Bringing the Zoo to School

Field trips are one of the best parts of being in school. So much learning happens outside of the classroom and students remember field trips for quite a long time. Well far too often school budgets don't allow teachers to go on as many field trips as they would like. If this is your situation, then you should check out a wonderful app created by the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

This $1.99 app is an easy way to take your students on a virtual field trip. Some of the features of the app include maps, tours, animals, news, and activities. Students can even access live video feed of some of the zoo animals including, pandas, gorillas, lions, tigers, and gorillas. There are also informational videos provided about these animals.

A fun feature of the app is called Zooify Yourself. You can upload a picture of yourself and add various animals features and noises, to transform yourself into a zoo animal. This could be a fun review activity for students to participate in at the end of the unit.

Students can use the zoo map to explore the different areas of the Smithsonian's National Zoo. They can select a red dot by an animal enclosure and when they do, information about that animal appears. Some animals even have a video and photo that go along with the information. A downfall is that the writing may be too challenging for younger students to read independently.

I would definitely purchase this app for my classroom. It is a great way to bring learning to life and expose students to information about various animals. By using this app, students also learn about maps and how zoos work. There are countless lessons a teacher can create using this app. These lessons can be tied directly to the information being learned in class. Students will love exploring the Smithsonian's National Zoo from the comfort of their classroom.

References:
[Untitled images of Smithsonian's National Zoo app]. Retrieved March 7, 2017, from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smithsonians-national-zoo/id545498325?mt=8

[Untitled image of Smithsonian's National Zoo app logo]. Retrieved March 7, 2017, from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xcosoftware.nationalzoo

iPad Lesson 8

For the final iPad lesson, the app used was called iLearn With Boing. This app is part of an educational series that focuses on multiple subjects areas. I used the literacy app for this lesson.

When you open the app you are directed to the home screen. There you see a giant iceberg and two little icebergs. On top of the big iceberg is a space ship. There are four creatures on the ice as well. The closest one to the front of the screen is an alien named Boing. The alien asks the student who they want to play with. They can choose between the bears, penguins, and the seals. Each animal corresponds to a different part of literacy. The bears work on letter practice, the penguins work on phonics, and the seals work on words. The only animal available with the free download is the seal. In app purchases are required to unlock the other animals.

After clicking on the seal you are taken to another page. The app tells the students the word they have to spell. Next, they have to put the seals in the correct order on the whale's back before it swims away. The app puts the first seal in the correct spot for the student so they can see what they are being asked to do.

Above the whale's back is a picture of the word they're trying to spell. Then on the back of the whale is the letters to spell the word. Above the letters is a shadow to mark where the seal has to go. The letters are already in the correct order on the whale, the student just has to drag the seals from the water into the right place. Each seal is wearing a winter hat that has the letter on it. When the seal is dragged to the spot it is supposed to be it says its letter sound.

In the top right hand corner there is a timer. Students are allotted a certain amount of time for each word before the whale swims away and they have to start over. Once students spell the word correctly, the app reads the word aloud before a new word is presented.

If students make it through a certain number of words spelled correctly they earn a prize. A little screen pops up and the student is allowed to play with their gift. It is usually something they can dress up and move around the page. After awhile the app redirects the student back to the original game. This is a great feature because other wise you may have students who just play with their gift the entire time instead of going back to the app.

For the lesson I taught the focus was on the student being able to hear a word and spelling it correctly, by naming its various phonemes in the correct order. The standard that went along with this focus was, RF.1.2.D.

To begin the lesson we first talked about spelling and what we do when we are writing and don't know how to spell a word. She told me that you sound it out. I then introduce the app and explained that she would be working on spelling different words. I let her know that she would need to say the word and the sounds she hears because it will help her with her spelling.

She then played level 1 of the seal game, which focused on words. The student picked up how to play the game pretty quickly and was able to do it independently. While playing, she always beat the timer. I encouraged her as she was playing to say the letter sounds along with the game. As she was working I had to remind her to put the letters in the correct order. She would sometimes begin by dragging the middle letter or ending letter first. After a few times reminding her that we want to start with the first letter, she began to do it all on her own.

This was a beneficial app that helps students with spelling. If I could change something about the app it would be that you can make it more challenging, by removing the outlined words. This way the students would really have to think on their own how to spell the words, instead of just mindlessly dragging the seals to their matching letter. I think that this app was too easy for my student, but I would still recommend it for kindergarten teachers to use with their students who are emergent spellers.

References:
[iLearn With Boing app logo]. Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://itunes.apple.com/ky/app/kids-abc-letter-spelling-literacy/id502026679?mt=8

Socrative

Socrative is a really great tool that is used to help support teachers when it comes to formative assessment. There are four ways in which teachers can use the app to assess their students knowledge. These four ways are: quizzes, quick question polls, exit tickets, and space race. Another bonus is that this app is completely free for teachers to use!

When a teacher creates a formative assessment, students can use any device in the classroom to
participate. They use a unique code to join their teachers page. From there they will be able to take part in the formative assessment. As students take the assessment, the teacher can view the live feed of the results. The data will be featured in a chart and the teacher can select whether or not to show the students names and answers. This live feed will provide the teacher with immediate information regarding how well their students know the information they're being tested on. On the bottom of the data chart there is a section that shows the class total and the percentage of students in the class that answered each question correct.

For a quick question, the teacher can choose between three types of questions. They can have the question be multiple choice, true or false, and short answer. The ability to choose the style of question you use allows the teacher to cater the assessment to his/her class. If they're running low on time and don't have time for students to complete a short answer response, they can make the decision to have students answer a true false or multiple choice question. Teachers can also choose to align their quiz they create with a common core standard.

The teacher can also put students into teams. This aspect of the app connects directly to the space race activity. Teams of students compete to answer the most questions correct on a formative assessment. The space race is also a timed activity.

Teachers who teach multiple classes can create various sections through their one account. They just choose from the drop down menu which class they want displayed. The teacher can also create a class roster on Socrative and use it to take attendance.

For being free, this app is truly amazing. It provides teachers with an easy way to conduct formative assessments. Teachers can monitor student data digitally and use the information to help cater the instruction to students needs. The program can grade students assessments and the teacher can upload this information to Google Drive, email it, or print it for their records.This app is a wonderful way to integrate technology its the 21st century classroom.


References:
[Untitled images of Socrative app]. Retrieved March 6, 2017, from https://www.socrative.com/index.html

[Untitled image of Socrative logo]. Retrieve March 6, 2017, from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/04/15-apps-you-should-try-with-your.html

iPad Lesson 7

For the 7th iPad lesson I used an app called Endless Reader. Endless Reader is a free app with in app purchases, that focuses on spelling. The words the app uses are sight words students need to know.

When you open the app you are taken directly to the homepage, which features a big monster opening his mouth wide. Inside of his mouth are different sight words you can scroll through. In the bottom right hand corner there is a circular dial with the numbers 1,2, and 3 on it. These numbers represent the different levels of sight words. On the monsters top lip you will see the alphabet. Some of the letters are shaded a light color and others are darker. If they're darker that means you do not have those letters unlocked. When you pay for the upgrades you can have students practice multiple sight words for the entire alphabet.


To begin playing you select the first sight word in the list, which is all. When you select the word you first see the word written how it should be. Each letter of the alphabet is a different color. After the app says the word aloud a crowd of monsters runs through the word and the letters go flying on the page. The student then has to drag the colored letters back into the outlined word on the page. When they drag a letter it says its sound. If they don't put the letter in the right spot it makes a silly noise. If it is put in the correct spot it says the name of the letter. After the word is put back correctly, music is played and the word is read again.

Once the student spells the word correctly, a monster comes and drags the word above a sentence. Then the monsters run through the sentence like they did the words and multiple sight words in the sentence go flying. It is then up to the student to drag the correct sight words to their correct spot. If they want to hear the sentence read aloud they click on the speech bubble in the top left hand corner. When the student is dragging a word to the sentence, the word moves and keeps saying how it's pronounced.Each of the words also have unique patterns on them to help the student remember its definition. For example the word up, had cloud inside of it.

After the student has correctly placed the words into the sentence, an animated clip is shown. This clip has a monster acting out the sentence. After the clip,  the app reads aloud the sentence. If the student wants to watch the clip and hear the sentence again, they click on the circular arrow which is on the monster. If the student feels ready to move on to the next sight word they click on the arrow in the bottom right hand corner. This will take them to the next sight word in the alphabet. If at anytime they need to go back to the home page they click on the banner in the top right hand corner that says abc.

For this lesson the focus was, I can practice spelling words by saying the word and listening to the sounds I hear. The common core standard that accompanied this lesson was, RF.1.2.D. The lesson began with us talking about things we can do to help us spell words we don't know. Immediately the student told me that we could sound out the words we are trying to spell. We have focused before on stopping and listening to the sounds, so I was very impressed that she remembered this from previous lessons. I then explained to her that listening to the sounds is helpful but sometimes words are tricky and have letters which are silent. We can't hear these letters so when we try to spell the word we may leave them out by accident. I told her that it is okay if that happens, because by listening to the sounds you will still be able to spell most of the word correctly.

When she opened the app she worked through all six unlocked sight words. I instructed her to spell the word on her own after the app read it aloud the first time. After that, she was spelling every word she was given. She did a good job with matching the misplaced letters to their correct spot. The student told me at the end that she enjoyed this app.

I would absolutely recommend this app to other teachers. The graphics, sounds, and content are all great. A pitfall however, is that the in app purchases are pretty expensive. If the teacher could somehow figure out how to find the funds to purchase this entire app, I truly believe it would be beneficial to those students who need practice with sight word recognition.

References:
[Untitled image of Endless Reader app]. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from http://www.hbook.com/2014/04/choosing-books/reviews/endless-reader-app-review/#_

[Untitled image of Endless Reader app home screen]. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app-bundle/endless-school-bundle!/id999169038?mt=8

[Untitled image of Endless Reader logo]. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.originatorkids.EndlessReader

Write About This

Write About This is an educational app that helps students with writing by providing an additional way for them to practice their writing skills. The price of the app is $3.99, so although I have not personally used the app I have taken the time to read about it online. 

The home screen of the app has six circles. They say: search, categories, random, my write abouts, create a prompt, and quick write. When students use this app they are able to practice writing using different prompts and eventually publish their work digitally.

Students can select from 125 pre-loaded images. These images serve as the inspiration for their writing. In addition to the images the app also has 375 text-voice prompts. These prompts provide guidance for the student as they begin writing. Students can either select their own writing prompts or the teacher can select them ahead of time for the student. The app also has the capability to read the prompt aloud to students if they cannot read it on their own. Three levels of writing prompts are available to the student. Level 1 is the easiest and level 3 is the most challenging. This feature of the app is beneficial to students because they can answer questions that correspond with their writing skills. If the teacher feels that none of the writing images or prompts on the app fit with what they're working on, they can create their own. This is a great way to tailor students writing to what they're doing in class.

Once students complete their writing they are able to publish and share. They can even upload a picture of themselves that will appear next to their name on the by line. I think that this app could be very beneficial for teachers to use in the classroom. As a teacher I would use this as a part of literacy stations. Students could use the classroom iPads to work on their writing throughout the week and publish it on Friday. They can even share their writing with their parents, so they can stay up to date on what their child is working on in school.

References:
[Untitled image of Write About It logo]. Retrieved March 6, 2017, from http://schoollyd.com/app-to-write-on-pictures

[Untitled images of Write About It app]. Retrieved March 6, 2017. from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/write-about-this/id601375313?mt=8

Lowering the Noise

If you have ever been in an elementary school classroom before you know that it can real loud, very quick. As a teacher it is your goal to make sure students remain quiet so they can focus on the work they have to do. A little chatter may be fine but it is important students know what is expected of them and what is a voice level you as the teacher find acceptable. While looking for great tools for the classroom I stumbled upon this app called Too Noisy.

Too Noisy is an app that helps the teacher monitor the noise level in the classroom. A meter is used to show where the noise level currently is in the room. The teacher has the capability to change the sensitivity of the meter. This way the teacher can make sure the app is adjusted to the activity students are doing. If the noise level in the classroom gets too high an alarm will sound. If the alarm is too quiet on your iPad or iPhone, the company suggests connecting your device to external speakers.

I think that despite the $3.99 download price of the app, it could be a great investment in a classroom. Students will be held accountable for their noise level and the teacher can use the app as a way to monitor noise level while they're conferencing or working with a small group. As students are quiet and the meter doesn't move into the red, they earn star awards. The teacher can then incorporate the star rewards into the class behavior management reward system. I would definitely consider purchasing this app to use in my future classroom as a way to help ensure students are working in a room that is quiet and on task.

References:
[Untitled images of Too Noisy app]. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from http://toonoisyapp.com/

[Untitled image of Too Noisy logo]. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from http://toonoisyapp.com/

iPad Lesson 6

The sixth iPad lesson focused on spelling sight words. Sight Words 2 was the app used for this lesson. During the lesson the student practiced using spelling strategies she has been working on in order to spell the various sigh words correctly.

Sight Words 2 is a free literacy app teachers can download for their student to use during the school day. When you open the app you are taken directly to the homepage. This page has an image of a wood post with six different options you can choose from. The top of the post says words tour, followed by find n shoot, unscramble, memory game, bingo, and practice words. At the top of the page there are two gear wheels that say settings. After clicking on settings you have the option to have the app use grade 1 or grade 2 sight word lists.

For the word tour the app reads through ten different sight words, letter by letter. The student has to click on the right arrow to hear and see the next word. By clicking the circular arrows in the middle of the two arrows the app will spell the word again. When you want to go back to the homepage you click on the little house in the bottom right hand corner.

The game find n shoot has the student "shoot" the chosen word by clicking on it. On the easy level there is a small box at the bottom of the screen that tells the student which word they need to find. For the hard level the student only hears the word and they have to find it in the clouds.

The unscramble game has the student spell different sight words from the letters provided. On the
easy level, the student sees boxes that have the letters written inside which make up the word and the student has to drag the letters from below to its matching spot. When it is switched to the hard level the student only hears the word and isn't provided any hints for how to spell it.

Memory game shows six different clouds for the easy level. The student has to click on the clouds to try and match the sight words together. The app will read the sigh words aloud to the student once they click on the cloud. For the hard level there are 12 clouds, so it becomes more challenging for the student to find the matches.

The bingo game is similar to traditional bingo. A word is read aloud and the student has to click on the word on their game board. When they click on the word, an image appears to show that they have that space taken. There is also a timer on the bottom right hand corner to show how long it has taken the student to get bingo. On the bottom left hand side it shows how many incorrect words the student clicked on.

The last activity is called practice words. This allows the student to practice the words they have marked red during the first activity, word tour. Once a word is marked red, it appears highlighted in white with a microphone on the right hand side. When the student clicks it, the app reads the word aloud for the student. Students can use this part of the app to practice words that they found challenging.

For the lesson, the common core standard addressed was RF.2.3, which states the student can listen to a word and think about the sounds and letter they hear. We began the lesson by talking about the importance of sight words an why we need to know them. I explained that when we read sight words it is like reading any other word and we want to make sure we think about the sounds we hear. Thinking about the sounds we hear will help us when we work on writing the sight words.

We then used the app to practice what we just discussed. She played the unscramble game and began on the easy level. At the beginning she struggled with unscrambling the words in order and would put the letters back randomly instead of starting from the first letter. It took a lot of reminding, for her to do this naturally on her own. After going through the list one complete time on easy mode, I switched it to hard. I noticed her taking the time to say the word after the app read it aloud, which is what we have been working on. If she didn't put a letter back in the correct spot the app would make a silly noise then the letter would go back to the bottom of the screen.

This app was beneficial when it came to having the student practice spelling sight words. I personally think that it could have been more engaging, however the student did enjoy playing and asked to play again once we finished. If I could change anything about the app it would be that a sentence was provided along with the sight word. A sentence would help the student see the word in context, which would allow them to develop a deeper understanding of the word instead of only knowing how to spell it.

References:
[Untitled image of Sight Words 2 logo]. Retrieved February 27, 2017, from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playsightwordsII