App of the Week: Haiku Deck

I have really enjoyed seeing all of your Cyber safety videos.  You should all be very proud of yourselves.  Hopefully, next week we can run them in the lunchroom for everyone to see.  Here are some of the apps I've seen you guys using for your videos:

Camera
(Even if this is all you used, you still used an app!)

Sock Puppets

Splice

Pic Collage

Tellagami

I know it's really hard to find the time to do something extra like this, but hopefully it has introduced you to some new things you can use in your classroom.  Now and you and your kids know how to use these apps and they are just another tool for you to add to your toolbox!  Thank you for all the effort you put into this project!

On to the app of the week.

This app came up this week when a teacher asked about having her students make a PowerPoint.  This app is very similar to PowerPoint, but with much fewer options, so it's easy for kids to use.  They can search the web for pictures within the app, as well as add their information.

You will have to create a free account and log in to for the first time on your iPads.  The great thing about this is that you can access your students' projects at www.haikudeck.com and share them with your class.

What a great way for students to share their research!

App of the Week: Story Creator

First, I'd like to share a picture of how Mrs. Shelton's class used the "Story Me" app I shared last week.  They took pictures on their nature walk and created their story in the app.  Good job, Mrs. Shelton's class!

This week's app was recommended to be by Mrs. Shelton, as well.  It's something all ages can use and it will fit right in with your reading materials.  Here are a couple of screenshots from iTunes.

The students simply add a page to a storybook, add or draw a picture and text, and record their voices.  Mrs. Shelton's class took pictures of their retelling cards that go with their reading materials, drew borders on them, and recorded their voices retelling their story.  It was super easy and such a fun way for them to use the materials you already have.

I can also see you using this to tell math stories, explaining vocabulary in science or social studies, etc.

I LOVE seeing how you are using your technology.  I hope some of you will try this app next week and share with me what your kids have created!

I would also like to brag on Mrs. Deavor.  Her class celebrated National Dot Day this week, and they used the Colar app to scan pages and watch their dots come to life.

Mystery Skype

This afternoon our 3rd-5th grade students Skyped with Brainpop artist, Mike Watanabe.  Brainpop is a favorite website among our kids at Mitchell.  

To start the Skype call, the students tried to guess where Mr. Watanabe was located.  We had three teams of students.  Some asked questions, some recorded answers, and others eliminated states on the map based on his answers to the questions.  The students quickly narrowed their guess down to two states:  Hawaii and Alaska.  Mr. Watanabe then announced that he was calling from Honolulu, Hawaii, where it was 8:30 in the morning.

He then went on to tell the students about how he studied to be an artist and how Brainpop was born.  In celebration of Cyber Safety Day, he quizzed the students on safety rules for using the Internet.  A few students were able to ask him questions.  The students really enjoyed connecting with Mr. Watanabe!

Cyber Safety

September is Cyber Safety Month at Gadsden City Schools.  We have spent some time in the computer lab talking about how to protect ourselves and our computers when we are online.  Our second graders have been learning to use the Pic Collage app, so we used it to make some posters about Cyber Safety.

Pic Collage

App of the Week: Story Me

Check out this application on the App Store:

Story Me – Collage, comic strip, and cartoon maker for photos Evtim Georgiev Category: Photo & Video Updated: Aug 23, 2013 Here are some ideas for classroom use! Have students take pictures of an object and tell about its attributes.  (a pumpkin?) Take pictures of your Retelling cards and have students retell your story with the speech bubbles. Have kids take pictures of themselves to tell a short story. Make math word problems.