I ❤️❤️ finding and creating opportunities for students to connect and share their learning outside of the 4 walls of their classrooms! This year for Read Across America week I've put together a Flipgrid that has multiple topics to give each of your students a place to share their ideas and learn together. If you're looking for an opportunity to amplify your students' voices and have them share their love of reading and Dr. Seuss books, then please come and take a looksie! If you've never used Flipgrid, let me be the first to tell you that it is SUPER easy for students to use and I've used it successfully with both kindergartners and 1st graders! So if you've ever wanted to try Flipgrid here's your chance! https://flipgrid.com/drseussbirthday. I'd love to have you join in and connect with us and others!
Here's a link to download a copy of this image so you can print and post it in your classroom.
Simply have your students open the Flipgrid app and san the QR code shown with the built in QR Reader OR have them enter the Flip Code: drseussbirthday
I had a blast over the past couple of weeks helping the first graders with their special SNOWpinion writing pieces. After talking with the first grade teachers, it was decided that we would have students type their pieces on a collaborative Google Slides document in order to get some authentic keyboarding practice while also exposing them to working on a collaborative document. This was the first time these kiddos have experienced working on a collaborative document and with a little careful planning, and a pinch of patience, everything went off without a hitch. Having an index slide definitely made this endeavor super easy.
Headache Saver: Make sure that all of your students are on their slide and that the cursor is blinking on the frame they're going to write on. We had a few deleted slides and kiddos working on others' slides in one class as they didn't click on their frame before starting.
After everyone finished their writing, we saved the file as a PDF and then printed off the file so each student could display their writing in the hallway along with a snowman art project they had created.
During our planning time, the teachers also shared that one of their objectives was to have students present their pieces as they wanted to focus on presentation skills such as voice volume, clarity, and speed. After some discussion, we decided that we would have students use DoInk's Green Screen app to share their piece to add an element of authenticity and fun. Students choose the background they wanted and then bundled themselves up to create their SNOWpinion presentations. The end results were adorable and the students did a fantastic job practicing and preparing for their speeches. As students finished, they uploaded their SNOWpinion to Seesaw where they were able to share it with their peers as well as their parents. Green Screen Tip: Have all of your background images saved to one iPad so you're ready to go. We did all of our videos "live" right in DoInk with the background image already inserted. As you finish each recording save it to the camera roll for ease of uploading it to Seesaw, YouTube, etc later on.
Add-on Alert: After all of the students' were finished, I imported their DoInk movies into iMovie. (This was super easy to do because all of the videos were on one iPad!) I added a title frame from our shared Google slide deck and some background music and then shared the finished movie with the teachers for them to share with their students as well as parents via Seesaw. We also talked about how this video could be used at conference time by having it playing on an iPad on a continuous loop outside of their classrooms for parents to enjoy while they are waiting for their child's conference. Here's what the finished video looked like:
Hard to believe that February is wrapping up and march is just around the corner which means, Read Across America Week! Believe it or not, March 2nd is NEXT Friday- YIKES! You'll find several ideas this week that you may find helpful as you plan your week!
This week's Tech Bytes brings you an awesome site for virtual field trips~ Learn Around the World, which if offering a virtual field trip to Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home. Definitely something to look into!
Another great site that I learned about last week, MashupMath, is also featured. This site has a variety of mathematical critical thinking activities for your students. You'll even find Star Wars themed activities that I'm sure a lot of your students will flip over!
Have you tried the new Seesaw Activity feature? I can't even begin to tell you how much I ❤️ LOVE❤️ this feature!! There are SO many positives- like being able to share an activity with an entire class and knowing who has completed the activity with just a quick glance. What an amazing time saver for a busy teacher. What I truly love though is the ability that ALL students now have to share their voice and what they know despite fine motor, spelling, or self esteem issues. Being able to use the microphone tool to share their knowledge versus the frustrations of putting a pencil to paper is an incredible feature for our youngest learners. Don't get me wrong, these young scholars still need to be able to share their thoughts through writing, but providing this tool opens a door into their thinking as they work on solidifying their letter/sound knowledge. So in honor of Valentine's Day, I'm sharing the Seesaw activity ❤️ love....here are a couple of Valentine's Day activities that you can try with your kiddos.
