Christmas Pattern Game

Christmas Pattern Game is an app you can use to solve sequence and pattern puzzles and practice foundational math skills. There are 3 levels:  beginner, intermediate, and advanced.  Santa travels all over the world, so there is exposure to world geography with flags and famous landmarks, too!

Classroom Applications: 

• Recognizing, analyzing and solving pattern and sequence puzzles promotes foundational skills for math, literacy and science. 
• Recognizing patterns and sequences
• Recognizing differences in color
• Recognizing differences in size
• Practice counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's
• Exposure to world geography with country flags and landmarks

AR Flashcards - Bringing the Alphabet and Dinosaurs to Life

AR Flashcards is an augmented reality app.You will need to download and print the flashcards from their website (http://arflashcards.com/). Using the AR Flashcards app on your iPad, tap on Get Started and hold the iPad over the flashcards. You can rotate the iPad or the flashcards to view it from different angles. If you tap the projected image, it will say the letter and animal (or dinosaur name). They suggest that you print the flashcards in color but black and white will also work. The website also has AR Space flashcards but the AR Space App costs.

Classroom Applications:
Vocabulary
Letter Recognition

Bluescreen - It

Bluescreen-It! is a fun app that allows your students to "visit" and become a part of a time period or location by placing them into the scene.  Simply find your background scene, take a picture of students in front of a blue or green screen, and then mash the two together using the Bluescreen-It app. Have students dress and hold props to match the scene to really make the experience meaningful.  Just be sure that students avoid wearing green clothing if using a green screen and avoid blue clothing if using a blue screen.



Classroom Applications:  Science (ie. place students in space), Historical Studies (ie. place student on Ellis Island), Springboard for Writing, Class Posters, Import into FaceTalk or iMovie app to create a video

Kodable

Kodable is a self-guided app that introduces computer programming to elementary students.  It is just one of the featured learning experiences in the 2013 Hour of Code coming up next week during Computer Science Education Week! Be sure to look at the many learning possibilities for K-12 students available!

What's an Hour of Code?

It's a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator.

Classroom Applications:

• Learn to solve problems in sequential steps
• Introduce programming concepts and problem solving
• Set up your classroom or computer lab with learning stations which use various tutorials from the Hour of Code Day!

Math vs. Zombies (Mobile App)

 Math vs. Zombies is a fun math app that helps students use their super math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) to save the planet by getting rid of zombies! Students help change zombies back into kids by correctly answering math questions and "zapping" the zombie. There are seven levels in each of the four math operations, so students can stay actively engaged while practicing and honing their math skills. There are also three different difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) so a wide variety of students can utilize this app. It is currently free and addictive!


Classroom Applications:
*math skills practice with the four basic operations
   (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)

Venn Diagram and Timeline App - Read Write Think

Venn Diagram is a graphic organizer app that allows students to organize their thinking and/or show their learning.  Users can add 2-3 overlapping circles to their Venn  

   Diagram.  The completed diagram can be saved to the Camera Roll. 

Classroom Applications:
Comparing and Contrasting
Share Facts Learned
Showing Relationships

 

Timeline is an app that allows students to display information in sequential order along a line. Click the timeline to add an event or item and then add a label, a description, and an optional image. The final timeline saves to the Camera Roll.



Classroom Applications:
Historical Data
Biographies
Sequence of Events (science lab, classroom activities, etc.)
Numberline

 Both of these apps were created by the International Reading Association/Read Write Think. They have other apps: Theme Poem, Diamante Poem, Acrostic Poem and Alphabet Organizer. Search the app store for International Reading Association. These tools are all also available online along with other student interactives.
 

30 Hands Mobile App

30 Hands is a storytelling app that allows students to use images to tell a story. They can take their own pictures from within the app, access the iPad camera roll or draw their own images. Students can then narrate over the images. You can delete and rearrange your images. The recording stops  between each slide allowing for more collaboration and planning. The final video will save to your camera roll. This is a tutorial made by 30 Hands - similar one is available inside the app.

Adapts easily to use as a "paper slide" video - students can still draw their images, then take pictures of them with the iPad, bring them into the app and narrate without some of the "shaky" videoing.

Classroom Applications:
Share Research/Facts
Student Writing/Publishing
Book Talks - book cover and draw pictures of favorite scenes in books
Share Classroom Activities/Events
Cause and Effect of Disasters (Flood, Tornadoes, Tsunamis)
Soil Science Lab Example 

Lesson Example: Inventor Gamis!

In this lesson, fifth grade students used the Tellagami iPad app to create “Inventor Gamis”!  The students researched and collected information about inventors and their inventions. Then, using the iPads and the Tellagami app, they each created a “gami” to share information about an inventor and invention.  

Enjoy a few of these examples!

Tellagami to Tell a Story

Tellagami is a free app that creates short avatar video clips (30 seconds). You can use their backgrounds or upload your own. It will allow you to record a short script or type your own and select an iPad generated voice. This app saves the final video to the camera roll. Several Gamis (or a Gami and other videos) can be mashed together using the iMovie app to make a longer video.

Classroom Applications:

• Book Talks
• Story Retelling
• Share Research

Tech Tip/Suggestion:

• The first time you use it make sure you go to background and select from Library. You will be prompted to allow access to camera roll. Always say yes to this prompt and to the prompt about microphone access.
• Swipe beside the avatar (up, down, left or right) to turn or rotate the avatar.  Touch to move the avatar.

Tellagami ideas from Free Tech For Teachers
Sun and Moon Examples from iTeach with Technology

Hopscotch: Coding for Kids

 
Students will love this programming app for iPad!  Encourage them to be creative as they build their own games, animations, and programs. Hopscotch uses the drag and drop method to work.  Just drag and drop blocks of code and click "Play" to see the results.  A super way to encourage thinking skills!

From iTunes:



Why coding? By the year 2020, there will be a projected 1.4 million computer jobs but only 400,000 CS students. Computer Science is among the highest paid college degrees and programming jobs are growing at 2x the national average.

Many of the best coders fell in love with programming as kids at the age of 8, 10 and 12 years old. With Hopscotch, kids can build and perfect their own creations while obtaining an understanding of the fundamentals of computer science.

Tech Tip: Setting an Alarm on the iPad

 

Teachers are very busy people and keeping up with everyday tasks like sending students to different parts of the school during the day or even taking daily attendance can seem impossible to remember! However, your iPad can help you with this. The video below will show you how to set an alarm on your iPad using the Clock app.

 

 

 

Popplet Lite

Popplet Lite is a free mind-mapping application. It is easy to use for brainstorming and for students to share ideas and knowledge. The app allows students to save their finished map as an image to their camera roll. The "lite" or free version of the app will only let you store one popplet at a time. When you create a new one, the old one is erased. 

Classroom Applications:

• Map/Visualize Vocabulary words - click here for an example
• Create Character Maps
• Create a Story Map
• Work out a math concept, sorting
• Share research  - Social Studies/Science
• Create mind-mapped images to bring into other video/project apps –  iMovie, Videolicious, Educreations, etc…

Click here for a great science application/lesson idea of Popplet lite.

SGES Contest Winner

Thank you to everyone who read and commented on our blog in May. Congratulations to Kelli L. of SGES, who won a prize when her name was randomly drawn from the May comments. She was awarded $10.00 to spend!   

Bitsboard

Bitsboard

Bitsboard (from Grasshopper Apps) is a fantastic app that includes games and flashcards for learning reading, spelling, and much more!

Teachers can create their own "boards" with current vocabulary words, spelling words, unit terms, etc. -- just type a word and it magically provides you a choice of pictures and also audio.  You can also choose to download boards from the catalog. Popular topics include English 101, Spanish 101, Action Words, Telling Time, Count Money, Phonics, First Sentences, Emotions, Seasons, US States & Capitols, and many more!

Classroom Applications:
* Flashcards for any subject
* Spelling
* Sentence Creation
* Vocabulary Words
* Foreign Language
* Students can create their own board!

Socrative

Socrative - This program is a free student response system that works like other clicker systems (SMART response), but it is a web based digital method of assessment. You can use it online and there is an app (one for teachers and one for students) that can be used as well. What is so neat about Socrative is that it can be used on ANY device with web access - iPad, desktop/laptop, smartphone, iPod Touch, just to name a few. Signing up for an account is free and easy, and getting students connected is very quick and simple - all they need is your room number (which is given when you sign up)!

You can assess students three different ways: you can give them quick, one question quiz before, during, or after a lesson to do a "temperature check", you can choose an Exit Ticket (some call it an Exit Slip), or you can create and give a Quiz. You can choose to have the assessments be student paced (they work at their own pace) or teacher paced (they go at your pace all together). You can see live results of student work right on your screen. Best of all, you can have a report emailed directly to your email address as soon as the assessment has ended or it can be downloaded. Instant results - who doesn't like that?

You can create quizzes inside of Socrative itself, or you can create and import a quiz using a template they've provided for you! You can even share your quizzes with other teachers, so you can share the workload. Check it out!

Classroom Applications:
* Formative/Summative assessment of content
* Exit slip to check the understanding of a focus lesson.
* Anonymous (honest) opinions about content in the classroom.
* Daily quizzes for grades

App image

Thank you to everyone who read and commented on our blog in February. Congratulations to Erica M. of NPES who won a prize when her name was randomly drawn from the February comments. She was awarded $10.00 to spend!   

There’s an opportunity to win a special prize by submitting a comment!

To register for our next drawing:

·         Click the comment link underneath one of the posts & select anonymous.

·         Type at least one way you can use (or have already used) the information from the post in your classroom.

·         Type your first name, last initial and your school within the comment post.

·         All the names of those who comment in February will be placed in the “hat”.

·         Our next drawing will occur the end of March!

·         This drawing is open only to elementary teachers in Lexington One.

List Selector

What do you do when you need to pick out 4 students randomly to do something in your classroom or you want to put your students into groups randomly?

List Selector is a great FREE app which allows teachers to randomly select a student (or students) from their class list or randomly put students into groups.

Teachers enter lists of their students into the app. Then the app can choose and display the names of individual students, several students ,or randomly group students by 2's, 3's, 4's or whatever size the teacher needs.

Monkey Drum

 

Monkey Drum is a fun app for all ages! Excellent for building rhythm skills and creating songs!

Explore the Monkey Drum area -- tap "Play" in the center. The cute monkey will repeat rhythms and melodies you play on the djembe drum, kalimba (thumb piano), or  marimba. Tap the monkey's head and mouth for special sounds to include in your rhythms.  You can even spin him around! After playing for awhile, you are rewarded with a banana to feed the monkey.  After the monkey eats 3 bananas, you get free hearts which will unlock other instruments, accessories, and songs.
The Song Maker allows you to create your own music using a vertical grid.  You can change the tempo as well as the instrument. The bottom right corner allows you to add measures (or pages) to your song.  Each is 8 beats. Tap play to hear your song played by the monkey.
 
You also receive free hearts each day you play, so be sure to check the mailbox!

Classroom Applications:
* Echo & create rhythms
* Repeat rhythm patterns on other instruments
* Teach melody and melodic direction using the marimba or kalimba keyboard
* Create songs
* Develops listening skills
* Develops memory skills

bookPress

The bookPress app is a free tool to create digital books. There are templates to create a children's book, poetry book, cookbook, a picture book, or a storybook. You can also use a blank template to create any kind of book you wish. Bookemon, the publisher, provides bCloud storage for your books.  Your completed books can be viewed through this app or read online. From the app you can also choose to order print copies of your book.


Bookemon also provides edCenter, a free, private, secure environment for teachers and students to create, collaborate, and share their books. Email addresses are not required for student accounts. This video provides a brief introduction and overview of this app:

Classroom Connections:

• write a class book about a field trip
• research and write biographies of historical figures
• create a class memory book
• publish student narrative writing
• create expository "how to" manuals
• publish student poetry anthologies
• create a book to document STEM activities and scientific explorations
• create a leadership book of ways students demonstrate the 7 Habits

Morfo

Morfo is a free app where you can take a picture of a person (or animal) and create a 3-D character. You can record a message and your character says it for you! You can also save the character as a video in your camera roll to share with others. This app is easy to use and is an unique way to share information.

In the free version (there is a paid version for $0.99), you can record a message up to 30 seconds long.


Classroom Applications:

* Students can morph a famous figure in history or authors and can give a research report about them.
* Students can create a booktalk using a morphed character of their choosing.
* Students can record a book summary in a cool, new way.

Tech Tip: Adding International Keyboards

This short video demonstrates the steps necessary to add additional language keyboards to your iPad.  This is probably most useful for our immersion classrooms but others may find it helpful.

BuddyPoke

BuddyPoke is a free app that allows you to create a personalized avatar, send animated emoji through iMessage and email, and create an animated video by recording your own voice message. Use the built-in backgrounds for your videos or use images from your camera roll instead. Completed videos can be saved to the camera roll, emailed, texted through iMessage, or uploaded to YouTube. From the camera roll you can also share it to your network drive through the WebDAV Navigator app.
This app is a lot of fun!

Classroom Applications:
Students can...

• create a book talk video.
• describe causes and effects of historical events.
• make public service announcements about service learning projects.
• create a video of themselves reading a piece of writing.
• record themselves reading to self-assess fluency.
• describe the scientific processes of an experiment.
• practice and self-assess speeches to improve public speaking.

Qrafter - QR Code Reader

Qrafter is a free app that enables you to scan a QR code to receive links to websites, text messages, a link to a Dropbox file, a Google map location, and more!

Scan - is another free QR Code reader app. It works well with the plain text QR codes. Just skip or ignore the prompts to sign in.

There are many websites you can use to create a QR code. One site that is easy to use is http://www.qrstuff.com/. QR Voice will create a QR code that will say the "message" in a computer generated voice. http://qrvoice.net/


Here are links to a couple of resources to learn more:
QR Codes in the Classroom  - includes how to tips and classroom applications
Schrock's QR Codes in the Classroom
Anderson's QR Codes in the Classroom Livebinder

In this 2 minute video, some students explain one way they use QR codes in the classroom to enhance literacy.



Classroom Applications:

• Have students create QR codes for book review videos they create.
• Create QR codes for preselected research websites. Students could collaborate to collect sites for a particular topic.
• Use QR codes to provide exemplars for student projects or an example of mastery of a learning target.
• Provide differentiation by using QR codes to link to remediation or extension activities.
• Use QR codes to share a morning message or a daily quote.
• Personalize learning by using QR codes to provide multiple resources students can use to enhance learning.

Tech Tip: Keyboarding Shortcuts

Here is a video that can be a real time saver for you!  This video highlights several keyboarding tips and tricks that will find useful!  Don't forget to share these shortcuts with your students!!

Tech TIp: Multitasking Gestures

This video demonstrates how you can utilize Multitasking Gestures (using multiple fingers on the touch screen for specific tasks) to efficiently navigate your iPad.









 

January Comment Contest Winner

Thank you to everyone who read and commented on our blog in January. Congratulations to Ashlee Y. of LES who won a prize when her name was randomly drawn from the December/January comments. She was awarded a Lexington Gift Certificate to spend around town.

There’s an opportunity to win a special prize by submitting a comment!

To register for our next drawing:

·         Click the comment link underneath one of the posts & select anonymous.

·         Type at least one way you can use (or have already used) the information from the post in your classroom.

·         Type your first name, last initial and your school within the comment post.

·         All the names of those who comment in February will be placed in the “hat”.

·         Our next drawing will occur the end of February!

·         This drawing is open only to elementary teachers in Lexington One.

Tech Tip: Accessing Free Images on Your iPad

Many project apps include an opportunity to insert an image.  It's important to make sure that our students use copyright-compliant pictures.  There are a number of websites that offer free use of images for educational purposes (see the list below).  You can add bookmarks to the home screen of your iPad and drag the bookmarks into a folder labeled Picture Resources. Then your students will have easy access to safe images that will support their learning. Here is a short video that will explain what to do:

Scan this QR Code with your iPad to access the resources listed below:

Discovery Education Clip Art
Florida ETC Clipart
NASA Images
National Park Geology Images
NOAA Photo Library
Pics4Learning
The Library of Congress Photographs
 

Apps Gone Free

Your daily free app finder!

Each day several iPad apps that are available free for a limited time are featured in Apps Gone Free. 

Reviewers handpick the best of the apps that have gone free for a limited time.  You can read a short review of the app, see it's star rating, and also see the regular purchase price of the app.

Apps Gone Free has a scrollable calendar on the left for checking out previous days, too!

Tech Tip: Learning to use the Search Function on your iPad

Learn how to quickly find apps, pics, files, and emails on your iPad.  Easily accessing content on your mobile device is essential to your own use of the iPad and for your students.  Please watch the video below to learn more and consider sharing with your students.

Bill Atkinson's PhotoCard Lite

Bill Atkinson's Photocard Lite is an app that you can easily create postcards that include text and an image. You can add images from your camera roll (including images you have saved from the web to your camera roll).

Tips:

• This app works the best when you hold your iPad in portrait mode. It lets you see both the image and the writing. 
• It will keep one postcard at a time. Starting a new postcard will erase the previous postcard.
• Tap outside the signup stuff - you don't need it.
• Document images from the web using the caption option underneath the picture. 
• From student iPad in portrait mode, click on the arrow on the bottom left to save the postcard to the camera roll. You can then use Webdav to upload the image to the network. 

Classroom Applications:
Write a postcard to a book character or author.
Write a postcard to a historical figure or as a historical figure.
Write a postcard about a historical event as if the student was there.
Write a postcard to their parents talking about a science lab or other classroom event.
As a class, write a postcard to parents about a classroom activity.
Teachers can individualize postcards to students and parents as a classroom communication tool. 

Tech Tip: Speak Selection - an iOS tool

Below you will find a video tutorial that describes how to use the Speak Selection tool in iOS6.  This tool has many classroom applications for both struggling and advanced readers and writers.  Please take a few moments to watch this video.

Please add your comments about how you will or have used this feature in your classroom!

Read Me Stories

Read Me Stories is a free app that contains picture book stories.    You can choose to read the story by yourself, or you can have the app read the story aloud.  As the story is read, each word is highlighted to help students track the words. There are 8 categories of stories and the app contains one sample book in each category. Other books are available for purchase.

Classroom Applications:
The purpose of this app is to foster independent reading for students in Kindergarten-2nd grade.