Wednesday, April 9, 2014

April Evidence of iLearning

Here are some examples of great things happening in our classrooms using iPads.







We have been exploring eggs through books and egg-speriments this week.  The kids took notes and did some sorting (comes from eggs/born alive) in their IN9s.  Then, they used their notes to write what they felt were the most important pieces of information to share about eggs.








The second grade students' goal was to create a circuit so that it would work and to know the parts of the simple circuit.  They also needed to know that a circuit needs to be a "circle of electricity," which is why one of them commented on the fact that it was a circle. 

On their test, they will need to draw and label a circuit, so Megan thought this would be a great way for them to use their actual experiment in the classroom to practice.  This was our first time doing videos so the sound quality is not great, but this will improve with more video practice.  Click here to see their model.







In Kindergarten, we are learning that there are multiple ways to make the same number. In Everyday Math, these are called "Name Collections."  Using Easter candy, the kids explored name collections and took photos of their ideas. 












In Second Grade, we have been learning about prefixes, suffixes and root words.  I had different words written on cards and they had to use Skitch to take a picture of the word on the card and identify different parts of the word and tell me what it means.  I had them email their work to me and then they shared it with the class.  They LOVED it and it was a great way for me to see assess their knowledge of prefixes/suffixes/root words.









The children used the iPads to take pictures of plane shapes and three dimensional shapes found in the school.  They then returned to the room and wrote the characteristics of their shapes.  There writing and pictures were then put into the following presentation using the Skitch and Educreations apps.  Click here to see the video.






Kindergartners are visually showing their understanding of place value using Froot Loops and then writing their understanding in expanded form and as a number sentence.










These kindergartners start their morning by using the iPad to respond to their teacher's blog question of the day.  What a great way to start their day writing their thoughts and ideas!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Modeling Math Thinking with iPads

The iPads are a great tool for having students make sense of math and talk through their thinking as evidence of their learning.  Kids can illustrate math thinking using an app like Educreations, and talk through the steps they are taking.  Talk as they illustrate!  They can also look at how to solve problems in a different way.  Visual examples could be created  for the class of different ways to complete a math task.  Imagine your students having a conversation about math and how to do math.


Can you think of an application of this idea and have students model math and share their thinking?  Share it here.


Here are some links to support this:


How to Establish a Digital Math Culture in Kindergarten
Making Math Thinking Digital with iPads
Math Think Alouds
Zig Zag Blog:  Math
Explain your Thinking with Math

My Favorite iPads Classroom Blogs

There are some lovely teachers who are blogging what great things they are doing in their classroom or about cool and useful apps.  Here are my favorites for inspiration and ideas..... in no particular order!
What are your favorite sites with great ideas?  Share here.