PowToon is a free web-based site that allows you to create entertaining animated presentations. It's easy and provides a great library of free music, static graphics, and animated graphics to add to your presentation. I just made this one in about 4 hours of somewhat interrupted working time. These videos will be sure to engage your students. The video below I made for 3rd Graders to learn how to use the Latice Method to multiply multi-digit numbers by 1-digit or multi-digit numbers. Enjoy and then try it yourself!
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Since kids are so engaged in technology during class, in almost a zen like state of mind, I thought an LMS from Haiku would maximize learning potential through student engagement and careful content design. So I am building this LMS for an upcoming math unit on multiplication and division. This course has interactive lessons supported by videos, Google form quizzes, and audio recordings to reach all levels of learners. As I build this, I keep in mind the learning objectives and student engagement. This is a perfect way to gather all those great tech tools and content into one student safe place. When students geared up to present their force experiments they had worked so hard on, we were up against a time crunch. In order to give each student the chance to be on "stage" we broke into groups of 3-4. While one member of the group was presenting their learning another member caught it all on camera. If the student was using their own iPad to show their presentation then another student videoed with their own iPad. Now these students have a record of their presentation to reflect on and add to their digital portfolios. As their teacher, I also have a record of their presentation and I won't miss a thing. This freed me up to move around the room and listen and assist when needed. It also took the pressure off the students, both those who wanted to share with a larger audience, since they can put these on their digital portfolios, and for those who have a bit of stage fright. Yet, another way iPads are differentiating the learning experience. Hopscotch is a fun iPad app that can be used in math classes to challenge and engage students. One great idea is to ask students to work in partners or groups and draw shapes using the app without giving them any hints as to how to do this. This allows the students to learn how the app works in a collaborative setting. They soon find themselves excitedly drawing a square using one of the characters, next they can draw a triangle, and then even a circle. Before students know it they'll be using collaborative skills, coding, and exploring polygons in a new way. This tech idea was first introduced to me by Gary Coyle at the iPad Summit, New Delhi in November '13. While playing with this idea, I happened upon Kodable and set to work co-coding with my 3 1/2 year old daughter (if you have an early learner in your classroom or home, I highly recommend co-coding). Kodable is a simplified coding app. Younger students can use this app to practice their if - then skills while planning and making connections. Coding has some fantastic benefits in the classroom, but it's an art using it in an effective and meaningful way beyond the benefits of just coding. I hope these ideas inspire you to try coding in the mainstream. Skype Lessons open the walls of the classroom to many resources not possible before! We were able to kick off our Adaptations science unit by going on a virtual tour of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum located outside Yellow Stone National Park by taking part in the Skype lesson they created called Amazing Animal Adaptations . George Miller took us on a tour around the museum while using his iPad and just the right language for 3rd graders. 100 students and roughly 10 teachers were memorized at the massive bear paws and antlers on the moose, made even larger by our big screen in our theater. A Visible Thinking routine called See, Think, Wonder kept students' minds buzzing while George opened their eyes to adaptation and a place half a world away. Make silly faces and show an understanding of symmetry using PhotoBooth and Explain Everything. PhotoBooth has a handy mirror effect that allows students to take their understanding of symmetry and apply it to fun photos of themselves. Putting these photos into Explain Everything then allows students show their understanding of lines of symmetry using voice and screen recording. These videos can then be used for sharing their knowledge of symmetry on their Digital Portfolios or to teach younger students about symmetry. |
Kate White
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