First Grade Penguin Research

My first grade students research penguins as part of their non-fiction and science unit. This unit provides them the opportunity to practice reading informational text and work on identifying key words and facts while reading. Students find the answers to questions concerning the life, habitat, eating habits and body of penguins. They work with a partner and complete the organizer below. This year we used the database Pebble Go created by Capstone publishing. If you have read some of my other blog posts, you may see a reoccurring theme of using this resource. This is my school's first year purchasing this product and is was well worth the money. It is specifically geared at kindergarten through third grade students and aligned with the Common Core State Standards. I use it a frequently with my first and second grade students especially. The students are easily able to navigate the page. They click on tabs to move to the different pages, each labeled with a heading that matches the ones on their organizer. The database also allows them to define new words with just a click and the audio capability makes it accessible for all students.

The following week I showed the whole class how to use a software program called Kidspiration. At the smartboard I show them how to access the program and the key features I would like them to include. This is another week where we invite parent volunteers into library class to help support the students in the computer lab. I provide parents with a cheat sheet to using Kidspiration so they have a reference guide as they assist students. In the past we have had students work in groups of four to five, but this year we decided to use partnerships with the exception of a  few groups of three. This seemed to go much smoother because it eliminated the down time for each child. They worked on collaboration and team work skills as they took turns in the "driver's seat" at the laptops (the seat in front of the keyboard with mouse access). Each group was responsible for the task of creating an idea web showing the research they had found on penguins. They were required to add images and use toolbar functions. 

Students typed the main idea and heading for each circle.

Partnerships added images to support their research.

Students incorporated tool bar functions by adding background and text box colors.

The kids really worked well together. Penguins are an animal students find interesting. It was fun to hear them excitedly talking and sharing facts they learned about these birds. Even though we had parent support, students are really able to do a large amount of this project independently with adults their to support and model if needed. The penguin webs they  create are a good foundation for additional penguin work that occurs in the classroom.

A third grade teacher approached me about using IPADs to create some sort of math video. She wanted the students to create rhymes that would help them learn and teach others the math facts. She had divided her class into groups with each group being responsible for a certain multiplication math fact set. At first she as thinking of recording the kids saying their facts, but then I mentioned the app Educreations. I had been wanting to use it with a class and this seemed like a great opportunity. We scheduled some extra time for her class to come to the library to learn how to use the app. I went over the basics with the class and then they had time to explore and play with app.

The following day they came back down with their rhymes completed. I showed the class an example I created so they could get a better understanding of what the final products would look like. Then they started to create their slides. Students were encouraged to keep it around five slides and reminded that their words would provide the additional information. They continued working on the slides in their classroom and then came down for one final library time to record. The groups were various sizes. The classroom teacher and I learned that groups of two were able to create and record smoother than the larger groups. The groups of four and five students struggled a little with the wait time until they were able to record or add graphics and how to divide up the work load.

Overall the students did a really nice job. They were having fun, smiling and laughing, but were on task and working hard. They were very excited when they shared their videos with the whole class.

The 3's Facts

The 8's Facts

The fifth grade social studies teacher and I worked in collaboration on an Explorer unit. Students were given five questions to research. They worked with a partner. Students then were told they had to present to the class before February vacation. They can present in any format they want. Some students took the opportunity to try something new while others chose a presentation method they had experience with already. Students created Power Points, Photostories and then some used apps to for their presentations. They had to include the answers to the five questions, but it was neat to see how they creative they can be.

One of my groups created a short movie using the app Tellagami. Tellagami allows users to create an avatar. Then they can type in text and the avatar will read it. They stumbled upon two problems. One, the free app limits the amount of text you can add. They decided to create two separate Tellagami's so they could include all of their information and then combine them together in IMovie. The second problem was, the avatar didn't always pronounce everything correctly. They girls had to figure out how to phonically sound out some words so they avatar would pronounce it the right way.

Explorer Tellagami

Another group used the app Educreations to create a short video. Educreations is basically a way to screencast a series of pages and add images and recordings. This group liked how accessible and easy to use Educreations is, however they learned the hard way the apps biggest downfall. Unfortunately, you can not save the project as a draft. It needs to be created straight through or you will loose your work. Even once logged in their doesn't seem to be a way to save and unfinished product. (If anyone has figure out how to, please share!) After a third attempt the group created a successful video.

Explorer Educreations

Sharing Revolutionary Biographies with IPADs

As part of the third grade curriculum students learn about the American Revolution. This year we decided to research important people of the Revolution. Students started by collecting information using the statewide databases.

Then I introduced students to an app called Skitch. The students were able to pull images of their revolutionary person from the web and then annotate them. During the first class they learned the basics of the app, such as how to add an image and the tool bar functions. The following class they created their Revolutionary Biography Skitch.

Next, I taught students how to use a QR code to access their class wall on Padlet.com. Padlet is a great way to easily share work in a public space. The students were able to teach each other how to post onto the page and by the end of the class everyone had an annotated picture posted. The class will use the slide show feature in Padlet to present to the class. The students were focused the whole class and were excited to see their classmates work on the wall.

Check out their work by clicking on the link below.

Our Padlet Wall