Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Paper Snowflakes and common core....


Snowflakes...and the common core! 
Today we made the most amazing snowflakes. My students folded and cut out the beautiful snowflakes that you see in the picture above. How is this related to Common Core..well let me explain: 
First we read an expository text in our ELA book about snowflakes and how they are formed. Then we discussed the fact that snowflakes all have 6 points or arms, which we decided meant that they must have a line of symmetry. We watched an informational video that explained the steps to create these beautiful paper creations, and then we all folded and cut them out.  Each student was engaged, each student participated to his/her ability, and each student created a product. I have added the link to the youtube video and also I have listed the standards that we covered. Enjoy!

Tutorial Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd8kEItoh-k

Standards:

Snowflakes…. are examples of symmetry
We can identify and create line-symmetry figures.

Reading for Informational Text Standard 7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages).
Mathematics Standard 4.G: Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.


Thursday, August 6, 2015

Poetry and Animoto

I had my students write a Haiku poem and then turn it into an Animoto Video.
Animoto is very easy to use and is free. The students found images that went along with their poems, selected an appropriate theme, and picked music. The results were amazing. I have added a link to an example video that I created. 

https://animoto.com/play/W7S7by2B0gQS59mdxsGNVw

Friday, July 31, 2015

New apps to use in the classroom

I love looking for and trying out new apps to use in the classroom. I especially love Free apps. I have used the LearnZillion website for a while and just realized they now have a free app that contains a huge amount of math and ELA content that is Common Core aligned. Check it out!

Check it out! 

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Story Me

Today I introduced Story Me to the students.  This free app is a comic strip creator app.  Comic strips in the classroom? You might ask. Yes, comic strips in the classroom.  This lesson ended up being part history and part language arts.  First I had to discuss and introduce the students to comic strips! I was shocked to find out that they had no idea what a comic strip was! Really you say!! Really!!! So I showed them Peanuts and my personnel favorite, Calvin and Hobbes.  Then I explained how you read a comic strip and finally talked about cells.  Then the students took some pictures of their classmates to use in their comic strips.  I also had them brainstorm to come up with ideas for their strip.  Next the lesson moved into the language arts portion when we discussed dialogue and the correct way to write dialogue.  We talked about flow.  The students enjoyed the lesson and many of them said that they downloaded the app on their iPads at home.  Below is a comic strip that I created using images that I got off the Internet.  It is just an example of what we did. Enjoy!!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Snowman Keynote presentation...

I saved it as a Power point so everyone could see the final product.  This lesson was intended to show the students how to add shapes, lines, and, color to a keynote slide. The students really enjoyed making their snowman appear!
Snowman lesson



Ideas for before and during Christmas Break

As Christmas break looms upon us I have a few suggestions for quick lessons to do with your students.
  1. QR generators - I have found that the easiest way to ensure your students are going to the correct website is the create a QR code and have them scan it.  This works especially well with younger students or students who have difficulty typing.  I did a "webquest" using FactMonster.com recently.  These are easy to create.  My topic was Winter Holidays.  First I went to Fact Monster and looked up facts about winter holidays.  Then I wrote questions to go along with the facts.  I had the students scan my FactMonster QR code and then search for the answers to the questions.
  2. Anytime is a good time for some Toontastic!!! And with all the new updates this app never gets old. If you do not have Toontastic on your classroom ipad you need to get it now.  The entire tool box is a steal at $9.99.  With this purchase you get all characters past, present and future! Best 10 bucks you will ever spend. Around the holidays you can assign a historical Toontastic or make them work in pairs or small groups to create cartoons. It is important to explain what you want the end product to resemble..length, number of characters, amount of dialog.  
  3. Yesterday my students and I created animated Snowmen using Keynote. I started by adding one slide with a simple circle on it.  Then I copied the slide and added another circle, as so on until I had created a snowman.  I then added a Christmas tree. The students loved it and  enjoyed making their own snowmen.  It was a great way to show the students some of the features of keynote and then have them practice using them.  
  4.  Free Tech 4 Teachers  - this site has so many great resources I don't know where to start. Check it out!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Stopping the Summer Slump..

         
Summer is almost here and while everyone enjoys some down time it is important to not shut down all the way.  Our students need to continue to exercise their brains as well as their bodies.  The below link has some great ideas on how we can help our kids to stay mentally active this summer.

Technology Activities for Summer Vacation


As teachers we too need to stay mentally active this summer.  I know that I will be looking for new ways to engage my students in the Technology Lab as well as in the gym.  A great way to find new apps is to check out AppsGoneFree everyday.  This app lists paid apps that are being offered free of charge for a limited time.  I have found tons of educational and organizational apps using this site.

AppsGoneFree




I also suggest reading AppAdvice...These are the smarty pants behind AppsGoneFree.  You can subscribe to the daily feed. Check it out, they have great info about new apps.  

Here is a great article from Oklahoma about stopping the summer slump..Stop the Summer slump
.
 And finally here is a link to an educational blog that has a great article on..Reducing the Summer slump

I hope you find these links helpful in stopping the slump! Have a great Summer and remember don't shut off all the way!

Happy Apping,
Ms. Adderley

Monday, April 15, 2013

Testing Week....

Yup...it is testing week.... Need I say more...  :)


Friday, April 12, 2013

Italian Vacation

Here is one of my Animoto Videos...enjoy

Italian Vacation

My new obsession...Animoto

I have rediscovered a movie making program that is now available as an app..Animoto. It is an iPhone app, but works beautifully on the iPad as well. With a couple pushes of a button you can create professional looking movies/slide shows with your own images and music! The free version allows you to us 12 images to create a 30 sec. video. For a mere $4.99 you can create videos with up to 300 images and save them onto your iPad or home computer. Theses videos can also be shared on Facebook. Try it out! I know you will be amazed at your results. I know I am.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Thank you to everyone...

Who sat through our presentation. I hope you learned something or at least enjoyed listening. Please contact me with questions or comments!

Before our presentation

The room was huge and people where already starting to sit down 30min before the presentation. Praying it goes well!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Slides from NCEA presentation

 iPads in Education presentation slides


Link to the slides from NCEA presentation


Keynote Lesson Plan

This lesson uses the Keynote app. It integrates Social Studies and technology.

Keynote Lesson Plan

Cheesecake Thief Lesson



The Case of the Cheesecake Thief?This lesson uses several online sites.  It is a multi-class period lesson. It is a very creative way to teach photo editing skills, comparison of images, placing and retrieving documents in DropBox (we chose to use DropBox as a central location for all the students to compare the fingerprints).
Cheesecake Thief Lesson Plan link






Skittles Math lesson plan

This lesson uses the Numbers app and skittles...Yummy!

Skittles Math Lesson



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sock Puppet Lesson Plan

 The below link will bring you to the Sock Puppet lesson plan. A fun and informative lesson that integrates technology and social studies.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1tz1AGdIOKpcjJWdFI0cDJweVU/edit?usp=sharing