Listening to Reading with QR Codes

Dallas Center Elementary first graders recently scanned QR codes to access electronic books to listen to reading, then responded to the texts using handouts from Digital Divide and Conquer on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Access the free handouts on TPT by clicking HERE.

I wanted to use different texts to match some that we have here in our collection, so after browsing YouTube for appropriate and engaging read alouds, I created my own QR codes, printed them, and then taped them onto the handouts. That allowed me to keep the quadrant questions, and when I printed the handouts front-back, students had two stories for listening and responding. After a quick lesson about how to use our QR scanner on the iPads, students were ready to go!

Researching & Storytelling with 1st Graders

One of the skills we work on in first grade is reading nonfiction and taking notes about that reading. Using animals as our topics, students accessed PebbleGO using a QR code to make the process smoother.

Once at PebbleGO, students learned how to search for their animals and read about them using the different tabs across the tops of the pages. These tabs corresponded directly with the handout they used to take notes about their animals.

You can access the notes page HERE.

Once students had gathered the facts related to their animals, they used the app Toontastic to create and illustrate a story that featured their animals.

Intentionally we selected animals that were featured in both PebbleGO and Toontastic so students could easily create their stories. The app explains how to use and complete a story arc--even including mood when students are able to add music to their work. 

Students were able to select a setting and characters to tell their stories and work up to a climax, all the while recording their own voices to tell their stories.

4th & 5th Grade Online Research and Presentation

Over the course of the last several cycles, 4th and 5th graders at Dallas Center Elementary have been completing an online research project in specific steps:

Step 1: Determine a topic
Students chose research topics of their choice with the only condition being that the topic be searchable in two of four different places--Wonderopolis.org, Britannica Online, TrueFLIX, and MackinVIA.

Step 2: Collect information

Once students' topics were decided upon, they began collecting information from both of their research sites. Students focused on any pictures and titles or headings, main ideas and details, and related vocabulary when taking notes. 

Step 3: Transfer notes 

Because the students' final project would be an electronic presentation, they created screenshots that compiled their hand-written notes into their choice of apps: Popplet, Skitch, EduCreations, or Write About.

Step 4: Create video presentation

The final step in this app smash research project was to create a video using the screenshots that included information from their note taking. Students used the app PuppetEDU to insert their images, add music, and possible narrate their work.

Some of the students' work appears below. Just click on the link in the caption below each picture to see the video in full.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wugi9htz80pkwkm/21Video.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z5hls5lp8hw20iq/19-Video.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/53y24d6m3fwji06/Video.15.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/290yj2v5rlelrr3/LVideo.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kkxgdnhimbi7pdn/4Video.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/69psvda111132bs/Video-C.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fx5rfopr06kn4gd/Video%2023.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/auq4hsrvkfou05i/Video-6.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rraedi3cyf86u10/VideoI.MOV?dl=0

Me. . . Jane Lesson Ideas

The last Iowa Goldfinch-nominated book that we looked at was Me. . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell.

To go along with this book, we paired a Reading Rainbow video that features Jane Goodall as an adult speaking about her experience with the chimpanzees in the African jungle.   

Another great book that pairs well with this lesson is The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winters.

One of the activities we did with the students was to complete a handout asking students to identify an event that inspired Jane Goodall to become a scientist. The books and the video both lend themselves well to this. There are also some wonderful supplemental activities from Hachette Book Group, including a word search and coloring page.

Celebrating Thanksgiving with Balloons Over Broadway

Students in kindergarten through second grade have been celebrating Thanksgiving by reading and talking about the book Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet.

We brought the parade to life for students by sharing online images from early Macy's parades, and we took students to Macy's website to talk about the stats on some of this year's balloons.

Finally, we played a short video that showed students how people work together to move the balloons along the parade route.

Students then had the opportunity to color or draw a balloon that they would like to see in the parade, and some even wrote about their balloons in an attempt to convince Macy's to include certain balloons.

All of the students' "balloons" now hang in the hallway for our own parade!

South Prairie students even created a running parade at their tables, and now they hang around the library.

Enjoy the parade! And maybe you can watch the real Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning.