Chirping With My Students! So Fun Sharing Caldecott Books With 1st Graders!!

Today my 1st graders began an iMovie project about this year's Caldecott Award winning books. I wanted each of my first graders to have an image of the medal and each book on their iPad. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out the Chirp App to share the images with them! It was great fun!!

For those who haven't tried Chirp, it is a free iPhone/iPod App that lets users share links, images and notes by "chirping" them at one another. Anyone (within listening distrance) with the Chirp App open will receive the sent information. I used Chirp to share the images with my students. It was a little crazy, but very successful and a great deal of fun!

There are many potential uses for Chirp.  Students can share with each other and with me!! I look forward to finding more uses for this simple, yet fun sharing app!!

Olympic Research - Digging Deeper And Making Connections Using ThingLink!

Last week my students and I began researching the Olympics. (You can view the blog post - What My Students Can Learn From The Olympics... ) It is a such a relevant topic given the fact that most of my students are following the 2014 Olympics! Their interest and motivation for learning is built right into the topic!  

Today we followed up with last week's research by trying the ThingLink App. I gave students the opportunity to select whatever Olympic topic they wanted to know more about. Students dug deep to read about their chosen topic and select an image to represent their learning. They were encouraged to make connections to their topic - history, equipment, insider terms, and "how to" information were just a few connections we brainstormed. Once they had gathered their supporting information (links, images and text), students used the ThingLink App to put it all together into creative interactive images! Here are just a few examples! Hover over each image to find the links!

2nd Graders Share A Laugh Using The ChatterPix App During Joke Book January...Well...February!

Joke Book January was interrupted by five very very cold days!  Unfortunately Joke Book February just doesn't have the same ring!!  Inspite of the cold and delay, the 2nd graders and I had a great time sharing old jokes and learning new ones!

One of life's greatest joys - the laughter of children!!  This week 2nd graders have been reading jokes and treating me to the sound of their laughter. They are at a perfect age for joke books because many of them have begun to understand figurative language. They are ready to read for deeper meaning even when the deeper meaning comes in the form of a corny joke!

One of the best things about sharing jokes with second graders is that each time a joke is told, there is a noticeable pause as they think about it.  After the pause, assuming they grasp the meaning, they giggle, chuckle and at times, belly laugh! It is fun and very endearing to watch them process for meaning!

To find jokes we used a variety of joke books from our library and MyOn eBooks.

Students found their favorite joke, or made one up and wrote it down.

Once students had their joke, I asked them to find a noun from their joke.  They searched from an image of their chosen noun using Google images. Once they saved the image to the iPad Camera Roll, they were ready for the ChatterPix App.  

Students imported their image into the ChatterPix App, added a mouth to the image and recorded their voice telling their joke. This created a short movie. They exported their newly created movie to the camera roll and uploaded it to their Google Drive. Saving it to their Google Drive will give them the option to keep it and share it on their future student website.   

It was fun sharing our joke movies with one another. Enjoy our ChatterPix joke movies!

What My Students Can Learn From The Olympics...History, Geography, Geopolitics and Inspiration!!

My students and I have been enthusiastically learning about the Olympics!!  

The 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi are providing us with the motivation for research, and a rich array of topics to learn about!!  Equally educational is the opportunity to share the many resources students can use to learn about the Olympics.  So much to learn about...so many sources...so little time!!

With so many options for information at our fingertips, we only need to bring a little curiosity!!

We found out about the ancient and recent history of the Olympics from several MyOn eBooks, YouTube clips and the Olympic website.  

I was able to share some wonderful hard cover Olympic books with students.

Then we learned about geography using Google Earth and Google Maps.  Where is Sochi, Russia relative to our home here is Lakeville, Minnesota?

We had to talk about time zones!

And then there are the actual Olympic events! My students and I have so many opportunities to follow the Olympics using the Sochi 2014 App and a multitude of great websites -  Olympics.org and NBC Olympics.  These sources give students the opportunity to look at event highlights, the medal counts, the personal stories of the athletes and the politics around the Olympics. 

So many wonderful resources....so little time!!!

A Big Oak Hills Shout Out To Volunteer Cheryl Rauf!!

This week, Cheryl came for her weekly volunteer time to shelve books and stepped into student lesson support!!  At the time, I was surrounded by students who needed my help.  Cheryl saw that students were waiting on me and just jumped in to help them find books for the projects we were working on!  Thanks so much Cheryl!!!

A Wonderful Surprise For Digital Learning Day...A Golden Floppy!

Today, February 5th, is Digital Learning Day.  I was honored to receive Lakeville School District's Digital Day "Techy Teacher" Award, The Golden Floppy! I have no idea who nominated me, so please let me take a moment to thank the person for their kind gesture.

Lakeville School's Superintendent, Lisa Snyder, along with Digital Learning Coordinator, Trish Harvey, and Digital Learning Coach, Chris Myers, dropped by in the chaos of my 4th graders making I Spy Books!  It was a good chaos, a productive chaos, but chaos it was.  (To see the lesson - 4th Graders Take Their First Steps Toward Creating I SPY books!)

I remember, quite a few years ago, what it was like to teach without the use of technology, and I know that my students can learn and even excel without it. But lessons that incorporate technology give my students and I so much more freedom to be creative. Creativity is the secret ingredient that keeps students excited about learning and hungry for more. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be creative with them everyday!

5th Graders Are Researching Digital Citizenship And Planning Stop Motion Video Using The MyCreate App

5th graders have been researching digital citizenship using several great resources!  Among our newest eBooks from MackinVia, we have a great new digital citizenship resource entitled Play It Safe Online by Phyllis Cornwall.  This new eBook joins a few of our existing favorite digital citizenship resources - The FBI Safety Tips for Kids website and Common Sense Media's Internet Safety Tips for Elementary School Kids.

Once we completed our research, students began planning stop motion videos to demonstrate the concepts of digital citizenship.  Students are using the In Plain English video series by Common Craft as a model for their videos.  We watched an example entitled Twitter in Plain English for inspiration.  

Then students began planning!!

 Slidely Slideshow

A few students were ready to begin making their movie using the MyCreate App!!