App of the Week: Random Number Generator

This week's idea is short and sweet.  I know many of you draw sticks from a cup to randomly call on students for student engagement.  This app does the same thing right from your iPad or iPod.  Simply give it a range of numbers, and it will randomly select one for you.  There are many versions you can download for free.

This is the one I downloaded.

 It is really very self-explanatory.  Here are some ideas for how students might use this in stations:

• Have students generate a number between x and y and write it in expanded form, identify the place value of a certain digit, etc.
• Have students generate two numbers and write a word problem involving those numbers.
• Have students "draw" their number.
• Use the number generator with a numbered list of words, sentences, activities, etc.  Students generate the number, then go to that number on the list.

Once again, this is just a tool that helps make activities you are already doing a little more engaging for your kids!

App of the Week: Touch Cast

I discovered this really cool app last week!  It allows your students to do videos that look like newscasts.  Imagine how this could tie in to your curriculum!  Have your students do some WRITING based on something you've discussed or read.  Have them practice READING it until they are fluent.  Then have them ORALLY present it through video.  It goes right along with what we discussed as a faculty about language.

I can see students acting as a reporter live at some event you've studied in History, making an instructional video on how to do some activity, interviewing a character from a book....the possibilities go on and on.

They can choose from several video types:  Instacast, Newscast, Businesscast, Sportscast, Here's How, Review It (think book or movie review), and Travel Diary.

They then choose from several apps to play during the video (just like a REAL newscast):  web page, photo, question, Google Map, Google News, Poll, List, Twitter feed, quote, etc.

Then all that's left is recording the video.  It's very user-friendly and will be a piece of cake for the kids to do.  They can then send you an email that you can share!


Check out this really cute example that Mrs. Towns did to explain how to do a jumping jack.  I was just experimenting, so the app you see on this video is the school website.  It could easily be replaced with any of the apps listed above.   http://www.touchcast.com/ramitchell 

If you are using Internet Explorer, copy and paste the link above in Chrome to view the video.

Mystery Skypes

We had two great Mystery Skype Sessions yesterday! 

Mrs. Williams' 5th grade students participated in a game with a class from Massachusetts.  Neither class knew the location of the other, so they took turns asking each other yes/no questions to narrow down an educated guess as to where the other class was located.  They started with questions such as these:

• Is your state east of the Mississippi River?
• Is your state one of the original 13 colonies?
• Does your state border an ocean?
• Does your state border another country?
• Does your state's name start with a vowel?

They were quickly able to narrow down their guess down to two states.  They had to use a lot of problem solving skills and rely on things they knew about history, geography, and map skills.  The other class asked us some questions they we haven't heard before, such as:

• Does your state flag have a star in it?
• Does your state have a coast line?
• Does your state border the Gulf of Mexico?
• Does the Rio Grande run through your state?

They were also able to figure out that we were in Alabama!

Our 1st graders did a similar activity with a class in New York.  Their mission was to use problem solving skills discover a mystery number.  Using numbers 1-30, they eliminated possibilities with questions like this:

• Is your number even?
• Does your number have two digits?
• Is your number greater than ____?

These seem like simple questions, but they are really important skills for first graders!  They need to understand these concepts before they go on to add, subtract, and solve problems.  Here is a picture from the class in New York at Todd School while they were playing the game with us.