Our target skill for this week was conclusions. We began by watching the YouTube video below. After watching the video, we talked about drawing a conclusion. We were able to conclude that the cake was made for his mother. After our brief discussion, we wanted to practice our skill. I put together some QR Codes to assist with practicing conclusions. I had my students use their LearnPads to scan codes using the ScanLife app. In addition, I had created a quiz using Socrative. Students opened up both apps and were able to toggle back and forth. They scanned a code with the ScanLife app and then provided their answer within the Socrative app. The QR Codes provided three of four statements. These statements were clues that students could use to conclude what was taking place. For example, 1) Your mom takes your temperature, 2) You have to stay in bed all day, 3) You eat soup. Based on these clues, a student could conclude that you are sick. If you would like to use the QR Codes, you can access them here. There are a total of six "mystery conclusions" for students to solve. You can add the Socrative quiz by using the following: SOC #: 13411210 This activity got them out of their seats as well as provided some practice with drawing conclusions. During our reading group rotations I had students apply their understanding of conclusions by creating their own mystery conclusions. To accomplish this, students used iClipart for Schools. They located three to six pictures that they could use as clues for an activity of their choice. Once they had their pictures, they opened up the Pic Collage app and created a collage of their three to six pictures. Their collage was saved to their Google Drive accounts. The final step was to create a new post using Kidblog. They titled their post Conclusions and inserted their collage from their Google Drive account. Tomorrow we will be spending time during reading rotations leaving comments on each post about conclusions. We will leave our "conclusion" guess in the comment box on each of our classmates. This process of creating their own conclusion collage required them to think critically about which pictures should be used to represent their activity. In addition, they had to apply their understanding of conclusions in order to leave a comment on each others' blog post. Below are some example collages that my students created during this process. Share This:
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**If you are unfamiliar with this project, check out my first post introducing my pilot project with LearnPads and comparing them to iPads. In first grade we have been learning how to tell time throughout the school year. We started with time to the hour, moved to half hours and then went to quarter hours. Our most recent adventure took us to writing the digital time represented on analog clocks. The activity that we did can be done on both the LearnPad and the iPad. While the apps used to complete this activity were different, the end result turned out the same. In an attempt to have my students apply their learning while creating and collaborating, we annotated a time on an analog clock and posted it to a blog. Having students annotate a time on an analog clock required them to apply their understanding of Common Core Standard 1.MD.B.3 which requires 1st graders to tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog/digital clocks. To add an additional layer to this activity, students then went to their peers' blog posts and left a comment with the digital time that the analog clock was representing. Below is a video that highlights how this activity was done in my class as well as how it can be done on both LearnPads and iPads. Below is a few screen shots from a students final product posted on the blog. You can see the rest of the post by clicking here. Share This: I have been using Kidblog the last three years. Their iPad app makes posting and commenting seamless for my first graders. Each one of my first graders has his/her very own blog to share and document learning throughout the school year. It has been my goal to use the iPad as a creative tool. We have been talking about using "is" or "are" in sentences. Students have made the connection that "is" goes with a singular subject while "are" belongs with plural subjects. To create a short assessment and add some fun, we used our iPads and Kidblog to practice our understanding of using "is" and "are" in sentences. Below I explain how we went about this process. It was actually pretty simple and I was very pleased with the results. During our next week of school, students will be commenting on the "is or are" posts with their guesses. is or are assessment I was very pleased with the quality of sentences that my students submitted. This provided a quick assessment for who understands and who does not. The next phase will be students commenting their guesses. This will provide another layer of assessment. The best part is that the students had fun with this. They got to create their own sentences and will get to comment on their friends' posts. One Note I have my blog set up so that any new post and/or comment needs moderated before appearing. When my students begin commenting their guesses, none will show up until I approve them. This is nice because students will not be able to see what others guessed. They will have to decode the sentences on their own and apply what they have been taught. Share This: My first graders have been working on animal research this week. We had previously worked on animal research in small groups. This time around we went to individual animal research. Students got to pick their own animals and record all their information about their chosen animal. To accomplish this, we used Google Docs, Britannica School Elementary (available through our AEA), Symbaloo and Kidblog. Google Doc Set up We are not a GAFE school. I used my personal Google Account to set up the documents that each student would be working on for their research. I began by creating a new Document for each student. I saved it as their name. After creating the document, I had to make the document "shared." I changed the privileges to anyone who had the link could edit the document. By allowing anyone with the link to edit, there was no log on necessary by my students to add content. After you have changed the permissions, you can then copy the link. Anyone who has that link will be able to edit since you just changed the permissions. *This link will be important to add to Symbaloo. Below is a visual of what I added to each document. The students then added the rest of the content. I provided them with the template to assist with organizing their text as they found information. Symbaloo Set up We already use Symabloo for all of our links. This is a simple way for students to quickly access everything we use on the web. Below is a screen shot of the Symbaloo page. Each student had one icon that when clicked would open their Google Doc. Below are the steps I used to add each icon to our Symbaloo page. This process would be repeated for each student. Since I have 23 first graders, I had to add a total of 23 individual icons that would provide a shortcut to get to their Google Doc. Britannica Below is a screen shot of what the Britannica page looked like for my kids. They chose the mammals link to choose their animal and find facts for their animal research. After clicking on mammals, students got to find an animal. Once an animal was found, they would then click on that animal's name. Once on the chosen animal, they could try their best to read the information. There is an option to have the text read aloud. Many students took advantage of this option to gather the facts about their animal. Kidblog After students finished their animal research, I was able to embed the Google Doc within their Kidblog. I did this part as it took some changes to the Google Doc to allow for embedding on their Kidblog. Below is an example of an embedded animal research project. |
Andrew FenstermakerInstructional Technology Coordinator | Innovation Coach | Google Certified Innovator | Presenter | Blogger | Adjunct @UiowaEducation | Owner @kids_f_i_r_s_t |