Fifth Grade Investigates Cells

Fifth graders used a a new cell app to review cell parts and cell structures this month.  The app shows 2D and 3D images of cell parts.  Students can click on the different parts of a cell to learn more about their function.  They can also view videos and independently explore the site based on their own interests.  Students enjoyed reviewing for their quiz, but using the app.  It reinforced what they had been learning in class, by providing vivid images and practice questions. 

Multiage University: Meet My M.U. Monster!

Welcome to Multiage University! In a cute play off this summer's kid favorite "Monster's University," each of our Multiage (first, second grade) students created a "Meet My Monster" poster introducing the other Jamestown students to an M.U. monster they created.  To help learn the writing process, the students took their monster from beginning to end including brainstorming, first draft, peer edit, revising, teacher edit, and final draft.  Their product was typed in pages, and the students created a portrait of their monster using Drawing Pad. Merging the two together in pages was the final step in bringing their monster to life.  Huge eyeballs and multiple arms galore.... meet our monsters!

Math and Music, Learn Fractions with Garageband

Each year, our fourth grade musicians are introduced to GarageBand.  This year, a collaborative project was created between fourth grade Music and Math.  Students were split into small groups.  After becoming familiar with different genres of music and tracks, students were responsible for composing a piece of music using loops in GarageBand.  Paying attention to layering and transitions, their piece had to include an introduction, middle and conclusion.  Once this was finished, students decided what fraction part of their entire composition was the beginning, the middle and conclusion.  They then recorded themselves sharing their compositions, explaining the fractions they used and their overall explanation of their project. Throughout this project, students were able to understand the general outline of composing a song, listen for and describe transitions as well as apply their new knowledge of fractions into their original composition.  We finally held a presentation day in which each fourth grade group shared their projects.  This was successful due to the collaboration of Miss Mueller, Ms. Lechleitner and the open-mindedness of fourth grade musicians and mathematicians to experiment with something new!

Multiage Weather Projects

To mark the end of our science unit on weather, Ms. Dye’s Multiage class completed group projects in which multiple apps and programs were used on the iPads and laptops. Each cooperative learning group of three to four students researched a different weather phenomenon including tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes, etc.  With the use of guided questions some kids researched with the iPads on weatherwizkids.com, while others used the laptops to watch videos on Brain Pop or read books on Scholastic’s True Flix.

After completing the research stage, the students worked together to creatively incorporate the information they had learned into a script for a weather newscast. Next, half of the group members worked on the laptops using the Flip Book feature in Animation-ish to create a “video footage” of their weather event to use in their newscast, while others used the iPads to create illustrations to project behind them with Drawing Pad. Some of the major advantages of incorporating both the use of the iPads and laptops simultaneously, were that it split the workload up in a way that every student had plenty of activity to keep them engaged, while also utilizing academic choice as students chose the task that most suited their talents and interests.

Finally, we filmed the students performing their scripts, projecting their illustrations and videos on the Smartboard in the background.  The last step was to put their videos into iMovie to create the final product.  We held a “movie premiere” in our classroom to watch the newscasts, capping off what was a fun and engaging project filled with technology integration.  

Water Pollution and Conservation PSA

After learning about the Water Cycle, students in my class talked about the environmental impact of water usage and pollution. Students researched causes and effects of water pollution and brainstormed ways to prevent water pollution and better conserve water. After researching the topic, students used the iPads to create concept maps in Popplet Lite. After brainstorming their projects, students downloaded images from the internet, took their own photographs using Photo Booth, and drew images using Drawing Pad. These images were then uploaded to iMovie on the iPad. Students created Public Service Announcements about this topic. They wrote scripts, created voiceovers, and selected music and sound effects to go with their movies. When completed, some videos will air on the school's closed circuit news show.

The apps workflow:

Ancient Civilization e-Books

3rd grade students in Ms. Manchester's class have been working on iPads and creating eBooks using Book Writer. During each lesson, as students learn more about architecture, art, geography, entertainment, and government in Ancient Greece, they add more information to their books. Students use Photo Booth to take digital photographs of images for each section. They also use Drawing Pad to create their own graphics for the books.

Creating and Publishing eBooks on the iPad

Creating interactive, multimedia eBooks on the iPad is easy and fun.  The creation of these books supports the writing and publishing process and can be done right in the classroom using a set of iPad apps for the workflow.

writing workflow (created in Inspiration Maps for iPad)

 Example from Ms. Blake's 2nd Grade Class:

The publishing flow and the apps that support the publishing process:

• Brainstorm you idea with Popple or Inspiration Maps for the iPad
• Create your illustrations with DrawingPad and save to the Photo Album for use in the book
• Create your book in Book Creator  for iPad or Book Writer for iPad, adding text fields, illustrations and movies
• Share your story to the iBooks on your iPad to be read like a book
• Share to Dropbox to share with the larger community and parents
• Create a QR code to share your online books