tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39079044058030695752024-03-14T11:35:31.336-07:00What I learned at school todayIdeas, thoughts and musing about teaching primary students to think, learn and create.Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-22781555313884965442016-03-14T09:48:00.001-07:002016-04-14T09:14:51.771-07:00Simple Science Observation Activity - Apples and the Five Senses <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1K3VAK08zGfQg-zbXM0TyIJCRxUPNr_iU_tolce96u-fy-OoOKWjiCOzr7QiYNVbvhGSKi8_XMoidi4vL22WDWLTM_HCvMt91xB8J-23LxTVd5be7jpIjgiU772r5lTedYY87ddGpEAD/s1600/IMG_7571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1K3VAK08zGfQg-zbXM0TyIJCRxUPNr_iU_tolce96u-fy-OoOKWjiCOzr7QiYNVbvhGSKi8_XMoidi4vL22WDWLTM_HCvMt91xB8J-23LxTVd5be7jpIjgiU772r5lTedYY87ddGpEAD/s320/IMG_7571.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
My kindies and I had a lot of fun exploring our 5 senses. There are so many experiments that you can do with kids and we did many of them over the year but this exploration was one of my favorites.<br />
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I gave each of my students and apple and have them look at the apple very carefully. What could they see about the apple with their eyes? My kiddos noticed the colors, spots, lines, and the shape.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX87gdugdFuBf9wD_STtnMpB4-st9TdvPA81jKbl79n8r-jhaxCVxovkmDVlW7ns5q7UiM2dN98D0eZYa2sIkFyKjaCgWfWL2qAoXLLQQwXrTS0XANBV5mhBUhvNMK4vKFqcZRwIMydi1B/s1600/IMG_7459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX87gdugdFuBf9wD_STtnMpB4-st9TdvPA81jKbl79n8r-jhaxCVxovkmDVlW7ns5q7UiM2dN98D0eZYa2sIkFyKjaCgWfWL2qAoXLLQQwXrTS0XANBV5mhBUhvNMK4vKFqcZRwIMydi1B/s200/IMG_7459.JPG" width="200" /></a>I then had them feel the apple with their fingers. What could they see with their fingers? We talked about words like smooth, bumpy, pointed. One student was very excited to discover that the stem of an apple wiggled, another was thrilled to find the bottom of his apple was tickly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7J0lb6_4lWN1TqK6DVDGx4hT7WTIOPhDFbCv8k0s281pW2Pl0ALzal1eqM1PnA1pOh9tgNXd1YXwLfTdWpux1R0DsmFvDBaWQxO89W1wQBNbQYp3W4yupTLPsaf9YuffgCBYfybUhxE-/s1600/IMG_7452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7J0lb6_4lWN1TqK6DVDGx4hT7WTIOPhDFbCv8k0s281pW2Pl0ALzal1eqM1PnA1pOh9tgNXd1YXwLfTdWpux1R0DsmFvDBaWQxO89W1wQBNbQYp3W4yupTLPsaf9YuffgCBYfybUhxE-/s200/IMG_7452.JPG" width="200" /></a>After touching the apple we smelled the apple. First we smelled the skin then we took a tiny bite of the apple and smelled inside. Students described the smell in all sorts of interesting ways. They all agreed that the smell was way more interesting inside an apple.<br />
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When I told the kids that we would be listening to the apple they laughed at me. I asked them how we might listen to an apple. Students tried various things until someone realised that the apple made a sound when they bit into it.<br />
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Finally we explored taste. I had students taste the apple. We licked the skin of the apple then they took a normal bite. The second time I have them bite into the apple and chew 20 times before they swallowed. Words like juicy, sweet, sour, plain were all used. Even my little guy who was sure he hated apples decided to try - afterall he didn't want to miss out on the fun.<br />
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Once we had finished students went to their Thinking books and drew what they experienced. I then had students come and explain to me what they saw, heard, felt, tasted and smelled. It was a pretty simple experiment but the students loved it and we built some much vocabulary in that 30 minutes.<br />
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What did I learn at school today? Sometimes simple experiences can be very powerful. The conversations my students had about the apple were rich and full of wonder. They were excited to discover their senses in this way. What about you? Do you have a favorite activity to do with the 5 senses?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_mRxDHNUH5VUUnbocqxn3rtrqgMA6TGECu5O8N_837a7bquyr6LkRsnx8-gdBehTBFhQxkjfWU5Fystjt5KOv4I3CXG5E2sp-W5pwo_QLZsCjjhJAHiEoYLI5shgSmIcMas3n5FiErIk/s1600/IMG_7470.MOV" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_mRxDHNUH5VUUnbocqxn3rtrqgMA6TGECu5O8N_837a7bquyr6LkRsnx8-gdBehTBFhQxkjfWU5Fystjt5KOv4I3CXG5E2sp-W5pwo_QLZsCjjhJAHiEoYLI5shgSmIcMas3n5FiErIk/s320/IMG_7470.MOV" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-24950913118434477452015-07-19T09:24:00.000-07:002015-07-25T16:12:51.472-07:00Five Freebies Free for all and the Five More Free Contest<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJchZobPQAX4RQFMbNq9qVDCdRzbhXT7KC16SLufSofHfP7SqQpaQnQw4ftU7GmJ_m6ZmUpTCPYJ8vwKm27XLrSpirLleNjn29pr9w_4UnOfqZdZI4HFEHFv2Nh9UA0NWUr3eWYBUX55K4/s1600/la+classe+de+mme+hawtree+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJchZobPQAX4RQFMbNq9qVDCdRzbhXT7KC16SLufSofHfP7SqQpaQnQw4ftU7GmJ_m6ZmUpTCPYJ8vwKm27XLrSpirLleNjn29pr9w_4UnOfqZdZI4HFEHFv2Nh9UA0NWUr3eWYBUX55K4/s1600/la+classe+de+mme+hawtree+logo.png" /></a>So I thought you might all like some free stuff? I started a <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/La-Classe-De-Mme-Hawtree" target="_blank">Teacher pay Teacher </a>store in March this year and I have been busily adding new things that I think would be useful to French Immersion, FSL and French teachers and some things that are good for teachers at all levels.<br />
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I have some freebies for you below and I also wanted to give you<b><span style="color: blue;"> the chance to win five paid products</span></b> from my store for FREE! Entering is easy,<span style="color: blue; font-weight: bold;"> just follow me on <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/La-Classe-De-Mme-Hawtree/Price-Range/Free" target="_blank">Teacher pay Teacher</a> or follow this blog</span><b>. </b>You'll be first to know when I add new products and new freebies!<br />
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I will be drawing for a winner August 31st. Don't miss out on your chance!<br />
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Now for the freebies!<br />
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<b><u><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/La-Classe-De-Mme-Hawtree/Price-Range/Free" target="_blank">Here are a few freebies for you to check out:</a></u></b><br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompt-La-fete-1775555" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikdwD9MedR6HRlLKgHop0w6GTtQy5Zd_4_vDNbIiY73qiPdmAeGx3J32HVOj2f_1wxLIQXvW_8GBY7yEh4CUgOydWa9hxgRs9gxVJ-7ESBXa4X8xETOF8F8eTlRZ5yBa6hN7JsIBf1mJVQ/s320/fete.jpg" width="246" /></a><br />
<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompt-La-fete-1775555" target="_blank"><b> French writing prompts- La Fête</b></a><br />
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One sample writing prompt that includes 3 versions. <br />
Two versions have a word bank included and one only includes the image. This document also includes two pages of lined writing paper for those students who want to write more.<br />
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Other Writing Prompts <br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Writing-Prompts-Les-Pirates-1765959" target="_blank">Pirate Writing Prompts at La classe de Mme Hawtree</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Writing-Prompts-Le-Printemps-1766056" target="_blank">Spring Writing Prompts at La classe de Mme Hawtree</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Snail-roll-and-cover-French-1274230"><b>Roll and Cover Game - Snail</b></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFu3LepTOVAnr5ZPje-8FEwUYngkxw2rgAgNsoGzB3qQvFDWF5pa62lOXTqZ47YxbYPaLIBD8qp6DnPgKzCodTqKij1-RIA9edFKAeogP0UxTg1KVnFSO6ON8ujmW0ox5qEo6xALSuwEx/s1600/snail+roll+and+cover.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFu3LepTOVAnr5ZPje-8FEwUYngkxw2rgAgNsoGzB3qQvFDWF5pa62lOXTqZ47YxbYPaLIBD8qp6DnPgKzCodTqKij1-RIA9edFKAeogP0UxTg1KVnFSO6ON8ujmW0ox5qEo6xALSuwEx/s320/snail+roll+and+cover.jpg" /></a><br />
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A great center or game for the beginning of the year. Students roll a dice and count the number of dots. They cover the number.<br />
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Includes - 3 games<br />
Roll 1 dice.<br />
Roll 1 dice add 1.<br />
Roll 2 dice add 2.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTHqHrcP4sdQFzeARY-r9pFtClBGRYrhxF5xmlj5sfUYTkK-2eMYm-xmZYsJ77XklXm0M9Qa1tP9rOjSjOECon6NG9a56D1qHxKFAHNheSDbrO80FnNo3oqt9cEFuZhYbqbSSgKHNoqOjU/s1600/3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTHqHrcP4sdQFzeARY-r9pFtClBGRYrhxF5xmlj5sfUYTkK-2eMYm-xmZYsJ77XklXm0M9Qa1tP9rOjSjOECon6NG9a56D1qHxKFAHNheSDbrO80FnNo3oqt9cEFuZhYbqbSSgKHNoqOjU/s320/3d.jpg" width="246" /></a><span style="color: #202020; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.0030002593994px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Les-Formes-Les-Solids-Coupe-Cole-Colorie-Freebie-3D-shapes-Cut-Glue-Color-1843705">3D Shapes - Cut, glue and color</a><br />
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3D shapes center activity or worksheets<br />
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Page 3—Students color in shapes as directed and count the number of each shape type.<br />
Page 4– Students cut and glue shapes into one of the two columns following the rule. They can cut out shapes on the bottom of the page or shapes from magazines. <br />
Page 5– Students create their own sorting rule and sort shapes into the two categories. Again students can cut out shapes at the bottom or find shapes in magazines.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Jc80ReVjt3fyjWlJtP2Em_Dw-2apqRNoCdvSPEMLUjOVOEkWr8UR_24bHRpE58w3UwHcStkIxtzpLi4MBcR3jDi_UfARsuB3Oni-9XgPZKYtQ91jOGMHuKd5tOfZAsID8UPt6WWuCK5Z/s1600/bubbles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Jc80ReVjt3fyjWlJtP2Em_Dw-2apqRNoCdvSPEMLUjOVOEkWr8UR_24bHRpE58w3UwHcStkIxtzpLi4MBcR3jDi_UfARsuB3Oni-9XgPZKYtQ91jOGMHuKd5tOfZAsID8UPt6WWuCK5Z/s320/bubbles.jpg" width="246" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Speech-Bubbles-Freebie-1778369" target="_blank"><b>Speech Bubbles</b></a><br />
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Free printable sheet of speech bubbles to print and cut out.<br />
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Use as <a href="http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/2014/05/kids-are-smart-using-thought-bubbles.html">thinking bubbles</a> for predicting lessons or create comics. Use for writing activities too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtH47L3Ect95aDiOSiGlJFEcWcqbIXG5xPBFU5lWSxecD_qRNPDxS3YuQbWhhgNZzW7_43xYpMGU8ZzE9GPh5cat0rjzIHWm51MFJfuz0-kQ_kEz3UvsXET2i1hiBGdyGa5V2mSEkOwS3/s1600/j%2527ai+qui+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtH47L3Ect95aDiOSiGlJFEcWcqbIXG5xPBFU5lWSxecD_qRNPDxS3YuQbWhhgNZzW7_43xYpMGU8ZzE9GPh5cat0rjzIHWm51MFJfuz0-kQ_kEz3UvsXET2i1hiBGdyGa5V2mSEkOwS3/s320/j%2527ai+qui+a.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.0030002593994px;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jai-Qui-a-Addition-1-French-I-have-Who-has-FREEBIE-1821435"><b>J'ai, qui a +1 </b></a><br />
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Have students practice plus 1 addition facts while playing this game. Can be played whole class, in small groups or individually. Instructions are included.<br />
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Freebie includes 9 cards. <br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jai-Qui-a-Addition-1-French-I-have-Who-has-1820137">Click here for full version </a>with 24 cards </div>
Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-34520380821463980202015-07-19T08:24:00.000-07:002016-03-15T12:14:55.804-07:00Science maker project with the three little pigs.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-zgf8pN6BJ2iDEnNjYD2ZePatom38SQYULiOPbt268G-xNiBFBsVICoRGfH8ZKyzm5irMbDYVHSq2S_Xpj3O4V3Mqh_h06tYWCgHOhuo_F9zIxKUmQuf4GMHEjLzq2I-W4jRoPS3QoK35/s1600/015da2a3723ec0129ab1d3218a53bf8e8ac9c25f7d.jpg" 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/AVvXsEg-zgf8pN6BJ2iDEnNjYD2ZePatom38SQYULiOPbt268G-xNiBFBsVICoRGfH8ZKyzm5irMbDYVHSq2S_Xpj3O4V3Mqh_h06tYWCgHOhuo_F9zIxKUmQuf4GMHEjLzq2I-W4jRoPS3QoK35/s200/015da2a3723ec0129ab1d3218a53bf8e8ac9c25f7d.jpg" width="150" /></a>"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down."<br />
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The 3 little pigs has always been one of my favorite units to teach in grade 1. The students have a lot of fun hearing and reading different versions of the story. They also love to rewrite this story. The last few years I have tried to do something different. I decided to see if we could use the three little pigs to teach a little science too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBocSKyty-vhVat1pG7aXrg6hRz4HN2dVQbWrXWWBMNI0fKpF-wg8P2u_oPnD9FqbWb5aqimIyCC_vW7O1IajpJp52sD69YN0sIhe7340XZK7FyX1upTmpcFcG36uvPd029Hc7sTLZ0cAa/s1600/01c1af148642a620c7ca7a2d84fc2972efec58d965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBocSKyty-vhVat1pG7aXrg6hRz4HN2dVQbWrXWWBMNI0fKpF-wg8P2u_oPnD9FqbWb5aqimIyCC_vW7O1IajpJp52sD69YN0sIhe7340XZK7FyX1upTmpcFcG36uvPd029Hc7sTLZ0cAa/s200/01c1af148642a620c7ca7a2d84fc2972efec58d965.jpg" width="150" /></a>On three little pigs day we sat down as a group and I introduced them to my little pig (a green piggy bank) and the big bad wolf (a hairdryer the first year, a large fan with wolf ears on it the second). I explained that we would be building a house for our pig that would protect him from the wolf.<br />
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We brainstormed materials that we had available on the board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjifmt1W9wcAiW-neY03dKrbgSGQhYdsoERjXO9dhUYEu4z96vBMLFk0P-hvFBo7pN-X6vyLp0X8EyBlUWk3dkEgqvRlxcX5xrm1O6e6P2sg3m-Q3kxn7ZJJRa_CaxvSblRFvCdMR5RqtV/s1600/01aa61c6478bb1c50a90a8380dd112d9d4d83ea930.jpg" 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/AVvXsEjjifmt1W9wcAiW-neY03dKrbgSGQhYdsoERjXO9dhUYEu4z96vBMLFk0P-hvFBo7pN-X6vyLp0X8EyBlUWk3dkEgqvRlxcX5xrm1O6e6P2sg3m-Q3kxn7ZJJRa_CaxvSblRFvCdMR5RqtV/s200/01aa61c6478bb1c50a90a8380dd112d9d4d83ea930.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
I had brought in hay and wood for the occasion. Other materials were things the students found around the classroom.<br />
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<b>Some materials that students suggested:</b><br />
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Paper, wood, straw, bricks, wiki sticks, pipe cleaners. books, pencils, paper cups and blocks.<br />
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I asked each student to choose 1 material they would like to try to build with.<br />
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I limited groups to no more than 4 students per material. If students first choice was gone they simply chose something else.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8WepyWflzhq_mHZTuLeKlOq6xTOZx03tf1-_4dvYsO1D2oXEuTTIVx3QeQF6WqC7LcjiWYbKr-apV0_GxsXXvE0kd8Fb1vEwJEN0YZUo7MRbCxuJefnLTAgYBdbX-sIiJ98lw2gfeak7/s1600/019851c8a175861297977929fdf008b9efd42f2053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8WepyWflzhq_mHZTuLeKlOq6xTOZx03tf1-_4dvYsO1D2oXEuTTIVx3QeQF6WqC7LcjiWYbKr-apV0_GxsXXvE0kd8Fb1vEwJEN0YZUo7MRbCxuJefnLTAgYBdbX-sIiJ98lw2gfeak7/s200/019851c8a175861297977929fdf008b9efd42f2053.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
We made a prediction chart and all voted on if we thought the house made of each material would fall or stand.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cpqJoujAjISgNpykA_DwtkBq1hjnP_yzxk6NC4fpUpsZNv3k6cL7vCb8AgKJX1nKlFOX6MWJHnw_1hJtmlpaByOBZZO4O9hP1L5z6fTgvcI1aQ2dKQIfsjDTDReHRzP5FnwRqj3L_658/s1600/01cea3a28931069da1e451e15f0b4c09903a0dbca7.jpg" 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/AVvXsEh3cpqJoujAjISgNpykA_DwtkBq1hjnP_yzxk6NC4fpUpsZNv3k6cL7vCb8AgKJX1nKlFOX6MWJHnw_1hJtmlpaByOBZZO4O9hP1L5z6fTgvcI1aQ2dKQIfsjDTDReHRzP5FnwRqj3L_658/s200/01cea3a28931069da1e451e15f0b4c09903a0dbca7.jpg" width="150" /></a>When we had decided on our materials everyone student individually took out their "Thinking book" and they had 15 minutes to come up with a sketch or plan for their material.<br />
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They then showed their ideas to the rest of the group and explained why they thought it would work. Students then worked together to decide on the best plan.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M33nVfMidK_DhRsTXU_1E3P5-rz3zMvNuRh9ynNtNT5EjNK6bgFlfVGNcqIELNQFpdTqIucGVriu0nzsIYSbcTt30pUgHZqYhKEUjFUDWtOYBAScN3D5C2j5UtmOp6MTg6yIKdwxBUlI/s1600/015c4e318614ab4388559172cdf238d536585c44e7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M33nVfMidK_DhRsTXU_1E3P5-rz3zMvNuRh9ynNtNT5EjNK6bgFlfVGNcqIELNQFpdTqIucGVriu0nzsIYSbcTt30pUgHZqYhKEUjFUDWtOYBAScN3D5C2j5UtmOp6MTg6yIKdwxBUlI/s200/015c4e318614ab4388559172cdf238d536585c44e7.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
I gave the groups 40 minutes to build.<br />
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After that time we all looked at each others designs and returned to the prediction chart. We checked to see if we wanted to change any of our predictions based on the designs we saw.<br />
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Finally it was time to huff and puff and blow the houses down. Very exciting stuff!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmMCESk-nv6LPJJl0UMPCviC152WJqlR9s-VRFEXyMhSVUkBvgteWnlQEeI82UBFWa9aDaRhYGkKpoWCJccbOjpmG2tOj4edVfJvz5LgzfZRbN1atcRA6nh0_w5du1tGG7mHJf9nFC_fW/s1600/01ad2170938fe4c6c317558ef5d864c2a1a59ae23c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmMCESk-nv6LPJJl0UMPCviC152WJqlR9s-VRFEXyMhSVUkBvgteWnlQEeI82UBFWa9aDaRhYGkKpoWCJccbOjpmG2tOj4edVfJvz5LgzfZRbN1atcRA6nh0_w5du1tGG7mHJf9nFC_fW/s200/01ad2170938fe4c6c317558ef5d864c2a1a59ae23c.jpg" width="200" /></a>We reflected on our designs talked about possible improvements.<br />
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We looked at our prediction chart and spend a little time in our thinking books recording what we had learned.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSp6mEr8LQYGFxtvwZfzK1kzqomWjJUBylu0QA3US8rK7njSGNmdQ0jbuUy84oXvqTtA_v4pIRF_6_oXCPGvn73rgBVXBHaVIwD8KtZ8kdHAxUYAS8aNtOIt-oNwlws6cxPbv9XJZZAw0e/s1600/0173e95503f580a2df9bcdeed37c3c31cd3963214f.jpg" 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/AVvXsEjSp6mEr8LQYGFxtvwZfzK1kzqomWjJUBylu0QA3US8rK7njSGNmdQ0jbuUy84oXvqTtA_v4pIRF_6_oXCPGvn73rgBVXBHaVIwD8KtZ8kdHAxUYAS8aNtOIt-oNwlws6cxPbv9XJZZAw0e/s200/0173e95503f580a2df9bcdeed37c3c31cd3963214f.jpg" width="150" /></a>I loved this project and so did the students. It was fun to watch them think through a problem and work together to create something. The learning was varied and students all felt successful, even the ones whose houses fell.<br />
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What did I learn at school today? The three little pigs made a great jumping point to science concepts like force and motion and predicting. It made me look for other literature connections with science topics. Do you have a favorite story that you use to teach science? Have you done this with your students before?<br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-76805410161651770592015-07-17T08:02:00.002-07:002016-03-15T12:13:31.035-07:0015 classroom activities for Earth Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1BThgjAyy4vTs4U2Tm9RfJ6zPUuqQ4K1je-uREAFy6yzVwFyHzKl64dV1GyMiqmRWeUdRNytK8UWOSc4hzVcJNxwy54HPH_NOSFdltOClis_j6LQ8aquFj4jMqPAqtXKbs_MkUmVvKhl/s1600/j%2527aime+la+terre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1BThgjAyy4vTs4U2Tm9RfJ6zPUuqQ4K1je-uREAFy6yzVwFyHzKl64dV1GyMiqmRWeUdRNytK8UWOSc4hzVcJNxwy54HPH_NOSFdltOClis_j6LQ8aquFj4jMqPAqtXKbs_MkUmVvKhl/s200/j%2527aime+la+terre.jpg" title="" width="199" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Earth day is a great excuse to learn about all sorts of things. Conservation, recycling, reusing and reducing, humans effects on the natural environment and of course crafting and ingenuity.</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">15 Fun things to do for earth day:</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1) Read - J'aime la terre by Todd Parr. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2) Draw tiny drawings on tiny pieces of paper. Don't forget to use both sides!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4RZ60IT9_5d9Ev7Bbbgijqh3a73978wJC6_5RzDySJF0NFVV-HuSuKrN3JeV9jP7_i2KdhEhDqo6QujdT69NpnwlLJaNvOPsl3RcCMXi1Bo_9DW0MDLgplkZmnqeZBbL32Puz9-nbgIy/s1600/0173c3eb150772a9ae281a18b4010fcd876c58c607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4RZ60IT9_5d9Ev7Bbbgijqh3a73978wJC6_5RzDySJF0NFVV-HuSuKrN3JeV9jP7_i2KdhEhDqo6QujdT69NpnwlLJaNvOPsl3RcCMXi1Bo_9DW0MDLgplkZmnqeZBbL32Puz9-nbgIy/s1600/0173c3eb150772a9ae281a18b4010fcd876c58c607.jpg" width="150" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mam8x3uXfK2-2namvuNZXzwMp1WP7-aJ12fCoJsZCtA4JNL_XDDbE4bJOlVuRUDLFKdqF2f3-UAY-U_HGyFJsIADFs39XpbWvnZPGCMGl4L8rSxAeU5tqc2mnNd8EbZ0q91LsUc7NTUF/s1600/01eb3dcd0de065140ec23ac49acb04aa8b3197d7e9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mam8x3uXfK2-2namvuNZXzwMp1WP7-aJ12fCoJsZCtA4JNL_XDDbE4bJOlVuRUDLFKdqF2f3-UAY-U_HGyFJsIADFs39XpbWvnZPGCMGl4L8rSxAeU5tqc2mnNd8EbZ0q91LsUc7NTUF/s1600/01eb3dcd0de065140ec23ac49acb04aa8b3197d7e9.jpg" width="150" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3) Make junk statues out of materials that would normally be thrown out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4) Visit the recycling plant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">5) Visit a local thrift store.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6) Plan a playground clean-up.</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M9o1i-aBl94/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M9o1i-aBl94?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: right; float: right;" width="320"></iframe><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7) Try a Earth day<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Je-lis-et-je-dessine-Jour-de-la-Terre-1791338" target="_blank"> Je lis et je dessine.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8) Watch "Sid le Petit Scientist - Jour de la Terre" and do a soil exploration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">9) Plan a sharing/caring swap. Have kids bring in items they no longer need from home. Students take turns choosing a new item that a friend has brought it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">10) Plan a clothing drive and donate to a local charity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">11) Plant some seeds. Talk about the effects of plants on the environment.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd99mRzgOJglgpz8kDQMxvmj5jv4apUQBfZQDBNpD42lam271etbO8RdP7fidKFQPueLFLD6Js3wI2869dGq4tLhyil3u1lgYviT_pxEIHAJsMI4P1KLv1Kf-SLQAHk05YlyMvnl2eKgM8/s1600/016a8e4af0a9fe0217edf33d50df4c7a61a5d97237.jpg" 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/AVvXsEjd99mRzgOJglgpz8kDQMxvmj5jv4apUQBfZQDBNpD42lam271etbO8RdP7fidKFQPueLFLD6Js3wI2869dGq4tLhyil3u1lgYviT_pxEIHAJsMI4P1KLv1Kf-SLQAHk05YlyMvnl2eKgM8/s200/016a8e4af0a9fe0217edf33d50df4c7a61a5d97237.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNTYjm8TvdsidvYmAE4aH3iKkfVWMAM6SJ01RYqjZh36Ubyz-tSOD_ndaJshFYEFGxiyRYOkvjoYIzcZMyqIEO3-j3sP0EWH1gh-pLOoBaLmzpl_eygBcKHoM4z9U6JeasigUKztQnBwJ/s1600/01cf68190da6d2da45fe4c72902af377fa4d674efd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNTYjm8TvdsidvYmAE4aH3iKkfVWMAM6SJ01RYqjZh36Ubyz-tSOD_ndaJshFYEFGxiyRYOkvjoYIzcZMyqIEO3-j3sP0EWH1gh-pLOoBaLmzpl_eygBcKHoM4z9U6JeasigUKztQnBwJ/s200/01cf68190da6d2da45fe4c72902af377fa4d674efd.jpg" width="150" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">12) Pretend you are the earth. What would you want people to know? Write a persuasive poster to ask people to help you! <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Earth-day-Writing-and-Craft-Activity-Jour-de-la-Terre-1797833" target="_blank">Template here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">13) Host a recycling relay race. Have students bring recyclables from home. Have students sort recycling by type and ask a parent to drop it off at the recyclers for you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">14) <a href="http://courses.thomas.org.br/makerspace/earth-day-maker-activities/" target="_blank">Plan a maker day reuse it challenge</a>. Have students try to come up with new uses for old junk. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF217r2ICbMK505OKpV5jHm3kjHcwgVOzVGzXkStveG8jMsVdSI9quISCYf99iG6186kttJsYQ5oudsp0wVZBRSYJrGhyphenhyphennXmwxyNrrzmO7DMCI3hqTvIdsPRH8LwyAqhxokTY1VfzhD2T/s1600/01081105e9438bcd1a645c8335afb3750568846235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF217r2ICbMK505OKpV5jHm3kjHcwgVOzVGzXkStveG8jMsVdSI9quISCYf99iG6186kttJsYQ5oudsp0wVZBRSYJrGhyphenhyphennXmwxyNrrzmO7DMCI3hqTvIdsPRH8LwyAqhxokTY1VfzhD2T/s200/01081105e9438bcd1a645c8335afb3750568846235.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESjcTzQX6lO4S8XxScTZbiiariHUL2WdVgzzriEl1YcETfRk6z1novKd8CLY0oBtkl2t56TOPcP4NJ-nojYDOUx8Dl5TF6PIWzArI9MUzCAPqUsTIjkJTTtRDYgFrqfV1T8jIqX78mz29/s1600/01755bfd5620bef98a8fb749343f0f2a0b122a6087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESjcTzQX6lO4S8XxScTZbiiariHUL2WdVgzzriEl1YcETfRk6z1novKd8CLY0oBtkl2t56TOPcP4NJ-nojYDOUx8Dl5TF6PIWzArI9MUzCAPqUsTIjkJTTtRDYgFrqfV1T8jIqX78mz29/s200/01755bfd5620bef98a8fb749343f0f2a0b122a6087.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">15) Create recycle scrap paper collages. Use old paper and scraps from the year to create new and exciting art pieces.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEO1apzt4fbCoBu5lftmfQmBNcD1eMMWSKUcPogSuq5dBxaTn3lplwJvBtZXQNp2Ij94Awim5Tf-t0YqsJo_AZZKL2flaRtL-XlUZxQiXlf5bBmLg2Agw0fqSpFYQROoOZZkMgx3PDevv/s1600/0130808387184d0e82d7304796a21206f672a0949b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
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What are your favorite earth day activities?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWUpasZ510NiO05QfjHrL7A9CLKzaqnjL-YgGtMYG2ZNSjPAOaa0vKfeE__m_vj25oYDqQSc8RHCREqxd5v2VY7VN_AR0uAIF93I3vv5fGfNNFICI2O0Zd6tdexZYAUkmTNC_u-aeSIOt/s1600/0115687fc0e317051a4b0ca52f4e63b65185b75cc0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-43488204593818006412015-06-10T17:50:00.001-07:002015-06-10T17:56:01.993-07:00Butterfly Life Cycle FunWe are having lots of fun in grade 1 learning all about butterflies. The butterfly kit we ordered was very disappointing. All the caterpillars died and so we have been reading books, watching videos and making art to try and figure out what should have happened and what might have gone wrong.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NX3o2UGytZU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NX3o2UGytZU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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In this video the photo and text explain the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. By watching this we were able to determine that we didn't have monarch butterflies in our classroom because the caterpillars look different.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qf0y99eogAc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qf0y99eogAc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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This video from Ce n'est pas sorcier showed us that their are lots of different kinds of caterpillars and butterflies. It has some tricky language but some amazing images too. My students loved being able to see different types of caterpillars and butterflies up close. We also liked learning about how silk is made.<br />
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We also read lots of different kinds of books from the library about butterflies. They all seemed to tell us the same thing. Butterflies have a 4 part life cycle. We decided we would paint the life cycle. We painted one stage in each wing.<br />
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After we decided we would try and write about everything we learned. We used this template.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cycle-de-vie-des-papillons-dart-et-decriture-Butterfly-Life-Cycle-Activities-1886410" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dC2LOecwB147HBuMOWeUNTR5719AAV7Yn48gfEE4dZo8cXe3N2Cnd0iSSK-acCVThuRiXI2bUZ0QB7pd1eIOFvYmYhFI6hfptJ0iCjY6MG_1PSO4MjiEp55LaiZNLUKp23nAu6Ss7cHA/s640/papillon.PNG" width="489" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on image to see full document</td></tr>
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What did I learn at school today? Even when disaster strikes I can make the best of it. The students were very excited to learn about butterflies and try and figure out what went wrong with our batch. They still learned about the needs of animals and about the life cycle. Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? What did you do?<br />
<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-83256567682788556452015-04-20T19:39:00.003-07:002015-04-20T19:40:37.843-07:00Games and activities for reinforcing sight words.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vag_UFGkLUSzAVzJIQphfgxNZcgZT2kmFoSsWQ5-urairFXnoJrFgLeRSwOzIOBRHhM3XjHZmILYu3QYOyNgJPuGkM04P5UmuPMgQ9_6gcDdflDW7SBKZ_bfX35k6iv9shlRV7yojhrx/s1600/a-Color.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vag_UFGkLUSzAVzJIQphfgxNZcgZT2kmFoSsWQ5-urairFXnoJrFgLeRSwOzIOBRHhM3XjHZmILYu3QYOyNgJPuGkM04P5UmuPMgQ9_6gcDdflDW7SBKZ_bfX35k6iv9shlRV7yojhrx/s1600/a-Color.png" height="200" width="200" /></a>Sight words are vital to unlocking reading for many students but finding fun ways to introduce them and to give students a chance to practice them can be challenging.<br />
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I usually introduce one new sight word a day. We then spend the day trying to spot the word when we are flipping through books or when Mme is reading or when we are walking around the school. Once we have a good collection of words under our belts we can start playing some games with them.<br />
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<b>Whole Class Games:</b></h3>
<b>Quiz, quiz trade:</b><br />
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Students each get one sight word. They partner up and show each other the word. Once they have read the word they trade and move on to a new partner.<br />
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<b>Stand-up:</b><br />
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As we practice our word I will pick a "magic" word, letter or sound. When they hear it they stand-up. When the word is gone they sit back down.<br />
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<b>Act it out:</b><br />
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When we read action words, students have fun acting out the word.<br />
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<b>Silent Word/Sound:</b><br />
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When we read through the list students are told they can not read a certain word, or word containing a sound or letter.<br />
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<b>I have, who has or J'ai Qui a?</b><br />
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These are a great choice. Kids really enjoy trying to beat there time and improve. <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Game-FREEBIE-Voyageur-de-lautomne-JaiQui-a-1505276" target="_blank"> Here is a fall freebie that looks like fun</a>.<br />
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Small Group Games:</h3>
<b>Memory:</b><br />
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Exactly like the card game.... but sight words!<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Word-Wall-Sound-Cards-and-games-Cartes-de-sons-communs-1796681" target="_blank"> Check out one version of the game here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrLdbQNeYynARtWr7FVq4GiqcIB_7PqCUnzBvkTFgV3Liv0o8GK1WE99bZy1_CQLrU1HLgfVoU8Dv3zVNkReoOrI0jMtKqqFLsYX8YdKdZEPncDeDD4iuQ9YBTfgh6sjc3nJiVY4JiIF0/s1600/boom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrLdbQNeYynARtWr7FVq4GiqcIB_7PqCUnzBvkTFgV3Liv0o8GK1WE99bZy1_CQLrU1HLgfVoU8Dv3zVNkReoOrI0jMtKqqFLsYX8YdKdZEPncDeDD4iuQ9YBTfgh6sjc3nJiVY4JiIF0/s1600/boom.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><b>Boom:</b><br />
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Lots of different ways to play this game but <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/20618110767059648/" target="_blank">this</a> is one of my favorite versions. You can use popsicle sticks or cards. I get my students to fold a piece of paper in half, and then in half again. They unfold the paper and the creases make a border for their cards. They then put a word in each rectangle and the word boom on 1 of the rectangles. they cut them up and play with a partner. Great writing and reading practice.<br />
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<b>Board Games:</b><br />
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There are a few games that you can use to reinforce sight words online. Here are a few in french that my students like. These are great for sending home for practice too.<br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Le-Mot-Mystere-Jeux-dorthographe-Word-Work-and-Spelling-Practice-Game-1817744" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPF2veItJv2jx0HWmO3YPidmzsMz9AF3EvENlzoT_J0xc7h4wUdIJfs0NBZW97uCkmGVl-rM_Y4-RK-OZQId9Ldyx-3yzfDzdUVOBxHM7qhU7LQcx8nsWJJdjEEINcaZvdUW90CYsV-PRm/s1600/mot+mystere.PNG" height="241" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jeux-de-mot-Pigeo-French-Sight-word-board-game-1808393" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStZtMHV-mk5qnbyCWdCPChSC8mR9sn_xVXRC43DCYzggXFVQFyh0tzbOCxwWMW3rLQdYIh1i3L6Ehtrw7kzQHiZLY53a0MMcSfHj7KxwGoBPjFgrRMjvhtHFnMOnU_r7MpJCdC06f0vbb/s1600/pigeo.PNG" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jeux-de-mot-Serpent-et-Echelle-Sight-Word-Game-Snakes-and-Ladders-1818417" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyeQWwyQ3y9bqdKNyliMNvQX2FepDz-Zg6mT9M6LtHkJdWlIUu76EC8cy9ndlvSK75cFe57doMw4dVDz3BX4BgS_W_RkcskWYBORPW03DsajKqnhvhOOHdssxbdSlWrs0TChnnawdVkct/s1600/snakes+and+ladders.PNG" height="246" width="320" /></a>~</div>
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So what did I learn at school today? Sight word learning and practice doesn't have to be repetitive and boring. With a little creativity there are a ton of ways to play with words. What are your favorite sight word games?<br />
<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-38906481897916906622015-03-22T11:21:00.000-07:002015-03-25T17:25:07.939-07:00Writing prompts to unblock stuck students.Using images as writing prompts is nothing new and some would argue that it is an old way of teaching that stunt student creativity and growth when writing. In my experience though a well used writing prompt activity can help students feel successful and give you some important assessment information that isn't tainted by wondering - is my student struggling with ideas, vocabulary or with writing in general?<br />
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One activity my students and I love to do together is an oral tell me more activity. I will show them a picture on the smartboard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXUoa9QOhmbu0C3M-ljvJOLiTt9gaESA_DEUCqO1EgEj1W-ItzRYtvxxMyrU7c69A4eL5zGOujX9keZ7OoMG6VLyDi0AWRno4bc4ErYgP3LVDKZUztxLisgnyWqzEmm1bziNZUvrNFawB/s1600/callieannette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXUoa9QOhmbu0C3M-ljvJOLiTt9gaESA_DEUCqO1EgEj1W-ItzRYtvxxMyrU7c69A4eL5zGOujX9keZ7OoMG6VLyDi0AWRno4bc4ErYgP3LVDKZUztxLisgnyWqzEmm1bziNZUvrNFawB/s1600/callieannette.jpg" height="200" width="148" /></a></div>
With this image I would tell students to tell their partners what they see. In the beginning students will always say "I see a dog" or "C'est un chien." I then challenge the students to tell each other more. After a few minutes I stop students and we discuss our ideas. Slowly we build from "It's a dog" to "It's a little brown dog with big ears sitting on a blue boat. He is waiting for someone." I then ask questions like "And then?" "Why?" "What happened next?' Over time we build vocabulary and create great adventure stories build around these silly images. Often students will use the ideas from these oral sessions to go write their own stories later.<br />
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A great source for free images is <a href="http://www.pics4learning.com/">http://www.pics4learning.com/</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Printable-Story-Oral-Language-or-Writing-Prompts-1781934" target="_blank">You can also download a pre-made set of story prompts at TpT.</a><br />
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In my classroom I also have a bucket of laminated photos that students can use as writing prompts when they are stuck for ideas or need inspiration for writing.<br />
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Another tool I use that is even more structured are pages that contain a picture and some vocabulary words about the picture beside the image. Learning to write, especially in another language like French can be challenging for students. Sometimes giving students a picture and vocabulary is very freeing for students. They can concentrate on writing rather than coming up with an original idea, finding the vocabulary they need, Students can produce interesting, unique stories that they would normally find difficult to put together independently. It is a great way to help give students who need a little extra help a boost.<br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompt-La-fete-1775555" target="_blank">Here is a freebie</a> from my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/La-Classe-De-Mme-Hawtree" target="_blank">TpT store</a> you can try with your students.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompt-La-fete-1775555" target="_blank">Freebie Writing Prompt activity</a></td></tr>
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I still like to give my students choice when we do these kinds of writing activities so I usually have 2 or 3 options for pages with images and vocabulary bank. Here are a few theme specific writing prompt activities I created for my students that you might like.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompts-Le-Printemps-1766056" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoO7vi8nD1iT-YILXdkX4o4TODX9pJf93wpK4qtkrcNmWNjSYbQWLqaZ6EPrIicltpZxoxpi800S6FjEqtv23EqTw8GOb0J1o_dBAnzChAz9k7JDYUMHk1DpANHCiL-9ezBcBhZrdLCVVk/s1600/spring+writing+prompt.PNG" height="320" width="245" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompts-Le-Printemps-1766056" target="_blank">Spring Writing Prompts</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompts-Les-Pirates-1765959" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh349aejXzrwId9PaqzbPoISSkCW_Fm2l0QHz832iynFmqM8ENyBobWjbu9VX_vXUGqCgNoWNLD3nlKeQqdTRtf_z1r9X9jbr5dKTysJZEg4jybFcRFxzymBmrxjmMUj8Y__Zatf9zytIe-/s1600/pirate+writing+prompt.PNG" height="320" width="244" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompts-Les-Pirates-1765959" target="_blank">Pirate Writing Prompt</a>s</td></tr>
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So what did I learn at school today? Writing prompts are still a useful and usable tool in our classroom. They can be used to build vocabulary, expand story telling skills and build imagination. They can help kids get down to the business of writing more quickly and for many students they are freeing rather then being restrictive. Do you use writing prompts with your students? How do you build vocabulary and writing confidence with your students?<br />
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Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-11959207083259382882015-03-22T09:14:00.001-07:002015-03-22T09:17:33.583-07:00Daily 5 Listen to Reading in French Immersion using Android TabletsSo the Ipads are gone from my classroom and have been replaced with 12 shiny new Samsung Galaxy tablets. First order of business was to see which of the things that I was able to so with my students on the Ipad, I could still do on the tablet. Figuring out how to do listen to reading was top of my list.<br />
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There are many individual books available in the Google Play store. Most of the free books do contain advertising or have limited features.<br />
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I did find a few free apps that are worth checking out.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.audoisetalleuil.pierrotpierrette.free&hl=en" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPrv-Q4rrNWs5bpAP4zusm-KnwAMDm3jmN5mhyj8iIqpr6PgILq-LC7y4tT-ucFvjJpoiBvMSULKKobGdXrtacu0BqezXge0xGVBNDcA1WUDWQaw7B8P1dcAOa7DQ0BvRh-btUtGbwJqb/s1600/pierot.PNG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.audoisetalleuil.pierrotpierrette.free&hl=en">Pierro Pierrette</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Cover art" height="200" src="https://lh5.ggpht.com/L9Khk1Cxn3UsT-gzuYTdC4JW4wlTR-a0wLfgobZwDMAEugaDVaFTATPwqAPq5ZT-Jzo=w300-rw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tb.hd.fr.luna.main&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50Yi5oZC5mci5sdW5hLm1haW4iXQ.." target="_blank">Le secret de la lune</a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Lisbon+Labs" target="_blank">Lisbon labs</a> has a large selection of french book apps however the apps includes advertising.<br />
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<a href="https://lh6.ggpht.com/7PMtlrhfUeFGrI2U1ew0G-03hz2ndKQG6Nj-ZFsZ_6iHj5Kl9En_QPAfxOe5E61z00I=w300-rw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://lh5.ggpht.com/Paaxp0u_4oi802qO9UOUgjIb4Jz9BJ3h5d5FVInPNxMr4kIqprw2J5USZ_gXY2t3TjZR=w300-rw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover art" border="0" height="200" src="https://lh5.ggpht.com/Paaxp0u_4oi802qO9UOUgjIb4Jz9BJ3h5d5FVInPNxMr4kIqprw2J5USZ_gXY2t3TjZR=w300-rw" width="200" /></a><a href="https://lh3.ggpht.com/_gnlkCQDFnadfXeIlC9ZNG9jbQPUO8TzQZT5yoE0ICrq5LGi9v-_9bCU1uQxy9nlOAg=w300-rw" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Cover art" border="0" height="200" src="https://lh3.ggpht.com/_gnlkCQDFnadfXeIlC9ZNG9jbQPUO8TzQZT5yoE0ICrq5LGi9v-_9bCU1uQxy9nlOAg=w300-rw" width="200" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gi.playtales.gold" target="_blank">Playtales Gold</a></td></tr>
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Although free options do exist I decided that for simplicity and to save time and money it was best to pay for a subscription service instead. I settled on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gi.playtales.gold" target="_blank">Playtales Gold</a> . This service costs $25 a year. They have a free version but the advertising is so frequent that it isn't worth looking at. We chose <a href="http://www.playtales.com/en/" target="_blank">Playtales Gold</a> because it offers books in multiple languages and I am at a bilingual school. By selecting language from a drop down I can limit students to only reading French books and our English teachers can still use the app with their students using by changing the language to English.<br />
<a href="https://lh6.ggpht.com/gmmc61xinje0U2L2wMvWGFS_piCvdEAPgG4pQmGu8Ic-s9RG1xiCx8K4u0SPCeiCT3w=h900-rw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="PlayTales Gold - screenshot" border="0" height="125" src="https://lh6.ggpht.com/gmmc61xinje0U2L2wMvWGFS_piCvdEAPgG4pQmGu8Ic-s9RG1xiCx8K4u0SPCeiCT3w=h900-rw" width="200" /></a><br />
I also love that I get to pick which books I download on each tablet and which books kids have access to on their bookshelf. This allows me to download books appropriate to students levels. Our tablets are numbered and I can ask students to choose a tablet at their reading/listening level if I choose.<br />
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<a href="https://lh4.ggpht.com/uF3AzYczm3-gHX4zJZhWTfz3wP_K8LLd5k_XuV98yaICZcBte9BWXgFTzocrY5K_I4M=h900-rw" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PlayTales Gold - screenshot" border="0" height="250" src="https://lh4.ggpht.com/uF3AzYczm3-gHX4zJZhWTfz3wP_K8LLd5k_XuV98yaICZcBte9BWXgFTzocrY5K_I4M=h900-rw" style="text-align: left;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><u>A note about French apps:</u></b><br />
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<a href="http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/2012/10/finding-french-language-apps-for-ipad.html" target="_blank">Just like with the ipad</a> when you change to language of your device you also change the language of many of the apps you install. Some apps will appear to be in English but once you change the language in the settings you can use them in French too.<br />
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What I learned at school today? The switch from apple to android is not going to be a problem for Daily 5 listen to reading. There are free apps out there and apps like Playtales make it easy for my students to access a large variety of books easily. My next step is to try and figure out how to get kids on youtube safely. Are you using listen to reading apps on the android? What is your favorite? Any advise about how to connect to youtube without exposing students to adds and limiting content?<br />
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Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-5480717545531185052015-03-06T06:24:00.000-08:002015-03-06T06:24:16.718-08:00Getting Started with the Android Samsung Tablets from an Apple Girl.First things first.... How do I turn this thing on?! I can use an Ipad, I can use this thing right? The reality however is that you can't expect this device to behave like an Ipad there are some differences and they have tripped me up as I am trying to learn this device.<br />
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I admit the setup for my teacher tablet was fairly easy. The tablet talks you through most of it. It helps if you already have a google account you are using. If you don't already have one you can set one up <a href="https://accounts.google.com/Signup">here</a> or follow the directions on your new tablet. Learning to use it however was a little trickier.<br />
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Here is one video I used to help learn how to use the device:<br />
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<u><b>Some tips.</b></u></div>
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1) If there is no back button on an app to get you back to the last screen us the return arrow on the bottom of your tablet.</div>
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2) Double clicking the home screen</div>
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3) The google search box is always on the bottom right side of the home screens. You can use it to search the web but you can also use it to find apps on your device.</div>
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My advice? Unbox your device, run through the set-up and then watch the video above. Pause and try each new trick he teaches you along the way. Get comfortable with the navigation. </div>
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What is your best beginner android tip?</div>
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Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-41734945219915665232015-02-08T09:50:00.001-08:002016-12-29T13:32:50.404-08:00Snowman name math and measuring activity<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV83w5TrGw4MNRmxIxCkr30nEHnWyDp6ykS2G80xBT7UrwBcx5-joS9x-wa84C0zLy5FwX8PPUtpg_2ZJvyUPwqm-x02F8hw8YcsPegtqeYS8HUEr_RbyyauGhvihH_U0IQJQOyIAihOQC/s640/blogger-image--1584898948.jpg" 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/AVvXsEhV83w5TrGw4MNRmxIxCkr30nEHnWyDp6ykS2G80xBT7UrwBcx5-joS9x-wa84C0zLy5FwX8PPUtpg_2ZJvyUPwqm-x02F8hw8YcsPegtqeYS8HUEr_RbyyauGhvihH_U0IQJQOyIAihOQC/s200/blogger-image--1584898948.jpg" width="150" /></a>We had a lot of fun in grade one this week. We made long snowman using our names. I got the ideas from <a href="http://artwithmsjames.blogspot.ca/2012/12/kindergarten-snowman-names.html">Art with Ms. James</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3sLYQevthtjn8u3nrCESOijkXqiAP3gISNtiBFr5-CyRu9Y5QcqVpUIxABUTPgeL8M5oBfa22SoiwgS0EPARGnnf1ko9pB6JrCs_sJ33ELpuDcZfFAf_Kpg1BvzO1L6o81NN-cQodHYq/s640/blogger-image--745769436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3sLYQevthtjn8u3nrCESOijkXqiAP3gISNtiBFr5-CyRu9Y5QcqVpUIxABUTPgeL8M5oBfa22SoiwgS0EPARGnnf1ko9pB6JrCs_sJ33ELpuDcZfFAf_Kpg1BvzO1L6o81NN-cQodHYq/s200/blogger-image--745769436.jpg" width="150" /></a>First students had to plan out their snowman. We wrote their names in our journals and counted the number of letters. We then added + 1 because they needed to add a ball for the head. We drew that many balls on the page and wrote our names.... and added a little face too. We knew that each piece of paper had 4 snowballs on it. We had to find out how many sheets of paper we would need to complete the project. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1RvCmBr6sEdazZvZkNteEJLclU/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"> You can download circle template here.</a><br />
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We then created our snowmen. We cut off any excess purple paper. Once we were done making them we all worked together to sort them in order of length. We noticed that even though some snowmen had the same amount of circles they were not the same length. We realized that the reason was that some students had overlapped their circles and some didn't. We decided that to make a good measurement we needed to make sure we didn't overlap our measuring tools because it changed the measurement.<br />
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What did I learn at school today? Kids sometimes learn best when you let them muddle their way though. This activity was a great way to get kids to think through a problem and come to their own conclusions. I'd told them many times that in order to measure we needed to make sure that the items didn't overlap but some still struggled with this. Once they saw the snowmen and worked through the problem themselves it was much easier for them to understand.<br />
<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-82048765165388372522014-07-01T11:19:00.000-07:002014-07-01T11:19:22.880-07:00The Importance of Choice and Voice in Primary Grades.I remember having a conversation with my son when he was in grade 9. His teacher had given him a self <br />
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It isn't surprising either. Up until that point he had been taught that school was about creating a product that conformed to a series of guidelines determined by the teacher. He was told what was important to know, he was handed the information or guided to the information sources and he created very tidy projects to represent the learning he had been asked to master. He had learned to play by the rules and when he was told he was old enough to help write the rules he didn't feel he had any ability to do so.</div>
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If we are going to ask students to be responsible for their learning as teens (and I think it is important that we do) we need to make sure that as elementary school teachers we are setting them up for success. Students need to feel that they have a voice in their education early on. They need to understand that they have knowledge to share, add value to a classroom and most importantly have the power to learn not only from the teacher but from each other and from other resources.<br />
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My struggle as an early french immersion teacher is in trying to make that happen. How do we encourage this in those early grades? How do we give students the desire to "find out" and the tools to do that? How do we foster curiosity and encourage discovery? How do we help students make mistakes and learn from them? How do we help students understand that as learners they hold the power?<br />
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One way I've been trying to help students take responsibility for learning is through art integration. I've had the chance to be involved in an <a href="http://artstarts.com/infusion">Arts Infusion</a> grant these last two years. Working through projects with our visiting artist has been an learning process for me and my students. You can read about some of the projects <a href="http://community.artsinfusion.ca/blogs/guest_blog/infusion_champion_school_george_pringle_elementary_year_two_in_revie">here</a> . You can read more about Art integration <a href="http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons">here</a>. It's a work in progress for me and I still have a lot to learn.<br />
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Another interesting idea for teaching students that they can be independent learners is Genius Hour. You can read about it here: <a href="http://www.geniushour.com/">http://www.geniushour.com/</a> I haven't tried doing this yet. I'm still trying to figure out what it would look like in a grade 1 french immersion class but I've been inspired by<a href="http://creativitycollective.ca/stories/tag/Genius%20Hour,%20Kindergarten,%20Creativity"> Stephanie Bartlett </a> to give it a try for next year.<br />
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What did I learn at school today? Well I learned that I want to do a better job of fostering independence and creativity with my students. I want to find ways for them to feel empowered as learners. I want them to get to grade 9 and say "Yes! A project. I love projects!" What about you? Are you already doing a good job of this? How do you help students in our classroom feel empowered to learn?<br />
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Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-72958107174577796582014-07-01T10:19:00.002-07:002014-07-01T11:29:03.120-07:00Shapes, shapes and more shapes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2qsUQJJGlUPk7rJBvjH0onGA-2ZBwhyphenhyphensT_fDiAidDW8vM_Slc3dOUMG8jDe-SLW1JHWfcZD53sCdlWyjImXUP9L7xWKFfMzE7sUR2G7P_WrXviUo7vhhYKZpHKgOFYOJwD6qIlvZuWkb/s640/blogger-image-1021678784.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2qsUQJJGlUPk7rJBvjH0onGA-2ZBwhyphenhyphensT_fDiAidDW8vM_Slc3dOUMG8jDe-SLW1JHWfcZD53sCdlWyjImXUP9L7xWKFfMzE7sUR2G7P_WrXviUo7vhhYKZpHKgOFYOJwD6qIlvZuWkb/s400/blogger-image-1021678784.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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To start off our shape unit the students and I read "Tout le Monde est en Formes" by Ed Emberley.<br />
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After reading the book we went on a hunt for shapes with the Ipad camera. We had a great time looking around the room and the playground for shapes. We discovered that there are circles, squares, triangles and rectangles everywhere!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtGBnbEUt-a2INDVi6gr1DfUbUAB5D2cBivATXL88ZJncuBsDhA_88hVP3xs7wHYb1qI31Bm7lFQ0bi8hSUUnTn8MzlprbwbCGWflSQUyzmu_tAxFgPfbBonaGWPDiwFuP-NT0eZBnzq_/s640/blogger-image--1572100346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtGBnbEUt-a2INDVi6gr1DfUbUAB5D2cBivATXL88ZJncuBsDhA_88hVP3xs7wHYb1qI31Bm7lFQ0bi8hSUUnTn8MzlprbwbCGWflSQUyzmu_tAxFgPfbBonaGWPDiwFuP-NT0eZBnzq_/s200/blogger-image--1572100346.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeepotEqYAbYU9GjRBEq7n6Tn1cWqq_fRHDX2aKNbeDCCPmQMl_-4ZYrREeIk7MQtDX7r9gfR-fCv3BGHNI1wY739bYIU2Vq2KA_GjXk0qtMwyndN1kinWQI0c75dkMM_hBS8DuWGElp2/s640/blogger-image--1330182946.jpg" 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/AVvXsEgZeepotEqYAbYU9GjRBEq7n6Tn1cWqq_fRHDX2aKNbeDCCPmQMl_-4ZYrREeIk7MQtDX7r9gfR-fCv3BGHNI1wY739bYIU2Vq2KA_GjXk0qtMwyndN1kinWQI0c75dkMM_hBS8DuWGElp2/s200/blogger-image--1330182946.jpg" width="150" /></a>When we got back to class we decided that we wanted to make our own pictures just like the ones in the book. We used the scraps from our scrap paper bins to create our own pictures using squares, circles, triangles and rectangles.<br />
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Here are an online shape games we played when were were done our project.<br />
<a href="http://www.lalunedeninou.com/jeux-pour-enfants/jeux-educatifs-gratuits/jeux-coloriage-compter-lire-logique/arc_en_ciel_de_ninou/les_formes/jeux_des_formes/jeux_des_formes.html">Apprendre les formes</a><br />
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What did I learn at school today? Shapes are a lot of fun and students have a great time playing with them. What is your favorite shape based project? How do you introduce shapes?<br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-53462272073556470362014-05-21T22:13:00.001-07:002014-05-22T15:55:13.920-07:00Dear Parent of the Average Child - One Teacher's Confession<div>
Dear Parent of the Average Child,</div>
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I'm sorry. Your child is wonderful. She is always at school on time, does her homework most everyday, works well on her own and is patient with those around her. I really wanted to go tell your daughter how proud of her I was of the work she was doing today.</div>
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I was about to but you see I had a young girl over in the corner crying because she hadn't had breakfast. Another was tromping around the classroom in winter boots. It's May. When I asked her to change she told me she didn't have any other shoes. I needed to send them and my CEA down to the office to see if we had some food and any extra shoes in lost and found. </div>
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Oh and over in the other corner there was a boy screaming at the top of his lungs because, well no one is sure why. He is on a list to see a specialist, they hope to have a plan in place for him soon. Of course it has been 3 months, but the specialist teacher is overworked and only at our school a few days a week so we have to be patient. </div>
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More children trickled in. One girl told me that her backpack is at Mom's but she was at Dad's last night. He forgot to send a lunch. She also wanted to tell me about her Dad's new girlfriend but she told me I wasn't to tell mom because it's was secret. A young man tells me his cat died last night. Another lost a tooth! Exciting until he sees the blood, thenthe fear sets in.</div>
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A child came in a little late looking afraid and tentative. She watched carefully what was going on but was too afraid to join in. Everyone agrees that the child's fears aren't normal and that she needs some counselling but there are only so many hours in a day. They might be able to see her for one or two sessions next month. I started to head over to help her. Your daughter, wonderful child that she is, helps her put away her things and leds her to her desk. </div>
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I was about to head over and say thank you but I notice 3 boys in the corner playing rough. I ran over to stop them and have a conversation about expected behaviour at school. I also tried to throw in a lesson on non-violence while I was at it.</div>
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I turned back to look for your daughter. I haven't forgotten that I wanted to check in with her but I look up and realise I should probably begin teaching the lesson of the day. I told myself I would check in with her later. </div>
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This was all before 9am. Many other things happened during the day that made it very difficult for me to check in with your wonderful daughter. Students with learning disabilities, diagnosed and not diagnosed. Students with special needs and with behaviour problems. Students who are needier or put up their hand more often. Students who yell louder.</div>
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I realised after a day of running from child to child and crisis to crisis, I never did get a chance to check-in with her today. I don't mean to leave your daughter alone but she seems to be doing just fine without me. I hope it is true. I'm sorry. I feel terrible. Would you mind telling her how proud I am of her? Let her know I appreciate her? I will check-in with her tomorrow.</div>
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From Your Child's Teacher</div>
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<b><u>Authors Note:</u></b></div>
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I have 23 little treasures in my room. I care about them all. I want to teach them all and see them all succeed. I've had more days like this one than I would like to admit. When I think about a classroom without class limits or I think about a school system with even less specialist teachers and less services for our students, I worry. I wonder how many average kids go unseen everyday. I honestly don't think I can do this job under those conditions. Somedays I wonder how I do it now. I know for a fact I won't be able to do it well. </div>
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Please, please please understand how important this issue is. I didn't become a teacher for the paycheck or the glory. I became a teacher because I wanted to help kids do amazing things with their lives. I want that for all my students. I want to do my job well. That means that I need the tools to do that. This includes a reasonable class size and help from specialist teachers. That is why I'm willing to take a 10% pay cut and walk out inspite of the threats. For me isn't about the money. Its about the kids.</div>
<div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgG3Yt0iYM9q1RrQquKoe6jGEAWRvSgLPg0PK8SE36MBfffulAdFE1r9oYwuAFo5XdbY-y5sVPg814VveYLnIuSjSrKA_m2SCxhaT5_0rGpQv0I8P3VhWROmgbmZqPTjxnSEUkEh1wCSp/s640/blogger-image-1023192663.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgG3Yt0iYM9q1RrQquKoe6jGEAWRvSgLPg0PK8SE36MBfffulAdFE1r9oYwuAFo5XdbY-y5sVPg814VveYLnIuSjSrKA_m2SCxhaT5_0rGpQv0I8P3VhWROmgbmZqPTjxnSEUkEh1wCSp/s640/blogger-image-1023192663.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-5113796044273532552014-05-19T10:21:00.000-07:002014-05-19T11:21:48.873-07:00Using thought bubbles and speech bubbles to teach predicting.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCRQrmMexlMq0q7eXSAvmh6kkzsSh210kCCVR5zCgyR4E3H5FFa8TO9aX1dhTHL2jScrLP2pg2Ux4VzboKBSUNG2M5lVZTesIpSlUwtOPjNQa5ZJOs9JqLTzvn6b7z1WUoIt549mlHBI_/s1600/thought+bubble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCRQrmMexlMq0q7eXSAvmh6kkzsSh210kCCVR5zCgyR4E3H5FFa8TO9aX1dhTHL2jScrLP2pg2Ux4VzboKBSUNG2M5lVZTesIpSlUwtOPjNQa5ZJOs9JqLTzvn6b7z1WUoIt549mlHBI_/s1600/thought+bubble.jpg" height="156" width="200" /></a>We had a happy accident happen in Mme Hawtree's grade 1 class this week. We have special guest come and speak to us about our feelings and thought and the words that we say. She used thought bubbles and speech bubbles to show the difference between the things we say and the things we think. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCA19GAyIQIkAnfAyiYQLFKZj_r8qCB3yNtXXQvLlTtOgY9bJHR2tgJ89Wz2IRGDgp0DLhRkoi8qEnr-O4NEgV_kdR0O2y2gzBtEakPlcAdUFc7hfPtXgmmQBh7bLyt2PonO4VGurgT3e/s1600/IMG_3351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCA19GAyIQIkAnfAyiYQLFKZj_r8qCB3yNtXXQvLlTtOgY9bJHR2tgJ89Wz2IRGDgp0DLhRkoi8qEnr-O4NEgV_kdR0O2y2gzBtEakPlcAdUFc7hfPtXgmmQBh7bLyt2PonO4VGurgT3e/s1600/IMG_3351.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIroV65RNuD8-hotWfUSJkyaDDN0joxS3S-VJT5XlqB95BaAvtgdSrPc8ewcFOKhpB-ibWuoEqkKwDTzIxDG0VLPIRCb5Ew4noEb5wbYlfjRt7eL150YGrHkzT-j4XZ5_l3SeNFu17ao5B/s1600/IMG_3360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIroV65RNuD8-hotWfUSJkyaDDN0joxS3S-VJT5XlqB95BaAvtgdSrPc8ewcFOKhpB-ibWuoEqkKwDTzIxDG0VLPIRCb5Ew4noEb5wbYlfjRt7eL150YGrHkzT-j4XZ5_l3SeNFu17ao5B/s1600/IMG_3360.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a>Later that day in science we were talking about predicting. I asked the students to pick 3 items in the classroom and predict if they would roll or slide or do both. After they had made their prediction they were suppose to test the item and then record their prediction and what actually happened in their science journals.<br />
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One of my bright stars had a suggestion... "We could use thought bubbles for what we think will happen and speech bubbles to show what actually happened!" Many of my students ran with this idea. It became very clear for me and the student what was their guess and what was their prediction.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using bubbles to show thinking</td></tr>
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Predicting is often a tricky topic to teach in grade 1. Students have a difficult time sorting between I THINK and I KNOW. The little perfectionists in my room are often on the hunt for erasers so that they can change their prediction to the correct answer. Using thought bubbles and speech bubbles seemed to help this a problem. Students were okay with thinking the wrong thing.... after all it was just a thought and not voiced yet. The really important thing, the thing they would say out loud was the right answer in the speech bubble.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using Venn diagram to show thinking</td></tr>
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What did I learn at school today? My students continue to surprise me with their ideas and suggestions. I love the idea of using thought bubbles to show our predictions and speech bubbles to show our findings. I am thinking of using this in math and in reading as well. What about you? How do you teach predicting? Have you ever had a student teach you a better way to teach something? Do you already use speech bubbles and thought bubbles?<br />
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Some resources:<br />
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<a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/essay/thoughtbubble/2blank/2blank.pdf">Enchanted learning thought bubbles, speech bubbles</a><br />
<a href="http://www.storyit.com/shapes/speechrect.htm">Speech bubble writing paper</a>Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-43905602783815102282014-03-15T09:49:00.000-07:002014-03-15T15:26:47.350-07:00Activate for better learning or Fishing for Learners<span style="background-color: white;">Q: What is the difference between a fish and a piano? A: You can't tuna fish. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">source: </span><a href="http://www.jokes4us.com/sportsjokes/fishingjokes.html" style="background-color: white;">http://www.jokes4us.com/sportsjokes/fishingjokes.html</a></span><br />
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I recently had the opportunity to participate in sessions led by some of the the Instructional Leadership Team <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span>in our district including <a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/c_durley" style="background-color: white; color: #d02b55; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none !important;"><span style="color: #e27f99;">@</span>c_durley</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/OvelsonRhonda" style="background-color: white; color: #d02b55; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none !important;"><span style="color: #e27f99;">@</span>OvelsonRhonda</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/michellerelova" style="background-color: white; color: #d02b55; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none !important;"><span style="color: #e27f99;">@</span>michellerelova</a>. I initially agreed to participate because I was promised coverage and time to work with my teaching partner on a project of our choosing. Every session followed the same format and began with something the team called an Activate.<br />
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Initially I was frustrated with the process. Why am I being blindfolded and asked to put a puzzle together? I thought I was here to collaborate with my partner. It quickly became apparent to me that the team was trying to model good lesson design.<br />
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I remember being told when I was a student teacher that every lesson should have a hook. I also remember being told by experienced teachers that no teacher has the time to put a wig on every time they start a new lesson. In all the craziness of my first years of teaching hooks became something I did at the beginning of units. They were something I added to socials and science lessons. I never really thought about hooks when I was planning math and reading ones.<br />
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After those first few sessions of <a href="http://laidbackscience.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/day-1-activity-blindfolds-and-puzzles/">blindfolds</a> and <a href="http://www.sixwordstories.net/">6 word stories</a> I started to wonder what this would look like in my classroom. It ends up that adding lesson activates to your teaching does improve student learning and engagement. The research says so and so did my students. Additionally, for me it improved teacher interest too! Also, I realized that I was already using a lot of activating activities in my class but wasn't calling them that.<br />
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<b> Why is that there?</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0tEezbMX5ec_NAD0kQwL08_v_WFZZAsdbedo0Dr44vVtNGu1FevQdAWmfQxhLJ_NlMD87gusc3K1ML8Cggab02UjikkKgQt1p_p03zl9pQvdppO-uhaQ2DUbDESNlDXBErsNfIlHMWgTl/s1600/IMG_1344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0tEezbMX5ec_NAD0kQwL08_v_WFZZAsdbedo0Dr44vVtNGu1FevQdAWmfQxhLJ_NlMD87gusc3K1ML8Cggab02UjikkKgQt1p_p03zl9pQvdppO-uhaQ2DUbDESNlDXBErsNfIlHMWgTl/s1600/IMG_1344.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">A Ghost appears in the class when we start talking about silent letters</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXY7ynXbkd3gVQV3UvTDTa4IhU7gqH_taxbYF1i1rcVc5miH5MfWeZaD_K9lUWe-PuM4W00Zd4mG6nRnVfAZZOXPKC4q2qQfe7ln8yAxrdcARbGU565OLwgr-8w3xUovFMC5anPgvLbg0/s1600/IMG_1342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXY7ynXbkd3gVQV3UvTDTa4IhU7gqH_taxbYF1i1rcVc5miH5MfWeZaD_K9lUWe-PuM4W00Zd4mG6nRnVfAZZOXPKC4q2qQfe7ln8yAxrdcARbGU565OLwgr-8w3xUovFMC5anPgvLbg0/s1600/IMG_1342.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">A Canada display goes up just before our unit starts.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </b></div>
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<b></b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Lets read this great picture book I have! </b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMSErCnvgy9pKAo-250lqc_q_74nRVzqHZaakgY-qm8vTOJ8Mqnbd1jW8KaiOLRAdC5FrkvBJS2gcDCOJew0_XmNSLKpQ42lRLi1O57l2qhKLOhht0pxMqyzTGurvIQy3dddozDkp9n_t/s1600/IMG_1494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMSErCnvgy9pKAo-250lqc_q_74nRVzqHZaakgY-qm8vTOJ8Mqnbd1jW8KaiOLRAdC5FrkvBJS2gcDCOJew0_XmNSLKpQ42lRLi1O57l2qhKLOhht0pxMqyzTGurvIQy3dddozDkp9n_t/s1600/IMG_1494.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">I wonder what we are learning about in Science next?</span></span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-size: 13px;"></b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-size: 13px;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">We get to play on the Ipads! </span></b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmJp7yEJN3ONLCg5x__8UXDoKW_o8zFriEhrf7lYZWKeT0KjlE_yFLkKsuPvlMPpOvCvXupqkTpVljp3GP_-yuUObs4xdKcd_Zo8mJLM3DudgxlX6ABxC6D_MKwU_2Ua51ZZU8iT3P17X/s1600/IMG_1861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmJp7yEJN3ONLCg5x__8UXDoKW_o8zFriEhrf7lYZWKeT0KjlE_yFLkKsuPvlMPpOvCvXupqkTpVljp3GP_-yuUObs4xdKcd_Zo8mJLM3DudgxlX6ABxC6D_MKwU_2Ua51ZZU8iT3P17X/s1600/IMG_1861.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Drawing pictures on the ipads for a writing activity</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span></td></tr>
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<b><b><br /></b></b>
<b><b>Why are you wearing that?</b></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVlEF7mZHHj_WVi6FVGhGfJJFG-wn6Nu2K54SdzVKAiK6KIzvPOjKHHnk-kSaz9hWFi-H63a_AV79fb42_7OfGykQak1uaA6LTEwksW9fq4Tk7gk5JIbg5lqR7C9pByz_CiGOwL0v4m2y/s1600/IMG_2509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVlEF7mZHHj_WVi6FVGhGfJJFG-wn6Nu2K54SdzVKAiK6KIzvPOjKHHnk-kSaz9hWFi-H63a_AV79fb42_7OfGykQak1uaA6LTEwksW9fq4Tk7gk5JIbg5lqR7C9pByz_CiGOwL0v4m2y/s1600/IMG_2509.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<b> </b><br />
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b><b>A little drawing to get us thinking.</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn-VLqzzoB8vgJaBdS6V_IdNFg09UYJzePmt-yiihDKpCK5y6ncpDm90KIIDtWMR9rBG1GDUmq-cU7yB7dS6mT73G2-BlPOlshJrNri36QLH8-ILVm5ljUnznJfkwh-JeB7eU7zeyqzsi3/s1600/IMG_1899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn-VLqzzoB8vgJaBdS6V_IdNFg09UYJzePmt-yiihDKpCK5y6ncpDm90KIIDtWMR9rBG1GDUmq-cU7yB7dS6mT73G2-BlPOlshJrNri36QLH8-ILVm5ljUnznJfkwh-JeB7eU7zeyqzsi3/s1600/IMG_1899.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Drawing 3 picture stories before we learn First, then, finally.</span></span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b></div>
Some other ones I (re)learned over the last few months and have tried with my kids include....<br />
<br />
<b>What's in the box? </b><br />
I brought a box with something inside and my students had to guess what was in the box based on the clues I gave them. We used it to start a discussion about the importance of using descriptive language in our writing.<br />
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<b>Picture clues</b><br />
We showed students this Smartboard presentation to start our family unit and asked them what we would be learning about next.<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Bx7a-eiX-WUHpBcnJlNFBROU0/edit?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Bx7a-eiX-WUHpBcnJlNFBROU0/edit?usp=sharing</a><br />
<br />
Before we began talking about jobs in our community, we gave students a copy of pictures in this notebook file and asked them to try and figure out what was going on in the picture.<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1RvCmBr6sEdSnlsWUZDOHp1QnM/edit?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1RvCmBr6sEdSnlsWUZDOHp1QnM/edit?usp=sharing</a><br />
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<b>Listen to this!</b><br />
I've done this a few times now with sounds or music. I put it on and ask students to think about what they see, what they feel and what they think.<br />
Finally a reason to use the 300 sound effects album I bought a while back!<br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/300-sound-effects/id287596958">https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/300-sound-effects/id287596958</a><br />
or this app <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/300-free-sound-effects/id776891102?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/300-free-sound-effects/id776891102?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4</a><br />
<br />
What did I learn at school today? I need to make a conscious effort to put some bait on the line and hook my kids before jumping into a lesson. There are lots of ways to do this and many really don't take that long for me to plan or execute. Those activate activities make school more fun for both my students and myself.<br />
<br />
What about you? Have you given up on activates and hooks or are you a fishing wizard? What are you favorite activation activities?<br />
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<br />
Looking for some ideas? Check these links out:<br />
<br />
Teach Like a Pirate:<br />
<a href="http://mathcoachscorner.blogspot.ca/2013/03/teach-like-pirate-crafting-engaging.html">http://mathcoachscorner.blogspot.ca/2013/03/teach-like-pirate-crafting-engaging.html</a><br />
<a href="http://mathcoachscorner.blogspot.ca/2013/03/teach-like-pirate-more-presentational.html">http://mathcoachscorner.blogspot.ca/2013/03/teach-like-pirate-more-presentational.html</a><br />
<a href="http://mathcoachscorner.blogspot.ca/2013/03/teach-like-pirate-still-more.html">http://mathcoachscorner.blogspot.ca/2013/03/teach-like-pirate-still-more.html</a><br />
Lesson Hooks:<br />
<a href="http://lms.marshall.k12tn.net/evaluation%20stuff/Lesson%20Hooks.doc">http://lms.marshall.k12tn.net/evaluation%20stuff/Lesson%20Hooks.doc</a><br />
Activating Stategies<br />
<a href="http://www.cobbk12.org/Cheathamhill/LFS%20Update/activatingstrategies.htm">http://www.cobbk12.org/Cheathamhill/LFS%20Update/activatingstrategies.htm</a><br />
<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-60194047359191688302014-03-12T20:53:00.001-07:002014-03-12T20:56:45.642-07:00NCIS, The Rules and Classroom Culture<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP41Z3wHtuGuH0leZQmyQOcvRO7FBlGvq-2MAk7cc0rIPzwlOGXEwFpTA7LxqItkLTtK1DrhysV5cyTDqt92uFKYMZrrt9ZS5wseDkfXffUizf9QY5yl3sYzSAzFXzlBBPiuxFtbqafJs/s1600/Rules.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP41Z3wHtuGuH0leZQmyQOcvRO7FBlGvq-2MAk7cc0rIPzwlOGXEwFpTA7LxqItkLTtK1DrhysV5cyTDqt92uFKYMZrrt9ZS5wseDkfXffUizf9QY5yl3sYzSAzFXzlBBPiuxFtbqafJs/s1600/Rules.png" height="131" width="200" /></a>I was watching NCIS last week and heard a line about <a href="http://ncis.wikia.com/wiki/Gibbs's_Rules">Gibb's famous rules</a> It got me thinking about my "rules" in my classroom. I'm not talking about the "Raise your hand" or "Speak French" types of rules but <br />
more about the rules that define the culture of a class. The values I expect my kids to live by.<br />
<br />
So I started thinking about what my students would tell you were "Mme's Rules". What are the things that I am always telling them, hoping it will guide them in their learning. Here is a few I think/hope I would hear:<br />
<br />
<u>Mme Hawtree's Rules</u><br />
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<b>Rule 1: Work hard</b><br />
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Learning to read and write is HARD WORK. Learning to do it in French is even harder. My kids know that it is just part of the deal.<br />
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<b>Rule 2: Do YOUR best.</b><br />
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The rule is do YOUR best. Not do the best. Not be the best. Do the best you can do in any situation.<br />
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<b>Rule 3: Do MORE.</b><br />
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I always give kids a line but I always encourage them to do a little more... to push themselves a little further. For example.... Your goal today is to read for 5 minute or MORE.... do you think we can do that?<br />
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<b>Rule 3: We are all teachers.</b><br />
<br />
My kids know that they are going to learn as much from each other as they are from me. I want them to share what they know with each other and treat each other with respect. We are also ALL responsible for helping each other out. If you know how to do something I don't then you can teach me how.<br />
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<b>Rule 4: We are all students.</b><br />
<br />
I always learn something new from my kids and I make sure I tell them that often. I let them know I am still learning, that I make mistakes and that there is always more to know. They always know when Mme is going to "Teacher school" (ProD) to become a better teacher.<br />
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<b>Rule 6: Listen with your brain.</b><br />
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This one is tricky to teach but so important for all of us to learn. My kids know that I expect them to be THINKING about what they are hearing. Asking themselves questions about what they are hearing, making connections with it.... thinking about what is being said.<br />
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<b>Rule 7: Tell the truth.</b><br />
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The students in my class all know that they will get in way more trouble for telling me a lie then they would ever get for taking responsibility for their own actions.<br />
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<b>Rule 8: You are responsible for you.</b><br />
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This one applies to a lot of things. You are responsible for your things. You are responsible for your learning. You are responsible for asking questions when you need answers. Most importantly you are responsible for your actions. No matter what is happening around us we have some choice about how we act and react.<br />
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<br />
What did I learn at school today? We all have unwritten rules or expectations for our students. These are a few of mine. It also got me thinking about what kinds of rules are missing? Are there things I say I value but I am not teaching my kids? What other rules should I have?<br />
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What about you? What are your "Rules"? What is important to you? What are the values you expect your students to live by when they are with you?<br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-26869861716301006112014-02-20T06:15:00.001-08:002014-03-12T19:42:06.248-07:00Have you met Tagxedo - Wordle's much handsomer brother?<a href="http://www.tagxedo.com/app.html">Tagxedo</a> does everything that Wordle does... and a little more. <br />
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It allows you to use shapes and words to create word clouds with a little extra style. There are many preset options for quick creation but everything is editable and customizable too. You can save your work in a variety of formats or share online.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSiNHMM-BqfSMwPtCDfqBdczeAzMQDEODGnBEnwYpPG2xuk4_gBpxXSP-nMB8r7gEiwmjXzYYXqwr5C0ldtyU_nE_6f_vibsNdcfM3GbuRpzOqYXAHYhL_p66tWGdwf7dEuknIORKfucG/s1600/wordcloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSiNHMM-BqfSMwPtCDfqBdczeAzMQDEODGnBEnwYpPG2xuk4_gBpxXSP-nMB8r7gEiwmjXzYYXqwr5C0ldtyU_nE_6f_vibsNdcfM3GbuRpzOqYXAHYhL_p66tWGdwf7dEuknIORKfucG/s1600/wordcloud.jpg" height="171" width="200" /></a>My favorite Tagxedo feature allows you to upload your own images and lets you create word clouds using them. Here is my Twitter profile picture that I made using Tagxedo. Aren't I lovely?<br />
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Kids could us this feature to make an "All about me" style poster using key words. Or they could use a picture of a famous person or animal and use words to describe them.<br />
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Looking for an idea for a great mother's day or father's day card? You can use one of the many built in shape templates to make a word cloud full of compliments. With my grade 1 students we have done this as a group activity. We have brainstormed words for our fathers and picked a few shapes and fonts we liked. I then printed out a few different styles for students to choose from to use as their cards. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9h8m8mppJOo5L3DGYFLvg-Lg4b1xxdstWYbi2_64OtYS9BjKy_2SWmR5eexWF106ADLMlGCQaQF8HFDklwRt8DgSkDF_VLQIU9qx8CYev26RnKFTdyxkaFhzdF3ldRLr0Qxz06C9f5AY/s1600/maman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9h8m8mppJOo5L3DGYFLvg-Lg4b1xxdstWYbi2_64OtYS9BjKy_2SWmR5eexWF106ADLMlGCQaQF8HFDklwRt8DgSkDF_VLQIU9qx8CYev26RnKFTdyxkaFhzdF3ldRLr0Qxz06C9f5AY/s1600/maman.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiin0DnuiAgwroXv5_StdE0jYgd0b5k-UWKfXq0Djxm-Ktho9Fk_Qj8UztKJH1r6a52BTiRjiv8w2SY2N1e3TQj6826rUQ6O0XW5GCAN6IltzvG7rwsjdusOjpPJxiXkZeUQY5y0kJvkrTf/s1600/papa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiin0DnuiAgwroXv5_StdE0jYgd0b5k-UWKfXq0Djxm-Ktho9Fk_Qj8UztKJH1r6a52BTiRjiv8w2SY2N1e3TQj6826rUQ6O0XW5GCAN6IltzvG7rwsjdusOjpPJxiXkZeUQY5y0kJvkrTf/s1600/papa.jpg" height="320" width="308" /></a></div>
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You can find a presentation on <a href="http://blog.tagxedo.com/101-ways-to-use-tagxedo-completed">100 ways to use Tagxedo here</a>.<br />
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To get some inspiration on what you can create with Tagxedo check out their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tagxedo">Facebook page.</a><br />
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One note: When I retested Tagxedo for this article I was able to use the "Create" tab to make the images above but the search box on the first page seemed to be broken. I wasn't able to use search terms or twitter feed to create a picture. Hopefully this feature will be fixed soon.<br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-38549183313418108782014-02-15T13:42:00.002-08:002014-02-15T13:46:42.364-08:00The Problem with Pink Shirt Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Don't get me wrong. I think what those young boys did in Nova Scotia was amazing. Standing up against bullying takes guts and they did make a difference that day. If you don't know the story you can<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/bullied-student-tickled-pink-by-schoolmates-t-shirt-campaign-1.682221"> read about it here</a>: Inspite of this I have a real problem with the what Pink Shirt day has become.<br />
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I want to tell you a story about what I saw last year in my school. It was Pink Shirt day. Students were all decked out in there pink gear (many shirts had been bought specially for the occasion) one of my little guys came in to my class a little late, looked around and looked down at his shoes. I watched as everyone turned and waited for him to take off his jacket so they could see his pink shirt. He wasn't wearing a pink shirt. Suddenly he was surrounded by 4 or 5 students. "Why aren't you wearing pink?" "You have to wear pink today!" "Don't you care about bullies?" The Pink shirt message had not gotten through with those kids. We talked about it as a group that day but it wasn't the only time I saw similar conversations and situations throughout the day. It happened in grade 6 as much as it did in grade 1.<br />
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Here is a great video from the Young Actors Studio that acknowledges the problem and shows how NOT to celebrate pink shirt day.<br />
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It is a little bit our fault. The announcement say "Wear Pink to stand up against bullying" The video's say "Make a difference and Wear Pink." Our school even showed students a video promoting Pink Shirt day where the participants poked and prodded a student until he got the message and wore pink. The Pink has become more important than the message.<br />
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Kids need to hear us talk about what bullying is.... and what it isn't. <br />
Kids need to learn about how to can treat each other in positive ways.<br />
Kids need to understand the bullying is wrong.<br />
Kids don't NEED to wear pink to show they understand.<br />
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This Pink Shirt day I challenge you to find a real way you can fight bullying in your schools. The Pink shirt worked in 2007 because it showed that particular bully that the boy wearing pink wasn't alone. How can you show each other you support each other this year? How can you help the victims of bullying in your school feel like they aren't alone?<br />
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What did I learn in school today? I need to think about the message I am sending out to my kids when I put in their agenda or newsletter saying "Wear Pink". Are they learning the lesson I hope they are or are they just going through the motions because it is what is expected of them?<br />
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What have your experiences been like for Pink Shirt day?<br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-23456717419465566552014-02-12T06:37:00.000-08:002014-03-15T07:51:47.510-07:00Partner Time: Learning while we partner up.I'm a big believer in partner talk time. My students get a chance to discuss new ideas, teach each other new vocabulary, read with a partner and work together often during the day. With little ones making partner groups can be tricky.<br />
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Ask 6 year olds to find a partner and you will quickly see who is friends with who, who no one wants to work with and who really really wanted to work with someone who doesn't want to work with them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkY0_Mswlv8xUrkFZIca0f6lxjlUtuwgMeaqVVON2ERERogSgbEL9UsgXk1_5DePrU5H58m7l75Ruv0VGBbxxAwgL0tKad8YsSu8pgbQ_8SsC8pVIXpTG7_zOcb6vx7MBRi5iFPzzFxE9W/s1600/IMG_2505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkY0_Mswlv8xUrkFZIca0f6lxjlUtuwgMeaqVVON2ERERogSgbEL9UsgXk1_5DePrU5H58m7l75Ruv0VGBbxxAwgL0tKad8YsSu8pgbQ_8SsC8pVIXpTG7_zOcb6vx7MBRi5iFPzzFxE9W/s1600/IMG_2505.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
I tried pair generators on sites like the one on <a href="https://www.superteachertools.net/instantclassroom/#.Uvt5GmI7tWA">Superteachertools </a> and they can be great at times but give you very little control of your pairs and also are a little boring for the kiddos at times.<br />
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One of the best ways I found to create truly random pairs (that I can still control a little) is match-up cards.<br />
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Match-up cards are sets of things that come in twos. Students have to find the person who has their match-up card pair. That person becomes their partner.<br />
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<b><u>Examples of match-up cards:</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1RvCmBr6sEdN0gxWHRJWDBtcTQ/edit?usp=sharing">Uppercase and lowercase letters </a> (I have A and you have a? Great we are partners!)<br />
Number pairs (I have 1 and you have one? Great lets talk!)<br />
Sight word match (Hey look we both have the word "maman" guess we are are working together)<br />
Color words and color swatches (I have the word blue... do you have a blue card?)<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1RvCmBr6sEdeUliX2JtZExKc00/edit?usp=sharing">Cut up equations</a> ( I have 5+5 ... I'm looking for someone with the answer 10)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvQK-8g_6FCfpp1FA3ijnMjCGvS215Sgu0saS0fSeQ7hMObwJLIPOQZcssZMJuqCT5dANo61xncypoEY5u6Ip7KbpVuU6umoJ-9kjouN73vcpfiF_jaPRFVPpLRWLuZImoxPPlu0Bv6ZS/s1600/IMG_2506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvQK-8g_6FCfpp1FA3ijnMjCGvS215Sgu0saS0fSeQ7hMObwJLIPOQZcssZMJuqCT5dANo61xncypoEY5u6Ip7KbpVuU6umoJ-9kjouN73vcpfiF_jaPRFVPpLRWLuZImoxPPlu0Bv6ZS/s1600/IMG_2506.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Weather-Words-221710">Word and picture cards</a> ( I have the word cat. Who has a picture of a cat?) - Hint use pre-made vocab cards and cut in two. <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/French-Fall-Word-Cards-865183">Example</a><br />
Question and answer cards (Use these to review information)<br />
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Word puzzles ( Match the rhymes for example)<br />
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<b><u>What I love about this method:</u></b><br />
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1) It is random but also controllable.<br />
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I can hand out the cards any way I like. I can also make sure that two students don't end up together (or do end up together) by mentally keeping track of what cards I gave them.<br />
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2) A little learning with your pairs<br />
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The cards give my students a chance to do a little reading, math, or vocabulary building while they are looking for a partner.<br />
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3) Peer teaching opportunity<br />
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As the kids wander around you will hear students tell each other.. that says CAT you need to find someone with a cat picture. or "I don't think 5+6= 19 because I know 5+5=10 I think the answer is 11"<br />
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4) It gives me a use for those cute classroom cutout shapes.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcSpn15MLGDaJ02wXzFcXNdOGc0hH4RM_0abTfc6NLRThXOXDtDNFdGt17hlVLAVQNx11Hg-tLundqZVCWP4c609G7HDhFqluYsZzAhEC552XUi0ifltYgc_Ga3EWvVEkeR2LyGWu2StN/s1600/CD_5552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcSpn15MLGDaJ02wXzFcXNdOGc0hH4RM_0abTfc6NLRThXOXDtDNFdGt17hlVLAVQNx11Hg-tLundqZVCWP4c609G7HDhFqluYsZzAhEC552XUi0ifltYgc_Ga3EWvVEkeR2LyGWu2StN/s1600/CD_5552.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wRB1ys1gvIrUEMya_i7Jpb7_K7kZv50Ee6qGqhJPoaAIBFQZcqPNYYqmVS6sGHBr_gslJ9oA4u2dNcQE9DQ0SLXlidoAChfEcqIDhr_LbEiBA6tvIT2cbabyNqZ0uUUdKxl8P-5dTyHH/s1600/41wb2KFQxtL._SY300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wRB1ys1gvIrUEMya_i7Jpb7_K7kZv50Ee6qGqhJPoaAIBFQZcqPNYYqmVS6sGHBr_gslJ9oA4u2dNcQE9DQ0SLXlidoAChfEcqIDhr_LbEiBA6tvIT2cbabyNqZ0uUUdKxl8P-5dTyHH/s1600/41wb2KFQxtL._SY300_.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>I seem to collect cut out shapes or apples and frogs and leaves. Every year my collection grows but I never had a really great reason for owning them. Now I can write my match-up cards on them. It takes very little time and the kids love them.<br />
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The whole process takes about 5 minutes when students get good at it. They get a chance to walk around a little and they don't complain about their partner choices because they know it was "random". Students also know that the person we end up with is our partner until the next time we play partner match. We don't need to pick new partners every time we talk. Once a day or even once a week is enough.<br />
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What did I learn at school today? Picking pairs can be as fun and educational as working in pairs. Making match-up cards is quick and easy and is a great way to get students to practice skills while getting paired up. What strategies do you use to match-up partners?<br />
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Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-7295411952849339392014-01-10T19:01:00.002-08:002014-01-12T10:39:25.881-08:00Favorite book to teach for Art.... "The Dot"I was a terrible artist as a child. I couldn't cut, stay in the lines or make anything that looked anything at all like what the teachers and other students seemed to be making. I was terrible at art and I didn't much want to do it. It wasn't until university that I discovered the cookie cutter reproductions of teacher created projects wasn't what being an artist was suppose to be. It was about exploring and playing and creating and making a mess and getting better at it a little at a time.<br />
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Every year in September when we go to do out first art project I look around and know that somewhere in the class there is someone who just KNOWS they are terrible at art. Someone who dreads taking out the paints. Someone who would rather be doing anything else.<br />
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That is why every September I read "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds to my students. If you don't already know that story you can listen to it here:<br />
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I always tear up a bit when I watch Zoé pass on her teachers words the the little boy who admired her work. A lesson well learned is a lesson shared.<br />
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After the students and I play with paint and paper and pens and felts and make dots. Lots of dots. We have fun with the supplies and we learn that sometimes we like what we create and sometimes we don't. We also find out that art can be pretty easy and fun too. For our big finally we make a "Dot without making a dot." I love seeing the different ways students do this. I always learn a lot about my students when I look at their finished product.<br />
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The book exists in French. It is called <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Un-bon-point-pour-Zo%C3%A9/dp/2745912461">"Un bon point pour Zoé"</a> I love the little video above so I often turn off the volume and read my french version of the book as the movie plays on my smartboard. What about you? Do you have a favorite art story or any other book you just love reading to your students?<br />
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PS - If you haven't seen it already check out <a href="http://kellyhines.wordpress.com/blogging-challenge/">http://kellyhines.wordpress.com/blogging-challenge/</a><br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-75353535813120596452014-01-02T10:59:00.000-08:002014-01-02T11:01:20.215-08:00Connecting with Students - Better Teaching for 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDIge-vXEH_mVpz3D-GakckCMcabeQa5ylnqb1aSA05XCs1wiMVm512yey2JEk0g1OVDK8HftLTL1zT8x1aDT1qk_qqpJc2Fd3n-J2H3cC2VG48z9LcjXAmvMcrHrf_L72Rqq249rWuS0/s1600/New+Years+teaching+1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDIge-vXEH_mVpz3D-GakckCMcabeQa5ylnqb1aSA05XCs1wiMVm512yey2JEk0g1OVDK8HftLTL1zT8x1aDT1qk_qqpJc2Fd3n-J2H3cC2VG48z9LcjXAmvMcrHrf_L72Rqq249rWuS0/s400/New+Years+teaching+1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
Todays #Kinderchat prompt is One resolution for 2014. <a href="http://about.me/grahamjohnson">@Math_Johnson</a> asked the same thing a December 29th.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAitE8Imextt0pT_URlxX_sA3qfgkv9NPXnypQraBvoxoDls966zBnRZ2dxVdRPwj6yJyiAgI9HeYEdUCv_BKnRoBs0cotHWhaWY3osNkIFSZAKe4taKIOfpZYzvTMF8ffUVGU9JBOp_-/s1600/New+Years+teaching+3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAitE8Imextt0pT_URlxX_sA3qfgkv9NPXnypQraBvoxoDls966zBnRZ2dxVdRPwj6yJyiAgI9HeYEdUCv_BKnRoBs0cotHWhaWY3osNkIFSZAKe4taKIOfpZYzvTMF8ffUVGU9JBOp_-/s400/New+Years+teaching+3.PNG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">At the time I had posted "Have a meaningful one on one interaction with each student every day"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VXbt_ZU0xBjFS_RHsbezgGWsGTLsX_74mWRIff9FhWlDpm6fpJLY-p_A_M-MgGd1uUmvI_9py17QCceNnZ3ymLSJOfMUU0NFMsCBilRiQgkdmPWB-_M4dBBjSo8oQ3JyGAPOE1ln2qPV/s1600/New+Years+teaching+2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VXbt_ZU0xBjFS_RHsbezgGWsGTLsX_74mWRIff9FhWlDpm6fpJLY-p_A_M-MgGd1uUmvI_9py17QCceNnZ3ymLSJOfMUU0NFMsCBilRiQgkdmPWB-_M4dBBjSo8oQ3JyGAPOE1ln2qPV/s400/New+Years+teaching+2.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://about.me/grahamjohnson">@Math_Johnson</a> had responded with "Great One. That is the heart of good teaching." </div>
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He is right, connecting with our students is important for good teaching. It isn't always easy though and it requires some thought and effort on my part. The question is how do we do it effectively? What does a meaningful one on one interaction look like? How do we find time to do this on a daily basis? Also, as a second language teacher is it harder to make connections when you can only speak to students in the target language?</div>
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One thing that I try to do everyday is to meet every student at the door in the morning. This is something I learned from Harry Wong's "First Day of School." I stand at the door and greet everyone as they come in. It is a quick interaction, good morning, how are you good to see you today but I get a chance to talk to everyone. I also do the same thing at the end of the day making sure that I say goodbye to all my students individually. One challenge here is to make sure I connect with my students who arrive late or leave early.</div>
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Another idea for a quick interaction is the daily compliment. Try to find one thing positive to say to each of your students every day. Research shows that well given, honest compliments help build relationship and increases retention of information too. Article: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/11/09/study-receiving-a-compliment-has-same-positive-effect-as-receiving-cash/">Receiving Compliments has Positive Effect.</a></div>
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Here is a<a href="http://www.stefanparmark.com/blog/2012/08/use-compliments-to-make-people-grow/"> blog article on tips for giving effective compliments. </a> One of my challenges here is remembering who I haven't complimented yet in a day. I'm considering using <a href="http://www.classdojo.com/">Class Dojo</a> to record this interaction for myself. I don't use Class Dojo to track students behaviour but I could use it to track mine! </div>
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My favorite way to connect with students daily though has to be student conferencing and this is the area that I really need to work on too. I use Daily 5 in my room which in theory should give me a chance to meet one on one with all my students often. I track my interactions with students using <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/confer/id387777553?mt=8">CONFER</a>. I blogged about why <a href="http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/search/label/confer">here</a>. My goal for 2014 is to make those conferences a priority in my schedule.</div>
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So what did I learn at school today? <a href="http://coe.unomaha.edu/moec/briefs/EDAD9550larson.pdf">Relationships affect student learning</a>. There are some easy things I can do to connect with students on a daily basis. They aren't without challenges and I need to be conscious about making them a priority. What about you? How do you connect with your students on a daily basis? Do you have issues building relationships with students in your target language? How important do you think it is to connect with students on a daily basis?</div>
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Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-83663864029757877742014-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:002014-01-01T11:21:20.377-08:00Resolutions, blogging more and the #Kinderchat challenge.I saw this tweet this morning<br />
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It lead me here: <a href="http://www.kinderchat123.net/2014/01/introducing-2014-january-post-day-blog.html">http://www.kinderchat123.net/2014/01/introducing-2014-january-post-day-blog.html</a><br />
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As I read the post I could hear my inner Barney Stinson say "Challenge Accepted!" So I took a look at the first assignment. Easy enough 1. Wordless Wednesday "A photo to represent 2013" Well actually not as easy as you might think. Here is my contribution. it is one image file... so what if it is a photo collage! Don't judge me! As for being wordless... well as these words don't count. Not really. Right?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwCBAY1W29DmuK2gRkPSmklc8Yopx5DGtItoo47MKzfVKGOyQVskcWD4xJqMkBHWKS4kBtOuRn5jMK4O4P1omqVolU6eWp-T4CJKbHcadGC505IPEJVIfHbp8WHxjB1RsHHKY72dh5RVf/s1600/My+2013+picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwCBAY1W29DmuK2gRkPSmklc8Yopx5DGtItoo47MKzfVKGOyQVskcWD4xJqMkBHWKS4kBtOuRn5jMK4O4P1omqVolU6eWp-T4CJKbHcadGC505IPEJVIfHbp8WHxjB1RsHHKY72dh5RVf/s640/My+2013+picture.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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What did I learn today? Wordless blogging and symbolic pictures are hard for me. Are you planning on blogging more in 2014? Check out the #Kinderchat blogging challenge. Do you know of any other blogging challenges for teachers out there?</div>
<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-48393478646935889442013-08-14T10:30:00.003-07:002013-08-14T10:41:48.649-07:00Weekly planning using PlanbookeduLast year I decided to see if I could find a digital planbook that would work for me. I tried a variety of planbooks - free and paid but my favorite and the one I will be using again this year is <a href="http://planbookedu.com/">Planbookedu.com</a><br />
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<b><u>Why I love it:</u></b><br />
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<b><i>It is easy to use.</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_iR4WUDDh5JUnso5lPwPOU0qPb9Y_9x6Ltxnstl7gQle6PzOh19JHI22H5YNxgHeWUvSXi9SEC2N4VRTNwTIGTBrHL8NkGQw5bGegW5wC6vjF1GbUy_iabKpLRW77YDkI4qTMMc90bog/s1600/planbook+setup.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_iR4WUDDh5JUnso5lPwPOU0qPb9Y_9x6Ltxnstl7gQle6PzOh19JHI22H5YNxgHeWUvSXi9SEC2N4VRTNwTIGTBrHL8NkGQw5bGegW5wC6vjF1GbUy_iabKpLRW77YDkI4qTMMc90bog/s640/planbook+setup.PNG" width="392" /></a></div>
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Enter in a few bits of information and start planning. It even allows you to block off holidays. Very customizable - I choose the number of blocks in a day and what goes into those blocks.<br />
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Keep track of PLO or Standards. Some are pre-entered... but they are also customizable. Add your own. It makes answering - what did I cover this term or in this lesson very easy!<br />
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<i>No need to re-enter repeated routines.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBat7HdVRztODJw2cYrnFlom3JHM2BmsVncs82SO-YoDsBHjEjacpj3q2dhDRDTZYbxkfzbOme7rovZd6zpG7bvDQFIP7faH_dSbLBpgh3g0wFWRJAnu1VymZ3jkSF6ReALswWoTCy8iO/s1600/planbook+repeat.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBat7HdVRztODJw2cYrnFlom3JHM2BmsVncs82SO-YoDsBHjEjacpj3q2dhDRDTZYbxkfzbOme7rovZd6zpG7bvDQFIP7faH_dSbLBpgh3g0wFWRJAnu1VymZ3jkSF6ReALswWoTCy8iO/s400/planbook+repeat.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I can repeat templates daily or weekly. This makes scheduling in routines and repeating blocks much simpler.<br />
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<i>Save file attachments right in your planbook and insert links too!</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1_ioveW6DAOVUfU6hNIGMGc-NYHBk9mXdJLA1vsacTUR2eOfiMQ32-0T17qwKI4VXopeXLeBb1QYr497n1HNPSn0AVt7pitHPN_jp0C6YH3ybkrDK2I8s-UvPpkxI3Fo73Qw4SsDqGA1/s1600/links+and+files.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1_ioveW6DAOVUfU6hNIGMGc-NYHBk9mXdJLA1vsacTUR2eOfiMQ32-0T17qwKI4VXopeXLeBb1QYr497n1HNPSn0AVt7pitHPN_jp0C6YH3ybkrDK2I8s-UvPpkxI3Fo73Qw4SsDqGA1/s400/links+and+files.PNG" width="273" /></a></div>
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Planbook allows me to attach all sorts of file formats. Keep my smartboard files or PDF files or handouts with my lessons. No need to open different folders to find what I need.<br />
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<i>It is easy to send to Teacher on Call and Admin if needed.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBCrdptPFumBYd7bHgOXEyaOfw4qkdppjRnUZWKW7tk1-xTvWzUExwq_epA1Gwi62PTp6O_CMaG4-Iq__gODCcRZbijEGXaN4XotSm5073ee-Q07-8VrHqv8jC5jI_kL05h5CnzrP_fnq/s1600/planbook+subplan.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBCrdptPFumBYd7bHgOXEyaOfw4qkdppjRnUZWKW7tk1-xTvWzUExwq_epA1Gwi62PTp6O_CMaG4-Iq__gODCcRZbijEGXaN4XotSm5073ee-Q07-8VrHqv8jC5jI_kL05h5CnzrP_fnq/s400/planbook+subplan.PNG" width="317" /></a></div>
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My whole plan book can be shared or I can share only a part of the book as a PDF, Word file or online. Because links and attachments can be added directly into the program my TOC's had easy access to the files I wanted them to have when I wasn't there.<br />
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<i>Bump Lessons to another day. </i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMXi12FPLjFE5bav09RM_cC3Z0weokArLXQTLr4VSYbFdKrMDudozw7HhNHkE10nI2J-yvD8yFK2gT1YXtOLa3Gh_SaZNe6VkYHCX-z_rBXBKLmjPRx4vq0bXYgCJXlvL7dOX1G24CD8A/s1600/planbook+bump.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMXi12FPLjFE5bav09RM_cC3Z0weokArLXQTLr4VSYbFdKrMDudozw7HhNHkE10nI2J-yvD8yFK2gT1YXtOLa3Gh_SaZNe6VkYHCX-z_rBXBKLmjPRx4vq0bXYgCJXlvL7dOX1G24CD8A/s320/planbook+bump.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unexpected assembly? Didn't get a lesson done? No worries. Planbookedu allowed me to bump my lessons by one day.<br />
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<i>Search any planbook!!</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlqrjxOCl74zbxY-gu3of4fhVtHqhKQy-f4Pavye01iCiC9Maz6Fb4cnN6dupTmHzeDRnDG4tCl1nhFBrIl2t128rd8I2CNuad_KcTEeA88bA2BYPxBlgxmDpOdg1IRW8LVczR_FONqUE/s1600/Planbook+search.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlqrjxOCl74zbxY-gu3of4fhVtHqhKQy-f4Pavye01iCiC9Maz6Fb4cnN6dupTmHzeDRnDG4tCl1nhFBrIl2t128rd8I2CNuad_KcTEeA88bA2BYPxBlgxmDpOdg1IRW8LVczR_FONqUE/s400/Planbook+search.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
It is a great tool for my terrible memory! I feel a little like searching was a special gift planbookedu put in just for me! When I first started using it it was not included. I contacted planbooks awesome customer support folks and within a few months the feature was added. Planbook is evolving and adding features and that is great.<br />
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There are still a few features I would love to see added for example although I can use planbook on my iPad not all features are available there. They haven't created an app for that yet... and really they should. In spite of that overall this is a great solution for me. The program costs $25 dollars a year. For me it is money well spent. <br />
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So what did I learn at school today? Well I learned that even I can be organized with the right tool. What are you using for planning? Why do you love it? What is important for you in a planbook?Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-39369229274736550612013-07-08T08:20:00.002-07:002013-07-09T07:35:38.953-07:00Apps to keep your kids busy and learning this summer.<br />
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As the school year ended I had more than one parent ask me for some apps to add to their iPads to keep students learning this summer. I thought I would share some of the apps I came up with here. This is a mix of apps for students from grades 1 to 6. </div>
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One great reading app for iPad is J'aime Lire. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_x6MDVmJmFSs1CsBgDSh1eQCvAGpRCxiPKHn0ytG78KeYpRoOfh4pg5rd7q0CG8UUADwj2Xs8skaVijXfxpp9DmPjJSVvnfS_1AOXlGNa3cIOue7MOnD2UzTsbhwtqqKxkFDXpgN9UK-/s1600/j'aime+lire.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_x6MDVmJmFSs1CsBgDSh1eQCvAGpRCxiPKHn0ytG78KeYpRoOfh4pg5rd7q0CG8UUADwj2Xs8skaVijXfxpp9DmPjJSVvnfS_1AOXlGNa3cIOue7MOnD2UzTsbhwtqqKxkFDXpgN9UK-/s320/j'aime+lire.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.jaimelirestore.com/" target="_blank">http://www.jaimelirestore.com/</a></div>
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It is free to get and gives you access to 3 free books but you need to pay for individual books after that. The app has books for ages 3-12.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rover-browser-for-education/id483262612?mt=8" target="_blank">Rover</a></td></tr>
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Rover is an app for ipad that lets students access educational websites with flash content. The app is free. Unfortunately most of the websites are in English but there is some great content here. </div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rover-browser-for-education/id483262612?mt=8" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rover-browser-for-education/id483262612?mt=8</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/puffin-web-browser/id406239138?mt=8" target="_blank">Puffin</a></td></tr>
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To access French web content you might want to consider getting Puffin.</div>
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Puffin isn't free but it also doesn't limit which sites your can visit so that means you can access any website online.</div>
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Then you can have kids visit my Listen to reading Scoop.it for places to read online in French.</div>
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<a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/listen-to-reading-french" target="_blank">http://www.scoop.it/t/listen-to-reading-french</a></div>
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If your child likes comic books there are a lot of them on the itunes store. Some are in French others aren't. Just look on the side of the page and look at languages. This will help you find out what language apps are listed in. </div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazing-spider-man-origin/id479938276?mt=8" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazing-spider-man-origin/id479938276?mt=8</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.educreations.com/" target="_blank">Educreation</a></td></tr>
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Another app to check out Educreation. It is free. Kids can watch lessons other teachers and students have created. They can also createthere own lessons on something they is interested in. They can add pictures record there voice, write and type and just goof around with it. Many of the lessons are in English but there are French lessons too.</div>
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<a href="http://www.educreations.com/" target="_blank">http://www.educreations.com/</a></div>
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You might want to check out this list of book creators too. They are fun to use and encourage kids to write and create all summer long.<br />
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<a href="http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/2013/02/digital-storytelling-creating-books-on.html">http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/2013/02/digital-storytelling-creating-books-on.html</a><br />
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Got a math kid on your hands? Here are some math games:</div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/roi-des-maths/id473904402?mt=8" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/roi-des-maths/id473904402?mt=8</a></div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/math-champions-lite-jeu-calcul/id561572290?mt=8" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/math-champions-lite-jeu-calcul/id561572290?mt=8</a></div>
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Sudoku is great for building concentration. There are lots of different sudoku apps on the iPad and if you search you will find some others but here is one in French that uses images.</div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/wee-kids-sudoku/id648936215?mt=8&affId=2048479&ign-mpt=uo%3D4" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/wee-kids-sudoku/id648936215?mt=8&affId=2048479&ign-mpt=uo%3D4</a></div>
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Another app that is free but more challenging is:</div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/sudoku-gratuit/id285755462?mt=8" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/sudoku-gratuit/id285755462?mt=8</a></div>
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Another great one for concentration is Guess Who. Kids gets to play, and listen to vocabulary and need to pay attention to details too.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjarCgVpaObYIvsmXB4H66a04EtFrurZrmXnLqSXAF5Onv1EhZE7zuGNrpYZ90OOSAomZx-TgrbYvatflDHJO2C-Uo90uxr9d9kRRyOcQMyDNhTWfzncM6nVNeYQKdtZTn7JvdfRlr_gHFa/s1600/atlas+du+monde.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjarCgVpaObYIvsmXB4H66a04EtFrurZrmXnLqSXAF5Onv1EhZE7zuGNrpYZ90OOSAomZx-TgrbYvatflDHJO2C-Uo90uxr9d9kRRyOcQMyDNhTWfzncM6nVNeYQKdtZTn7JvdfRlr_gHFa/s1600/atlas+du+monde.PNG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/barefoot-world-atlas/id489221652?mt=8&affId=2083519" target="_blank">Atlas du monde</a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/guess-who-i-am!/id543846989?mt=8" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/guess-who-i-am!/id543846989?mt=8</a></div>
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In the not free but cool section there is the joue avec series that lets students explore and learn about various artists. They can to search for items, find details and listen and read to author biographies. </div>
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<a href="http://www.joueavec.fr/applications.html" target="_blank">http://www.joueavec.fr/applications.html</a></div>
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Atlas du monde is also a very cool way to explore the world. It is available in English and French. </div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/barefoot-world-atlas/id489221652?mt=8&affId=2083519" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/barefoot-world-atlas/id489221652?mt=8&affId=2083519</a></div>
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When you are looking for iPad apps in French you will find out that many of them will initially show up in English. Here is an article I wrote on how to change iPad to French so that apps will be in French:</div>
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<a href="http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/2012/10/finding-french-language-apps-for-ipad.html" target="_blank">http://mmehawtree.blogspot.ca/2012/10/finding-french-language-apps-for-ipad.html</a></div>
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This Scoop.it page is a list of iPad resources for French immersion - this keeps growing as I add to it:</div>
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<a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/ipads-in-french-immersion" target="_blank">http://www.scoop.it/t/ipads-in-french-immersion</a></div>
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Sylvia Duckworth also has a great blog with reviews of French Apps for kids. Check it out here:</div>
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<a href="http://www.frenchappsforkids.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">http://www.frenchappsforkids.blogspot.ca/</a></div>
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So what did I learn at school today? There are lots of ways to keep kids entertained and learning on the iPad this summer. Hopefully we can avoid a little bit of the summer slide and a lot of the "Mom I am bored!" with the resources above. What are your favorite apps for students? Do you have a list of apps you recommend for parents? </div>
Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907904405803069575.post-38534213967054252212013-06-04T20:09:00.002-07:002013-07-12T10:00:55.112-07:00Student Conferencing with the iPad.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am terrible with paper. I lose paper everywhere. When I started trying to conference with students using the <a href="http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/department73.cfm" target="_blank">"Pensive binder"</a> recommended by The Sisters in <a href="http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/department105.cfm" target="_blank">the Cafe book</a> it was a disaster. I was losing papers everywhere and never seemed to know what paper I needed now. Frustrated with the system I gave up and went back to my clipboards and evernote notebooks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then one day I read <a href="http://teachingliteracy.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/08/01/a-digital-pensieve-for-the-ipad/" target="_blank">this blog post </a>and my search for a digital iPad Pensive solution began.</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Contenders: </span></u></b></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://evernote.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnj6T9edDqFmLsC39cQsLv1Ov99FatbW5ExA4WYtkgnwLqzkmpRGgEluYRO9b7wFmulB0eKjhVZZc8AxHimOTt7HMGjZVPbYCWxtdqlv96FbyzsK3sUWbb6ypmG99OQS-ywLV75oam-hUw/s200/evernote.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://evernote.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Evernote</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love Evernote. I use it to store lesson plans and ideas, documents and tweets. I also kept students notes there. I thought I might be able to use it as a Digital Pensive on the iPad but when I tried to use <a href="https://evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a> as a pensive I found the program was TOO flexible and gave me too much space to write. I needed more structure to keep me in line, keep my notes brief and to the point and to make sure I kept my conference times down.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYvXG7oBvZs_XH5SEzkOaHhgbg_O1hoW7IfBKtFpBc2WvBG8KRGsoNMRMXQ8NFrgR92ahhp3tNRgX5vDr_6yuXtCSjAJRP2r8zEDKJbHVpNQaj29wDG4mTKQw3s17ARmdWELd3kX-wizv/s1600/pensive.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYvXG7oBvZs_XH5SEzkOaHhgbg_O1hoW7IfBKtFpBc2WvBG8KRGsoNMRMXQ8NFrgR92ahhp3tNRgX5vDr_6yuXtCSjAJRP2r8zEDKJbHVpNQaj29wDG4mTKQw3s17ARmdWELd3kX-wizv/s1600/pensive.png" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/CAFE-Conferring-Pensieve-CCPensieve.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pensive from Daily Cafe</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another option I tried was using the Digital pensive on the Daily Cafe website. The program was fairly well designed and easy to use on the computer. I loved the built in calendar feature but wished that it was accessible from the student conferencing button. I found that the program was not ideal for iPad use. It would often log me out between conferences and there was no way to save your log-in information. I have a really long name and this became frustrating very quickly. Additionally there was no way to get the program to save comments so if you were not using their pre-selected comments you needed to retype them every time. Additionally the program was pricey with a yearly fee of $39.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.conferapp.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Confer App</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/confer/id387777553?mt=8" target="_blank">Confer</a></b> is an app designed for teacher note taking. It is the one I am using and I have to tell you that I love it. The program allows you to enter data in 5 fields. General Information, Tags, Strengths, Teaching points, Next steps. When you enter data the program saves it to the master list of comments so that you can reselect it for another student if you choose. If the comment is an individualized one you can easily erase it from the master list. The program allows you to sort your data by any teaching point, tag, strength or next step you choose. You can use this to create on the fly groups. For example, a group of students that are all struggling to remember how to read the sound "oi". This allows you to easily re-teach skills as needed. Sorting can also be great for scheduling conferences. I used the tags box to schedule appointments with students by entering the date I would see them next. I then sort by tag and I can easily see which students I am supposed to be conferring with on any given day. The app allows me to share students with other users so that our learning assistance teacher can also enter data about my students and we can see each other's comments quickly and easily. Additionally the program allows you to email your students files.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good Reader</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are other options. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8" target="_blank">Good Reader</a> for example allows you to mark-up and type on any PDF so some teachers like to use the PDF files from the sisters site and enter their data this way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The app store is full of note taking apps that could be adapted for teacher use as well. You will need to try them out to see what works best for you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>So what did I learn at school today?</b> The good news is that there are many ways to keep a digital pensive and being environmentally friendly has never been so freeing! No binders, no pens, no mess! I use Confer in reading and writing but it can easily be adapted to any subject - next year I may try it for MATH! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How about you? Have you found the ultimate iPad digital pensive? How do you record your student conference data?</span><br />
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<br />Teach Make Wonderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971012596335923992noreply@blogger.com0