All About Seuss! Digital Story

All About Seuss! from Abbey Menard on Vimeo.

Here is my digital story I was FINALLY able to upload.  I created this video and showed it to my students to honor and celebrate Dr. Seuss for Read Across America Day.

Literacy Project

Here is the link to my literacy project.  I used an iPad app called StoryKit to launch our new unit on opinion/persuasive writing.  We worked on the project as a class.  Each student chose a kind of shoe they believed to be the best; sneakers, boots or flip flops.  Each student then drew a picture of their opinion and gave a reason to match.  The students wrote their own "scripts" which they recorded to go along with their picture.  Each student had their own page.  While we did go over some specific vocabulary, much of this activity was also used as a pre-assessment.  This is app is not only awesome because its free, but I was also able to email our work to parents.  The students and I really enjoyed this, and I found it very user friendly.  I will definitely be finding more opportunities to use this app again!

Dr. Seuss Cam!

Tried this fun and inexpensive app out today! I highly recommend it as a fun way to celebrate Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss's birthday!

Here is the link to my diigo library!  Hopefully you'll be able to access it through this link.  While I am still get accustomed to using diigo, I definitely can see the value in it.  Most of what I have saved to my library are resources for first grade or primary grade students.  I have a few technology resources and websites mixed in with some blogs and more.  I have added labels within the library, but my next task will be to organize it better through the use of lists and more detailed descriptions.

Alternative to Starfall

While I love Starfall.com just as much as the next person. It's great to have some additional resources at your finger tips. I am always looking for new site for my students to try out, so they don't get bored going to the same ones, week after week. Here is a list of some alternative sites. The one big plus is that these sites are both interactive and free :)

Teaching Keyboarding

One of my main goals this year is to help my students improve on their keyboarding skills. With a new standardized test, complete with writing prompt, all to be completed on the computer in their near future- keyboarding is an essential life skill for them!

Here is a site with LOTS of free sites to help teach keyboarding. I use some of these with my students when we visit the laptop computer lab once a week. Enjoy :)

iPhones in the Classroom

I use these iPhones with my students during word work time.  They choose five words to write in the text message lines.  Then, they read/type/spell each word they chose 5 times.  I laminate them so students can use dry erase or vis-a-vis markers.  My students could use these all day if I let them!  Great for sight words, word wall words and spelling words :)

You can download these templates for FREE on the Teachers Pay Teachers website :)