Free Apps

For those of you that use Everyday Math or are looking for some math apps, McGraw Hill has many of their Everyday Math apps for free right now in the AppStore. Not sure for how much longer as they have been free for a couple of days already so don't wait, check it out now.
My kiddos really love Monster Squeeze! Check out the video below to get an idea of what the app is like.

Keeping it all straight

Where does time go? This time of year is always SOOOO crazy! Although I've been immersed in technology, I just haven't had the time to sit down and share things that we've been doing in my class. Hoping that over the next couple of weeks, things will slow down a bit (excluding parent-teacher conferences) and I can start blogging more about the adventures we are having this year with our 1:1 iPad classroom

A little teaser in the meantime though...
I have been pondering a way to better show the kids the apps that I would like them to use during math workshop or Daily 5 time. Many of my kiddos are good at remembering or simply have their favorites that they always seem to go to, but I also have those kiddos that need a visual. 
The chart below is my solution (not kid tested, but will be after tomorrow). 

This was simple and very inexpensive to make. I simply found pics of the various apps we are/will be using this year and then sized them (approx 3x3), printed them off and laminated them. I then purchased a piece of black poster board, foam squares (from the $1 store) and used some velcro dots that I got for cheap off of eBay. I used a white and gray crayon to add the iPad details, glued on the foam squares (cut to 4x4), and then added velcro dots to the foam squares and the backs of the app icons.  I left the home row area empty as I plan to use bright colored, precut letters  for a catchy title. Any great ideas???? 

My plan is to add the apps as I introduce them so students can see which apps they are able to use that particular day. This won't include the ones we use daily as a class (weather, calendar, etc), just the ones that they will be using during their independent work time. I'm hoping that this anchor chart will help to keep everyone working independently during Daily 5 time while providing the visual cues that some of my autistic children and focus issue kids need.

Pets In The Classroom

Have you heard of Pets In The Classroom?

This is a wonderful organization that helps Pre-K through 8th grade teachers support pets in the classroom through direct, no-hassle educational grants. You can obtain a grant for the purchase of new pets, pet environments or pet food and supplies for existing classroom pets. I applied for and received a grant last year which provided me with the funds to get a 10 gallon aquarium for my classroom. It was a totally simple and quick application to complete and I found out within a few weeks that I had been one of the recipients. Within a couple of weeks of being notified, I received a packet in the mail with coupons to go to the pet store I had chosen to purchase the items I needed. 
This year I applied for and was ecstatic to have received a sustaining grant. These grants are intended to support pets or aquariums in the classroom for the purposes of teaching children to bond with and care for their pets responsibly. The sustaining grants are in the amount of $50 which allowed me to purchase new filter pads, a decorative rock and background to improve the habitat of our fish, fish food, supplies to clean the tank and some new fish.

Again, I can't say enough about this organization and the joy it has brought to my class over the past year. My kiddos have become very responsible in helping to feed our fish and check the temperature of the water and have acquired a love for our pets. On a daily basis you will find kiddos over by the tank checking on the fish, reading to the fish and even writing to them! 

If you are interested in a classroom pet, I encourage you to check out the Pets in the Classroom site for more details. Pets are not limited to fish. you can also apply for grants to purchase small animals, birds, and reptiles.

One your mark... get set...

Go!!

The beginning of the new school year begins tomorrow for me (without kids) and our Open House is Wednesday evening. Today has brought a mad dash to finish up some Pinterest-inspired projects for Open House and the beginning of the year.

My room decor is dog-themed and I've incorporated quite a bit of bright, almost neon colors, around the room. (I forgot to take pics when I was at school yesterday. I'll have to try and remember tomorrow)  That being said, these great little "flower sticks" will add the perfect touch for Open House. I found the idea on Ginger Snaps. She has quite a few other fantastic neon printables as well. Needless to say, I was in heaven going through her blog! I'm going to place one of these at each of my students' spots along with the "Me Bag" below and a raffle ticket.

Here is the "Me Bag"  I found on Mrs. Heeren's Happenings. I have these printed and stapled to lunch bags. I'm going to tell students that this is their homework for the 1st day of school. I'm excited to see what they will bring to share with the rest of the class. I think  this will be a fantastic way for all of us to get to know each other a bit better and break the ice on the 1st day. You can find the printable here.

Last, I put together a little raffle gift. I've never done this before but thought it would be a fun incentive for the families that come. I found the Chinese-style box at The Dollar Store and then filled it with Dollar Store items. I filled it with glitter glue, silly string, grape scented erasers, playdough, and a pack of telling time flashcards. Each kiddo will have a raffle ticket at their table spot along with the other items above. The raffle tickets are also from Mrs. Heeren's blog. They are part of her Open House Activities pack which you can find here.

This is by far one of my favorites though. I simply put my kiddos names into Wordle and then played with the font, color, and layout until I found one that I liked that matched my classroom colors for the year. I'm going to frame this and display it somewhere in my classroom or outside of our door. 

Whew! Needless to say even though it was the last day of summer vacation, when I wasn't taking the dog to the vet or getting ice cream with my kiddos, I was working on school stuff or scouring the dollar store for those last minute odds n' ends for my classroom. Ahhhhh... I now need to stay off of Pinterest until school starts for fear of finding another idea that I'll want to implement prior to the kids coming. 

QR Fun!

Sight words are a big part of learning to read and write in a first grade classroom, but often times are one of the most mundane of tasks. In an effort to try and make this task a bit more fun and interactive with a technology twist, I made QR codes for all of my sight words. My plan is to post these around my room for students to find and scan with a QR reader on their iPads. 

I'm also going to create a checklist with all of the words so students can check them off as they find them. In this way, I figure they are reading it on the checklist as well as reading it from the QR reader. Along side of each word on the checklist, I am also going to have a line for them to write the word as well. My hope is that this will make sight word practice a bit more engaging while also getting my kiddos up and moving. Everyone loves a good scavenger hunt, right?
QR Scavenger Hunt

To make the QR codes, I used a sight called Kaywa QR Code. You can access it by clicking on the link or scanning the QR code to the left.  You can create a code for a website, text, phone number or a text message. Creating a QR code takes only seconds and once your code is created, you just need to copy and paste it to your document or use the embed code to add it to your website or blog.

click image to access iTunes

So you say you can't scan it because you don't have a scanner, well if you have a smartphone, iPad or iTouch, you can download an app called QR Reader for free. There are lots of readers out there and some have some extra features, but I've found that this one serves my purposes just fine. 

Another great site that I recently heard about and have played with just a little is QR Voice. This site allows you to input up to 100 characters of text. It will then create a QR code for you to copy and when scanned your text will be read by a synthesized voice. What a great tool for students who may have trouble reading directions. I was thinking I could use this in my Work on Words area during Daily 5. I'll just make a QR code for the directions and tape it into the drawer that the supplies are in. If students don't remember what to do, they could easily scan the code and have the directions read to them instead of coming to me and interrupting reading conferences. Check it out for yourself by scanning the code below.

Pinterest, oh my!!

How many of you are in love with Pinterest like I am? Oh my!!! I had a summer FULL of pinning; now I need a make-and-take day  week, well in all actuality,probably a couple of weeks to make everything I pinned.

I love coming up with new ideas for my classroom, but honestly, sometimes I just lose my creative juices when I'm thinking so much about technology and which app might help to hit home a particular concept or showcase my students' learning. So seeing everyone else's ideas is always refreshing.

Here are just a few things that I've made that I'm excited to use in my classroom this year.

Love this idea! When students need to use the bathroom, they will place this at their table spot so I know who is gone. When they come back they will take a squirt of hand sanitizer before putting the "pass" back on the counter. I'm hoping this will help to ensure clean hands and less germs in our room and on our iPads too. 







Here's another one... I've been using Daily 5 for a number of years and have dabbled with CAFE as well. I love them both and love how students have more independence as well as a better sense of what their goals are. I've always wanted to do something similar for writing. Well... thanks to Pinterest, wish #535 has come true.

Next, I  made "theme journals" for the kids to use at the writing center during Work on Writing time. I six all together: sports, ouch, dinosaurs, vacations, pets, and family. I really think this will be a hit with the kids. I don't plan to pull them out right away, but rather use them as a motivational tool when things start to get a bit mundane.  One of my colleagues used this idea last year  and had great success with them. Most of the clip art I used is from the DJ Inkers, Critter Craze collection if you're interested.

http://pinterest.com/pin/275704808408977358/ 

I also found this fantastic resource that I plan to use with my kiddos when we begin to edit our writing. Click the link under the image if you'd like to check it out for yourself.

Ok, off to work on my next Pinterest-inspired project... seeing as I only have a few days left before school starts I better get going on my "make and take" days since they days are dwindling fast.