Great iPad Apps for K-2 Centers!

Weekly Tech-y News

Click the image to download a PDF.

Padlet of Center Chart Ideas

I am still adding photos of center charts to this collaborative Padlet. Would love to see how you rotate your kids through centers in your classroom (whether you have Must Do - Can Do centers, traditional centers, Daily 5, etc). Check out the ideas below, and click on the Padlet to upload a photo of your own center chart organizational system!

Computer Lab Favorites from Scholastic

This is an awesome resource for those of you looking for center ideas on computers, laptops or Chromebooks (and I know there are many of you in search of a solution for this)! Scholastic has put together a website with computer lab favorites that is sortable by grade band. Students can choose any of the 15-30 minute activities from the wheel above. Excellent, engaging activities for computer lab or center time. Thanks to Sara Malchow @smalchow for sharing this resource!

Weekly Tech-y Newsletter!

Keyboarding Resources

If you have access to computers, laptops or Chromebooks, an excellent activity at centers is to let your students practice keyboarding skills. I updated my Participate Learning collection with resources for teachers. I also put together a Symbaloo - this would be easy to allow students to access from a center and practice their keyboarding skills. Most websites on the Symbaloo are to typing games, but check out Typing Club or Typing.com (at the bottom of the Symbaloo) for leveled activities. I would recommend using a combination of both leveled activities and keyboarding games with your students.

Technology in Learning Centers!

So many of us are lucky enough to have technology in our classrooms, but have a lot of questions about how to best implement these devices in centers. Technology in centers can be awesome, as students are on task, engaged, and (if you have headphones!) they're usually quiet, which is helpful for your small groups. However, the key to using technology during centers is to make sure what you are using is purposeful and meaningful. Don't just put them on an iPad or a computer to keep them busy - be intentional about what you are having them do.

Tips for getting iPad centers started in your classroom!

Seesaw at Centers

I was happy to visit Ms. Romersa's kindergarten last week to help her students use Seesaw during centers. I had visited her class before to teach Seesaw whole group, and they were rockstars!  This was a fun opportunity to check in and review with them.

Scanning Safely with QR Codes

If you want to incorporate QR codes into your classroom to scan videos or songs from YouTube, there are some ways to do this more safely - without exposing your students to unwanted ads and additional videos.

One way to do this is to pay for a QR code scanner.  There are several good free scanners, but they include ads.  If you invest in a scanner like the Scan app, which is $1.99, your kids can use it ad-free.

If you are directing your students to a video on YouTube, whether it be a song, a reading of a story, or a short video clip, you can copy the link to the YouTube video and paste it into SafeShare.TV. You will then create your QR code using the SafeShare.TV link that you generated.  This will enable your students to view only the video you want them to watch, without ads, and without additional videos.  Yay!

Remember that even if you've posted onto SafeShare.TV, if the video isn't on the district's playlist, you may need to go through the Barracuda filter in order for your students to view the video.  This is a good habit to get into in the mornings, so you aren't interrupted by kids needing help getting through the filter during reading or math groups. :)

Getting iPad Centers Started with Felt Board app

I am in love with the Felt Board app!  It is such a versatile tool for illustrating and creating stories, building words, and showing math equations.

Here are some examples of how we used the Felt Board app in kindergarten.  After students created a project in Felt Board, they would save it to their camera roll and post on their Kidblog or put into a Book Creator book.  That way, I could see their work and we could share it with their parents and other classes.

(My favorite thing was iPads.)

Today, I visited Mr. Anderson's 1st grade classroom and introduced the Felt Board app whole group. Using Reflector, I could show the students the app and how to navigate it.  I began by giving them some time to play. I wanted them to figure out the features of the app, how to add, delete, resize, etc, before giving them a task.

After they had some time to play and make pictures, I chose a few to share.  I then showed them how they could use the app to build words.  We used the background shown above and the letter pieces to build words from the -at family.  Once they finished this, they could build other word family words as instructed by the teacher.  After each task, they took a picture of their work and saved to their camera rolls.  The next step will be teaching them to post these to their Kidblogs!

When the students go to Mr. Anderson's iPad center, they will see Felt Board as a choice with some specific learning tasks.  Students will be instructed to build words, illustrate a story, retell a story, etc, depending on Mr. Anderson's learning objective(s).  Because they will learn how to post their work on Kidblog, he will be able to check their learning later, to see how they did and make sure they stayed on task.

In my iPad center, I put app icons on magnets and place them onto a magnetic board.  This allowed me to easily move them around, depending on what I wanted the students to do that day.  I could also add specific tasks, for example, if they were working on the app Letter School, I would write which letters I wanted them to practice on the whiteboard beside the magnet.  If you want a copy of the app icons that I used in my kindergarten class, click here.  I printed them on cardstock, laminated and stuck to a small adhesive magnet to the back so I could easily move them around on my whiteboard.