We now have a WIKI on our website. The WIKI is a site with quick links to cool websites that we have found! It is a more user friendly site for the little ones! Basically I have tried to find a few good websites in a variety of topics or interest areas. The WIKI allows me to create quick links that the children can click on to get to their favourite sites. There are quick links to STARFALL, Suessville, Junie B. Jones, ABCYah and so on. You can find it on the menu bar at the top of the website menu bar. Click on the page called “Mrs. Anton’s WIKI Page. Click on the link on the page and then click on the link that interests you! The children have worked with the page at school and seemed to really enjoy it! Check it out!
Monthly Archives: April 2012
25 and Counting!
Today I introduced a new app to a small group of children who had finished their independent assignments. Actually, I didn’t have to introduce it…. I mentioned that I had a new app for them to try and was about to explain how to use it when the child calmly pointed out that it wasn’t necessary because “they could figure it out!” And they were right! I had found a storybook app based on Toy Story. It lets the child read the story or have the story read to them. I like this one because it highlights the words as they are being read. It also has a variety of other activities that the children really enjoy! The children taught each other about the app and they were off!
Over the past few months we have been experimenting with iPads in our classroom. I have been having a grand time researching other websites and searching for ideas and apps that would work well in a classroom. Tonight I decided to review our journey and just see how many different apps or strategies we have used so far on the iPads. Guess what! If I have counted correctly today was number 25!
Now I am thinking and wondering if we could get to 100… I would sure love to try!
Filed under iPads, Story Books
Another Monster?
We have continued to have fun with the Peter Rabbit apps. It is hard to figure out which app is the most popular. They all seem to be getting a lot of use! I love the coloring one in the official Peter Rabbit website app. The magic paintbrush colors the pictures in the same lovely colours that can be found in the books.
We did a story map based on the story Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. You can’t go wrong with a Margaret Wise Brown story! The children sequenced the story and then we made some boo-boo bunnies for them to use as a story prop to retell the stories! We didn’t manage to get them all finished on the day we did the story maps so we didn’t send them home until the next day when everyone could take their bunnies home! They were pretty popular bunnies and they had a lovely time “resting” in their Easter bunny baskets.
I love the app The Monster at the End of this Book so I couldn’t resist getting the next story called Another Monster at the End of this Book. Really cute story! I used the projector to show the story using my special adaptor cord so we could all see the story on the big screen. One of the students took charge of turning the pages. Another hit!
Poor Grover! He sure doesn’t like monsters!
Filed under iPads, Peter Rabbit, Story Books
Peter Rabbit has an App!
Today we continued our bunny projects with the beloved Beatrix Potter story Peter Rabbit! I am a bit of an Beatrix Potter nut. I have all the books and we have been reading some of them. I also have a really good version on video. So, of course, I went looking for Peter Rabbit apps! I found three in the short time that I went looking and we tried them all today! All were big hits! Not everyone got a chance to work with them yet but we had several children demo them on the big screen using the projector. I have a special cable that lets me show whatever is on my iPad using the projector. That makes it really easy to share with the students and I always have lots of volunteers who want to be the “demo guy”!
We watched the video first today. I had already read the story previously. Then we did an sequencing activity. I chose 12 pictures from the book, and the corresponding text. The children had to sequence the pictures, find the corresponding text, and then collate it altogether into a personal little Peter Rabbit book. We also made a paper bag puppet to go with the book.
Later we worked with the story again using the three iPad apps I found. One app allows you to either read the story yourself or have it read to you. It has neat little pop-ups on each page that the children enjoyed. It is called PopOutPeter!
There is also another Peter Rabbit app created by iActivecom that also reads the story. It has a neat addition in that each page can be made into a jigsaw puzzle. That was fun!
The last Peter Rabbit app is the one from the Official Peter Rabbit Site. It also tells the story. It has some neat features as well. There are some fun games and pictures to colour. I liked the coloring one where you could use the magic pencil that colored the picture the same as the book. The games are cute too. I suspect that all three apps will be popular picks.
I would find it really hard to choose between them. I like them all too!
Filed under iPads, Peter Rabbit, Story Books
Hoppity Hop
We have been working on a mini theme about rabbits! On Friday we managed to make 3 different bunnies! We began our project by learning about the characteristics of real rabbits and then we compared that to the characteristics of the Easter Bunny! Then we completed a cloze to make a big bunny!
We also made standup bunnies with our Big Buddy class. The bunnies even had baskets! Both groups really seemed to enjoy the activity! Wish that I had remembered to take pictures of them in action!
We finished up with making Bunny baskets. We are hoping that the Easter bunny stops by with some treats for our baskets! Hoppity Hop!
Filed under Rabbits and Bunnies