App of the Week

Tellagami

What a COOL app! Tellagami is a wonderful way for students to introduce an animated character into their work.

The animated character created within the app, can be used to present the information a student has been asked to research. This makes presenting information more exciting and fun for students, especially the ones who are too shy to record themselves or their voices.

Take a look at the tutorial below to help you create your own Tellagami. You will have to install the app first.

Do note that the free version has limited features and you will only be able to create 30 sec gami's.

Teachers, you can also use the app yourself to create resources or tutorials for students to work on. Here's an example of a gami explaining what a "Sonnet' is. 

So go on.......... give it ago........ be creative! 

MFL

Aurasma

Grade 5 French

Students researched information on the internet about different biomes around the world within their UOI and Transdisciplinary theme of Sharing the Planet.

Students were then asked to summarize the information and write short informative paragraphs outlining the main ideas in their own words. Once the reserach was completed they had to prepare short oral-visual presentations by creating Posters, PowerPoint and iMovies to present their findings.

The Aurasma App was introduced to students. The students were then asked to use the Aurasma app to attach their presentations as an Aura to a, 'target image' that they had chosen.

Want to see the students' great work?

Install the Aurasma App on your iPad/Mobile Device and follow or channel: Ms Pageau

Watch this short movie highlighting the work that some of the students did.

Once you have joined the channel (search this within the Aurasma App) Click on the Grade 5 Aurasma Book below and put your iPad over each image within the book. You will see the images from each page come to life!

Grade 5 Aurasma Book

#Mystery Skype

#Mystery Skype is an education game, invented by teachers, played by two classrooms on Skype. The aim of the game is to guess the location of the other classroom by asking each other questions. 

It has totally transformed the way students learn about the world in my class. Not only does it engage students, but it excites teachers to teach a topic that has long been a short sharp look through an atlas and a glossed over part of the curriculum. It is also an excellent way to integrate technology into your class.

You press the link below to take a look at Craig Kemp's blog post: What is Mystery Skype? 7 steps to get started!

http://mrkempnz.com/2014/11/what-is-mystery-skype-8-steps-to-get-started.html

An example of a video showing Mystery Skype in Action:

Why use #MysterySkype and How can we use it ?

Check out how we got on with #Mystery Skype in Grade 3 SB

Below is the resource we used with students, for them to reflect on their experience of the activity. 

PYP

Using QR Codes in Maths

Students in Grade 2 were asked to create some maths problems. Once the problems were created the teacher Ms Javaid created QR Codes that gave the correct answer to the problem.

The QR Codes were cut out and placed into each individual math problem booklet. The booklets were handed out based on ability to students who would then go on to solve the problem.

To check if they got the answer correct the students had to scan the bar-code using their iPad and QR Code Scanner App.

Watch the movie to see the activity in action.

If you would like to try this out for yourself, please refer to the lesson plan below for guidance.

Maths Lesson 1

LO: To be able to write word problems with addition and subtraction and use technology to check understanding

Lesson: Students will begin by drafting a number story on lined A-5 paper. Each story must have either an addition or subtraction element. The students will write their answer on the back side of the draft. For the final draft students are to rewrite their stories using the A-5 template ensuring there are a minimum number or spelling or grammatical errors and the numbers in the stories are clearly written out. Students may illustrate their stories.

Teacher will create QR codes for students to place inside their mini books.

Maths Lesson 2

LO: To be able to write word problems with addition and subtraction and use technology to check understanding

Lesson: Students will try to work out one another's stories and check their answers using their iPads with the QR Code reader app.

Plenary:Discussion about the most difficult or challenge word problem.

Groups: Ability based for Lesson 1 and mixed for lesson 2.

The Inquiry Cycle - Tuning in

Padlet in Grade 2

Using Padlet, students recorded what they think the unit of inquiry, How the World Works, means. This initial tuning in activity will be revisited at the end of the unit to record what they have understood.

Add caption

With so many ways of sharing the content, QR codes is also one of the options. The below code is posted in the classroom for the students to scan and discuss as they move through the inquiry cycle and see how their initial thinking has changed.

QR Code

Here we are once again using QR Codes to engage student's in their own learning journey.

Student prior knowledge was recorded by asking if them if they knew what the composition of the Earth meant. Their responses were captured on post-it notes as well as with iMovie and uploaded to YouTube.

http://youtu.be/E-Q0xSvEDwY

Next, using http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

a code was made and then printed using a word processor.

Students scanned the code using Qrafter and then by clicking on the cc for sound on YouTube after pressing play.

There you are, one more way of empowering and scaffolding student understanding!