1st & 2nd Graders Code with Daisy the Dragon and Hopscotch

On Friday I gave students some "free" time with either Daisy the Dragon or Hopscotch. In pairs or threes they had 20 min to explore one or both apps. I stressed ahead of time that I wasn't going to teach them a lesson or tell them what to do--it was all on them to figure out whatever they could figure out. There was no final product, no test, if they wanted to sit and stare at the screen for 20 min that was fine with me. Of course none of did that, but there were 3 groups that came up and complained they "didn't get it"/"couldn't figure out what do to". I sent them back to problem solve. Guess what, when that 20 min was up every group had accomplished something and they were all laughing--the best sound ever!

We have only 4 days left to enjoy our iPads! Hopefully we'll have some more time for coding.

2nd Graders Use Actively Learn to Read My Father's Dragon

To go with our "scary" unit, 2nd graders read My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett. Rather than read paper books, I asked Actively Learn to set up the book in their interface. I linked some background information, added some notes about different thinking I had as I read, and posed 11 free response questions.

Students read in pairs on iPads. Their response to reading in Actively Learn (their first experience) was that they liked it. Their favorite part was seeing responses from their classmates.

I will definitely use this program more next year, probably with PDFs since there are not many Project Gutenberg books at a 2nd grade reading level that I think will also hold student interest. It was easy to use, easy to see feedback, and ore interactive than the same assignment on paper.

2nd Graders Relate to Being Scared

This week 2nd graders read several different books about being scared. These included Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express, Thunder Cake, Creepy Crawlies, and several monster books. In addition to paper activities, each student created a Popplet showing what they were scared of. This seemed like a great way for them to relate themselves to the unit topic. Given the things we had read and talked about, I was expecting answers more like swimming, the dark, monsters... what I got from a lot of students was a bit more dark. Maybe they are watching too much adult TV! In any case, their Popplets did lead to some further discussions I hadn't expected.

1st Grade Shape Attributes in Drawing Pad

As we finish out the school year one of our last first grade math topics is shapes. After shape hunting around the school, counting faces and corners, and manipulating blocks, I asked students to choose their favorite shape and describe it to me. They needed to tell me the name of the shape, how many faces it had, the shape of the faces, and whether it could slide, stack and roll. I asked them to use Drawing Pad to complete the task.

1st and 2nd Grade Popplet Review of the Year

Pairs of students created a Popplet of activities they remembered from our year together. After about 20 min of adding to their web, they did a "gallery walk" to look at the webs created by their classmates. Then they had 5 more min to add additional ideas to their own web. I always like looking back on all we've accomplished, and it always intrigues me to see what students recall the most.

1st and 2nd Grade Create an "Eat Healthy" TV Commercial

Our class studied nutrition in depth back in the fall. We cycled back to the topic last week because it tied in with some other learning. After reviewing ways to stay healthy, pairs or groups of 3 students created a TV commercial (all used Educreations by choice, although I left the app choice open) promoting the topic. I required that their TV commercial be 30-45 seconds or less.

http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/food-group/8613493/?s=lbpuiH&ref=appemail

1st and 2nd Grade Synthesize Facts and Create an Educreation Video

My first and second grade students read a Scholastic Who Would Win book (grizzly bear v. polar bear, lion v. tiger, or killer whale v. shark) with a partner. They used the categories listed at the end of the book to compare the 2 animals. Using Educreations (or any other app of their choice, although all 12 groups chose Educreations) they explained which animal would "win" in each category. Then they put all the information together and predicted in a fight which animal would win. Next year I need to be more specific with my directions. I had wanted more explanation than I got. For example, "polar bears would win in size over grizzly bears because they are about 400 pounds heavier" rather than just "polar bears are bigger than grizzly bears".

http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/by-mailynn-and-arya-grizzly-and-polar-bear/8584219/?s=dhS7Jt&ref=appemail