iPad Lesson: Sun and Moon with Tellagami

The first grade students had a blast recording their facts about the sun and moon with the FREE Tellagami app on the iPad.  Their teacher wanted a new way for the students to present the information that they had researched for their astronomy unit.  I suggested Tellagami and it was a go!  The students colored their own backgrounds to represent the facts that they were going to convey in their recording.  Next, with the app, the students captured a picture of their drawing for the background and created their character.  In a quieter space, the students recorded themselves reading their facts that they had already prepared.  

All of the completed videos were emailed to the teacher and were compiled together using Windows Movie Maker.  The students loved watching their avatars doing the talking for them.  Success!

iPad Lesson: PhotoCards for Reflection

The 5th grade classes had an amazing in-school field trip to be CSI Forensic Scientists for a day.  Luckily an amazing parent was on-hand to take pictures to document the learning activities that took place like fingerprinting, blood-typing, using black lights, and marking crime scenes.

I suggested that a great way for the students to reflect on the learning they did for this day and to let someone outside of school know about their learning would be to create a photocard with the Bill Atkinson PhotoCard App on the iPads (FREE).

The app was so easy to use.  The students just tapped in the writing sections to add their text and to address their postcards.  Then we added the photos from the printed pictures by taking a picture with the camera on the iPads right from the app.  Students could even choose from a variety of beautiful stamps and themed stickers.

When they were finished, without registering for the app, students could save their photocards to the camera roll and then email them to their teacher.  If you do register for the app (which is also free) you can immediately email completed photocards and for a fee the service will even print and mail your creation for you!

iPad Lesson: Story Retelling with the FaceTalker App

One of the Kindergarten teachers that I work with was looking for a fun way to retell the story of The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly using technology.  It is always fun to record the students telling their stories in kindergarten, but this time I decided we could add a bit of a twist to our usual recording projects and record with the Facetalker App on the iPad.  The Facetalker app allows the student to place a mouth on any object and make it talk in the student's voice.

The Kindergarten teacher had each student draw a picture of something that the old lady would swallow in their retelling of the story.  Then the kindergarten teacher and I worked together using several iPads to capture the images and student recordings.  We first placed an old lady cutout next to their drawn image and took a picture within the app.  With the student's help, we added the mouth to the old lady, and then we helped the student to record.  The videos were created, emailed to the teacher, and then combined together in Windows Movie Maker to create the final project.

The kindergarten students love watching their new book that they created with the iPads.

ClipChoose: Create a Poll Based on Videos

ClipChoose is a site that teachers can use to create a poll based on videos.  Teachers insert a question and choose up to eight YouTube videos for students to review.  Then students vote on which video they believe best answers the question.

I think that this site has some great educational possibilities for getting students to view and understand content.  In the example to the left, the teacher asks students to view different political messages to determine which candidate delivers the best message.  Although the student can simply vote for their favorite on the site, this is a great starting point for classroom conversations.

What would you use ClipChoose for?  Put your ideas in the comments below.

BingoBaker!

I wish I knew about this site the last time I used tables to create bingo boards.  Bingo Baker easily creates random bingo cards for you.  You just put in the words and click generate- that's it!  You have just created 8 random cards that will be printed in a .pdf document for you.  If you need more cards, you could sign up for a yearly $9.99 account- cheap!  (Or you could just enter the words again- you didn't hear that from me.)

EdCanvas: Create and Deliver Digital Lessons

EdCanvas is an interesting site that allows educators to create online lessons.  This creation tool allows you to gather videos, images, documents, and text from the Internet and from your computer to create a lesson.  If you don't have resources already, you can search and build your lessons from Google, YouTube, and Flickr.  If you do have resources, you can upload them from your computer, Dropbox, Google Drive, or access your Bookmarks.  Check out this awesome lesson example about photosynthesis.

iPad Lesson: Persuasive Writing with Puppet Pals App

One of my 2nd grade teachers asked me for a fun way to showcase her students' persuasive writing about trees and Arbor Day.  I showed her the Puppet Pals App ($2.99 upgrade to the Director's Pass) and she was hooked!  (Puppet Pals is also available as a FREE version, but you cannot import your own images as characters in the FREE version.)  She had the students work in small groups to write a script using the facts from their persuasive writings and create a background for their video from construction paper prior to working with me.

I worked with 5 groups of students, and it only took about 10 minutes per group.  I used only 1 iPad for this lesson because I only own 1 copy of this paid app, but students could certainly do this on their own.  First, I took each student's photo and showed them how I traced their body outline to make them a character in the movie.  Then I took a picture of their background to add it to the video.  Next, the students gathered around the iPad to record.  Since they had practiced their lines, students were able to move their own character as they spoke their lines.  Only one group needed to record a second time.  This project was fun and easy!  The kids had a blast and we were instantly able to watch all of the videos on the SMARTboard when we were finished recording.  This is an app I would consider purchasing for all of our student iPads.