buddy shares his genius as we bring all three apps together.
This was the first EdCamp I attended outside of El Paso, TX. An EdCamp is a free, unconference. The educators in the room determine what the sessions will be and what they would like to share. If you walk into a session and the conversation doesn’t feed you, it is understood that it is not an insult to leave and find a session that is right for you. YAY! You get to be in charge of what you want to learn.
The Meeting Room
Each participant received a blue and a yellow post it note. You could write down a topic that you felt confident facilitating on the blue note, or a topic you wanted to learn more about on the yellow note.
For those who wanted a digital version of a schedule, Guidebook, sponsored the event by providing access for free. We just downloaded the app and scanned a QR to get the schedule.
Tweep Board
Flipped Classroom with Shea Regian Forney ISD
Homework has never been the same. With a flipped classroom, students learn the basics and mechanics at home by watching a video and do the work/practice/projects in class. Shea shared her experience and how the flipped classroom works in her 8th grade math classes. Read more about this session here.
Build your Own App
Yapp Box is a free app that can be used to create your own app for the classroom. It could be an app for a tech tips. You can add buttons on the bottom for pages to twitter feed or a photo gallery. It’s definately an app I will explore.
Hacking the Classroom
I snuck into this session so I missed the beginning. Aimee Bartis was sharing how her class is hacking the tech apps classroom. You can read her student’s blog and experiences at http://hackingtechapps.blogspot.com. They love comments. If you have time, leave one for her students.
Genius Hour
Martha Lacy shared what Genius Hour looks like in her classroom. She said it’s important to decide when and how often genius hour would be. To me, genius hour in her classroom seemed like a time to for students to create and integrate technology. I loved Martha’s student examples, how well her elementary students collaborated with Google Docs and how excited she was about the students progress. My favorite take away was the keynote story her students created.
Leadership and 1:1 with Greg Gardener
Greg facilitated a discussion to see where everyone was with 1:1. I decided to attend this session because I work with a campus that will be going 1:1 iPads next school year. I feel that not enough conversation is happening and not enough planning and preparation is in place. Read more here.
App Smash or Smack Down Click on the link to view the list of things shared during the Smack Down. It was awesome! Tellagami is one of the free apps that were shared. I created one very quickly.
Do you use alphabet flashcards in the classroom? If so, you have to try out AR Flashcards! They are augmented reality abc and dinosaur flash cards that will bring excitement to the classroom.
What you will need
1. Visit the AR Flashcard website and download their flashcards for free
2. Use a color printer and print out a set of flashcards
3. Cut the cards out on the dotted lines.
4. Download the AR Flashcard App from iTunes or AR Flashcards for Android.
5. Launch the app and try it out!
6.
Don't forget to tap on the flashcard when you see the character appear.
The creators of the app included audio that says the letter name and
the name of the animal.
7. Be AMAZED!!!
Tips- use white card stock and print them in color
I tested AR Flashcards with my little girl. Check out her first experience using the app. :)
Classroom Ideas Spoiler Alert!!!
I recommend keeping what will happen a secret! Just guide on the
side. Let them experience and discover it. Isn't that a reward in
learning?
-shuffle the flashcards and have students alphabetize them
-shuffle the cards, lay a limited number out, have students build beginning or ending sounds
-shuffle the cards, lay them out and have students spell their name (you may need two decks of cards)
-print two sets of cards and play memory
-count the legs of each animal
-identify the color of each animal
-identify the number of syllables in each animal word that is on the flashcard
I
believe educational apps are best used as part of a great lesson. How
would you use AR Flashcards in your classroom or with your child at
home? I'd love more ideas to share with the teachers I work with.
Special Thanks to Brad Waid and Drew Minock
for sharing this awesome app with me at Podstock and Mrs. Gaskin for
collaborating with me. I'm excited about scheduling my first tech
integration PLC with my PreK-Kinder teachers this year. Woot!
Our instructional technology group was invited to present at the 9th Annual ABC Conference, A Better Beginning Conference, held at the University of Texas at El Paso. It's a small conference that is put together for novice and mentor teachers in our area. This conference was complete with a keynote, snacks, ed tech sessions, and a nice lunch to honor a novice and mentor teacher of the year.
The Keynote- Colby Smart
I took the time to look up our Keynote, Colby Smart and follow him on Twitter. I'm always excited to meet someone new and learn from their experiences. I have to say that the most exciting part about this Keynote was the interaction. Colby had Todaysmeet.com open. He had set up a room for us to share our ideas as he presented his belief and ideas about technology integration.
Colby talked about a small school he works with, Weitchpec: Yurok Immersion School and the importance of keeping their native Yurok Language apart of the learning. The language is a very important part of the community. He asked the audience to talk with each other and suggest ways they could use technology to help the students learn the language. Here are some of the responses from the audience.
Technology Integration & Apps Teachers Love
Sherita and I teamed up to present during this session.
For me, this was my chance to share what technology integration looks like. I think it is important to know when you enter the classroom. I wanted novice teachers to know what 21st Century Learning is and that student created content is great evidence of technology integration. I shared the three tiers of technology integration and what they look like in the classroom. I wanted teachers to know that having a set of iPads or visiting the computer lab for 45 minutes a week did not mean that technology was being integrated effectively. I have seen teachers visit the computer lab for 45 minutes each week, ask students to go to the same game website all year long, and then sit down and check their email or surf the web for resources. When I see this, the students are not excited about the learning and it appears to be a break for everyone.
I shared my experience as a new teacher. I admitted that I did what everyone else did. I took my class to the computer lab weekly. The paraprofessional in the lab told my students to pick a CD and play a game on the computer. The games were educational, but random. I didn't realize that I could say, "no." I didn't realize that I could take them to the computer lab at that time and let them publish a piece of writing, blog, try out a few science simulations, or connect to a global audience. It wasn't obvious to me. I shared a few things that students have created on the iPad.
3D Shapes with Animoto- 4th grade students collected pictures of 3D shapes around the classroom. They got together and used the Animoto App to build a slide show that shared attributes of each shape.
Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.
Rhyming Words with Puppet Pals HD Director's Pass- 1st grade students were given a scavenger hunt list of words and had to find and photograph words that rhymed with it in the room. After, they used puppets and their voice to share the rhyming words.
Fog Fanner with Puppet Pals HD Director's Pass- I created this with my first grader at home. We had several foggy days in our city. My daughter had an idea for an invention that would make it easier to see while driving to school. We had to use Puppet Pals HD to create it.
Sherita shared these iPad Management and Apps that teachers love. Check out It's All Good! to read her Blog. Here are the awesome apps she shared with the teachers during the session. They are are on her Resource Spot.
Group Photo of the team that presented from EPISD.
I don't want to forget the things I am presenting, learning, or
attending. Blogging is becoming my way to document and remember. :)
I tried out the Story Buddy App last week with a 4th Grade Class. Story Buddy is an app that can be used to write and publish a story. Students can add text, choose paper, add photos, write, draw, and add audio. There are a lot of font and color choices to create a specific look. I liked having the option to rearrange pages, edit, and share the book. The book can be emailed, sent to the device's iBook Library, printed, or downloaded to your computer with iTunes file sharing. If you add audio to the story, it is all lost when you share the book via email, in the iBooks library, or downloaded. It will be a PDF file. Another thing you need to know is that your creation cannot exceed 15 pages. I wanted to share the Poem 4C created with the you, so I decided to use Reflections to record their work directly from the app. This is the only way to currently preserve the audio that is added to the book.
Working with 4C
-Students wrote a class poem.
-Each student was assigned one line of the poem.
-Each student was responsible for creating one page in our book.
-Each student was asked to brainstorm and be ready with an idea for a photo they could take at school or a picture they could draw to make their line of poetry visual.
-Each student had 5-7 minutes to create their page.
-One student recorded the audio.
Good Job, 4C. Here is the amazing poem they created with StoryBuddy.
I tried out the SonicPics App yesterday. It is an app that allows you to add pictures to create a slide show with audio. You can add a title and description for each photo. They do not stand out, but appear nicely in the slideshow, if used.
This is what I did at home with my little Kindergartener at home.
Plan out the project:
-Take pictures-My daughter is learning about patterns in kindergarten. We decided to look for patterns around the house. I handed over the iPhone and let my daughter take a few pictures. Then we decided it would be fun to make our own pattern and take a photo of it.
-Add pictures to SonicPics- Select the pictures in the order you would like them to appear. I have not found a way to reorder pictures.
-Practice-We talked about what she wanted to share with everyone about patterns. I gave her time to scroll through the photos we added in SonicPics and practice.
-Record Audio- My daughter pressed the record button and explained the patterns she saw.
-Share- Save your work to the iPhone/iPad library, YouTube, e-mail, or send it to your computer.
Here the SonicPics Slide Show/Video we made with the pictures we gathered last night.
Two days ago, I was very excited about the AutoRap App by Smule. This app can turn an ordinary person into a rap star by mixing recorded phrases to create an instant rap. Last night, my daughter tried to record a new song and I discovered this "Free" App only allows the user to create and share one free song. I was incredibly disappointed.
I wasn't sure that creating one free song hooked me into shelling out 2.99 for 60 plays, or 5.99 for an infinite amount of plays. The price isn't really bad, but I wasn't ready to pay for it.
I continued to explore the app and discovered that you can earn additional "Free Plays" within the app. I took a tour of they app and earned 10 more plays and watched an advertisement to earned 1 more play. This gives me more time to try it out.
The "Free Plays" allow you to record AutoRaps with the included "free style" music. There are 3 songs to choose from. There are also premium packs that include many beats from popular artists.
My 5 year old daughter and I have been using apps at night to make reviewing her day in Kindergarten fun. Last night we laughed our heads off, as she used the app AutoRap App by Smule. She sang the Months of the Year Song she learned in school. AutoRap turned it into a rap. I think I'll be hearing a lot of creations by Kaylee in the car from now on.
I'm very excited about all the different ways this FREE app can be used in the classroom. If students use 1 to 3 sentences to review a historical event or summarize a story, they'll enjoy listening and singing to their new rap song. I also see this app being used for science and reading vocabulary.
My only recommendation is to allow students the opportunity to create their own songs using AutoRap. If they are given the opportunity to use their own voice to define a vocabulary word, sing a song, or summarize, they will have a great time learning with this app.
Here are 5 great iPad/iPhone apps that I am using with my preschooler to practice letter sounds, phonics, and alphabet writing.
ABC Letter Tracing Free
Enjoy free, letter tracing, practice while learning to recognize the alphabet.
Letter Lab .99
Have fun tracing letters. This app allows the user to choose a pink or blue crayon to write. Practice writing and listen to the letter and word with the beginning sound being pronounced.
iWriteWords 2.99
Be entertained while learning how to write letters. Drag a cute crab through a sequence of numbers. After, listen to the letter pronounced and drag or fling the letter into a vortex before moving on. This app includes practice for capital letters, lower case letters, words and numbers. When your child has finished practicing, press the play button to see how they did.
Dora's Sky Writing Adventure 3.99
Feel some excitement with this writing adventure game. Help Tico fly his nutty plane by collecting nuts to fuel it. Drag Tico's airplane to collect nuts and write a letter. Listen to the beginning letter sound as you collect each nut. Students will also enjoy the kinesthetic game of moving the iPad to help draw an object with the beginning letter sound. Add up to 4 players, use the report card to view the completion of upper
case, lowercase letters, and combined upper/lowercase letters.
Montessorium Intro to Letters 4.99
Nice app with 5 different ways to learn letters. Listen to the letter sound, place finger on the arrow and write lower case, upper case or phonograms. Listen to letter flash cards or record your voice while learning letter sounds and phonograms.
All 5 apps are wonderful apps that I have added to my iTunes App collection. From free to 4.99, I have saved money and paper as my 4yo has practiced and enjoyed learning to write. Her favorite app today is Dora's Sky Writing Adventure, because "it's cool." My 18 month old enjoys repeating letters and sounds as I record him with Montessorium Intro to Letters. He giggles when I play it back for him.
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