Our iPad cart has arrived and is already seeing a TON of use in the Lower School. We are so very grateful for this gift from Lovett's LPA and it's auction efforts last spring--thank you, thank you, thank you! This week I spent time offering orientation sessions for interested teachers, and the turnout was fantastic! Look for news of the iPad cart being used in various classrooms around the school very soon!
One group of first graders recently used the iPads to record one another sharing what they have been learning about skip counting. The pretended to interview one another using the built-in iPad camera, and I have uploaded the videos for your viewing pleasure, here. Our other first graders have been using the iPads to try out different apps such as Bluster (for practice with rhyming words), Top-It (for addition practice), and Sushi Monster (also for addition practice). We have been learning the routines of using iPads in the computer lab. If you would like to see a list of the apps loaded onto our iPad cart, please click here.
Our versions of the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear are nearly finished! You can see Mrs. Murphy's class project here and Mrs. Smilack's class project here. Our children's self-portraits look great, and I love the fact that by viewing the slideshows, you can put a voice with a "face." We had a lot of fun with this project, and it helped us learn more about keyboarding, develop mouse control, and learn basic computer functions.
In second grade, the children have been using the iPads to complete a couple of different activities. Firstly, they used an app called Bee-Bot to practice their programming skills. We have a Lower School robotics unit, and using this app has whet the second graders' appetites to do more with programming and giving life to inanimate objects. The Bee-Bot app offers this age group the challenge they need. Additionally, two of our second grade classes used the built-in camera on the iPads to walk around the Lower School and snap pictures of different number representations. They then created collages using an app called Pic Collage to arrange their pictures into creative number sentences. Take a look at Mrs. Smith's classwork here and Mrs. MacEwen's classwork here. Several second graders have let me know that they continue to work on Ten Marks activities as well.. Way to go!
Our versions of the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear are nearly finished! You can see Mrs. Murphy's class project here and Mrs. Smilack's class project here. Our children's self-portraits look great, and I love the fact that by viewing the slideshows, you can put a voice with a "face." We had a lot of fun with this project, and it helped us learn more about keyboarding, develop mouse control, and learn basic computer functions.
In second grade, the children have been using the iPads to complete a couple of different activities. Firstly, they used an app called Bee-Bot to practice their programming skills. We have a Lower School robotics unit, and using this app has whet the second graders' appetites to do more with programming and giving life to inanimate objects. The Bee-Bot app offers this age group the challenge they need. Additionally, two of our second grade classes used the built-in camera on the iPads to walk around the Lower School and snap pictures of different number representations. They then created collages using an app called Pic Collage to arrange their pictures into creative number sentences. Take a look at Mrs. Smith's classwork here and Mrs. MacEwen's classwork here. Several second graders have let me know that they continue to work on Ten Marks activities as well.. Way to go!
Our third graders have been working hard to complete digital passport lessons, both at school and at home. They are learning important lessons about when is an appropriate time to use cell phones and what constitutes a good reason to use one. Lessons in digital citizenship will continue as the fall progresses. The third grade teachers are also fully engaged in a social studies unit about the regions of the U.S. To supplement their research of written texts, the children have been doing online research using Image Quest and various links (click here) to gather additional information and pictures that are representative of their regions. Here is an example of one child's work with pictures.
Please remember to refer to the passwords flyer that came home in your Parent Night folder for Lovett's program and website passwords.