First, we read "The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf." Then we were given a problem- the pig's cousin was moving to town and wanted to build/buy a house in the same town. We were given certain materials to build our house and a budget. The house needed to stand up to the big bad wolf and his huffing and puffing!
So to start off, we made a drawing of the house and the materials we thought it should be built of. This is called a blueprint. I labeled the rooms, figured out the square footage (area) and the perimeter. Then the teacher gave us the actual materials. Some of the materials were: popsicle sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, clay, plastic bag, tissue paper, construction paper, and aluminum foil. I used straws, clay, construction paper, and aluminum foil. I spent $55 to build the house. I spent $10 on straws, $10 on clay, $15 on construction paper, and $20 on aluminum foil.
Once the house was built, I had to test it by using a huge fan. When I turned on the fan, the house did not fall down, it didn't even fall down. I built a very strong house.
Our latest project start with an arts n crafts project we do every year. We take the students faces and blow them up big. Then we make scarecrows that are almost life size with construction paper and hang them in the hall with a nice festive background.
We brought it to the next level with some inspiration by one of our favorite books- "Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Beuhner. After reading this book we started talking about what scarecrows do during the off season. The students planned and came up with some really funny ideas like going to the beach, driving tractors around, and going to Disney World.
The students wrote their stories and went through the writing process. They wrote their final drafts in iBooks and either drew their own pictures or found pictures online.
The final part we turned the bulletin board into an augmented reality board. We set the trigger images to their individual scarecrows and linked it to a video of themselves reading their stories. They loved the final product and enjoyed listening to their classmates stories as well. We will be leaving an iPad in the hallway so other people walking by can check it out too! Check out the video below of students listening to the stories.
QR Codes for Listening Centers...
I was on youtube and looking for a specific video and came upon a large collect of stories that other people have read and recorded on youtube. I began clicking away and each click lead to another story. I then thought I could link these videos of people reading great children's books on youtube with a QR code. This makes finding these stories so much easier for students. As you can see in the video below, the process for watching these is quite easy and this student can explain it to you or your class. I used qrstuff.com to create the QR codes and then copies that into a word document. I put the title of the story below and added a picture of the cover of the book. I cut them up and put them in a cheap photo album so the students can flip through and decide which story they want to listen to. If the students are listening to the same story over and over again, I can replace it with the extras that are in the back. Its been a great tool for the Daily Five.
Using the iPad for Home-School Communication...
We have recently started using the iPad to do home-school communication. We are using the app- Educreation, which is extremely simple to use and the students are able to do this every afternoon without much prompting. During the day the students and staff take pictures of things they have done such as yoga, handwriting group, reading, writing, math, allied arts, etc. using the camera and store the pictures in the camera roll. At the end of the day, the students will write the day on the first page. If the student cannot write, we normally take a picture of our calendar. We then add pictures and text based on students abilities. We then go back and have the students verbally explain/recall what they did during the day based on the pictures all ready put in. We save and then send to the parents through email. Its a simple link they have to click on, but then they hear and see what their child did all night. This can also start conversations at home or share with them what we are working on and how. At the end of the recording is also a part where they mention what they have for homework. The following link is an example of one- Home School Communication- End of Day Check Out
