3rd grade students at Cedar Creek have been around the world and back! They are learning about landforms, and we took a landform tour around the world. Students were given a list of places to go in the Google Earth app. They took a screenshot and determined which landform it was. Students used their social studies textbook to help them. Students then put their screenshots into the Explain Everything app. They used definitions from their textbook and their new knowledge of landforms to make slideshows explaining and illustrating each landform. Check out their work!
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Third grade has been learning about how nonfiction books have different features than fiction books, such as photographs, captions, headings, and maps. Click here for more information on how students went on the hunt for nonfiction text features. After researching a holiday in another country or their own family traditions and completing the holiday note-taking matrix, students used the Pic Collage app to create a newsletter. Newsletters had to include seven nonfiction text features (see the rubric below for more information. One of the great features of Pic Collage is the in-app photo search. Students can search for pictures within the app, and don't have to worry about searching in another app, saving the camera roll, then putting it in their newsletter. It can all be done in Pic Collage! Here are some examples of students' newsletters:
Appy Holidays from Amy and Jolie! This week we visited classrooms to spread holiday cheer and teach students how to use an iPad app. In kindergarten and first grade, students wrote letters of appreciation. They used the template below to compose the letter. Next, students chose two holiday props and had their picture taken in front of a festive background. Students put their photo into the Screen Chomp app, then recorded themselves reading their letter of appreciation. Screen Chomp creates a URL to videos made in the app, so we shared the link with parents so they could watch their child's video. Here are some examples from kindergarten:
Second and third grade became comic book authors with the Strip Designer app. We read the beginning of the book Penguins by Liz Pichon, where a girl drops her camera into the penguin enclosure at the zoo. Students had to write their own ending to the story to tell what happened to the girl and her camera. Here are some alternate endings: We're looking forward to an Appy New Year in 2014!
Third grade is currently working on identifying the features of nonfiction texts, and asked for our help with this skill. First, we reviewed the features of fiction and nonfiction with a Venn diagram. Each student got one sticky note and placed it on the diagram. As a whole class, we discussed where the various text features went and why. Next, it was time to hunt down some nonfiction text features. Students were given this organizer through eBackpack to complete on their iPads. Students were given the definition of a nonfiction text feature, then they had to fill in the correct term and take a picture of it in a nonfiction book. They used the Notability app to complete the activity. Here is an example: You can download the complete file here:
For the next few days, students will begin researching a country and the Christmas or holiday celebrations that take place in that country. Then, they will create a newsletter with the nonfiction text features they have learned about. We will post some examples of the newsletters soon!
CCE recently had their Open House, and the focus was on various projects students completed with iPads. Hill Country Middle School instructional partner Kelley Willmann (and parent of a CCE 3rd grader) invited 3 third grade students over to HCMS to showcase their work for 6th grade teachers. Mrs. Willmann explains why she invited CCE students over:
After completing self-paced lessons on the water cycle using MentorMob (more on that here), students were ready to create their final projects. To demonstrate their knowledge, students explained the water cycle from the perspective of a drop of water. Students had a choice of which app to use, so they were able to choose the app best suited to their learning and presentation style. The final project had to include examples of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Here are examples using three different apps. iMovie trailer iMovie Keynote
3rd grade recently tried something new with their unit on the water cycle. Teachers used Mentor Mob to create self-paced lessons for students.
Mentor Mob allows a teacher to create a playlist by putting links, documents, and other files in a specific order. Students access these resources and go in order to complete the activities. For the water cycle, students watched videos, read articles, took notes, and answered guiding questions to prepare them for the final project. Stay tuned for more on the final projects... Check out the water cycle Mentor Mob playlist here. |
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