Math Learning Center Apps + PicCollage Kids

The FREE apps offered by the Math Learning Center are some of my absolute favorites for practicing math skills in the classroom. They are digital interactive manipulatives that allow students to practice math problem solving, then save and share their work and thinking. If you haven't checked them out yet, I encourage you to do so! There are web apps (usable from your computer to project onto an interactive whiteboard and do whole class) or iPad apps available. The web apps can even be used on Chromebooks by students.

In first grade, we used these apps plus one of my favorites - PicCollage Kids - to make math collages of students building tens and ones. Read on to see what we did!

I Am Collages with PicCollage Kids & Seesaw

There are so many amazing ways to use images in PicCollage Kids as graphic organizers to allow students to add their own information for inquiry, reading comprehension, and math. This I Am collage idea from Erintegration is a super fun way to introduce this method and encourage students to write, be creative and tell about themselves. I downloaded the FREE instructions from her Tpt store, but I changed it a bit. Instead of using a QR code to have the students scan and download images, I put the images into Seesaw for students to access. Keep reading to find out how.

FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME Math App for 1-3rd graders

Julie Schopp, awesome 2nd grade teacher at Newman, saw on the Apps Gone Free site that Animal Math premium version is free for a limited time.  She recommends this app, so I thought I would pass it along for you to check out. Search Animal Second Grade Math Games - this app is great for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade.  You'll want to look for the premium version, that does NOT offer in-app purchases.  This is the one that is free for a limited time.

Thanks for sharing, Julie!

1st Grade Mystery Number Hangout

This morning I was super excited that Ms. Oringer & Mrs. Brammer were ready to try a Google Hangout with each other!  Connecting with other classrooms through technology is one of my favorite reasons for using tech, and these "face to face" conversations between classrooms are so powerful.

Adobe Voice at Tech Fair 2016

I have written a couple of posts about Adobe Voice, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite tools to use in the classroom!  I am always amazed by how fast students learn to use it, and are excited about creating a project with this app.

Today I visited Highland, and we used Adobe Voice in 1st and 2nd grades to make projects.  In Mr. Anderson's 1st grade, we had begun researching animal habitats earlier, and they were now putting their research into the Adobe Voice format to share with parents at conferences.  Mr. Anderson used large sheets of paper to signal to students what information they should include, and what should be on each slide.

Adobe Voice

So, my friend Sally has been singing the praises of this free app since last year, but I never quite got around to trying it out.  During NCCE in Seattle last week, it came up a LOT (almost as much as Seesaw, LOL) and I decided it was time to give it a go!  Luckily, my friend Mr. Anderson and his first graders were up for the challenge of learning it, and we were all so happy with the results!  Go Adobe Voice!

To begin, you'll need to install the free app, and create an Adobe account.  You will need to sign in to each device once - it will keep you signed in!

We decided to use this app to let students share facts they learned about adaptations polar bears make to survive in their habitats.  However, there are about a zillion things you could do with Adobe Voice. You can download an educator's guide with ideas here.  I love the idea of using this as a presentation tool at the end of an inquiry project, or to have students tell about a STEM experiment or activity. They could also use it for simple storytelling - what a great way to encourage student voice and creativity!

President's Day Chatterpix from Mrs. Bishop's Class

These turned out so cute!  Mrs. Bishop had her kindergartners take screenshots of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln from their Scholastic magazines, then use Chatterpix to have the presidents talk and share information they learned.  They turned out so great!

100th Day + Draw with Us

Just had to share these super cute 100th day projects from Mrs. Westrope's and Mrs. Lang's first grade classes.  Mrs. Westrope's students used the app Draw with Us ($2.99) to make "100 year old" pictures of themselves, then uploaded to Seesaw and added writing and recording.  ADORABLE!

Mrs. Lang had her first graders use Seesaw to record their 100th day work.  Look at these cuties!

Happy Snow Day!
In honor of our day at home, today I am sharing one of my favorite digital resources, Wonderopolis. 

Wonderopolis is an amazing site for kids to explore wonders and ask questions. In kindergarten, we kept a Wonder Journal.  Each morning I would display a photo from Wonderopolis, and ask kids to write their wonders about the photo into their journal.  We then spent some time exploring the Wonderopolis site to learn more about the topic and answer some of our wonders.  I absolutely loved this activity, and was really impressed by how good the kindergartners became at asking questions.

The Wonder I wanted to share with you today is What's the Best Thing to do on a Snow Day?  I thought this would be a fun way to greet your students when they return, and talk about snow days and why they happen.  There are also lots of other great wonders about snow, snowflakes and winter.

Julie Dannenberg had a great idea to have her students graph what they did during their snow day. You could do this on chart paper, or to "tech it up a notch", try one of these options:

• If you have a Mimio interactive projector (this will also work on a Hitachi), you are welcome to download this graph I made and use it with your students.
• If your students use their D2 apps, you can use a form to collect their data. I made a very simple one-if you'd like to use it, CLICK HERE to make a copy, and then distribute to your students to complete.  It will auto-magically (as Ann likes to say) create a spreadsheet for you! Wahoo!  You can make this into a graph by clicking the "insert chart" button in the toolbar.

If you have another idea, leave it in the comments!

Christmas Traditions Collaboration

I am Geeking out in the House at McKinley all day, and I got to join in on this awesome activity with Ms. Lambert's 3rd graders and Ms. Ketterling's 1st graders.  They are collaborating by sharing Christmas traditions with one another.  They began by connecting using the site appear.in  This allows the students to see and chat with one another.

They then open a collaborative Google doc that looks like this:

The 1st graders worked whole group with Ms. Ketterling doing the typing.  The 3rd graders logged into their D2 apps and were able to work individually.  You will notice that the 3rd grade spots in the document are numbered - Ms. Lambert assigned each student a number so they know which square to begin typing in.  The 1st graders then asked questions that the 3rd graders could answer.  What a fun way to collaborate, and allow students to share special family traditions that happen in their homes during the holidays!

At the end of the activity, they checked in with each other again using the appear.in tool.  This is a simple, free tool to use.  I like how it allows multiple people to access your "room", so you could collaborate with more than one classroom at one time.

Ms. K & Ms. L thought of this idea last year when Ms. Lambert's room was located in Lincoln Center during construction.  But it was still fun even though they are in the same building. And I love the idea of using this to connect with other classrooms across the district - or even outside of Billings! Thanks for the awesome idea, ladies!