tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47154589459404264162024-03-05T17:55:55.906-06:00Techno-BabiesA Kindergarten Classroom's Adventures with TechnologyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-60329384422860044932014-03-31T17:28:00.000-05:002014-03-31T17:28:47.955-05:00QR codes in the Listening Center- Follow UpSo earlier this year I posted about using QR codes in my listening center. If you want to read more from the original post, here is the link.<a href="http://technobabies.blogspot.com/2014/02/qr-codes-in-listening-center.html" target="_blank">QR codes in the Listening Center</a> Today I want to quickly share a fast and easy way that I have started generating these codes. In the past, I would go to a QR code generator via the web, paste the audio file web address from my dropbox , generate a qr code, cut and paste the code into a label template in word and then print. Recently I learned that I could add a chrome extension that would not only shorten urls when I need but will also generate a qr code in a small pop up box right on the same screen. Now I just open dropbox, click the file I want, and click the shorten-er icon. This will take the file web address, shorten it, and also generate a qr code from it. I can also copy the code directly from the pop-up. I still have to cut and paste into the label template but it no longer requires as many steps! I am definitely all about simplifying. If you would like to view a screencast of how to add and use the shorten-er extension. Please click below.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-65975502651454186932014-03-22T14:58:00.000-05:002014-03-22T14:58:21.944-05:00Expository Text in KindergartenWell we just finished our first week back after spring break! We began our unit on expository text and writing. "All about" books as the kids call them. I started out by telling the kids we were going to choose a topic together and that we were going to learn how to research that topic using books, experts, and of course technology. My class immediately chose sharks as their topic. We then decided that we needed more shark books than I had available in my classroom. We learned how to use our online library catalog to choose and order books from our school library. The next step was to choose three questions that we had about sharks. Our questions were "What body parts do sharks have?" "What kinds of sharks are there?" and "What do sharks eat?" Each day we read books and looked on various internet sites such as Nat Geo Kids, Discovery Education, and even the Wild Kratts from PBS kids to answer our questions. We charted and compiled all of our information. We also "consulted" some experts by visiting the live webcams from The Monterey Bay Aquarium. They have a fantastic site and each day you can watch a live diver in the tank who will talk about all the different fish. Toward the end of the week, I modeled and demonstrated how to turn their research into "All About" books. The coolest product that we made was using the site <a href="http://www.thinglink.com/" target="_blank">Thinglink</a>. I signed up for a free educator account and then helped small groups create a Thinglink report. Check out one below.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Whale_shark_Georgia_aquarium.jpg#tl-503593751252303874;1043138249" style="max-width: 100%;" /><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-63264852595086899662014-03-01T15:22:00.000-06:002014-03-01T15:22:44.682-06:0020 Questions Live!<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Over the last two weeks my kinders have been playing 20 questions
with our twitter pals in Michigan. I got this wonderful idea from an
amazing kinder teacher, Matt B. Gomez. Hop on over to his amazing blog
for other incredible ideas. <a href="http://mattbgomez.com/" target="_blank">Matt's Blog</a> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">After reading his inspirational blog post and
watching his video, I decided to give it a try. Both my class and
our Michigan pals had an absolute blast. I set up a simple google doc and
shared it with the other teacher. We agreed on a time and voila....
amazing, relevant learning with real world application. My kids were
completely engaged in the reading/decoding, asking questions, answering
questions, and learning digital citizenship! We played one week with my
class selecting a Texas Longhorn as our "item" and our friends
asked the questions and then the following week we played again with us asking
the questions. We had to guess a mitten. This was so easy to set up
and do that we are going to try some other versions. Perhaps a game
centered around math next time! I have included the link to a video of my
class answering questions the first time around. Give it a try! You
can find someone in your building or another school or if you have
connections with other teachers in other states. It is so fun & easy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/381nw9da0fp7kqi/VID00023.MP4" target="_blank">20 Questions video</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-87464130213673637012014-02-25T18:05:00.000-06:002014-02-25T18:10:31.598-06:00Teachers Pay Teachers Sale!<div style="text-align: center;">
Hop on over to my Teachers Pay Teachers Site to pick up some digital resources! </div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/SitewideSales" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="300 × 300" src="http://mcdn.teacherspayteachers.com/img/sale_banners/sale_300_300.png?rand=002139" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-7082935723110042082014-02-16T15:42:00.000-06:002014-02-16T15:42:49.461-06:00Documenting Literacy Station WorkMy kids have a wonderful time using the stamps in working with words stations. They stamp a picture and then they write the word under the stamp. Usually they would complete this station and then turn it in to me. This was fine but they wanted to take their work home with them. To give them that ability, I used to quickly snap a picture of it and give it back to them. This worked fine from a digital portfolio/documentation standpoint but it was me using the technology and not the kids. I wanted to turn the control and use of technology over to them. For this reason, I put Evernote & Skitch on our I-pads & I-pods. I started by teaching one "expert" child how to open Skitch, take a picture, annotate by adding text, and sending it to my Evernote. You can see an example of his work below. Normally they include their name so that I know who completed it but I chose one that he left his name off of. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHC8ZZaS7wtvdYUIV6yPslWJlPd0r6A0XRY4exJ2VR1eg06e6eriBVc8ga1p0dm1An-zq1TcJki930N_TzMAqs4JeCFzU3m126xwqaBOYUSdOIb-bOknsc7Lk5ARB_4BzfK02_2HoBCHdK/s1600/skitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHC8ZZaS7wtvdYUIV6yPslWJlPd0r6A0XRY4exJ2VR1eg06e6eriBVc8ga1p0dm1An-zq1TcJki930N_TzMAqs4JeCFzU3m126xwqaBOYUSdOIb-bOknsc7Lk5ARB_4BzfK02_2HoBCHdK/s1600/skitch.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
He, in turn, began teaching others and now we have a VERY popular word work station. One of them even snapped a photo of me teaching guided reading the other day and it showed up in my evernote! Slightly off task but cute!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-3638989211347500312014-02-07T17:39:00.000-06:002014-02-07T17:39:29.516-06:00100th day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4jOE2LHyC8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
So we finally reached our 100th day of school this week! It was a little delayed thanks to two ice days here in the Houston area but Thursday was the big day. We had a ton of fun counting all sorts of things to 100 many different ways. We wrote down 100 sight words, collectively read 100 books, made crazy 100 hats, and of course dressed up like we were 100. One of my favorite projects of the week was our 100 year old self portraits. The kids used tear art to create them and then they had to write about what they would be like when they were 100. We then took out our ipads and used our face talk app to record what they wrote. Each student sent me their mp4 file with drop it to me and dropbox and then I made a QR code for each of them. They glued the QR code to their picture so that when they take it home, their parents can have a video of their animation. I wanted to share them with you so I made a compilation video of their clips. Also thought I would share our Kinder teachers taking part in the 100 day fun!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-81249278979461007752014-02-02T14:29:00.001-06:002014-02-02T14:29:49.573-06:00Podcasting in Kindergarten!<div>
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So I use several methods to communicate with parents about our classroom activities but i still had trouble getting some parents to "seek" out my weekly update. They were just passive about it. Then one day during snack time, one of my students asked me what I was typing up. I explained that I was sending a message to his parents about what we were doing during the week and what we would be doing the next week. He then looked at me and said, " Can I help?" That blew me away! That was it. Surely I could get parents to seek out the weekly news if their own kids were the ones giving it to them. Now the question was.... how do I get 5 year olds to send out weekly news? I didn't want them to have to write it and then correct it so that it was legible. They would be much better at just verbalizing it. That is when I decided to try weekly podcasting. Each week, we brainstorm the weekly news and announcements as a class. We use shared & interactive writing to compose the news and then I select two "guest podcasters" for the week. They rehearse their readings in small group with me and then I use audacity to record them. When I am finished and have saved the file as an mp3, I upload it to edmodo. The kids are super excited and always go home and get their parents to log in and listen.</div>
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If you don't use edmodo, you could always use podbean. A player is available to place on classroom webpages or blogs. Of course, it is always an option to email the mp3 file to parents.</div>
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Try your hand at podcasting! It is a super fun way to give your kids a real world application of reading, writing, and speaking.</div>
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<a href="http://adamskinderbuzz.podbean.com/?source=pb" target="_blank">AdamsKinderBuzz</a></div>
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Cheers,</div>
<div style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">
Ellen</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-72844971779960406152014-02-01T14:10:00.000-06:002014-02-01T14:10:00.322-06:00QR codes in the listening centerOk. I have to admit that up until this year I have HATED the listening center. Years ago when I first started teaching there were books with accompanying cassette tapes! NIGHTMARE! The tapes had to be flipped over, changed out with each book, and they were always getting chewed up. I tried getting individual "walkmans" to go with each taped book but I still ran into the problem of having to teach which buttons did what and they still had to be rewound, flipped over etc....
I thought it would get better when CD's came out. I found myself using all of my scholastic points to replace my taped books with CD versions. I got parents to donate individual CD players. Now, I wouldn't have any chewed up tapes. Right? Right, but..... I still had the problem with the buttons and they ran through batteries like crazy! Ugggg.
Enter the digital age. Ahhhhh.... now i have three ipod touches, 2 mini ipads, a kindle fire, and a galaxy tab in my room. I set about on a mission to turn each of my CD's into a digital file that could be accessed easily by the kids without my help. I did this by using audacity. We have the software on our school computer but you can download it for free. (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) Once I had each CD in Mp3 format, I tinkered around with making playlists. This just didn't work because at the beginning of the year, my techno-babies couldn't read. They could work an ipad with ease but they couldn't read the titles of the books well enough to locate them in the playlist. That is when I decided to try QR codes. I quickly uploaded each of my mp3 files to my dropbox and then copied the hyperlink and pasted it into qr code generator. (These are easily found by doing a search for qr code generator). From there I just print the codes onto stickers and affix them to the back of the books. The techno-babies now just pick a book, scan the code, and sit down to read. No buttons, No flipping, No chewed up tapes, and they have rechargeable batteries! YEAH! Also, the bonus...If I don't have a CD for a certain book, I can use audacity to record myself reading the book and do the same thing.
Next goal....buy a tape to mp3 converter so I can put all of those old tapes to good use. Any recommendations?
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-17725624064356423882014-01-28T12:26:00.000-06:002014-01-28T12:26:28.482-06:00Practicing Numbers in the TeensWe have been busy this week (in between snow/ice days) practicing numbers in the teens. Most of my students had a pretty good grasp on rote counting but I quickly discovered that they did not truly understand the order of the numbers or have a good handle on which numbers were larger and smaller. They struggle with counting forward and backward from a number other than a benchmark number and they cannot explain why one number is larger or smaller than another. One game that we are going to use to practice numerical order (and some logic skills) is Nearby Teens. I found this game on k-5 math teaching resources and since I have a smart board as one of my digital math stations, I adapted it to use there. I love how it turned out with the cute monsters! Hop on over to my TPT store to check it out!<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monster-Nearby-Teens-1083783" target="_blank">My TPT store</a></div>
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Cheers!</div>
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Ellen</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-425650553154972252014-01-25T13:34:00.000-06:002014-01-25T13:34:00.483-06:00The Gruffalo & Animoto<div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">My techno-babies absolutely LOVED the book The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson! I used this book to work with them on the skill of visualizing the character & setting, using describing words, and making character maps. First I read the book but stopped short of the part where the mouse actually sees the gruffalo. We discussed, drew, and charted (using shared writing) and used the text to prove what we knew about the gruffalo. We then continued reading to confirm our thinking. The kids were absolutely amazed with how close we came to the actual revealed creature! Next we each made a cut out gruffalo and watched the video. When their artwork was finished, they took pictures of them, uploaded them to animoto. Then, I made a bulleting board of their work and I compiled them into a short video to share them with parents. Easy Peasy. If you haven't tried, animoto. I highly encourage you to give it a try. </span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" id="vp1DSmFr" src="http://embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1390246082&f=DSmFru4pK20hBj1ptFygwQ&d=0&m=a&r=360p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" title="Video Player" width="640"></iframe>
Enjoy,
Ellen
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-71408487510905492432014-01-18T15:51:00.000-06:002014-01-18T15:51:21.533-06:00Frog & Toad Animated Storytelling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My kindergarten students used their i-pads with the face talk app and i-movie to animate their puppets from Frog & Toad. They did all the work! We read the story several times, Made the puppets and practiced a reader's theater play based on the story. They then used the cameras, animated the mouths, & recorded the voices all on their own! I only compiled them into one movie. Gotta love those techno-babies!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-25250696207638155082012-08-02T08:30:00.000-05:002012-08-02T08:30:36.578-05:00Flipping KindergartenHi friends! Well, I am back from a wonderful month of vacation and I am super excited about school starting up soon! I have been into my room and have the furniture out and arranged. (Actually, I made my teenage sons arrange it! heehee) Now I am thinking about where and how to go from here. Over the past year, I have really been contemplating the idea of flipped classrooms. I am really jazzed about the idea and have been trying to think of ways to accomplish that goal in kindergarten. Last year, I assigned reading homework via edmodo. This year, I think I am going to try some at home letter/sound instruction videos. Every year my team sends home handwriting homework and asks the kids to find/think of things for a particular letter and draw a picture. We also always have questions from parents asking about the "No More Letter of the Week" letter sound poems. It is difficult to explain the poems to the parents without giving a mini-workshop so, with that said, I decided that if they could see me demonstrate, it might help. Basically, I just used my webcam to record the video and then uploaded it to you tube. I know it is not the most technologically advanced production and it is really weird and embarrassing to see myself on the video but if it helps the digital natives...I will get over it! I have uploaded one letter video as an example and I hope you enjoy it. If you have any other ideas for flipping K, I would love to hear about them!<br />
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Ellen<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-71191681494135498132012-07-05T11:36:00.000-05:002012-07-05T11:36:44.668-05:00Pet Peeve! I don't have that book!One of the biggest pet peeves that I have during the school year is finding a great lesson from a colleague or a resource and then not having the book that goes with it. I have an extensive classroom library (I think I am up to about 800 books) but somehow I don't always have the book that I want or need. Sure, I borrow some from our school library but sometimes it is already checked out or they don't have it. I also spend a ton of money each year buying books to "complete" my collection. I have used some sites in the past like discovery education and storylineonline. Sometimes, I have time to scan books and I have also used my elmo to project books that I do have up onto my smartboard. <span style="background-color: white;">This year, over the summer, I have decided to look for some of my needed books on internet video. I started by making a you tube playlist for each workshop. I wanted to share my reader's workshop and writer's workshop playlists for the first grading period. Hope you enjoy!</span><br />
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Ellen<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQupqvlqHaapg5HRt1J4TDwSq4fjJK6hKSKrsQ80JCv2_cwNT3V_rgdbywW-1hpAaHsKQeiAO84CtqqqA4ZffA3vkuNFcHFt8S2cK9jDZzEnUCPPG9bvaI-A1WbvIlONu6gnhW4R0KJqd6/s1600/SB+subitizing+1+to+6_12.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQupqvlqHaapg5HRt1J4TDwSq4fjJK6hKSKrsQ80JCv2_cwNT3V_rgdbywW-1hpAaHsKQeiAO84CtqqqA4ZffA3vkuNFcHFt8S2cK9jDZzEnUCPPG9bvaI-A1WbvIlONu6gnhW4R0KJqd6/s200/SB+subitizing+1+to+6_12.jpeg" width="191" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPeBdJn8cCdoJ4lelDizu2z7VT-jYO-9Aq4v9otT1ikdhc79DU9cx42Um0aDnfSbTW8Y-PvlocW3A3Cax6eBEf4b1zO6xqk3qxwGSsztpXA71aYqNS05olQKwYG-06dLy5NA-fHcuoKWrx/s1600/SB+subitizing+1+to+6_20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPeBdJn8cCdoJ4lelDizu2z7VT-jYO-9Aq4v9otT1ikdhc79DU9cx42Um0aDnfSbTW8Y-PvlocW3A3Cax6eBEf4b1zO6xqk3qxwGSsztpXA71aYqNS05olQKwYG-06dLy5NA-fHcuoKWrx/s200/SB+subitizing+1+to+6_20.jpeg" width="191" /></a></div>
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I love the pace of summer time! It gives me time to slow down and really get into some of the projects/creations that I do not have time to do during the school year. One of my goals for the summer was to recreate my subitizing flash cards in a smart notebook file. Last year, since I got a wonderful wall mounted smartboard, I switched to doing calendar on the smartboard exclusively. One of my calendar activities was some quick subitizing "flash card" drill. This year, I want to have a notebook file that can be imbedded in my calendar notebook and played independently in math stations. I have made a quick version and uploaded my very first creation on Teacher pay Teachers. Hop on over and get a free download.<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ellen-Adams/"><img alt="Kindergarten - Balanced Literacy, Math - TeachersPayTeachers.com" border="0" height="44" src="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/images/settings/blue.large.badge.png" width="172" /></a>; ?>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-84458908477297776332012-06-10T15:15:00.002-05:002012-06-10T15:15:19.076-05:00Solving Exemplars: Low tech + High techThis year I really wanted to embrace using math exemplars with my kinder kiddos. I was also lucky enough to have great new technology in my room like my smartboard. Trying to integrate this technology with the hands on, manipulative learning that my kids need has been and continues to be a goal of mine. This week I wanted to share how we used our math exemplars along with manipulatives, the smartboard, and our journals to do some amazing problem solving and recording!<br />
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The first thing that I did was to post the exemplar problem on the smartboard. I have math first thing in the morning, so the kids came into the room, unpacked and then began to decode the problem. They are allowed to help each other decode the problem while I help students finish coming in. Here is the problem.<br />
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<i>Dylan has a box of craft sticks. Dylan needs 100 craft sticks to make a toy boat. Dylan puts his sticks into groups of 10. Dylan has eight groups. Does Dylan have enough sticks to make a toy boat? Show and tell how you know.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgki9wwfI31ROkFil4Z7SH50OcYruLAdLSzjckSBTQfMhh1txkowKt7LdjPCzG2IO_99qjl7Vf4YmsnPQGKaqqqJ5YqqqZzdiLCjKSG-QS3bnChlEZLFAGwOM8uzsmHB3fR5BzopKgXO3Rm/s1600/craft+stick+exemplar+problem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgki9wwfI31ROkFil4Z7SH50OcYruLAdLSzjckSBTQfMhh1txkowKt7LdjPCzG2IO_99qjl7Vf4YmsnPQGKaqqqJ5YqqqZzdiLCjKSG-QS3bnChlEZLFAGwOM8uzsmHB3fR5BzopKgXO3Rm/s320/craft+stick+exemplar+problem.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After everyone is unpacked and has had a chance to decode the problem. We met together as a whole group. We used shared reading to decode the problem together. We then used the colored pens to mark the information that we thought would be helpful in solving the problem. I used to do this on chart paper but it is so much fun to do it on the smartboard now!) I use name sticks to call on students to come up and highlight/circle the information. We always start by circling the question in green. We always want to know what is the problem asking us to do, first. We also write down what type of answer we will be finding. In this case it was a "yes" or "no".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTfC3bxyXjApymFeerGOhCd6lFnW0K3ytV9L9G-zS7vVUnWrRN9jXKlkJ5zFEnkLgzBefZ6rxR80RFlkQ-vT2Yh3J2wpm_mcC0z4_6YV8vfi-3xYzp7R2axK8z1lOqQ3MdL-ZIivvnIoX/s1600/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTfC3bxyXjApymFeerGOhCd6lFnW0K3ytV9L9G-zS7vVUnWrRN9jXKlkJ5zFEnkLgzBefZ6rxR80RFlkQ-vT2Yh3J2wpm_mcC0z4_6YV8vfi-3xYzp7R2axK8z1lOqQ3MdL-ZIivvnIoX/s320/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Next, we continued our "highlighting" by marking the words that gave us data/information. We look for number words and words that tell us what is happening.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKkOR8NalUyJ3_sbo3C6I4QVgQL7nmknnXT1MopbWwEPtriPqFlRVTIgSMW4_GkIrOLrAx4tiucXWN2dZ-vQ123o2SIweKUDLGN_EfNYZ0G5NAT7ypsyeM8XRuqDml6vxDWwViefiwfN4/s1600/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKkOR8NalUyJ3_sbo3C6I4QVgQL7nmknnXT1MopbWwEPtriPqFlRVTIgSMW4_GkIrOLrAx4tiucXWN2dZ-vQ123o2SIweKUDLGN_EfNYZ0G5NAT7ypsyeM8XRuqDml6vxDWwViefiwfN4/s320/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
After we circled and reviewed this information as a whole group, math partners went and got out their designated math tub for the day. There is a chart in my room that tells the partners which manipulative tub is their choice. They took those tubs to a work space on the floor and used their manipulatives to solve the problem. At this point, I walk around and listen to their "math talk". I do not offer solutions. I stop and ask them to explain their thinking. This particular problem really let me know who needed help in grouping by 10's! I also use this opportunity to record their learning with my camera. I then upload the pictures to evernote to keep as a record of their learning. For the sake of time, I will post a picture of one group's solution.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PTGQZlaVPadwRqsJh_U74aDSF1qlceXIFAzZE0W11bNL8FS9mv99u5PI96e9xddXgDjSSbAnDIcRIivprjAGyEKkzLpH0f5UtBe03V5m_eZJBhsZSdveVBCSsoQtpZ5auBCzBtWe5-nl/s1600/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PTGQZlaVPadwRqsJh_U74aDSF1qlceXIFAzZE0W11bNL8FS9mv99u5PI96e9xddXgDjSSbAnDIcRIivprjAGyEKkzLpH0f5UtBe03V5m_eZJBhsZSdveVBCSsoQtpZ5auBCzBtWe5-nl/s320/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
After each group has come up with a solution, we do a gallery walk of everyone's solutions. We then meet back together on the carpet to discuss our solutions. We debate over what is right and wrong. We discuss why certain solutions are right or wrong. If necessary, I can put the pictures of the solutions up onto the smartboard to compare. Here is a screen shot of our analysis of the solution above.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFPxuUMGsePHAfwULK57RuRHZPvvDVYdFf4y5TpvArrnsqDxNQROAHbvaLDQKKoLUpRkLzYM67kkERN8uMrZPoZVVGspsRKq4JsEtKthsN0GAZlxaF6YgVFQtGLt8ZBAPo_kLVTUxoEUI/s1600/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFPxuUMGsePHAfwULK57RuRHZPvvDVYdFf4y5TpvArrnsqDxNQROAHbvaLDQKKoLUpRkLzYM67kkERN8uMrZPoZVVGspsRKq4JsEtKthsN0GAZlxaF6YgVFQtGLt8ZBAPo_kLVTUxoEUI/s400/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
After this, we decide on a solution statement and I used modeled writing this time to record it on the smartboard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-Z0EFlxekfYDy4jA7XYK78QeKLY1FwKXidh4bxGQh29PKITokZ_BhjE8uOA7H7bOpFCHXhU-e82HWVYp0YtZ7ICHOxiZDJs_oldRPuZGHlsdmkO08z1dFapN_azPNCPh1j4ARhtJvNkq/s1600/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-Z0EFlxekfYDy4jA7XYK78QeKLY1FwKXidh4bxGQh29PKITokZ_BhjE8uOA7H7bOpFCHXhU-e82HWVYp0YtZ7ICHOxiZDJs_oldRPuZGHlsdmkO08z1dFapN_azPNCPh1j4ARhtJvNkq/s320/craft+stick+exemplar+problem+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The last thing that we do is to record our thinking in our journals. I love having the documentation up on the smartboard so that we have a record to refer back to! The kids love to see their work being displayed as a solution. This is also helpful when we have to do our journal recording at a later time.<br />
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So there you have it... Solving math exemplars with both hands-on manipulatives and smartboard technology. Hope you enjoy it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-18992760291541122642012-05-28T16:26:00.002-05:002012-05-29T13:06:12.042-05:00Google Docs... Wow!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wow! I have been gone for a while and I have been having quite the month. Several unfortunate events have happened to our family back to back and it has really taken up alot of my time. What I will say is that I have come to love my Google Docs! A while ago, I transferred my school documents to Google Docs and boy, did it come in handy this last week. While I was sitting in the Emergency Room, (my husband needed emergency gallbladder sugery) I needed to send my sub plans to my team leader. Of course, the only device that I had with me at the time was my phone. I wasn't sure that it would work but I was more than pleasantly surprised that I could locate, update, and send my sub plans from Google Docs to my team leader with just my android phone! What a great resource!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-87149639922496329272012-05-13T17:18:00.001-05:002012-05-13T17:19:41.061-05:00Teacher organization part 2One of the things that I dread every year is organizing parent volunteers. There are so many events to coordinate throughout the year and there are many many parents who would love to give up their valuable time to come up and help. Field trips, science lab, carnival, class parties, parent readers, parent teacher conferences... you get the picture. In the past, I have given some of the sign up jobs to my homeroom mom and sometimes I have done them all. Very often, I became overwhelmed with keeping track of all the dates. This year I decided to try sign up genius. Wow! Can I say how much I love this? I created sign ups for all my different needs and then asked the parents to sign up for what they wanted. I sent the link out by emails and I posted the links to my website. Gotta love technology that makes life a little easier!<br />
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<a href="http://www.signupgenius.com/">http://www.signupgenius.com/</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-28706535922782954522012-05-06T15:24:00.000-05:002012-05-06T15:24:38.361-05:00Ahhhh! End of the Year Chaos!Wow! It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted! We were sorting out a family emergency and it has sure been a whirlwind couple of weeks. It is a crazy time of year. As the year is winding down, i am always overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and meetings and other things that come up at the end of a school year. I have decided that I am going to spend the next couple of posts talking about technology that helps me try to stay on top of all this craziness! I am by no means an expert and I would also love to hear from others about what they use to help manage their chaos. :)<br />
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This week I want to talk about Evernote. I just started using this program a couple months ago and I absolutely LOVE it. I have it downloaded on my home computer, my android phone, and on my school computer (YES.... it wasn't blocked by our filter!) With evernote, I am able to create all sorts of notes and categorize them. For example... I have created folders for each subject at school. I also have created tags for each student. Let's say that Joey has done poorly on an addition math recording sheet in math stations. He was supposed to use manipulatives to act out a subtraction problem then he was supposed to draw a picture of his manipulatives and record the subtraction number sentence that describes picture. Instead, Joey recorded an addition number sentence rather than subtraction. Clearly Joey needs some small group or one on one reteaching. In the past, I would have either kept his recording sheet OR I would have to run to the copy machine, make a copy, send the original home, blah,blah, blah... Not now! with evernote, I take out my phone, snap a picture of the recording sheet, create a note, tag it with Joey's name and file it in the math folder. Now I can search on any device that I have evernote on and my note with pictures and annotations will be available. I can also add the reteaching evidence to the note when I am finished! Super easy and convenient for paper phobic people like me! I have used evernote to bring evidence to ARDs, planning meetings, and to make to do lists! I absolutely love it and I hope to become more and more paperless.<br />
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<a href="http://www.evernote.com/">www.evernote.com</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-65800387600257039992012-04-22T14:32:00.000-05:002012-04-22T14:32:56.000-05:00Online reading homework! Help save a tree!So, it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon and it is Earth day! I just got done giggling at my students' weekly reading discussion question answers and I was thinking about ways to help the earth! At our school, we are not allowed to send home leveled readers from our literacy library or our adoption. This forces us to either print all of our homework books or send them digitally. For a long time, I was printing the books but do to some budget restraints at my local campus this year, I switched to a digital format. I do this by assigning their reading books on <a href="http://www.edmodo.com/">www.edmodo.com</a> . Each week, I upload a pdf copy of their leveled reader and then I enter discussion questions into a short answer quiz. They go on each night and read their book to someone and on Thursday, their parents help them read the discussion questions, type the responses, and submit the quiz. I think this is a great way to get parents involved in discussing their child's reading rather than just listening to them read and signing off on it. When I get the quiz, I go in and look at each answer and it allows me to comment if I wish. This is my favorite part. I love to show them that I am giggling at their answer or to ask them follow up questions. It also allows me to add the "grade" to my gradebook. We don't keep numerical grades in kindergarten but it does help me see who is on track doing their homework. If I don't want to assign discussion questions, I can upload a multiple choice quiz or some other printable like graphic organizer for them to fill out and return. I also love that edmodo is available not only on a computer but also as an app for the iphone/ipad or android devices. I have a few students who do not have a computer but their parents have an iphone or ipad...My answer to that..." No problem! Have your child read their book to you from your phone!" It allows me to create groups within my class and give only certain students certain assignments. Perfect for differentiated reading and a way to go green! Happy Earth day everyone! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-56439360707019747682012-04-14T11:20:00.000-05:002012-04-14T20:14:25.245-05:00Great Math Resource!Does anyone else feel like they have language arts/reading homework under control? Reading homework that ties to guided reading is something that I really feel is "all together". I have even switched to giving my leveled reading homework via online books and the kids/parents love it! But...I have always struggled with what to give my kinder kiddos for math homework. I want them to practice their math skills at home but I also want them using hands on activities. I send home alot activities from Building Number Sense and other resources but I wanted to incorporate some digital options for my little digital natives. I also wanted them to have a resource that didn't need too much help from mom and dad. Enter.... the nctm website! I love their online math activities. I use them constantly. I have linked them to my smartboard calendar lessons, I have used them for whole group teaching, small group teaching, and now, I use them as homework practice. I send the link to my parents and some of the games such as Concentration and Okta's rescue can be downloaded as android or iphone apps! Both of the games that I mention practice subitizing and recognizing numbers in a variety of formats (ten frame, word, numeral, pips (dot/dice formation). Other games such as five and ten frame are great for teaching composing/decomposing number!<br />
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<a href="http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activities.aspx?grade=1" target="_blank">Illuminations/ NCTM math games</a><br />
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I love this website and I hope that others will find it useful. If you use some of these activities or have other resources, please feel free to share!<br />
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Keep in touch!<br />
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EllenAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-75147869931283649262012-04-04T17:11:00.000-05:002012-04-14T20:15:58.431-05:00Cool way to publish kids' writingWoo Hoo! I finally got the flip books made! It turned out to be my phone pdf scanner that was the problem. Once I scanned them at school... no problem. They turned out sooooo cute! The kids were tickled to see them. I ended up using flipsnack and it was super easy. Let me know what you think.<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="385" scrolling="no" seamless="seamless" src="http://files.flipsnack.com/iframe/embed.html?hash=fukiq9kz&wmode=window&bgcolor=EEEEEE&t=1333502627" width="520"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-1506380274209313352012-03-30T21:42:00.000-05:002012-04-14T20:16:26.846-05:00Ugggg... Technology frustrations!Ok. So here is the frustrating part about technology... Sometimes it doesn't work like you want it to! I had this great idea of taking my students' non-fiction "question/answer" books and turning them into flippable pdf books. They worked sooooooo hard on them and did a fantastic job. They made question answer books titled, <u>What do plants need? .</u> They finished today and I tried to upload one of them to two different websites, flipsnack, and youblisher. I haven't been able to get either one to work. Bummer. I am sure that it is user error and that I will figure it out but I hate to make my little ones wait. I promise to keep everyone posted! Wish me luck.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-49505631101486911692012-03-23T17:43:00.000-05:002012-04-14T20:24:44.902-05:00Life Saving Website!!!<br />
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Ok, I always dread rainy days and standardized testing days. Why? Because we don't have recess, specials (art, pe, music) or both. This makes for an extremely LONG day in a kindergarten class. By the end of the day the kids and I are very fidgety and quite grouchy! Standardized testing days are starting up next week and I am not dreading them nearly as much this year. This is because I have signed up for <a href="http://www.adventuretofitness.com/">www.adventuretofitness.com</a> . My students absolutely love this website. "Mr. Mark" the guide is very engaging and they are "glued" to the adventure. They are also very, very tired at the end of the adventure. They have a new adventure regularly and you can always go back and watch previous episodes. I highly recommend that you sign up for your free access today!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-79131658935362910792012-03-19T20:00:00.000-05:002012-03-19T20:00:21.427-05:00Geocaching! How Fun!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Before Spring Break we had such a great time learning about Living and Non-Living things. We really started out confused by some things. For example... Was the apple I ate for lunch living? Isn't it a plant? We quickly learned about the 4 essential questions we need to ask when deciding if something is living or not. When I told the kids that we were going to use GPS to help us find things on our search, they were so excited to share their prior experiences and schema about GPS units in their moms' cars and Dads' phones! They actually thought that I was going to let them each have a phone! After I explained that we were going to use a different kind of GPS, they were ready to get going. </div>
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I hope your enjoy watching our learning!</div>
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<iframe height="340" src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?authuser=0&srcid=0B1Y4iUAbCRsucmQ1anpKeDhSVXFTN19Pa2NTRmxhQQ&pid=explorer&a=v&chrome=false&embedded=true" width="500"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715458945940426416.post-41382011059687966992012-03-05T16:16:00.000-06:002012-04-14T20:25:47.979-05:00Geocaching??? Wish me luck!I am super excited about an activity this week. I am going to try using handheld GPS units for a type of geocaching activity. The kids are going to be split into groups. (Thanks to my math IC for helping with this). They will use their GPS units to locate ribbons tied to items all around the school grounds. When they reach the item, they will have to ask a series of questions to determine if the object is living or non-living. They will then take a moment to record a picture and a lable of the object in their journal. They will also record if the object is living or non-living. This activity is scheduled for later this week. I will be sure to take pictures and let everyone know how it goes! Wish me luck!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04153949468664380977noreply@blogger.com0