Grade 1, QR Codes & Research

Online research with Grade 1 students is tricky! To learn more about landmarks in Alberta, a couple of our grade 1 classes decided to create their own website and then use iPads to link to certain pages.

The task the students had was to find out more about their chosen landmark. Once chosen they would get an iPad, connect to the internet, and then use QRafter scanner to scan the poster for their landmark. Once at the website they would write two facts about that landmark.

 

 

Once their facts are written we will then create postcards in Comic Life to print out or send home to their parents.

Green Screen Video

Green Screen is still one of the best resources (if not, THE best!) we have in our school. After a few questions relating to the green screen lately, I have updated my Green Screen tutorial. It now has a Do Ink Green Screen for iPad overview.

 As this is made in Google Slides, I will endeavor to keep it up to date and relevant. I will do this over the coming days and keep it on going. Let me know is it's missing something.

Backing up Book Creator to Google Drive

In our school we share 2 carts of iPads with 600 students. Although we do A LOT of work around digital citizenship and the respect of other people's work, we still have the occasion when work gets deleted. Book Creator app has the ability to upload it's files to Google Drive and then download them again when needed.

When students put a lot of effort into a project, the worst thing to happen is that it gets deleted. This tutorial will hopefully fix that.

iPad Art: Adobe Ideas

Although Adobe Ideas is no longer supported by Adobe (they updated the app and re-released it as Adobe Draw) we still love this app. Using its layering feature a grade 3 class created images by tracing over a photo then deleting the photo layer afterwards. I created the images below through using this technique.

  

 

The last image was also also imported into Keynote to add the text then exported again by taking a screenshot.

iPad Art - Type Drawing

A grade three class I was just working with just completed working on a project about children's rights. As an extension of the project, we created some visuals using Type Drawing App.

Type allows you to mark-up images that were previously saved to the camera roll.

The finished project creates an image that can display text about that image. Here's is an example I created with the students.

 

Creating with iPad

I often get asked about ways in which iPad can be effectively used to enhance learning. I thought it fitting to create something using iPad to show what this powerful device is capable of.

Made with Explain Everything

Todd Parr Inspired Self Portraits

I just completed a little art project with our Grade 1 students using Adobe Ideas iPad App.

After reading a few Todd Parr books, Ms Krause's class decided they wanted to draw some Todd Parr self portraits. To get the look we wanted we decided that Adobe Ideas, a free drawing app, would be the best bet.

  

First, we drew the outline using the black pencil tool:

Then we coloured in the parts of the face by holding finger down within each defined area. By holding the finger down it recognizes that you want to fill the area. The area you want to fill must be a closed shape.

Once the face was completely filled, we created shrunk the face down (by pinching) then drew a border around the entire face - Zooming out allowed us to colour a large enough area that we could crop in the next step.

 

Once the outside border was filled, we used the pinch technique to zoom back in on the face so that it filled the screen nicely. once exported the image would be cropped to the same size you see once zoomed in. Then we exported (shared) the image to the camera roll/photo app.

Here are the finished pieces that this talented Grade 1 class completed! Todd Parr will be proud!

 

Stop Motion - Time lapse

We've had an meal worm observation station in our learning commons for a couple of months. Now it's time for the those creepy crawlies to change!

This is the set up we used. The crucial part is keeping the iPad steady.

  

I've always wanted to record this process somehow so we played around with documenting part of the process with a stop motion video using Stop Motion Studio. The problem with meal worms is that they change so randomly and once they start they are fast. We picked up this meal worm a little way into it metamorphosis process. We got enough of the process to see some good changes taking place.

We used a mini tripod and also a iTrek Super Mount from Amazon to connect the iPad Mini to the tripod. 

600 pictures and 4 or 5 hours later we ended up with the following video

or watch on YouTube here - http://youtu.be/9jXaYnSDnCs 

Taking Photos - A Success Criteria

Kindergarten are learning to take photos using iPad. We first got them into the learning commons, we wanted to get them just taking photos, so we learned how to take a selfie (an important skill in today's world).

Then we switched to the other camera and learned how to take a photo of an object. We then created a success criteria of how to do so. The students came up with the criteria. I provided them some words to help describe each criteria.

Now we have something to refer to when we taking photos in the future.

Documenting in Kindergarten

In Kindergarten, we are always looking for new and engaging ways to use technology. Today we started a centre type activity where small groups of 6-8 are coming into the learning commons to take part in a sorting centre.

The students have been learning about grouping and sorting and this was a chance for them to independently apply their new learning in a way that suits them.

We used iPads to help them document their learning. Once they completed their set, they used iPad to take a photo of their work. Then they tried to make a new set.

 

To keep their work amnd to access it later on, we simply added a name tag to the work so we could track it later, once downloaded to another device or computer.

With todays work, we exported the finished images by using Airdrop to get them all onto one device before downloading.

  

Documenting Trees with iPad

This week I started a project with a grade one class to do with trees and changes. The plan is to take photos of trees through the different seasons of the year.

Taking photos and DC

Firstly we had to learn/review how to take photos with the iPad. We also looked at some digital citizenship around taking photos with a mobile device as well as some handling guidelines. We decided to have each student in the shot for ease of organizing the photos once we downloaded all the photos off the iPads.

First go at it

We headed outside and broke the class into two smaller groups (about 12 students) we walked around the school to find trees and take some photos. After a little bit of modelling, we all chose our tree and then took our first photos.

  

Review and full class assessment 

After completing the outside task, we headed back in to view some photos and clean up the camera roll from the extra shots. We quickly realized that the students were not able to take photos of the trees  as we had hoped. There were cut off tress, crooked photos, unrecognizable students etc, etc

Success criteria 

We selected a few examples and non-examples of good photos and had a discussion with the class. Using a Google presentation, we made notes on what we noticed was wrong with the photos and what was good about the photos. We also added some tips about what the photographer could do improve on that photo.

More practice

After creating the success criteria and tip sheet, the student once again took some photos using the iPads. This time, we just worked in the learning commons and took photos around the inside space, being mindful of the composition of the photos.

Outside: Part 2

After having further practice, we moved outside for the second time and tried taking our photos again. It turns out that the practice and discussion about how to be successful made a big difference.

Watch the blog for some of the things we do next with our photos.

    

4 Compelling Ideas Using Book Creator App

I am always trying to find new and exciting ways to use Book Creator and other eBook Creators in the classroom. Here is a post found today by the creators of Book Creator.

http://www.redjumper.net/blog/2013/10/4-compelling-ideas-using-book-creator-classroom/

iPad in the Classroom - EdcampYYC

Today was EdcampYYC 2014

What a great day of learning! In the afternoon, I facilitated a session on iPads in the classroom. The document below are the points we covered and discussed throughout the session.

Click here to open the Document in Google Drive

Recommended Apps for #YYCBE

After writing my last post, the idea came up that we should begin a recommended App list for the Calgary Board of Education.

Please note, this list is not recommended by the CBEILT team or our School Technology Support people BUT rather, a few teachers that have used iPads extensively in their schools. 

The list is merely a list of great Apps that we know work well within our network, with our Google Apps accounts, and also those that may require a little more thought around Web2.0 the CBE guidelines.

The following document may look and work better by opening in Google Drive.

Click to open in Google Drive ~ http://goo.gl/QBSpW5 -

iPads for Assessment in Gym

I love seeing our teachers becoming creative and experimenting with different ways to use iPads in the classroom. This week, two of our teachers came up with a creative way to use iPads in Physical Education.

As we all probably know, assessment in Phys. Ed. is sometimes tricky, especially in something like gymnastics. This simple idea these grade 4 teachers had is to have the students film their routine that they were assigned with.

After sufficient practice time, students chose when they were ready to record their routine. The idea would be to record it, then in iMovie record a voice over that explains what they are doing in their routine.

 

The students loved the performance factor of being recorded on video. It added an added sense of ownership and accountability.

Creating Stories - Making eBooks

Some students really struggle with narrative writing. Some struggle with writing in general. 

This week I began working with a class to create some interest around writing stories. We used technology to help us create our own picture books. Some students chose to find and use pictures from the Internet. Some choose to draw their pictures using the Doodle Buddy App. Some used Tux Paint (on the computers). Some even created their characters using a Minecraft Skin creator (www.minershoes.com). Once pictures and plans were created, we used Book Creator to compile and write the story.

This particular class is often unmotivated to work but once we introduced this innovative way to write a story, the attitude changed ten-fold! We found almost everyone of the students in this class were/are engaged throughout this writing process.

Not perfect!

These stories are certainly not going to be perfect narratives but this was an excellent way we could get them to buy-in to the writing process and begin to show some interest. From here, we plan to take it a step further and create some success criteria for writing a story. At that point, we can work on improving their writing.

 

The Process

The students were to plan their story with your typical mind-map style graphic organizer. Then they worked on planning the sequence of events. Once these were completed they started working on the making and compiling part.

Doodle buddy - Those that chose this app, drew their pictures then saved to the camera roll. The images could then be imported into Book Creator.

Tux Paint - Those that chose Tux Paint on the computer would draw their pictures in Tux Paint,  then export the image to their Google Drive, then - A fairly easy process once you've done it a couple of times. 

Minecraft Skin creator - These students created their [Minecraft looking] character then took a screen-shot of the finished person. They then uploaded to their Google drive, logged into Google drive on the iPad and then imported into Book Creator. There was also an option to then import Minecraft character into Doodle buddy to add more details or accessories to their character.

The interesting thing about using this website was that a lot of students who decided to find and copy their characters from Google changed their mind and began creating/making their own characters. What an amazing way to utilize a 'gaming' website.

The books are still a work in progress so will try to post more pictures as we go.