First graders LOVE Pete the Cat written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean! He is groovy, hip, and oh so cool, and first graders love reading what he has to say! Our library just added the latest Pete the Cat book entitled Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses. This one is written and illustrated by Kimberly and James Dean.
For a glimpse of this latest book, check out this video from HarperCollins!
Once we read about Pete's magic sunglasses, I invited students to share what they would see if they could see through magic sunglasses like Pete the Cat! I dug through all of my junk drawers at home and was shocked to find so many old pairs of sunglasses! I thought it might add a bit of authenticity for students if they could actually wear sunglasses to respond to the question! First graders used the Flipgrid app to respond independently to the questions using their iPads! It was fantastic that they could be independent for their own response! As you might expect, with magic glasses, first graders can see lots of candy, cupcakes, puppies and kittens!!
There were several things that I loved about Flipgrid! I loved the ease of use! I also loved the fact that students can use it on their iPads and/or at one of our computers using the Flipgrid website! We only hit one iPad snafu when some of the students were asked to "give flipgrid access to their microphone", several clicked no. Once I went through a few of the iPads and changed the access setting to the microphone, all went smoothly! I loved how independently my first graders could be using the app! Also, I had been focused on how great it would be for me to look at all of their videos because they were gathered in one spot. The thing that really added to the experience was how easy it was for students to see each other's response! They loved being able to see each other!! Finally, I love how visually engaging Flipgrid is! It is so fun seeing all of my student's faces anxious to give their "magic sunglasses" answer!
