Today we took a social studies quiz using the app socrative. I created a quiz with questions based on the three chapters we had read so far. The students were able to see the questions and click on the answers. This is a neat app because the results are instant. I don't have to take the time to grade the quizzes, I can see the students' answers immediately. I would like to use this type of assessment tool more often because it will help me to guide my instruction.
This week the students have been learning about the life cycle of a plant. They are also learning why each part is important and what its job is. Today we went out in the gardens and took pictures of the parts of the plants. We got pictures of seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Then, I sent them an outline of a book in book creator through airdrop. They filled the book in with their own pictures. Next, they are working on adding either text or their voice to explain why each part is important. It is neat to see the students creating their own books using their own pictures and voices! I used pic collage to create a collage of ways to figure out and display a subtraction problem. We used airdrop to get these collages into everyone's ipads. Then, the students opened absolute board and got the picture to the app. In absolute board, they were able to solve the problems using the subtraction mat. We projected student work on the smartboard to see how our classmates were solving the problems. They were able to save their work within the app. It was a great way to show our work and talk about how we solved the problems in different ways. Our class was having a bit of trouble writing our small moment stories during writer's workshop. So today we started something new. Instead of writing the books the traditional way, we are trying to use the app Book Creator to help us. The first things we are doing are drawing sketches across the pages of the book to help us generate our ideas. Next, the students are recording what each page is about using the voice recorder. These are the prewriting steps we are trying to help us organize and remember the details in our story. We will see if using our ipads will help us create more focused "seed" stories. Today we practiced both letter formation and spelling using absolute board. I typed up some of our word wall words that all first graders are expected to know in Pic Collage. I used air drop to get all the students that image. Then, they opened the words in absolute board. In this app, they were able to trace the words and save their work within the app. They will continue to practice spelling these important words throughout the year. Raz Kids is an app that has impressed me. I used this app a few years ago and it was not as reliable as it is now. The students have login information in their yellow folders so they can use it both at school and at home. I set the level to what I thought would be a good starting point for reading independently. Here is what the students are supposed to do in this order: 1. Read the book yourself. 2. Record your voice reading the book. 3. Take the comprehension quiz. 4. Listen to the story. If students work on the stories in this order, they are able to practice their reading strategies on their first read, practice their fluency while recording themselves, check how well they know the story in the comprehension quiz, and then listen to someone else read the story at the end. The students work on Raz Kids at school during their listening to reading literacy choice a couple times a week. Today we used an app called Shadow Puppets. I've been trying to find the best app to record student fluency throughout the year. This app was very simple to use and has many possibilities for other projects. The students took pictures of a book they felt very comfortable reading fluently. Then, they recorded themselves reading the book as they were scrolling through the pages. I am hoping to have the students record a book each month so they can hear how their reading improves throughout first grade. I'm also excited to see what else we can do with this app! Today I introduced the students to the website ixl.com. Some of your children may have used this website last year. Today the students were given a username and password. IXL is a great website that gives the students lots of extra practice on skills we are working on in math. It keeps track of their progress and if they get something wrong, it explains the problem to them. The students will be given specific skills to work on that match the math units we are working on. This should have been in their take home folder. If they finish the skills on the list, they can go back to kindergarten skills and practice those. IXL can be done at home and at school. I am looking forward to having the students use this website for additional math practice. |
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May 2015
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