Animoto is one of our favorite apps for creating amazing movies! We've blogged even blogged about it before here. To use Animoto and create a movie, just pick your photos, add text, and choose a background theme and music. Educators are eligible to upgrade to a pro account for free. Click here for more details.
0 Comments
Kindergartens are learning to use their iPads independently! We got this idea from Eanes Elementary (see their blog post here) and adapted it for our students. We used checklists to teach students about using the iPad camera, Chirp and Skitch apps, and gestures on the iPad. We modeled each task and checking it off on the task card, then students completed the checklist on their own. One kindergartener even told us, "This was the best lesson ever!"
Cedar Creek now has its own Aurasma channel! Aurasma is an augmented reality app that allows you to scan a picture or object, which triggers another image or a video. Fourth graders in Mrs. Raygor's social studies classes made videos of themselves giving information about a Native American tribe that lived in Texas on their iPads. After creating their video, students chose a trigger image that was posted in the commons. Trigger images were tagged with the Aurasma logo so visitors would know where to scan. Students presented their projects to a live audience as well. Here's a quick demonstration of Aurasma: Examples of Trigger Images:This video will show you how to follow an Aurasma channel; just search for Cedar Creek Elementary to find us. Come to the Cedar Creek commons to see the students' projects! Looking for an alternative to QR codes? Check out Aurasma! Aurasma is an augmented reality app that uses a trigger image (like a book cover) to show a picture or video. Click here to see how a fourth grade class at Cedar Creek used Aurasma to share video book trailers. Here is more information on how to use Aurasma:
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!
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!
The CCE computer lab is in the process of total transformation! What used to be the computer lab, with rows of desktop computers, is becoming a space for projects, meetings, and learning in a new way! First, the desktop computers were taken out the room, and will be replaced with a laptop cart. We are trying out some new furniture, like the Hokki stool, Node chairs, and other types of furniture. A parent even donated two couches for us to use! Soon the room will have a variety of seating options that can be arranged in many different ways. We have one problem- what do we call this room? We need to think of an exciting name for this new room, and we need your help! Click here to enter your idea for a name. There are also QR codes posted around the school that you can scan to enter your idea.
We will keep you updated on our progress! Mr. Stoops' 7th grade Texas History classes came over from Hill Country Middle School to share the books they created on Texas missions. Students chose to make print or digital books that contained a poem or song and were told from the perspective of someone living at the mission. Texas history is also part of the 4th grade social studies curriculum, and CCE 4th graders learned a ton from their HCMS teachers! |
Archives
March 2019
Categories
All
|