Goal for New Technology (Reflective Teaching Day 2)

If you read my post from yesterday, you know that I am starting a new adventure.  You can read about it here.

Even though the first week of school is crazy... I'm going to try really hard to complete the 30 Day Challenge for Teachers hosted by Teach Thought.  Reflecting on my own work is important to me.

Day 2 - Write about one piece of technology that you'd like to use this year.

Since I'll be working in the role of an instructional coach, one of my tech goals is to use a variety of presentation sites/apps.  The first ones that I'm going to focus on using more are Pear Deck (which was recently modeled by our Instructional Technology Coach and Prezi.  I like the features that each has to offer and using them more will hopefully enhance any presentations I need to share with staff.

Today is the first day of school for public school students in Michigan. I love the first day of school!  I have big plans to enjoy the day with my students (even though they'll get a new teacher in a couple weeks). I want them to have a happy first week of 2nd grade!

Happy first day!

2 Movies + Not So Instant + Last One

2 Movies - that's how many I watched in 2013.  The funniest part is that I can't remember the name of either.  Ha! And here I am watching the Oscars.  I've never heard of most of the movies, but everyone sure looks fancy.   I know I'm not the only person in America who only watches 2 or 3 movies a year, because I'm married to the other one.  There's probably only two of us I'm assuming. ??

Now for the not so instant...I FINALLY set myself up with an Instagram thingy.  It's only been a few days, but I kinda love it already!  I'd love it if you'd check out my pics/follow me/visit by clicking on the image below and/or on the tiny camera in my sidebar.

And the most exciting news is that 

I'm not so patiently waiting for a new blog design!  

It's coming soon and I'm sure that the long list that I'm on 

is due to the fact that the designer is so talented.

This is BIG for me...

since I tend to be one of those people 

who doesn't easily agree to rearrange the furniture 

or attempt a new hairdo.  

But, when I'm ready...

I've been known to cut off 6 inches of my hair

 or sell all the furniture and start over with a bang. 

No need to chop my hair or sell my couch this time though. 

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

I'M GETTING A NEW DESIGN!

That counts for being spontaneous if you're me...

Yippee!!!

Technology Tuesday (8th edition)

Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by to visit.

The most exciting thing happened a few days ago when I read a post about
organizing your desktop by my friend, Kristin, A Teeny Tiny Teacher.
I quickly organized the desktop on my personal computer.
Voila!
My school computer is next...photo coming soon.

I thought I'd share an app that has multiple uses today. 

 Draw and Tell HD by Duck Duck Moose, Inc.

Here's what I like about it...

1.  Students can create things with a variety of paper, blank, lined, grid, 

fancy designs and multiple colors.

2. It offers a variety of writing tools and icons for students to add to their writing/drawings.

3.  Students can make a recording about their creation.

4. The creations can be save to the camera roll and emailed to share with parents.

5. It also has a variety of coloring pages if you have a student who has limited fine motor skills.  This feature would make it easier for them to add a picture to their writing.  

It may also motivate reluctant writers or be a reward for any student.

6.  This app could be used to publish writing. 

 I think it would be a great way to publish poetry or for reading response. 

At the beginning of the year, my first graders could use this app 

to share their mental images as we read a story.

Here are a few screen shots of the three lined writing paper.  

It also includes a wide ruled notebook paper and many other paper choices.

Exciting news!

Tpt is having a sale on Thursday and Friday this week!  

Don't miss out! 

                                        

Hope you have a great week!

 

Penguins as a Model for Animal Research

It felt so good to be back in my classroom with my students this week! They worked so hard and I was so wiped out by the end of the week. Glad to be back either way.

Oh how I love Saturday mornings without anything on the schedule. My son is busy doing batting practice in the basement. My daughter is using the living room as a dance floor to practice ballet.  My husband is cooking breakfast, so I thought I'd sneak in a little post.

We started our penguin research this week. We research penguins as a group so my students have a model for how to do their animal research later in the year. We started out by doing a close reading activity with this book. It's my favorite nonfiction penguin book.  We spent the whole week digging into this book during our reader's workshop lessons.  I have a whole collection of penguin books (which are available to the students), but really digging into one or two helps my students understand the importance of using good strategies with informational text.

Throughout the week, we added details to our can/have/are anchor chart.

 Any words that were new, unfamiliar or super interesting to us during our reading were added to our penguin vocabulary anchor chart.  At the beginning of reader's workshop time, I give the classroom iPads (we have 2) to students who will be in charge of recording the special vocabulary for the day.  That allows me to keep reading/teaching while they use the Educreations app as a white board to keep a list of the vocabulary we should add to the anchor chart for the day.   Then I can take a screen shot of the new vocabulary words to use it with a small group later or email it to parents so the students can discuss our new vocabulary at dinner.

This is a screen shot one of the iPads
 after one of the reader's workshop lessons this week.

Here's another one.  This student chose to write lots of words that we
discussed even though we
knew the definitions of some already. 

We'll add more to this vocabulary chart next week
as we continue our research.

When the anchor charts are complete, I'll take pictures of them and add them to our Reader's Workshop Anchor Chart book.  Then students can go back to reread and  revisit the things we've learned long after I've taken the charts down in the room.  We have a writer's workshop anchor chart book as well. They are  favorites in our room!

The students also completed their own can/have/are sheet and a vocabulary wheel for one of the words from our chart.  They choose their own word from our Penguin Vocabulary chart to use in the wheel and I ask them to write down things that will help them explain the word to a partner.  When their wheels are completed, they find a partner who has a different word and share/discuss their thinking. I move around during that time to make sure students are accurately defining the word since they may or may not have included the definition we discussed in their descriptions on the wheel.  

The resources I use for this unit are all found in my Nonfiction Penguin Unit.  It even includes pieces to make the anchor charts.  You can check it out by clicking on the image below.

When we finish this research project, the students will be well prepared to do their own animal research project.  They will choose their own animal and we'll use my Animal Research Book to guide them through the same kind of process we used to study penguins.  This was my very first Tpt product and it's my best seller.  I should probably update the cover...ha!  Add that to the to do list.

It's sunny and 10 today, so it's finally nice enough for a long dog walk. Not kidding... these poor dogs really need some exercise (and so do I)!  Happy Saturday!

Technology Tuesday (7th edition)

Welcome!

I've been sharing some of the technology 

my first graders are exploring this year!

Some of the things in my Technology Tuesday posts 

are apps and some are websites. 

 So you don't necessarily have to have iPads 

to explore some of these things with your students.

If you missed the previous editions,

 you can find them under Technology Tuesday in my side bar.

Today, I'm sharing...

My Favorite Sight Word/Spelling Apps

Spelling Magic 3 by Preschool University

This app has a word builder and an alphabet mover game.

Play Sight Words - Grades 1 & 2 by eFlashApps LLC

ABC -Magnetic Alphabet Lite - Learn to Write For Kids by Dot Next

Rocket Speller by Little Big Thinkers

Spelling Bug Free - by Power Math Apps

Spelling Test Free by FunExam.com

(With this app, you can create your own lists and the students can take tests on those lists.)

Phonics Tic Tac Toe Interactive by Lakeshore Learning Materials

Hope you'll visit again soon! 

Technology Tuesday (6th edition)

Welcome!  It's Technology Tuesday!

Today, I'm sharing a list of my favorite long vowel apps 

and a few other resources that I learned about recently

You can read about how I use mini iPads in my classroom for individualized word work here. 

In the post above, I also shared my favorite short vowel apps.

My Favorite Long Vowel Apps

CVC Sorts 2 by JFK4SDK

Pocket Charts! Long and Short Vowel Sounds by Good Neighbor Press

*Pocket Charts has lots of great iPad apps for different skills (inexpensive and worth the money).

ABC Spelling Magic 4 Silent Final e by Preschool University

Little Stars Word Wizard by Innovative Mobile Apps

*My favorite thing about this app is that two students can turn the iPad sideways and play against each other.  Or, I can challenge a kid to a game as a reward!

Last Friday, I attended a conference about using iPads in the classroom. 

 The presenter, Kelly Harmon,  was great!  

She was truly a wealth of knowledge 

and I left feeling like my head was going to explode from all the ideas.  Ha!

As I explore the things she taught us, I'll share some of those on my Technology Tuesday posts.

Here is one of my favorite apps that she shared.

Educreations Interactive Whiteboard by Educreations Inc.

You can use this app as a white board (goodbye whiteboard/eraser/marker drama).  You can also use this app to create presentations.  It allows you to add photos, voice recordings and text to the screen.  I'm  planning to use it for mini lessons for reader's and writer's workshop.  If I take a screenshot of a page from a book that I want to use to model something, I can use the voice recording option to highlight something that I want students to think about or to give directions for the students to use during independent practice.  The things I create can be saved and/or emailed for future use.

It is easy enough for first grade students to use to make their own presentations as well.   

Speech Buddies also contacted me last week, to ask me to share a link for an article on their blog.

Since it is technology related and I have a speech and language background I agreed to share it.

Top 10 Online Sites for Building Language Skills

Looking for little 100th day of school fun with your iPad(s)?

The app below will allow you to take a picture of your student

 and "age" the photo to show what that person might look like at a certain age.

Aging Booth by PiVi & Co. 

Next week, I'll be sharing more about what I learned at the iPad conference along with my favorite apps for blends and digraphs.  Have a great week!

Technology Tuesday (5th edition)

I promised myself when I started Technology Tuesday that I wouldn't stress myself out if I skipped a few Tuesdays.  I just didn't really want to commit to one more deadline.  This is supposed to be fun, ya know?  I met that goal...skipped several Tuesdays.

Our literacy centers each week focus on the spelling words and the word family of the week.  The whole class practices those, but I also have time for each student to do individualized word work built into my plans for each week. 

I've been using my mini iPads for individualized word work with my students.  First, I use the Ganske Developmental Spelling Inventory to determine the type of word work that I want each student to focus on.  The categories I have for word work include:  short vowels, blends, digraphs, long vowels and basic sight words.  At the beginning of the year, I might also have a few students working on beginning and ending consonants.  

Once I know which skill each student needs to work on,  I make a chart to keep on a clipboard.  The chart is kept in our iPad "home" (the place we keep the iPads when we are not using them), so the children can find their own name and look up which category they are supposed to choose games from on the iPad.  Most of the students don't have to check the chart, but it helps them stay independent since they rotate the iPads while I am working with small groups for reading. Our rule is that each student plays 2 games with a partner from the same category, before they pass it to another student.

Here are our favorite short vowel apps.

ABC Phonics Make a Word Free

ABC Phonics Short Vowel Words Lite

ABC Reading Magic 1 Short Vowel Words Deluxe

ABC Spelling Magic

ABC Phonics Word Family Free

CVC Sorts 1

Spelling 3 Letter Words by Good Neighbor Press

Do you have favorite short vowel apps?  

I'd love to explore some new apps with my students.

A few are free and a few I purchased.  The ones I purchased were worth the few dollars I spent.  Over the next couple weeks, I'll be posting our favorite apps from other word work categories.

It's -13 degrees, with a windchill of -35,  here in Michigan and we are snow day #2.  Yesterday, I enjoyed a lazy day.  Today, I'm hoping to be productive and get some things done.  Oh, how I love to cross things off my list...

  Stay warm everyone!

Technology Tuesday (3rd edition)

Welcome back for another edition of Technology Tuesday! Since the mini iPads arrived in my classroom a month or so ago, we started using them for two daily routines. We use them for several other things throughout each day as well, but the routines stay the same each day.

 Last week, I mentioned that my class keeps a journal on the iPad each day. We use a free app called Kids Journal.

This is sample page inside one of the Kids Journal journals that you can create with the app.

You can read more about how we do the journaling routine in my classroom here. 

We also use a website to help us read informational text  on the iPad each day.  With the common core standards in place, I'm doing everything I can to help expose students to more informational text. One of my amazing parents, who is an elementary principal in another district, recommended the site tweentribune.com to me.  The site contains daily nonfiction articles appropriate for students in grades K - 12.  My students read the Tween Tribune Junior articles, which are designed for students in grades K - 4.  Since this is a website, not an app, it can be used even if you don't have iPads in your classroom.

I choose three students each day to work together to be the nonfiction news reporters.  I carefully select the students to make sure that I have at least one high reader in each group of reporters.  Since Tween Tribune Junior articles are for K - 4th graders, even with a higher reader in the group they sometimes need my help with a few words. The reporters choose one article from the Tween Tribune Junior edition of the day.  They read the article together, discuss what they learned and decide how they are going to share the "reporting duties".  

Here is screenshot of part of a list of articles for today.  There are many, many pages of articles for students to choose from each day.  As you can see, students have the option to leave comments and take quizzes.  My students will not be leaving comments, but I may let them try the quizzes in the future.

When we start our morning meeting each day, the reporters put the iPad under our document camera and tell us what they learned.  When they are finished reporting, we ask the reporters questions to clarify anything that we want to know about the information in the article.  This is when I point out the strategies we are using to read/understand the nonfiction news (returning to the text, rereading, check the pictures for clues, thinking about/discussing vocabulary).  The articles often have a discussion question at the end.  If the chosen article has a discussion question, the students discuss it with their elbow partners and then we quickly discuss it as a class.  If my reporters are well prepared to "report" the nonfiction news, it only takes about 5 - 7 minutes of my morning meeting time to do this routine.  I am lovin' the opportunities to model/practice strategies for reading informational text and my students are loving reporting the news to the class.  

I'm thinking I should start my informational text unit a little earlier next year.  This year, I'm planning to start it right after the winter break.  That will enhance our discussions and reporting of the nonfiction news.  

I do have fond memories of my parents reading the newspaper every evening while we sat in the living room waiting for the Cosby Show to start.  But, times are changing and my own children will have memories of my husband and I reading the news on our phones in the dance lobby or at the soccer field.  I want my students to be prepared to read, understand and discuss informational text with their peers and I am so grateful for the technology to help them learn how to do it in such a way that will hopefully motivate them to explore more informational texts in the future.