This evening in class, I learned about Storybird, a free website for creating digital stories. This fun site is great for creating either short stories, or longer chapter books. The site very user friendly, so much so that students can use it to author their own stories. You can also search other people's stories to find read-alouds for your class.
After watching A digital tutorial on Storybird, Amanda, Jenn and I created this Storybird in the style of Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Enjoy
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
We're going on a wood hunt!
After showing my students the Animoto that I made out of their sight words. They begged me to make more. Today, we found the perfect opportunity to make another Animoto... a wood hunt!
We just started our science unit on wood and paper. Today we learned that there are different types of wood, and that many things are made out of wood. Today's lesson asked students to go around the school, find things made out of wood, and write about one thing in their science journals. To my pleasure and surprise, my students asked me to take pictures of the wood things they found and make "another one of those movies" out of the pictures.
So here it is, our wood hunt Animoto!
What are some other fun ways you use Animotos or similar programs in your classroom?
We just started our science unit on wood and paper. Today we learned that there are different types of wood, and that many things are made out of wood. Today's lesson asked students to go around the school, find things made out of wood, and write about one thing in their science journals. To my pleasure and surprise, my students asked me to take pictures of the wood things they found and make "another one of those movies" out of the pictures.
So here it is, our wood hunt Animoto!
What are some other fun ways you use Animotos or similar programs in your classroom?
Monday, May 26, 2014
No more flashcards!
I have recently been introduced to the website Animoto as a quick, free, and easy slideshow maker. At first, when I saw this website I thought that it would be perfect for making my end of kindergarten slideshow that I show to parents at kindergarten graduation. While this site is perfect for making those cute photo slideshows, there is so much more that can be done!
Teachers have creatively come up with multiple ways to use Animoto in the classroom. Here are just a few of the ideas I have seen and links to examples:
When I saw this idea, I was so excited to create Animotos for all of those skills that would normally require flash cards. Finally, a way to do flashcards that doesn't make students cringe! Now, multiple students can practice their digital flashcards while watching an eye-catching movie. Even better, you can have your students create the photos used for the slideshow so that they have a personal connection to it.
Some skills that would be perfect for a "Flashcard Animoto" include: addition, subtraction, or multiplication facts, letters, letter sounds, numbers, shape names, directionality terms, and spelling words.
My students and I worked together to create a Sight Word Animoto. The kids decorated various sight words, I took a picture of each, and loaded them into Animoto. I made sure to choose a song without words and a background that wouldn't distract from the word learning.
So here goes nothing...without further ado...here is my Sight Word Animoto!
Teachers have creatively come up with multiple ways to use Animoto in the classroom. Here are just a few of the ideas I have seen and links to examples:
- Introduce vocabulary for a new unit
- Making digital versions of stories
- Remembering a class field trip
When I saw this idea, I was so excited to create Animotos for all of those skills that would normally require flash cards. Finally, a way to do flashcards that doesn't make students cringe! Now, multiple students can practice their digital flashcards while watching an eye-catching movie. Even better, you can have your students create the photos used for the slideshow so that they have a personal connection to it.
Some skills that would be perfect for a "Flashcard Animoto" include: addition, subtraction, or multiplication facts, letters, letter sounds, numbers, shape names, directionality terms, and spelling words.
My students and I worked together to create a Sight Word Animoto. The kids decorated various sight words, I took a picture of each, and loaded them into Animoto. I made sure to choose a song without words and a background that wouldn't distract from the word learning.
So here goes nothing...without further ado...here is my Sight Word Animoto!
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Welcome to my blog!
Hello and welcome to my blog!
I am creating this blog for a grad school course that I am taking on how to integrate technology and literacy, but hope to continue using this blog as an educational resource.
This is my first experience with blogging, so please bear with me as I learn the in's and out's of blogging.
I hope you enjoy reading, and find something useful to use with your students!
I am creating this blog for a grad school course that I am taking on how to integrate technology and literacy, but hope to continue using this blog as an educational resource.
This is my first experience with blogging, so please bear with me as I learn the in's and out's of blogging.
I hope you enjoy reading, and find something useful to use with your students!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)