Ipad Usage In The Classroom

     Until this year, I haven't used Ipads much in first grade.  There were several reasons that inhibited my usage.  First, we only have one cart with twenty-five Ipads that is shared between four classes.  Secondly, the cart was locked up in the library.  This required me to find the librarian to unlock the cart and wait for her to unlock it, all the while leaving my students, which I felt was a huge liability. Finally, it was a painful experience having to plug in 25 Ipads to recharge everyday.  However, this year, I made up my mind that I was going to overcome these obstacles and begin to use the Ipads more.  Thus far, I've done just that.  With my principal's permission, I'm not keeping the Ipad cart in  my classroom.  I've trained a very dependable student to count and plug in the Ipads everyday.  She loves doing this job, and I love the fact that I'm not taking away instructional time to plug in Ipads. 
     I've integrated the Ipads into my English and Math rotations everyday.  For English rotations, the students use the Ipads to do Raz Kids from Learning A-Z.  Raz-Kids is a website that allows the students to read books on his/her reading level.  The books are automatically assigned to the students once they log in.  They also take a comprehension quiz after they read the book.  For Math rotations, the students use the Ipads to do IXL Math.  Before beginning this program, the students are required to take a placement test.  Once they complete the placement test, the program takes them to skills that they can do based on the results of their placement test.  As they're answering questions within the program, if they get the questions correct, the program will give them more difficult questions.  Likewise, if they get the questions incorrect, the program will give them less difficult questions.  Both the Reading A-Z and IXL are differentiated according to the readiness of the child.
     Another way that I've used Ipads this year has been so useful.  I have a group of 23 students, and it's not always easy to get to each one and make sure everyone is following along and getting what's being taught.  Therefore, I've started taking pictures of worksheets, quizes/tests (after they've been give) with the Ipad.  Then, I email the picture to myself and open the email on the Smartboard.  Then, as the document is projected, the students can see the worksheet, test/quiz, etc. , and they tend to grasp the information and directions faster.  I can also write on the document as it's being projected.  This has worked wonders with my reading group in particular.  They're a group of struggling readers who also have difficulty focusing.  When they're asked to follow along in their books and then read individually, 99% of the time they have no clue where we're at in the story.  So, I've started taking a picture of the text and projecting it on the Smartboard.  The students are able to see the text and watch me model how to read aloud and follow the words.  This has made a tremendous difference in their reading abilities.  One particular student in this group has Cerebral Palsy, and his eyesight hinders him from seeing the fine print in the book.  Projecting the story from the camera roll on the Ipad onto the Smartboard makes seeing the story much easier for him.  The following pictures are two examples of what I've projected on the Smartboard just today.  One is a math worksheet and the other is the reading group story.  I'm excited that I'm using technology in a new way and making it work for me.


            

Word Wall Words In Dropbox

     A helpful way for first grade students to correlate their learning, especially the visual learners, is through word walls.  I have a word wall for all four subjects in my classroom.  As a skill is introduced, I present the vocabulary words from that unit to the students, and we talk about the words before putting them on the word wall.  As I'm teaching the unit and the vocabulary words come up in learning, I refer the students to those words on the word wall, so as to hopefully get them into the habit of referring to the word wall for future usage.  
     I have gone through the Curriculum Framework for each subject and picked out the key terms that the students need to know in each subject.  I put the words in a table, and then printed and laminated them for each word wall.  The math words are from Teachers Pay Teachers.com.  I have put these words in my Dropbox for others to use if they'd like to.  Click here to get to this folder in Dropbox. 

Teachers Pay Teachers

     If you haven't discovered this most amazing website full of teacher resources, then you're truly missing out on some great ideas! The name of the website is Teachers Pay Teachers.  I have recently discovered this website,  and now it is the first place that I go when I need ideas and resources to help me teach. Some of the resources are free and some of them are available to purchase through PayPal using a debit card or charge card. The resources that are available for payment are not expensive and much cheaper than what you would buy in a teacher store. 
     One of the greatest reasons to use this website is that the money that you spend to buy the resources goes directly to the teacher who contributed his/ her resources to the website.  We all know that teachers need extra money and I believe that teachers deserve to be paid for their unique ideas.  I'm happy to pay a teacher if I can use her resources.  I'd rather pay a teacher than pay a store and have them spend the profit.  Check out this link for some wonderful ideas and resources to add to your classroom collection.  I promise you'll fall in love with it like I did!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com

Christmas Time Is Coming!

     It's the most wonderful time of the year!  It's Christmas, and every elementary teacher in the world is looking for Christmas crafts to do with the students.  We are looking for crafts that are free or practically free.  What better place to look for those kinds of ideas than Pinterest?  Pinterest has more ideas than I could possibly pin and use, but how nice to have this accessibility at my fingertips!
     On my Pinterest board, you will find crafts that include Elf on a Shelf, Santa handprint ornaments and lots of other cute, free ideas.  Parents always love getting these kinds of cute keepsakes. I know I looked forward to my boys bringing their little handmade ornaments home from school each year.  They still hang on our tree today.  Those crafted -with -love ornaments mean more to me than any other ornament on our tree.  I've shared my board with you below.  Hopefully, you can use some of the ideas in your classroom or at home with your little one.
http://www.pinterest.com/deitrac40/christmas-crafts/

Smartboard Exchange

     I am so thankful for the most wonderful and innovative piece of equipment in my classroom - my Smartboard! I don't know how I ever taught without it.  The Smartboard helps bring learning to life for the children.  Of course, there is still so much I need to learn about it, but what I do know, I use like crazy!  I think the Smartboard helps the students learn better.  It has thousands of images, lessons, tools, etc. 
     It used to take me lots of time to create my own Smartboard lessons.  However, once the lessons were  made, I could save them and use them year after year.  Now, thanks to the help of Smart Exchange, I do not have to create all of my Smartboard lessons.  I can use lessons that other first grade teachers have made by simply signing in to SmartExchange and typing a keyword for what topic I need a lesson for. Or, if I want to return the favor, I can share the SmartBoard lessons that I've made with everyone as well.  It is FABULOUS! Just click on this link to visit this wonderful website and sign up for free http://exchange.smarttech.com/index.html?from=notebook#tab=0 .

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch on PhotoPeach

What a beautiful day to go to the farm and pumpkin patch!  It was sunny and the temperature was just perfect for a day on the farm.  Every year, first graders take a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  The farm is owned by a wonderful family who always welcome us with such hospitality and friendliness.  This is one of the highlights of my year every year.
     The students got to pet pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats, horses, cows, sheep, dogs and a lot of other farm animals.  After they fed the animals and heard the farm workers teach them about the farm and farm animals, it was time to move to the pumpkin patch!  We took a hayride through the rivers, pastures and cornfields and finally arrived at the pumpkin patch that was laden with big, bright orange pumpkins.  The students were turned loose  to find a pumpkin that was just right for him/her to take home and carve.  Then, it was back to the playground to play for a bit before heading back to school.  What a wonderful trip with a group of wonderful first graders. We hope you enjoy our video!

Santa's Stuck

     We are gearing up for Christmas this week!  The students love to hear Christmas stories, especially the fictional stories.  One such story is Santa's Stuck.  In the story, Santa enjoys all the snacks that are left for him at the children's houses.  Snacks, such as cookies, cake, fruitcake, pies, and the list goes on and on.  After enjoying too many snacks, Santa's suit becomes a little too snug, and his buttons start popping off of his suit!  Finally, Santa's indulgence gets him stuck in a chimney.  The reindeer look on helplessly from on top of the roof, while the family's dog, cat and mouse push Santa from below.  Finally, after several attempts of the reindeer pulling and the other animals pushing, Santa is freed from the chimney and goes about his usual business to deliver presents for all the girls and boys.
     In this post, I've shared some wonderful first grade ideas that can be done after reading Santa's Stuck.  I give credit to Nancy Vandenberge for these ideas.  Her first grade blog is amazing!  I get so many wonderful ideas from her blog.  She has plenty of pictures of the ideas that she's sharing, and she is so kind to include all of the templates by putting them in PDF so that they're easy to download and ready to  use.  I've put the ideas for Santa's Stuck in my  Dropbox for others to use.  The URL for Nancy's blogspot is http://firstgradewow.blogspot.com/.

                            

Totally Terrific Tagxedo

     We have begun our Long Ago and Today unit in Social Studies.  The students find this unit so interesting, and I love to teach them about how things have changed.  I love to invite older guests to come speak to our class about how life was long ago.  This year, we invited Mrs. Libby Durham.  Mrs. Durham is the mother of one of our kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Elizabeth Adams. Mrs. Durham is in her eighties, but she is quite the spry young lady.  She brought lots of interesting artifacts with her when she came to visit.  Some items included a washboard, an iron, quilts, shawls, a coffee grinder, a mattress warmer (this was the students' favorite item), and long satin gloves.  Mrs. Durham talked to the students about how her life was long ago.  She included interesting facts such as having to walk to school, packing her lunch everyday because there was no cafeteria and how going to school was optional.  We enjoyed Mrs. Durham's visit so much!  This gave the students visuals of actual items that were used in the past.  We really appreciate her coming to speak with us.
     I used Tagxedo with the students to compare schools long ago and today.  After comparing schools of today and long ago, I had the students give me words about school long ago.  I recorded their words on a Tagxedo image.  Then, I had them give me comparison words to describe how schools are today.  I put those words in a Tagxedo image as well.  The students absolutely LOVED the two images formed, and I did as well.  Please enjoy our images below.

                                               

      

Me on the Map

     We have recently concluded our unit on maps.  The first grade curriculum requires that the students know their planet, continent, country, state and city.  They must also know map symbols, cardinal directions, land formations, the state's capital and the country's capital.  Needless to say, this is a very challenging unit for some first graders.  It requires them to think "out of the box" in terms of their locality.  Most first graders don't comprehend "beyond" where they are at the present moment, and truthfully, some have never even heard of any place beyond their home.
     So, to tie this unit together, I read the book Me On The Map.  The book is about a little girl who begins telling the story about where she is presently at (in her bedroom).  She then goes to her neighborhood, then to her city, then to her state, on to her country, then to her continent and finally her planet.  By the end of the book, the little girl goes backwards through the localities and ends up back in her bedroom.  I love this book because it shows the students how their location can start "small" and end up "huge."  It also shares how we are a part of a great big world!
     To tie all of these facts together, our class created our own "Me On The Map" student-made booklet.  We started small (our house), then grew to our city , then our state, then our continent using the world map, then our planet. Each time our location grew and got bigger, the circle that we pasted our location on got bigger.  Then I bound all of our circles together.  The children loved the booklet.  It was a great visual for them to see how,  as the circles got larger each time, so did the size of their location.  This was a wonderful teaching tool to tie all of our studies together! I can thank Pinterest for this wonderful idea!   Enjoy the visuals below!