Category Archives: Youtube

Fun Making Digital Books!

Check out our digital books!



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We have been having a lot of fun creating our own digital books!  The children have been using a combination of different apps to create their own version of Read to Me stories!  The children pick their favourite books and then use the camera on the iPads to take pictures of each page.

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Then they import each picture of each page into the Explain Everything app.

When they have imported all the pages they go to a quiet place and record themselves reading the story!  We wanted to make it like a “read to me” book where each word is highlighted as it is read so we used the pointer option in Explain Everything.  There are a lot of different pointer options in this app.  You can use an arrow, a hand, and the very special light sabre!  You can guess which pointer is the most popular!

I love that you can listen to each child reading and how it encourages their reading growth!  They can hear themselves and they want to make their reading come alive for the listener.  They often will redo pages if they don’t like how they sound!  How cool is that!

 

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When the book is complete we save the book to the camera roll.  When the project is saved to the camera roll in Explain Everything it becomes a video.  Then you can open it and listen to the student reading the story as they point to each phrase or word in the story!  It is amazing!  The best part is that they can share their reading with everyone!  During Eat and Read time I open up the SeeSaw app and we watch and listen to the children in the class read us stories on our big Promethean board!  The children love listening to their classmates read their stories.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

We have been using the SeeSaw app to share our work on the iPads this year!

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This is an amazing product that lets us share the work that each child does in a digital format.  Each child saves their work to their own folder which can be accessed at school using a class QR code.

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The children can access their own work at home using their own personalized QR code.

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The children are able to create projects and then share them using the QR codes to access the site and then upload their projects from the camera roll!  Way to much fun!

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We also read our books to our favourite stuffies without any technology! Both ways are awesome! Had to take this picture as it was way too cute!

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Filed under Digital books, Explain Everything, iPads, Promethean Board, QR codes, Read to Me Books, SeeSaw, Youtube

Counting Book Fun!

This is one of the counting books that one of our students finished making today!  The children have been using the My Story app to create simple counting books!  This app is a very versatile app!  The children can use a variety of mediums to create their books.  For this project the children used the stamps within the app to create a simple count-up book!  The children had to choose the image, learn how to copy it as many times as needed for each page, add the appropriate text, and then record their text for each page!

It sounds pretty simple but please remember that we are only in Grade One!  That’s a lot of steps! Creating the book, adding pages, adding images, and then copying them as needed, adding text including the correct spelling and punctuation, and then finally recording them is really quite impressive!  All by themselves!

 

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When the children finished their stories, I had them record their sentences in our “recording booth”!  It is a quieter spot to allow their voices to shine!  We still get a bit of background noise but it is helpful noise!

I love this app because you can save the book as a movie, which lets me share it with you!  I can upload the movie to our Youtube channel and then put the link to the movie on this page for you to view!

Here is another one!

 

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They were so focused!

Hope you enjoy them viewing them as much as we enjoyed making them!  Too much fun!

 

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Filed under iPads, My Story, Youtube

Fun At My School!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO2L1jhQ6r8?rel=0&showinfo=0]

 

Welcome to a new school year!  I thought we would start off the year with an iPad project we have just completed!

This is a book we created on the iPad about our school.  Just click on the play button to see and hear our book!  We went around the school and took pictures with our iPad of the important places in our school.

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We imported the pictures from the camera roll into a great story telling app called Explain Everything.  We added text to the pictures and then the children volunteered to record some of the pages of the book.  Some of the pages we did together.

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We based our book on a story in one of the books we are learning to read in our classroom.  I thought it might be more fun to make a book about our own school.  It was fun to see which places the children thought were important to have in the book!

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After we completed the recordings for each page we saved our book to the camera roll and uploaded it to Youtube!  We hope you like it!

Please check back often or choose to follow our blog and receive reminders whenever we post!  This blog will be like a sort of digital newsletter!  We hope to share our projects and learning with you each week!  Enjoy!

 

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Filed under Explain Everything, iPads, Youtube

Our Alphabet Book! Augmented Reality Style!


[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is-qWOv3_AY?rel=0&showinfo=0]

This is the alphabet book that we created this year using augmented reality!  We think it is pretty cool!

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We used a combination of apps to create this project.  The children have been using the app AR Alphabet Flashcards this year a lot!

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 They love trying to hold the augmented images that appear when you hold the iPad over the trigger images.

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We created the pictures for our pages in our book by having each student pick a letter.  Then they searched the classroom to find other real objects that began with the letter they had chosen.  We grouped the letters together around the trigger image picture.  Then we opened up the app and took a picture of our collections with the trigger imaged engaged.

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The children then imported the picture they took into the app Strip Designer from the camera roll.  We used a simple frame to title each page.  They then used the balloon option in this app to label the objects in the picture.

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I imported all the pictures into Explain Everything in alphabetical order.  Then we had Owen, Celia, and Elsa narrate the story!

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We then saved it to the camera roll and I uploaded it to our Youtube channel to share with the world!

 We hope you like it!

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Filed under AR Flashcards Alphabet, Augmented Reality, Comic Strip Designer, Explain Everything, Youtube

3 D Space Fun! Augmented Reality Style!

We have been having a lot of fun with our Space theme!  We created this movie trailer in iMovie using the pictures we created using a green screen app called Green Screen by Do Ink and the NASA 3D Spacecraft app.  We took all the pictures we created and popped them into the storyboard in the iMovie app and then worked together to add the captions!  We LOVE our movie trailer.  We have watched it numerous times!   We hope you will watch it too!

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We used the movie trailer to get our imaginations going.  We brainstormed together and talked about the things we had learned about space.  Then I encouraged the children to write a story about their adventure in outer space.   I printed off a colour print of the picture we created for each child and added it to a writing frame.  The children seemed to find it very easy to imagine themselves in the story when they saw themselves in outer space.  They wrote and wrote and wrote!

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The stories are amazing.  I have put them up in the hallway.  Please come and have a look!

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 I attached the movie trailer to the creative writing using the Aurasma app.  The rocket ship picture is the trigger picture for our movie trailer.

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If you have the Aurasma app loaded on your idevice and you follow our channel you will be able to activate the movie trailer!  Our channel is called mrsantonsclass.

IMG_5266The stories are amazing and a lot of fun to read!

Come and take a trip with our Mountain View Astronauts!

 

 

 

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Aurasma, Green Screen, iPads, Space, Spacecraft 3D, Youtube

Fun with Shapes!

We have been using the Explain Everything app to create our Shape books.  The children used the camera option within the app to take pictures of objects in the classroom.

We made a list of the different shapes and they scoured the room taking pictures of the shapes they wanted to put into their books.  Then they added a sentence describing their shape using the text option.  After they had completed a cover page and their pages they went back to each page and recorded their voices reading each page.  Some students even added arrows pointing to the words or objects on the page. Once that was complete I saved their project to the camera roll and uploaded it to Youtube.

The children were amazing.  They found the objects that they needed and even learned how to crop their pictures so that only the part of the picture that had the shape they needed would be in the picture!  They also recorded all of the pages all by themselves!

It was really fun to watch them create this book!  They are becoming so independent and proficient on the iPads.  Nothing scares them!

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Filed under Explain Everything, iPads, Youtube

Green Screen Fun!

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We have been having a lot of fun experimenting with a new app called Green Screen by Do Ink.  I decided to give it a go on Earth Day.  The children who wanted to be Earth Day reporters volunteered to be videoed sharing their thoughts about Earth Day.  We downloaded some images from the internet about Earth Day and saved these images to the camera roll.  Green Screen by Do Ink is a neat little app that lets the students be reporters just like on TV!  You can add any image to the background using green screen technology!  I placed several green construction papers on the back of our classroom door and presto! We had a green screen!  Just like the weatherman! I am looking to improve our screen but it worked for our initial attempts!

First we created our video using the video option on the iPad.  Then we opened the Green Screen app and begin layering our images!  The first image to import is the background we used for our project.  We had a few images that we had chosen to download to the iPad.  The announcers chose the background they wanted for their project from that selection.  Then we imported the video that we created and added that to the project.

We view our project and made some minor changes to the sensitivity of the filter.

When I downloaded the app I unfortunately did not download the animation component!  I should have!   Can you imagine if we had the opportunity to add an animation to our project!  Will definitely have to download the upgrade!

You can save the project to the camera roll and there are a variety of options for sharing from there.

I think we have some aspiring news reporters in our classroom!  Coming soon to a television station near you?

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Filed under Green Screen, iPads, Youtube

Augmented Reality Snowmen!

 

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We have been having a lot of fun with the app Chatterpix!  I took a picture of each of the snowmen and had the children bring their snowmen to life using the Chatterpix app.  They had to add a mouth to their snowman and then talk for thirty seconds as if their snowman was talking. Some children chose to speak as their snowmen and others choose to speak in a conversation with their snowman.  Some students preferred to talk about making their snowman with their family.  Then I took the Aurasma app to link the Chatterpix video to their picture.  Aurasma is an augmented reality app that lets you augment the viewing experience by adding another layer of participation to the object.  In this case it is the picture of the snowman.  To see the Chatterpix video you simply hold the iPad over the picture.  The picture is now the trigger image within the Aurasma app that triggers the link to the Chatterpix video.   This is called an aura.  I have created auras for each of the snowman pictures linking the pictures and the Chatterpix video.

IMG_1523To see the auras you will need to download the Aurasma app.  It is free! You do not have to join or sign in to see the auras.   Click on the little triangle shape at the bottom of the screen.  Choose the search option.  Search for mrsantonsclass.  You will be directed to all the auras that I have posted to that channel.  Choose the channel option at the top of the screen. Click on the link for mrsantonsclass and you will be given an option to follow, like, or share the auras.  You can choose to follow our channel by clicking on the  follow option. Now all the auras posted to that channel will become available on the device you are using.     Then you choose the option at the bottom of the screen that looks like a window.  Hold the ipad over one of the pictures on this screen and a swirling image that lets you know the aura is activating.

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You will then see the video staring up!

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As you can see I was able to access the aura on my computer screen while writing this post!

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Once you set up to follow a channel you will be able to access all of the auras that are created on that channel on that device.  You will need to set up each device that you use to view the auras the first time.  After that, you will be able to access any auras posted to the public channel when you use that device.  Sometimes I post things to the private channel.  Then you only get to see it if I email you the link. Lately, I have been posting everything to the public channel.  Their projects are just so much fun to share!

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I have also created a special page for all of our snowmen iPad project movies!  They are all together in one space!  Just click on the link at the top of the page to see the wonderful work the children did using the snowman pictures and the Explain Everything app!  Enjoy!

I have also created auras for our dinosaur pictures that we took!  When you hold the iPad over the picture you can see the dinosaur Chatterpix  videos we created.

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I will need to upload all the pictures to a page for you to view them.

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You can also access this aura from the creative writing exercise that we completed about the dinosaurs invading our classroom!

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I have created a page for the dinosaur pictures and the snowman pictures.  You should be able to see the pages at the top of this blog!  Just click on the page link at the top of this blog.

IMG_1289When you visit the page you will be able to activate the aura right away using your device and the picture on the computer screen.

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Or you can wait for the pictures to come home in the scrapbook!  I’m too impatient for that!

 

 

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Aurasma, Chatterpix, Dinosaurs, Snowman iPad Project Movies!, Snowman Project, Walking with Dinosaurs, Youtube

Even More Fun with the Snowman Project!

We have been working hard to finish up our snowman projects on the iPads.  We have added a new component to our project.  We have created a talking snowman!  We are using the app Chatterpix to animate our snowmen!  This is a really cool app that allows the children to make any picture talk!  Lots of fun.

We took a picture of the snowmen and then the children animate the picture by marking the spot on the picture where the mouth is and then they record their voice saying whatever they want their snowman to say!  They have thirty seconds to record their thoughts!  They are lots of fun!  Enjoy!  I hope to link them to the pictures using the Aurasma app.  Watch for it!

I have uploaded a few more of the snowman projects that have been completed!  Enjoy!

I continue to be super impressed with how comfortable the children have become using the Explain Everything app.  They have figured out new things that I haven’t even found or tried yet!  Did you see the hand that is pointing to the words!  Very cool!

 

I have to say that I really enjoy the drawing the snowman instruction pages!  Too cool!

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Filed under Aurasma, Chatterpix, iPads, Snowman iPad Project Movies!, Snowman Project, Youtube

Fun with the Snowman Project!

We have been working hard creating our Snowman books on the iPad!  We have the first few finished projects to share with you!  We hope you enjoy reading and viewing them as much as we have enjoyed creating them!

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The initial sparks for the projects are the amazing snowmen that were created at home by the students with their families!

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They are fabulous!   To set the stage, we read the story The Snowman by Lois Elbert.  It is a great story about how a family saves up a variety of materials to decorate their snowmen.

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I sent home the template with the children and several weeks later these wonderful  snowmen returned to our classroom!

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Then we started to compile a book on the iPads about the snowmen.  The first page of the book contains a photograph taken on the iPad of their snowmen.

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The children opened a project on the app Explain Everything and imported the picture of their snowman from the camera roll.  Then they added the title and their name using the text feature.

The children created an additional four pages to their books.

On one page. they had to draw a snowman and then label the snowman using the text feature.

We made one page about what they thought their snowman might like to eat.  They had to draw the plate with the items on the plate and label it once again.

The new feature to our snowmen books this year is on the fourth page!  It is a new favorite of mine!  The Explain Everything app allows you to record every stroke you make as you draw it and narrate your drawing as you build your picture.  I thought it would be interesting to have the children describe or teach how to build a snowman.  I think you will really enjoy them.  I know I can’t watch them without smiling!

The last page is, of course, about the author!  The children had to draw a picture of themselves and then add a few sentences about themselves.

The final step was to create a script for the first page describing the snowman.  The children had to complete a few sentences describing their snowman and their favorite parts of the project!

Then we had to have the children record their script on the first page of their book as well as adding a comment or reading their work on each of the pages of their book.  Then we saved the book to the camera roll as a video within the Explain Everything app.  Love, love, love this app!

Then I was able to upload the video on the camera roll to Youtube and import it into the blog so that you can see it.  I think I will also create a QR code for the video when we have completed them.  You know you have a group of students who love technology when they ask you to turn everything into a QR code!

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Filed under Explain Everything, iPads, QR codes, Snowman iPad Project Movies!, Snowman Project, Winter, Youtube