Gr. 2/3's using Explain Everything for Math problem solving

Randerson's school wide goal this year has been to work on math problem solving.  Students from k-7 have been taking part in weekly problem solving activities.  Each class then submits their solutions to Mr. Mazzei.  Every week a student from each division is recognized for their problem solving skills. 

With our school goal in mind, Gr. 2/3 students in Mrs. MacDonald's worked on problem solving using the iPads. 

We used:
- math problem solving question(s)
- math manipulatives - today we used blocks                             
- iPads (1 per two students)
- app - Explain Everything

Our super-fantastic, energetic kids used the manipulatives to work through their problem. At each stage they took a picture and put it into a slide in Explain Everything. They then recorded their voice, explaining how they worked through the problem and what their thinking was to solve the problem.  While voicing their solving strategies, their partner used the pen in the app to circle the area the student was speaking about.  Teams completed three slides per problem.

Kurzweil, SmartBoards & IPads - A Great day of Learning & Sharing

Randerson staff had a great day of professional development, learning the ins and outs of Kurzweil.  We would like to thank Set BC's Maureen Lafleche who led us in an informative, hands-on, practical workshop that allowed us to gain experience, tools and ideas that we can use in the classroom tomorrow.

Along with Kurzweil we worked on iPad apps that engage students in the daily 5, increase accessibility to all students and improve math skills  . Other staff looked at apps for music, French and other curriculum areas.

iPads ~ Discovery and Exploration at Every Step

Last year Randerson was fortunate to be one of the pilot schools for a technology strand of learning.  For six weeks we had iPads in the school and as previous posts show, they were a huge success.  Student engagement was tremendous, creativity shone and teachers and students were learning together. 

It was through this success that teachers at Randerson opted to pursue iPads for our school.  We were able to purchase 9 iPads for Randerson through Mr. McKinlay's milk program, Project Succcess initiatives (technology and inquiry strands) along with backing from student support services. I'm excited to say the iPads are now ready for use.

I would like to thank Mr. Rosenau and Bob Martineau for putting in countless hours in getting the iPads ready for use.  Thanks to everyone at Randerson for their support of this technology initiative.

                                                                                   Challenges amd Triumphs:
                                                                                    iTalk for iPads
We will be blogging about our successes and challenges as we move forward.  One challenge we encountered while loading apps was how to get iTalk on the iPads. In the app store iTalk is only available for iPhones and iPods.
Solution: We downloaded the iPhone/iPod app to the iPad.  It still works it is just a lower resolution on the screen.  In the bottom right corner press 2x to increase the size of the visual for the app.

Day one of iPads
The students were so excited to embark on discovery through iPads.  A grade one student came up to me and said " Mrs. Martineau we have it all figured out, first I do one page then my friend does the other page. We are good at sharing."   One thing I love about iPads is how they naturally lead to a collaborative working environment.  

Incorporating iPods and iPads in the Elementary Classroom and Library

Follow Up From Tammy and Val's Workshop

Coal Tyee teacher-librarian Tammy Reynolds and I had the privilege of hosting a workshop at the BCTLA Conference in Coquitlam.  Our focus was on curriculum based learning through iPads and iPods.  We had 31 wonderful teacher-librarians, classroom teachers and IT teachers join us in the discussion and workshop around uses for the iPads.  As always it was a sharing of learning from all involved. 

Coal Tyee's blog (Tammy's blog)

App Sharing

Here is the list of apps that our colleagues across the province have used successfully. Thanks everyone for sharing.

Apps gone free (advice given - new apps are posted at 9:30 each morning)
Apps for the classroom 
I Can Read (ebooks)
You Tube review of iTalk  * listening to this we may have solved the problem of many not being able to get iTalk on their own devices. It appears it is available 2nd generation iPads/iPods.
iButtons (recommended for movies)
iBrainstorm (electronic post it notes) *one colleague uses this app regularly and asked if there was anyway you could get voice on this app?  Does anyone know?  Please respond.
Comic Life (the iPads at the workshop had strip design which our district uses successfully but another great suggestion for creating comic book style writing was this app)
vBookz Voice Reader (pdf voice reader)
Pic Collage (great for K-1)
Storyboard Composer

Gr.5/6/7's choose their favourite apps ~ Gr. 2's talk about texture

Mr. McKinlay's Gr. 5/6 and Mr. Zimmer's grade 6/7 classes spent their last day with iPads exploring their favourite apps.  Their task was to find 3 apps that they felt were a) educational b) fun to use and c) had multiple features.
Students used Explain Everthing.

Mrs. Uhlmann's Gr. 2 class are studying different textures in art and science.  They are using scientific descpritive words like flexible, rough, smooth and hard to describe different textures.  To empahsize their understanding of texture and use of descriptive words, the Gr. 2's used Book Creator to take pictures of texture, write text and record their voice describing textures around our playground. Their voices were captured but I was unable to transfer them to this format.  I have written the student's recordings in the caption box below the pictures.

The tree is rough and bumpy.  The fence is smooth and scratchy.

                                        
                                                         

TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR

Posted by Ms. Burnham and her daughters, our guest bloggers :)

The stars aligned for our stargazing evening – literally! Clear skies prevailed, all of our special guests were able to come, and the whole class came out for a spectacular evening on Friday, April 13, 2012.

Our school borrowed a set of 15 iPads a few weeks ago. Teachers got to take them home to familiarize ourselves with them. My family and I discovered the “Planets” app and were excited to stand in our back yard and actually be able to identify the planets and constellations by name. I decided it would be a fantastic experience to do this as a class, particularly since we are learning about the solar system. When I mentioned the idea to Tanya Casselman, my student teacher, she immediately jumped on board and invited her astronomy professor from Vancouver Island University, Dr. Greg Arkos, to come and lead the class in a star walk. I contacted Garland Coulson, president of Nanaimo’s Astronomy Club, and he and some volunteers brought 3 telescopes for us to use. George and Ryan Clark, a grade 5 student at Randerson and resident expert, brought their telescope, too. Twenty one of my students arrived, along with siblings, parents and even grandparents. About 70 people converged on our field with iPads in hand!

Dr. Arkos used his high powered laser beam to point out various planets, stars and constellations and tell us the stories associated with them. It truly was an example of lifelong learning for adults and children alike as we listened to him share his expertise.

Miss Casselman and Ms. Burnham enjoying the night with their students

After hot chocolate and cookies, we went back outside. Coincidentally, the International Space Station was to pass overhead at 9:50 P.M. and we were directly under its line of orbit! Sure enough, it appeared out of the west and we tracked it across the sky. It was in view for about 5 minutes until disappearing just above the horizon.

It was awe-inspiring to see the Space Station and imagine the 6 astronauts on board looking down at Earth. Viewing Saturn and its rings through Ryan’s telescope was a highlight for me – I never imagined that I would be able to see a planet 1.5 billion miles away!

Many thanks to Dr. Arkos, Tanya Casselmen and her fiancé Josh, Garland Coulson and the volunteers from the Nanaimo Astronomy Club, Ryan Clark and his parents, Val Martineau, our librarian who facilitated our use of the iPads, Shelley Beleznay, District Coordinator of Literacy and Learning, Glenn, Catherine and Sarah Norman, Dave Sutton, and all the parents who let their children stay up well past their bedtimes. I was so proud of my students who were terrific self-managers and such enthusiastic learners! An incredible experience was had by all.

Nancy Burnham Gr. 3 Teacher

        

Guest blogger Sarah :)

First, everyone met in the library. We all were bursting with excitement. Dr. Arkos was going to do a star walk with us. The sky was very clear and the moon wasn’t shining so it was easy to see the stars. We went outside and looked at the telescopes that Ryan and some of the astronomers had brought. There were about 70 people there! We took the iPads and saw planets, stars and a lot of amazing things. My partner was Jada. We had a great time. After we finished doing our star walk and seeing space with the iPads, we all went inside for hot chocolate and cookies. At about ten minutes to ten, most people went outside and saw this astonishing Space Station flying through the sky. I looked away for about two seconds and it was already on the other side of the sky. It was going really fast. Soon, it slowly disappeared. It didn’t really, but we couldn’t see it anymore. My favourite part was seeing the space station go by and seeing Saturn through a telescope. You could actually see the rings of Saturn! I had a wonderful time and I would love to do it again!

Sarah Norman

Grade 3 Student

Guest blogger Catherine :)

I saw an orange and yellow light speeding across the sky so fast! I barely saw it before it disappeared behind a single star. Ryan Clark reckons it was a shooting star. It was very interesting. Through the various telescopes I saw Mars, Venus, Saturn and its rings, Sirius and the Space Station. My favourite star is Sirius because when I gazed through the telescope it looked like a shining disco ball. It was in the Canis Major constellation. I also learned how to find the North Star. The night sky shows that there is much more out there than we can imagine.

Catherine Norman

Grade 5 Student

Gr. 6/7's learning with iPads and Screen Chomp

Today Mrs. Radcliffe's Gr. 6/7's class had their second session with iPads.  Our focus was how can we learn iPad tools while working on our science project about Inventors.

Here was their task:

1) Find 3 interesting facts about your inventor (either by internet through the iPad or by books) and write them down in note form   (skill development- note taking ~ no cut and pasting allowed)

2) Find an image of either the inventor and/or the product they invented and take a screenshot and save that image (skill development - screenshot and saving)

3) go to screen chomp app on iPad  

4) using left icon go to library and use the picture of your inventor and/or product (skill development, importing pictures)

5) adjust using zoom, rotate etc.  this you will have to play with a bit. It took me a few times to zoom in to a depth I was comfortable with. (skill development - picture quality)

6) once the picture is in place, label or title the picture and/or inventor

7) use record button to record yourself or your partner explaining who this inventor is and the three interesting facts (skill development - working on voice to enhance presentation, learning fluxuations etc.  avoiding cut and paste by voicing work in their own words, taken from brief notes)

You will be working in partners so be sure to help one another and make strong suggestions and offer encouragement. 

Here is some of the work the students created in a 40 minutes class.

Nick's screen chomp on Bill Gates

Spenser's screen chomp on Morse Code