"Read to Empower" Week: Classroom Resources #2

Teachers,
I decided to begin sharing some fun Dr. Seuss ideas to celebrate reading next week.  I love, love love Dr. Seuss and it IS his birthday this weekend!  Below are some great ways to integrate and really try some new activities or tried and true activities with a new twist, in your classroom...


"If I Ran the Zoo"
In www.switchzoo.com students can mesh different types of animals together and write about them. Writing ideas may include: a rhyming poem, compare/contrast why this animal would or would not survive, a fiction story about the animal, a study on what predators or prey this animal might have, or just a fun silly story of how the animal came to be!


"Fox in Socks"
Have students create tongue twisters, like "Fox in Socks"!  They can recite their tongue twisters and record on the iPads to stitch together for a funny class video!


"Hop on Pop"
Create word families!  Words can be basic (PK-1) or use prefixes and suffixes for higher grades. Students can create their own word family creations (on posters, in their writing journals, or on a word cloud or collage app/website, such as: www.wordle.net, www.tagxedo.com, https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wordsalad-your-salads-redefined/id545164778?mt=8 (free app in iTunes)


Super-Cool Tip:
Practice writing poetry or stories, using rhyming words.  Students can visit http://www.synonym.org/synonym/ to help find rhyming words!


Brilliant New Discovery:
Katie Hollis just shared "Shmoop" with me and it is a fantastic website.  For older students (4th and 5th) students can choose different books, then and read about the meaning behind the words. I took a look at the "Lorax" resources and activities. You could put assign a small group to any of the Dr. Seuss books on this site and let them research away!  Really interesting way to view some of his writing.
http://www.shmoop.com/dr-seuss/

"Read to Empower" Week: Classroom Resources #1

"Read to Empower" week begins March 3rd.  We will provide some simple ideas and activities for you to use in the classroom that require little to no extra time for you! 

Need ideas for BOYS who are reluctant readers? 

Great titles on this blog: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/19847/recommended-books-for-boys

Stories read by celebrities:

• Tim Tebow reads "Green Eggs & Ham" (4.29min): http://youtu.be/jejfpWYlCR0
• Betty White reads "Harry the Dirty Dog" (4.51min): http://youtu.be/7j0OY3236jw
• Justin Beiber reads "Cat in the Hat" (8.27min): http://youtu.be/8jV_VaKW4Tw
• Melissa Gilbert reads "My Readheaded Older Brother" (10.11min): http://youtu.be/ogoEpqfdVaw

Other good videos of books being read:

• Fun version of "Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes" (4.25min): http://youtu.be/nUubMSfIs-U
• Very cheesy but good version of "The Grouchy Ladybug" (10:40min): http://youtu.be/RFNZvJbzmms

Totally random but awesome video I came across...

• LL Cool J raps about punctuation!!! (1.07min): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhJJMn4yTho&feature=share&list=PL5590C03657E32B52&index=30

(I previewed all of these videos for you.  However, if anything "odd" comes up, please let me know right away!)

Always,

Finding Free Apps...

I am a little behind this week on our Free App of the Week, so instead of continuing with the tradition, I thought I would share some of my favorite resources for finding free apps. 

Apps for Finding Free Apps

AppsFire: Everyday there are new free apps listed. You can even customize the types of apps you want to see everyday. Very user friendly and easy to use.

AppsGoneFree: Everyday see 5-10 apps that are free for the day. Not all educational apps, but a quick way to oversee a handful of apps that have gone free for the day. 

Email Alerts

One of my favorite resources for finding free apps is SmartAppsForKids. When you first open up their website, look to the right hand side. You can sign up for email reminders. They will not send you a million emails, typically they send just one a day. From that email, you can access all of their free and discounted apps. This website is also a great resource for finding good educational apps that have been tested by others in the field of education. They also have SmartAppsForAndroid and SmartAppsForSpecialNeeds. A lot of high quality resources. 

If you are a memeber of TCEA you can sign up for their free app alerts, or you can follow them on twitter @TCEA and everyday they tweet out a few free apps. 

Just want to find good apps based on topic or subject?

Common Sense Media has a wonderful list of apps and games that are great for school. Also, Appitic is a great resource for finding apps for education. Amazing website that is also very easy to navigate. 


Your FLI,

App Of The Week: App Flow

AppFlow

Have you ever wanted an easy way to share apps you love with others? Or seamlessly create lists of iOs apps to share with parents? Have you heard of AppFlow? AppFlow is a free app that allows you to easily create lists of apps on your ipad or iphone. Then you can share the link to your list with others. Those who have the link to your list can easily download the apps to their device. It is truly amazing!

Enjoy!

Your FLI,

App/Website of the Week: Symbaloo

Did you know that the word Symbaloo is a Greek verb that means to gather or to assemble? Well the name truly reflects what this program allows you to do. Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking tool that can be accessed from anywhere. When you register at Symbaloo you can begin creating webmixes made up of your favorite webpages and apps. You can then color code and add images to your tiles. Then let the sharing begin...You can share you webmix with parents, students, and teachers. You can even search for other webmixes that others have already made. 

Educational Uses for Symbaloo

• Student eportfolios
• Personal Learning Environments
• Sharing Apps with Parents
• Collecting resources for Project Based Learning
• Many, many, more

Great Introductory Video

How do you Symbaloo? Please comment below! 

Your FLI,

App of the Week: Remind101

This week's F.F.F.A (Favorite Fabulous Free App) is Remind101. A BIG thank you to Mrs. Kellie Raymond for highlighting Remind101 during our speed date your iPad session at Envision Innovation. Remind101 gives teachers a great way to communicate with parents and students through text messaging without exchanging any phone numbers.

Here is a quick video that gives a quick overview on just how Remind101 works.

  

You access Remind101 from the App or from the Website. You simply log in to your account. Select the class you'd like to send a message to, type your message and send.

Download the app from the itunes store here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/remind101/id522826277?mt=8


If you need any assistance with Remind101 stop by your CL&I and your campus FLI will be excited to help!

Have a great week!

Your FLI,

Week 2

A lot of great things happened this week, and even though it was only a four day week it sure did feel like a whirlwind packed with a lot of learning.

Highlights from this week at Rooster Springs

• Ms. Lloyd finished her incredible Humpty Dumpty lesson with her kinder friends and as a culminating activity they made a group Educreations. View it here: http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/mrs-lloyd-s-class-rules/10069569/ I love how all of the kids participated with their voices.
• I was lucky enough to get to help the fabulous third grade team with their community unit by showing many classes a Google Earth tour of Dripping Springs and discussing how the community has changed using the historical views. Mrs. Northrup also had me show her students where she grew up.
• Mrs. Barrett's class finished up their scientific process Educreation's presentations and they are wonderful! 
• A 4th grade student in Mrs. Troppy's class brought me an incredibly well written script that she had spent her holiday weekend working on. She wants to produce it in the production studio when the equipment arrives. We have a brainstorming session next week. I was very impressed! 
• A group from Mrs. Haas' class has been using the Collaboration Corner every day during their recess to write a movie. They have worked so well together and put a lot of heart and soul into their project.
• My fabulous assistant Ms. Shana has truly gotten the library portion of The Center under control. I have loved watching her interaction with students. Today I caught her sitting on the floor reading jokes with a friend. 
  
• I got to spend a little time in art with Mrs. A as we collaborated on some great ideas she has for art students using devices and photography. I also caught this wonderful message on the board to her students.... 
  
  
  
  
  
• I also got a glimpse at Mrs. Young's wonderful Prezi presentation that she prepared for the 4th grade Ace parents. It was so very cute! 

All in all it was a successful week here at Rooster Springs. I am sure so many more wonderful things happened, this was just the glimpse I got. Please share the wonderful things that you know of in the comments below.

Your FLI,