Gettin' Techie

We have begun our new school year with a great start. I was lucky this summer to win 5 Chromebooks for my classroom to go along with my 12 ipads. My new group of students this year are learning how to use the ipads and the Chromebooks. We have been using many apps in our App-smashing activities.

This past week we used one of the Chromebook carts that we have at our school. You will see in the image below that my students are fully engaged in learning about plants. They are using a lesson that I created on Blendspace. 

Chromebooks

 

Blendspace is a great way to enhance learning with technology and Science. My students are guided through several activities, video segments or images that give them information about plants.

Students using Chromebooks

Students had to complete all activities in Blendspace then login to Discovery Education and create a board about the parts of plants. They may included images, video segments and text boxes.

The students really enjoyed getting to use the Chromebooks along with Blendspace to learn about Plants.

If you have never heard about Blendspace, then I recommend that you must try it out for yourself. Wishing you success this school year with your students.

Technology Day

We are having a great time on Technology Day in our classroom. Students are using ipads throughout the day on numerous activities and apps. We just began using a new app called Spellyfish. Students work on spelling with this app. It is really useful for my students who need help with phonics and spelling skills.

Here are two that are having fun using the ipads and Spellyfish App!

Next you will see two students on the laptops using the SCOOTPAD Website! We use this daily to work on Math and Reading. I love the fact that it is aligned to Common Core and BEST OF ALL IT IS FREE!!! My students can access it at home to work on it at well. Students earn reward coins to trade in for prizes. I get a weekly progress report from the website. If you choose to purchase, you get more subjects to work on and upgrades.

Students are using the 2nd grade Fiction Comprehension App in our Listening Center. Students get to read the story and complete a Graphic Organizer. It also helps them with their fluency.

Our classroom favorite is Toontastic!!!! 

Students plan out their stories scene by scene. Scene One is the Setup. Student pick setting, characters and the mood. Student animate the character and record their voice.Scene Two is the Conflict. Student create the problem in the story. Scene Three is the Challenge. How does the character handle the conflict. Scene Four is the Climax. This is where all the action takes place. Scene Five is the Resolution. Does the characters will over the conflict or are they defeated? We used a great resource from Tina's Teaching Treasures on TPT. It has graphic organizers to help students create their stories with characters and scene from Toontastic. Once the stories are completed I will post their videos. Also on the app it has ToonTube that is where you can view your video along with others that have shared videos. You can check out amazing videos that others have create and use them in your classroom for examples or even as an edition to a lesson or activity that you are teaching. It is a great resource.