Is this an iPad?

I set up 4 old Mac's to play student book trailers and how-to videos. The kindergarteners kept swiping the screen like it was an iPad. Cute kids!

9th Rotation - survival mode

It is always kind of nuts after break because tennis season is winding up and we travel to another country for a competition. Fun, but I'm usually behind on everything.

Kindergarten - we started our Linda Sue Park study. She's the visiting author in March. We read Bee Bim Bop and What does Bunny See? Nice patterns in text to reinforce language learning.

Grade 1 - We read, Monkey : a trickster tale from India by Gerald McDermott. The students loved this book! On a sad note the talented author died January 10, 2013.

Grade 2 - We read, The Third Gift, by Linda Sue Park. The like the surprise ending and how the story unfolds. The students weren't quite sure what tree it was and what the two were going to do with the sap.

Grade 3 - Lesson 2 of the book trailer project. I tried a new graphic organizer where students had to write the lead, summary, problem, and opinion. We will see if the next writing organizer is better than last years.

Grade 4 - We read about the Korean bonfire signal system in Linda Sue Park's novel, The Firekeeper's Son. A boy's father breaks his ankle going up the mountain to light the fire and his young son goes in his place. He struggles internally about whether to light the fire or not because he knows if he doesn't the soldiers will come. And oh! How he wants to see the soldiers. Good mentor text with a clear story arc and internal conflict in a character.

Grade 5 - Students signed up or registered for Goodreads. They had to add me as their friend and from there added other friends. I told students if they wrote a review I would give them an Edmodo Goodreads badge (that I created).

8th Rotation - Ho Ho Ho!

Kindergarten to Grade 4 - I read the new books I got to them. It was really fun and worked well with all the cancellations from Christmas parties and assemblies.  

Grade 5 - Finished the iMovie and discovered some improvements needed for next year. Don't let students choose books with no pictures - doesn't work. Some students hadn't read the book even though the instructions were everyone in group needs to read book. Maybe I should do what I did with grade 4 students and choose excellent picture books having the group familiarize themselves with the program. Then in the spring have them do one on their own with a more difficult book. This might scaffold better considering I lost a few kiddos on the way. Some students don't come to library because of ESL so they didn't do the lesson. I can't control that. The lesson took 3 rotations. One longer than I had planned which is another reason I like my idea of picture books.

Here's an example with a picture book:

Here's a nonfiction book example. What is funny about it is the boy picked the romantic theme and chose a book on a car he adores:

7th Rotation - happy feet

Kindergarten - Students performed Pete the Cat. The book has been scanned and I put the audio to it using a video editing program. I did this lesson differently from my past and had students cut out the shoes versus me cutting them. After checking out books, the students placed their books off the floor on the benches to the right side then I hand out scissors, 4 colored pieces of construction paper (white, brown, red, and blue), and a shoe template. Students pick a color 4 to 5 depending on class size. I give them one pair of scissors, 2 pieces of construction paper, and one template. Once 4-5 students have chosen one color I hide it behind me and let them chose from what is left. Placing the shoe template over the paper, the student cuts through two pieces of paper around the outline. Most could do this. When they are done they sit on the benches by color on the left side. I play an example on the projector of a class performing it so they get the idea. I play the book and students run to the stage when Pete steps in their colored shoes.

When setting up make sure to tell the students to not scream or run. They still run but say it anyway. When all of the students go up at the end it is somewhat chaotic and crazy. Skip that part if you have a wild class.

I have the students sing along throughout the book and they are usually chirping the chorus well after we have finished. This ties in with the Readers study patterns unit.

Here's a highlight video:

 Grade 1 - Students began their nonfiction unit. I read Mako Shark by Deborah Nuzzolo and pointed out parts of a nonfiction book (call #, glossary, index, table of contents, resourses). The essential questions are How do I read a nonfiction book? What's the main idea? Readers use nonfiction text features to get information (index, other resources, table of contents). Nonfiction text help readers help us answer questions.

Grade 2 - After break students will begin their character unit. I had them find their favorite character in a book, say the title, author and why they like that character using the camera app on the iPad with the iRig microphone. The iRig posed some problems because they pushed down the switch turning off the sound. It would be easier to not use the iRig but the library is so noisy with multiple classes I like to use it because the white noise is blocked out. Here are students working:

Grade 3 - We started our book trailer lesson. Students wrote down their top 3 books on a piece of paper and I grouped them according to books read. I usually have to call up 2-3 kids to see if they have read the same books.

Grade 4 - I downloaded about 50 professionally made book trailers from our library and scholastic and showed them to students - about 20 minutes. The book fair is next week and I wanted to get them excited about reading. After the trailers, they have time to look for the books in the library with my help.

Grade 5 - Lesson 2 using the iMovie app. Some students finished trailers. One student used a book with no pictures. I need to make sure they don't do that. Also, several students chose books where one read it and the other didn't. Maybe next year I'll use a checklist. 1. Partners have read book 2. Book has pictures 3. Trailer focuses on problem. I will change the worksheet. (Take off that they can act out the book on worksheet - doesn't come out as well as other trailers. Okay to mix pictures and themselves, but not just themselves.)

Students on task and like using iMovie.

6th Rotation - reflecting

Kindergarten - I read through my stack of new books. Students really liked The Bear Who Shared by Catherine Rayner. The illustrations are fascinating. She outlines the bear and fills it in with different shapes. It might be a good book for teaching patterns and shapes. On a funny note I read a book about Gertrude Stein by Jonah Winter and it was imitating her play on words. It was supposed to be funny and a boy kept saying, "This isn't funny" which of course made me laugh all the more. I know that Jonah Winter's books don't target the wee ones but it was the last book in my pile of newbies and I really wanted to read it.  

Grade 1 - They are doing character studies so I picked books with distinct characters such as Henry and Mudge, Cam Jansen, Mercer Mayer, Ling & Ting, and Fox. The language arts curriculum describes the goals of the character unit as students studying what characters say, do, and how they change; plus, "they will retell to help them hold onto meaning and will make predictions based on the characteristics of the characters in their books." I could enhance this lesson by having students retell the story using the video on the iPad. The only problem is the books above are too long except for some of the Mercer Mayer. I would have to find shorter books like Biscuit, Pup & Hound, etc.

Grade 2 - I read the book, Okay by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, where the narrator says all the things they are okay at doing. Students love that the character is actually made out of the "O" and "K." They asked me to tip the book this way and that so they could spy the character in the illustrations. I wanted students to write things they were okay at but rather than be burdened with pencil and paper I wanted them to use the Dragon Dictation app. It didn't work. The app doesn't type the correct words and they got so distracted by it that they forgot about the task at hand. Some thought it so funny that they started saying all sorts of goofy things. I don't think the lesson was a complete failure. I think next time I'll just use a recorder. They can record on Sound Cloud their thoughts and I can then post it to the library blog... I need to incorporate my blog into more of my lessons as a way for students to post their work done on the iPad and then check out on their own.

Grade 3 - Teachers asked me to show the students Fountas & Pinnell. Do you know I've done this lesson 22 times?! Nuff said. I did email Follett Company and asked for them to add the advanced feature on their mobile app. Students can't search for leveled books on the app at the moment.

Grade 4 - I read Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter. We had some awesome discussions about it in every class. The first class wanted to know how long panda's live. We looked it up online. The next class wanted to find out how Mr. Harkness died. We looked that up on Wikipedia and the information was incorrect! That sparked a whole discussion on information that is accurate and not accurate and how we can learn the difference. It was a teachable moment and the students were so engaged! I was also happy with myself because I made a conscious effort to ask open-ended questions and praise students for their thinking on the text. I am also trying to think more about letting students turn and talk with a partner about the text. I don't do this enough and it is quite powerful.

Grade 5 - We started our book trailers. I showed students a book trailer I did and one done on a picture book by some 4th graders. Next, I showed the app and gave a short demo on how it works. I gave students a graphic organizer to write a book trailer and told them to get in pairs. There are some threesomes and I'm not sure how this will work. They had to choose a book and write a trailer that focuses on the problem in the story. They can't give away the ending. Those who finished quickly I gave an iPad to and let them begin. This allowed for differentiation and seemed to work well. The students were so excited to use iMovie on the iPad. What an amazing motivator. I had one boy come at recess to ask if he could work on it because he didn't want to wait for the next rotation.

5th Rotation - videos on my videos

We got the online subscription to Fountas & Pinnell that can be used with our Follett catalog system. It doesn't level all the books but it has been really helpful for students getting "just right" books. I find that it is more accurate than the reading levels.  

Kindergarteners came to the library dressed in wedding dresses because they had just learned that "Q" and "U" got married to make "QU." I made an iMovie of the kids and grabbed a new book I had bought called, "Flower Girl." Luckily it had "qu" words in it because the munchkins were on the prowl for them.

With the other classes I gave one student an iPad and they took pictures with it. I told them they could only take 6 (one boy had 6 of my kneecaps... guess that's all he sees when I read). Then I posted them to my library web site. I want kids to use it to post their iPad work.

Grade 1 retold and acted out the Halloween story, "Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin," by Rick Walton. An evil pumpkin boasts it will eat Mrs. McMurphy but she gets the best of him in the end. I used iMovie.

Grade 2 was read "The Perfect Pumpkin Pie," by Denys Cazet. It is a fun one to change voices and do a scary moan. It was too long to add an activity afterwards.  

Grade 3 was read "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," by William Joyce, then watched the 15 minute video that won academy award for best short film. We talked about the author's message afterwards. That was hard for the students and I found their varying responses fascinating. I was surprised how much the students liked this wordless short film. They would ask when it was done for me to play it again.

Grade 4 - Classes were shown Fountas & Pinnell and changed their passwords on Follett because kids were hacking into each others Destiny Quest. Developmentally, grade 4 students don't seem to get it when it comes to respecting each others virtual space. One class finished their book trailers. The pappy pig dance is below:

 Grade 5 - I showed them Fountas & Pinnell. They started a nonfiction unit. I also booktalked with kids that teachers felt needed extra attention. Two teachers gave me 7 kids and it was hard getting through that many. Plus it takes me 20 to 30 minutes pulling "just right" books for kids so the prep time is horrendous. Hopefully it helps the teacher.

 Tennis season started and I made a video of tryouts.

4th Rotations: Shipwrecked Lessons

Ever have a week of lessons that seem to bomb? This was my week. The ship didn't always sink to the bottom of the ocean but it came close.

Kindergarten: I spent two hours pulling picture book titles that told a story and then had the kindergarteners act it out. They didn't really get it and didn't learn much so I dropped it. Developmentally it was not "just right." Oh well. Here's the video:

Grade 1: I read the book, Sometimes You Get What You Want by Meredith Gary, and had students use My Story app on the iPad. They were supposed to write something following the pattern but they just played with the app. There is learning in that but it wasn't the objective. Next time I will have them write down what they will use and I think it is better if done later in the year when grade 1 is better at writing.

Grade 2: We read new books. I got boxes of them and just read different ones.

Grade 3: The students used pic collage to find books and then I wanted them to write a reflection and post the pic collage on the school blog. The school blog was down so I created one on blogger but the students didn't really write good reflections. I sat in and watched a grade 3 teachers reflection and I liked how she had the kids turn and talk. I don't give them enough time to process. Plus, I'm hyper and that works against me.

Grade 4: I can't remember what I did with this grade. Oh yeah, one class made book trailers using iMovie. Only one group of 3 finished in 30 minutes. Afterwards I realized that the students should have written down their book trailer. Most didn't make sense. I did make them use picture books which helped simplify the project. Here's the only finished product on a Mo Willems book:

Grade 5: Finished the Overdrive eBook lesson by registering with Adobe and downloading a book. I made this photo with Pic Collage