Hello! Just a quick update! My class has been working on Headsprout and A-Z reading program on the computers. They really like this program and it is helping to improve their independent learning and reading and comprehension skills. We have also been investigating GarageBand and the students like making their own songs. I have quite a few that ask if they can make a new rap song every day!
Hello everyone! We have started the headsprout reading program in our class and the kids really enjoy it. It is quite user friendly and you can monitor each student and see what specific areas they are doing well in or may need some extra practice . I have also added the endless reading, 123 math, and endless word to the 2 ipads we have in the class.These apps are very popular and the students really enjoy them! My students are becoming more independent, but I like the idea that some of you have students set up the computers and open the programs as well as hand out the headphones. I think I will have to try this. They are very good at putting their equipment away, so they should be pretty good at setting them up! GarageBand is going to be our next classroom adventure and I can’t wait to see what my students create!
Have a great week everyone,
Marlei Boyko
Well, we made it through the first week back after Christmas Break! We used the storyboard maker and the students continue to love this program.They love to tell me about the pictures they create and what is happening in them and are always excited to tell me the title they have created to describe their picture story. Our next step is to begin using their saved scenes for creative writing. We will start our word work on Classroom Suite on Monday and it will be interesting to see how far some have come. I really like that I am able to monitor the students progress by seeing how many levels they have completed and they like this part too and are quick to let let me know when they have completed a unit. I have been thinking about hooking the laptops up to the internet for starfall and also the tumble books, as I see that some of you are using those programs too and I know the students would enjoy them! But I must say that I love not having to worry about them going on to programs or websites that they are not supposed to. I have some very tech savvy students! For my little guys I am borrowing some ipads and have the endless school bundle app on them (thanks to PAC) The students love this app and want to be on it whenever they have some extra time! Talk to you all on Wednesday!
Just a quick update! This week and last week have been crazy busy with report cards and Christmas concert! Nonetheless, students have continued working on their class room suite reading program and it is great to see many advancing into higher levels. Some find it challenging as the levels increase in difficulty and that is something we are working on adapting to. Theses students need one on one assistance to progress further. I suspect these students to have learning challenges, so I am unsure at this point if they will be able to proceed any further with this program. I have found a great app that is very primary student friendly called Endless Alphabet, Endless Words and Endless Math, but of course to get it all unlocked you have to pay! Well that’s all for now!
November 6, 2016
Last week was the first week that I had Classroom Suite up and running smoothly!
What worked- E.A. can now independently help with set up and trouble shooting
For our version of daily 5 I rotate 6 to 5 students on computers for wordwork, have 5 students in my group for focus writing or reading and then have 5 students working independently on writing or reading. Our goal is 20 mins of uninterrupted work to help build stamina. We graph our time at the end and discuss our stamina.
For Math we have a similar setup with 5-6 students working on their individualized Math programs on the computer, while I work with a smaller group. This has been working out really well for differentiated learning as i have a K/1/2 split.
All the hiccups along the way were totally worth it!I am excited to see their learning progress! If only I could figure out how to get to the green screen with all the stars that shows all their completed units….Right now I ask them to let me know when the green star screen comes up so I can see how they are doing…If anyone knows how to get to this screen please let me know!!!that’s all for now!
Edublog Set Bc October 27, 2016
Exploring Classroom Suite
For the past 2 weeks my students have been exploring classroom suite and have been assigned folders for reading and math, which is a bit of a pain staking process for setup. Some updates to improve this process would greatly improve the user friendliness of this program! The biggest challenge so far is figuring how to integrate it into our daily routine, as there are often hiccups along the way and students need support while learning these programs. Right now I am currently experimenting with 5 on for word work while the rest do read to someone or read to self and also 5 on during SSD (social skills development AKA centers). My kindergartens love getting their stars and I can hear them exclaiming “Yes!” every time they complete a level. I have also noticed many of my students saying the words outlaid and sounding out the words, which is great! I look forward to monitoring their progress and seeing how much they grow as young readers. My next step is to integrate into our Math program.
I recently asked my grade 2 students to investigate Make a Book and they loved it! Pretty soon everyone wanted to try it! I can see this being a great tool for creative writing! However, I find that the technology for this program is very dated and it would be much better if there were picture icons for all the options in the Make a Book program, as the writing is very small at the bottom where they pick the pictures to go with their story. The kindergarten some of the grade 1 students cannot read the options at all. That being said the students are quite tech savvy and seem to find their way around this program quickly! Our next exploration will be with the Multimedia Presentations, so they can experiment with intellicritters!
Until next time!
Welcome to your brand new blog at Edublogs!
To get started, simply visit your blog’s dashboard, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.
We can walk you through step-by-step in our guide to getting started with your blog.
Happy blogging!