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Nearpod for 1 to 1 Classrooms

13 May

image (27) image (26)In classrooms with just one iPad there are lots of apps that you can use to create presentations (Educreations, Doceri, ScreenChomp, Haiku Deck).  If you have access to 1 to 1 technology you have to try NearPod for presentations.  Use an old PowerPoint as a template and upload it to the NearPod website.  Add interactive items like quiz questions and polls that will keep students engaged and help you access student understanding.  Once your presentation is created, students can watch on their own iPad screen as you control the pace of the presentation.  It’s easy to use and with free basic accounts it’s definitely worth checking out!

If your students are making their own presentations, check out my screencasting guide!

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Create Your Own QR Codes

8 May

photoI’ve talked about all the ways I use QR codes in my classroom and it is so easy to make your own! The free iPad app QR Code Maker gives users the ability to copy and paste any URL and turn their link into a QR code. Save the QR code to your camera roll and share with students.

I have lots of QR hunts in my teacher store (here’s bundle #1 and bundle #2)

*this app works great on your iPhone too!

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Reading a Ruler on iPads

26 Apr

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There are so many virtual iPad tools that I love using with my students (base ten blocks, sticky notes, geoboard, atlas, glossary, dry erase board…). One free app that can substitute a ruler is Ruler for iPad and iPhone.  Have students place an item on their iPad screen or measure distance between two points they tap on the plane.

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If you’re teaching students how to use measurement tools Reading the Ruler is a great free app to help students understand how inches and centimeters can be broken down into smaller pieces.

Here’s my bundle of Common Core aligned iPad lesson plans for teaching math in your classroom (or check out each one individually!)

 

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Sustainability iPad Apps

24 Apr

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One of my favorite topics to teach in the classroom is healthy eating. There are lots of great free apps to support this subject at all grade levels.

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Here’s my Common Core aligned QR Scavenger Hunt “Intro to Healthy Eating” and the “Food Plate (aka Food Pyramid)“


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Word Wonderland!

22 Apr

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There are lots of apps I love to use to teach literacy skills: Bluster, Sticky Notes, iPrompt, Idioms, Captions, Mad Libs, Jumbled Sentences and Synonyms.

McGraw Hill has a handful of apps to teach literacy skills at the primary and elementary level: Word Wonderland (primary and elementary) and Grammar Wonderland (primary and elementary).  All have lite versions that are worth checking out!

Check out my Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan bundle for teaching ELA in the classroom! (Here’s bundle #2 and bundle #3!)

 

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Free iPad Apps for the K-5 Classroom

7 Apr

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Thank you for attending my workshop this month!

If you weren’t able to make it, check out my presentation Free iPad Apps for the K-5 Classroom:

View on SlideShare

Download the Presentation

 

 

 

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Presidents vs. Aliens

6 Mar

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Stack the States is one of my favorite iPad geography games and Presidents vs. Aliens is a fun app that teaches facts and trivia about the presidents of the United States. It’s interactive and informative and a great way to use transition times between subject areas, as a behavior management incentive, or to kick off a unit on United States History.

Check out my Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan using this app in the classroom!

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Dropbox: Fill it up!

20 Feb

photo (7)I love using Dropbox  in my classroom, in fact I can’t live without it.  Dropbox is fantastic if you’re looking to conserve resources or save time making photocopies.
Here are just a few things that are in my students’ Dropboxes right now:

  • Vocabulary reference charts
  • Reader’s Theater scripts
  • Reading passages
  • Project Rubrics
  • Activity sheets that can be completed in other apps
  • PowerPoint/Keynote presentations

Check out my Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan bundle with activity sheets that can be completed in other apps on your iPad!

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Pic Collage to Make iPad Posters

30 Jan

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You might have used a app like this to create a scrapbook page of family pictures but it can be easily used in the classroom.  Pic Collage is a free app that allows users to take multiple images and place them on a blank canvas or within borders and add text and captions.  Students in my class use pictures that they’ve taken themselves or gathered from Google Image search.  They can save their “posters” to their Camera Roll and email their work.  These make great bulletin board items!

Check out my Common Core aligned lesson plan for using this app in your classroom!

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Rock and Mineral Identifier

23 Jan

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I love hands-on science activities, especially when I can integrate technology into my lesson.  Two fantastic free apps for Earth Science are Mineral Identifier and Common Rocks Reference.  These apps are full of information for students who are identifying rocks and minerals.  If you’re school doesn’t have access to hands-on materials this app can work as a substitution.

Check out my Common Core aligned lesson plan using this app!

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Ready to Research: Recording Citations

9 Jan

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The iPad is a fantastic tool for completing research, publishing, and sharing your work. There are two free apps from PERRLA that make it easy to record citations whether you’re using MLA or APA style references.  This app is perfect for elementary students completing a biography project or high schoolers writing a term paper.

Check out my Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan using this app in the classroom!

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iPad Project: Resume Builder

4 Jan

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My students aren’t quite ready to write their own resumes but there is still a place for this app in my classroom.

A great way to replace or extend a biography project is to create a resume of the person you are studying.  Have students use the Pocket Mobile Resume app to demonstrate their knowledge of a historical figure’s personal information, experience and education, while choosing contemporaries to act as references and identify the skills and strengths of this person.  Try it out in your classroom!

Check out my Common Core aligned lesson plan using this app in the classroom!

Here’s another Common Core aligned lesson plan using this app in the classroom!

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Understoodit: Formative Assessment Tool

2 Jan
UPDATE 5/13: Understoodit is closing but here’s another similar option – PollEverywhere

photo-4If you are looking for a new formative assessment tool check out Understoodit.  Whether your students are on iPads or have access to the web from desktops, Understoodit is a fantastic free assessment tool that is perfect for collecting data when presenting new information to students.  As you speak, students press one of two buttons on a website unique to your class: “Confused” or “Understood” You’ll receive real-time data on how well your class understands your presentation.

At first I was hesitant to try Understooit with my fifth graders, since it seemed so perfect for university professors and high school teachers, but it worked great with my group.  I don’t normally teach by lecture so I had students first try it out while watching a BrainPop video.  This way it was easy for me to know when to pause and initiate a discussion when they were confused.  I’m gathering formative data and can alter my instruction by the minute!

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Dragon Dictation: Voice Recognition

24 Dec

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I like using Siri to record my conference notes and anecdotals.  I’ve listed the how-to’s and reasons why I use it, but if you don’t have access to Siri there are other options. Dragon Dictation is a free voice recognition app.  It allows you to speak into your iPad’s microphone and watch your voice turn into text.

Try Dragon Dictation in your classroom:

  • For students who need scribes
  • Documenting conference notes or anectodals
  • Compose emails and reminders on the go

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Bring the World to Your Classroom

19 Dec
Take your students on a virtual field trip to the Lincoln Memorial.

Take your students on a virtual field trip to the Lincoln Memorial. (This one I found in the app!)

Traveling this holiday season? I love to take pictures when I’m on vacation, especially of landmarks or places I’m studying with my fifth graders. Students will be more engaged during a lesson about Mayan culture when they see a picture of you standing in front of Chichen Itza.

Take your travel photos to a new level by using the Tourwrist app. It allows you take a 360 degree panoramic view of any location and upload it using your iPhone or iPad.

If you’re not planning a trip to the Washington Moniment anytime soon, that’s fine too! TourWrist allows users to upload their pics and it’s easy to search and share them in your classroom.

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Simple Grading Tools

17 Dec

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You may have used a slide rule in the past but here are two free iPad apps that make it easy to score test and quizzes.  Groovy Grader provide a percentage based on the number of questions on an exam.  eGrader HD will even assign a letter grade depending on the number of questions a student answers correctly. Here are two more teacher tools that I love: Pick a Student and QuickVoice.

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Pick a Student

28 Nov

There are so many  classroom management tools that I love and here’s another. iLEAP Pick A Student makes sure that you call on every student in your class.  Instead of the traditional coffee can full of popsicle sticks with students’ names on them, use this free app to make sure that all of your students are held accountable in class discussions.  Try projecting the screen from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch so that students can see which one of their peers is up next!

Check out this common core aligned lesson where this app could be used during discussion time!

Here’s another common core aligned lesson where this app could be used during discussion time!

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Management Tools on the iPad

7 Nov

There are lots of great management tools on the iPad that I use in my classroom (Timers, Quickvoice, Siri).

Here are two more that I love:

Red Light, Green Light - This programmable traffic light can be less intimidating than a timer is you’re working on pacing your students and keeping them on task.

TooLoud? - Watching the decibel level change as volume increases can be a powerful tool to monitor volume in your classroom – the graph can facilitate discussion as well.

Check out this common core aligned lesson where management tools will come in handy!

Here’s another common core aligned lesson where management tools will come in handy!

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QR Codes on the Big Screen

2 Oct

I’ve been using QR codes in my classroom for scavenger hunts and as a tool for research. If you haven’t viewed my presentation on making your own QR codes and using them in the classroom, check it out here.

If I want all of my students to visit one website (especially one with a combination of characters that might be hard to type in) I’ll project the QR code onto my board and have all students scan it straight from their seats. This eliminates the printing, copying and distributing of papers and makes for a quick, easy scan for all students.

Try projecting this QR code and scanning it yourself!

Check out my lesson plan on using QR Codes in the classroom!

Here’s another lesson plan using QR Codes in the classroom!

Here’s a bundle of QR code scavenger hunt lesson plans!

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Fooducate – Health Scan

27 Sep

There are lots of apps that allow you to scan barcodes to compare prices of different products. Fooducate takes this to a new level!

When you scan the barcode of a processed food item, Fooducate connects you to information on “How Healthy” that product is – even assigning it a letter grade.

Students can use this app on a supermarket field trip or to scan items you bring into your classroom.  The Fooducate website also performs the same function. If you’re teaching a unit on healthy eating, or discussing advertising during a persuasive writing unit, Fooducate can integrate technology into your lesson.

Check out my lesson plan using Fooducate in the classroom!

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