Thursday, June 30, 2011

PPP's

PPP's stands for Pupil Progress Presentations.  My class were very keen on the idea of putting the iPods to the test - the children recorded themselves (and each other) displaying PE skills, reading fluency, mathematical problem solving, along with anything else that was of value to show their parents when they were sharing their learning.  The children were able to use the iMovie app on the iPods which allowed them to edit and publish.  They also used the voice recorder to read their writing and turn it into a podcast.  This is an excellent tool to use for those children who are not keen publishers or skilled typists.  What is it that we really want to achieve?  I believe that their writing should be shared orally so that I can hear the expression, intonation and fluency.  There should be a balance in publishing work for the classroom environment (for other children to read) and orally presenting work for other children to listen to.  Many children uploaded these movies and podcasts to their digital portfolio.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Theme Week - Robots

We have just finished our theme week based on Robots.  I found a really cool app called Robotmaker where the children could create their own robot.  We then took a screen shot and opened that screen shot in Label Maker, where the children could give their robot a name and label their work.  This is an activity that I did with all four classes in the team during our Robotic Rotation.  It was a fast, easy process that the children really enjoyed!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Reference Skills Apps

There are several baseline apps that have been really useful.

The World
World Facts Free - has the flags and countries of the world, as well as some baseline data about these countries.
History: Maps of World - Gives visual maps of the world and what they have been part of over time.  You can choose categories or a specific era.
Geo Walk - walk the globe and find out about famous places, animals, plants, people around the world.  Complete the quiz at the end.
Brain Pop - this doesn't give you full access to the brainpop site - instead it has a featured movie of the day with a quiz.


Animals
Dinosaurs: The American Museum - has basic facts and information about the different dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs unleashed Free! - has flash cards and a quiz about dinosaurs.
Animal Encyclopedia - basic information about the animal kingdom, groups of animals, fauna, animal names and kinds of animals
Animals 360 - a very basic app suitable for younger children.  It incorporates photos and sounds of the animals, a tour of the farm, safari and forest, a quiz and photo puzzle.