2nd Graders Describe a Scene

Like the 1st graders the 2nd graders created a scene with the app My PlayHome Lite. Most chose the kitchen because it had more fun objects to move around, but there is also a living room. I love this app because it really engages students but there is a lot I can do with it related to the standards.

2nd Grade Writing Expanded/Super Sentences

Students used either Toontastic or Story Maker to create a scene with 1 person. They imported it to Story Buddy and wrote a super sentence including an adjective, adverb, where and when.

2nd Grade Hero Cause and Effect

We have read a lot about heroes this week. After reading about Molly Pitcher and Jackie Robinson we practiced finding facts about their life to answer specific questions and we used the Tools4Students app to record facts. As a review of cause and effect each student then drew 2 pictures in Drawing Pad to show cause and effect related to the hero. They imported the drawings to Strip Design and added captions.

1st Grade The Mitten and The Hat by Jan Brett

After a read aloud of The Mitten and The Hat by Jan Brett students completed several digital activities. Using Tools4Students they completed a sequence of events for each book. Next, they used the same app to compare/contrast the stories.  Finally, they used iDiary to write about which book they preferred and why.

1st Grade Skip Counting

We are practicing skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. As a break from workbook pages, students used either Chalk or Drawing Pad (their choice) and created a picture of skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s showing a sequence of 4 numbers (3 separate pages). Along with each picture they wrote the skip counting and matching addition equation. For students who needed an additional challenge I gave them a number other than 2, 5 and 10 to start with.

1st Grade My PlayHome and Story Buddy question practice

Students started out with the lite version of the app My PlayHome. I love this app because it's so playful that it engages the students, and yet there is a lot I can do with it academically. Students chose either the kitchen or living room and had some time to explore and re-arrange objects. Once they were satisfied with their scene (or I told them time was up) they took a screenshot. They brought the screenshot into Story Buddy and then wrote 3 questions. Later in the day students exchanged books and answered each other's questions.

1st and 2nd Grade eSpark

I was VERY fortunate to get the financial backing from my school to pilot an app called eSpark. I spent a few hours over the December break receiving PD from eSpark and rolled out the program to students Tuesday. In a nutshell eSpark provides an individual ELA learning curriculum on the iPad for each of my students and ties it to the CCS in reading. Students sign-in to their eSpark account on the app and are directed to watch specific videos and play specific third-party apps that target skills in their reading goal area.

I had to ship off my iPads on Wednesday to have third-party apps installed by eSpark so my students only had 1 day to try the program but so far they are very excited. I think they like the idea that they are each learning something different and it is created specifically for them. On the downside, we have had no iPads for most of the week and won't be able to use them again until Tuesday. On the upside, I am not loading all the apps myself (40-60 per device), that is something that eSpark does for me.

I'll keep you posted on how our journey goes with this program.