Literacy and Math Centers

So I usually keep my centers for about 2 and half weeks. I started this post about 2 and a half weeks ago. I took the pictures and did the slides and then realized I didn't have all my centers. But then we had end of the year testing, report card testing and other craziness so I didn't have a chance to take the last few pictures. I was busy testing students. (Joy) So I thought I should just share what I have because I would have some new ones after Spring Break.  So here are what our centers have been:

 Stamp It Up Printables

 Growing a Garden of Math Activities

 Spring Print and Go

 Wild About Words

Short I Word Families Unit

  Growing a Garden of Math Activities

 Computer Center Sheets - Math

The kids also use iPods and play the Teach Me Kindergarten App.
One more center is pokey pinning with sight words. This is from From the Pond with 100 pinning pages. My kids love it and it is good fine motor practice.
So that's what we've been working on. We start testing when we get back from Spring break so it might be a little while before we have centers again.

Technology and Tutoring

I started this post last week but didn't get it finished because I ran into a couple of issues but I think I have it figured out now. Last week I had a great tutoring session with one of my kids and wanted to blog about it.
I tutor on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One boy on Tuesday and then 2 girls and 1 boy on Thursdays. They are mostly my ELL kids that need a little more small group instruction. Last week I cancelled both days because I wasn't feeling that great and it makes for a long day. Plus the student I tutor on Tuesdays wasn't all that great the last time we worked together. He just wanted to play the whole time. Now I try to make things fun but we still have some learning to do. But today he was great and I think that's because we were on the iPad almost the whole time. I let him play whatever he wants to on the iPad while I'm out at buses. There are all learning games on the iPad so he's learning. He likes to play the Super Why app and Grandpa's Workshop. I like both of them  for him. Grandpa's workshop is really for younger kids but it works well with his language. Super why is an expensive app to me. It costs $3.99. But it is a great app for kids that works on letters, words, and reading. Grandpa's Workshop costs $1.99. (I was lucky enough to get a grant from my PTA to purchase some apps to use)
We usually start out with a sight word game. All we do is turn over a sight word flashcard and if he knows it then he gets a skittle. I use this to give me some words to work on. So at this point, we go back to the iPad. I usually let him use one of two apps. Either Doodle Buddy or Magnetic ABCs.
He writes or builds the words and then we use them in sentences. He needs a lot of practice with the oral language component too. After we've practiced writing the words and using them in a sentence, I'll use the magnetic letters to scramble the letters in a word and he has to unscramble them.

This picture is from a while ago but it shows the kids using the Doodle Buddy App to write the sight word. Here's a screen shot of the magnetic letters with a scrambled word.

 Usually we put the iPad away and work on some other skills. But today I was noticing how he was making a few letters and I thought it was a good time to try out another app I had found, Letter School. This was the first time I worked on this app with a student. We both loved it. You can pick from uppercase, lowercase letters and numbers. We worked on both upper and lowercase letters. The app won't let him make the letter the wrong way. You have to start at the top and you have to follow the path it wants you to. You practice three different times and each time the app makes them a little more independent. It was a great and fun way to practice handwriting that kept him engaged. I forgot to take a screen shot of this app but I did take a screen shot from the app on the app store. This app costs $2.99 but I think it's worth it. Especially for kids who are forming the letter incorrectly.

With this particular student I work on math as well. He still needs some practice with one to one correspondence and numbers passed 14. So we opened up the doodle buddy app again and used the stamping feature. I let the student pick out which stamp he wanted me to use and then stamped a set of them on the screen. Then he counted them and wrote the number. It was good because I was able to work on these less fun skills in a fun way.

Then we worked a little on addition problems. I wasn't sure if I should work on the addition since we've not quite gotten numbers 11-20 yet. But that's what we're working on in class and I wanted him to have some strategies when we work on addition. I wrote a number sentence and then he used the stamps on Doodle Buddy as manipulatives to solve the problem.

I love having my iPad in my classroom and sometimes I bring in my personal iPad. I let the kids play on apps when we have time but I love finding ways to use the technology in a little more meaningful way. It can be a novel tool to help students with skills that can be a little boring.  I have had several people ask me about the apps that I'm using in the classroom. I hope to make a list soon of the apps and how I'm using them. I'm not sure what apps are available in droid or kindle apps but maybe some of them will be comparable. I would love to hear what kind of technology you have in your school and how you use it.
I'm linking up with Techie Tuesday over at the Technology Tailgate. Be sure to check the party out.

Technology Tuesday

I love using technology in my classroom and have wanted to blog about it for a while. But sitting down and making me do it is another story. So I'm going to try to blog about it on Tuesdays. Mainly because there is already a linky about Technology on Tuesdays and because I really like alliteration.
Recently we've been able to get youtube videos in the classroom if you don't go directly to the site. If I email them to myself they seem to work better.
So here a few videos we've been enjoying lately in my room. They aren't anything earth shattering.
One of my teammates found these videos on YouTube for each letter and my kids have enjoyed them. This one we watched this week.

My kids are obsessed with this video. We're a little late to the What does the Fox Say craze and this one makes a good brain break.


We enjoy this brain break as well. During the Olympics I enjoyed getting on NBC website and showing the kids the different events and talking about them. I love using videos in the classroom. A short clip can help get them interested in a topic and supplement your activities.

Over Christmas break, my donor's choose project of an ipad was funded and fulfilled. I've been enjoying using it with my students and allowing them to get on there and play games.
One of my favorite apps to use with my kids is Abc - magnetic letters. Check the link out here. I bought the version for $1.99 and have it on both my classroom ipad and my personal ipad. I like the paid version because there are lowercase letters and I don't want my kids to only use uppercase letters. We have been using this app with my small groups and tutoring.
Here are some activities:

• building words with the magnetic letters
• making sight words
• Scrambling sight words. I put all the letters they need for a word on the board and then they put it in order

I thought I had some pictures of the kids using this app but it appears I've deleted them. In this version there are also pictures kids can use. These would be perfect for story problems and practicing addition and subtraction.

We also use the Doodle Buddy app a lot for small group work. Here is a picture from tutoring of the kids writing their sight words. It isn't anything earth shattering but it is a different and a little more engaging way to practice our sight words.

I'm always trying to think of new ways to use technology in the classroom. What new apps or videos have you used recently? I would love to hear from you. I'm linking up with the Technology Tailgate for their weekly party

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Technology Tailgate

Technology Tuesday

I have had the idea to do a post about technology once a week and I've noticed several other bloggers out there do a technology Tuesday post. So I'm trying it out this week. If I know myself I won't necessarily keep up with it, but I'm going to try. (It might help that I'm sitting in the library on a Saturday getting several posts written ahead of time. I seriously need internet at my house. My husband called about it but was calling the wrong cable company and got frustrated. So now we're back to square one) Anyway.
I love using technology in my classroom. When technology works it is the best thing ever, when it doesn't I'm ready to pull my hair out. Last week, we had a training that we were required to go to about the program Imagine Learning. Our county bought it about 5 years ago for use with our ELL students. We were trained 5 years ago and I tried using it some with the couple of ELL students I had. What I remembered of the program didn't impress me. It was hard to get out of once the kids started and I could never remember the short cut button. I couldn't help the kids if they didn't know something because some it was in Spanish. And it was a very basic program working on letters, sounds, and vocabulary. So I was pretty unhappy when I got a note in my box outlining the guidelines that we were required to follow to use this program. Our students were required to be on the program 4 days a week for 30 minutes. Well, I have 2 computers in my classroom and 6 ELL students. I couldn't figure out how I was going to do this and I didn't want to do it. What I remember was a terrible program. So I was working on an attitude change for the upcoming training. Well one thing that helped my attitude change was a brand new computer bought for me from the county. Although I currently don't have my old one hooked up anymore because I need another drop installed in my room. I was starting to think 3 computers would make these demands a little more manageable. Plus who doesn't want a brand new computer. So on the day of the training, I had prayed and tried to pray my bad attitude away. I was pleasantly surprised. They had made some updates to the program and we were trained very well. There are things for my kids to do that will challenge them beyond just letter recognition. Plus our concerns about the time they were asking of us, were listened to and addressed. So Thursday morning I was ready to put some of my kids on this computer program and to use it whole group for my evaluation.
Well remember my when technology works it's great and when it doesn't I want to pull my hair out. The brand new computer, didn't take any headphones that I had. The headphone worked fine on my other computers but not on this one. Then my Promethean board wands and pens no longer worked with my board. So come evaluation time I was a little stressed. My evaluation worked out pretty well despite the issues with my board.
Anyway, not really sure why I'm telling you this story. I guess I just needed to share. Anyone out there have any experiences with the program Imagine Learning? I would love to hear from some real teachers about how they are using the program or what their experiences are.
I do have a website that I want to share. It's shutterfly. I'm sure that most of you have seen the site and maybe even used it to share pictures or make photo books. Have you tried using it for your classroom? They have a share site feature that is great. I wanted a way to share my pictures that I had taken in the classroom with parents. My computer teacher set this site up for our class. It's great because you invite parents to join the site and then they can see the pictures, add their own pictures (if you give them permission) and order their own books. I updated the site quite a bit when I first started the site and then I fell behind like we do as teachers with too much on their plates. But I was talking to a parent and she asked me about it. This family is originally from India and still have a lot of family there. She told me that her family enjoys looking at the site and being able to keep up with what her son is doing in school. Well that humbled me a little bit, so I try to be good about uploading pictures on the site. Sometimes it isn't super user friendly and I'll upload pictures multiple times. Some other features of the site are that you can keep a calendar. I try to update that once a month and put important events on the calendar. It will email reminders to all the members the day before the event. There is also a place to have volunteer sign ups. I haven't used that feature yet but I'm thinking about using it for our next party. You can see when the members have accessed the account. Some of my parents have never looked at it. But I know that I'm doing whatever I can to share what is going on with my parents. Even if no one else is looking at it, at least I know that some families are able to share with relatives across the ocean. To be able to share with their relatives, I had to approve the person to be a part of the site. If you haven't checked out Shutterfly Share and you are looking for a way to share with parents. It's  a good website.
What do you do to share pictures and events with parents?

Technology Thursday on Saturday

So it's not Thursday. I started this post yesterday but didn't get very far with it. I just couldn't get my thoughts together. I even deleted what I had written. Here's an update on how the ipods are going in my classroom. They are definitely my kids favorite center. They want to play them during free center time as well. I've been really lenient and letting them have free reign with the apps they are using. All the apps are educational of some kind. They are obsessed with the math games. I am still trying to figure out how to share with you guys the different apps that they are working on. (Ok, so now it's Saturday and I still haven't finished this post.)
Their favorite math game seems to be the rocket math. You can check it out here.  I have a very boy heavy class so they seem to love anything to do with space or superheroes. In this app you answer math questions to make your rocket go. I had a hard time navigating it when I was playing with it but my students seem to be having no problem with it. It amazes me how easy they find technology.
An app that we're just starting to explore a little is the Doodle Buddy App. I'm pretty sure this one is free. I saw a review on it on someone's blog. Don't remember whose it was though. Whoops. I used this one this week during my tutoring time. I tutor 2 afternoons a week 2 different sets of kids.  We are working a lot on making words, blending them, and writing sentences. After using the white boards, I decided to break out the ipod. I wrote a message to my student. He had to read it and then he had write me a message back.

This was the first message I wrote. I used sight words and then tried to use cvc words with sounds they needed to work on. Then he wrote a message back to me. It was good practice for this student. He needs a lot of help writing sentences. Then we tried to build some words with it.  The first afternoon this worked out great. The next afternoon I tried it out with my other student I tutor. It didn't work out so great. He struggled with writing on the screen. I see some potential ideas of ways to use this with my small groups and activities for the kids to use together.
One of my projects this summer is going to be to make some I can charts to go with this center and some kind of screen shot similar to what Erica Boher made for computer centers.
What apps do you students like? How do you use technology in your classroom?

Technology Thursday

Like my title? I keep saying that I'm not going to do a schedule but then I get ideas for one. So I'm loosely going to each week try have one post about technology, one about math, one about a craft and one about reading and then some wild card posts thrown in there. . The days that I posts these will probably vary. But maybe that will keep me blogging a little more regularly.
So I started this blog yesterday while my kids were napping and had plans on finishing it after school. But I've been fighting some kind of sinus infection and am pretty sure I ran a fever all day yesterday. So I tutored and then came home. I'm home today sick. I hate taking days off. To make it even worse there was no sub to be found. Thankfully my fellow kindergarten teachers were understanding and they told me to stay home even though it meant they were going to have to split my class.
Anyway, on the technology part of this post.
Back in February (maybe) I applied for a grant from our PTA. I really wanted to get an i pad for my classroom but the grants were for $500. And if I get an i pad I want all the covers and such to keep it protected from my kids. I got an i phone in January and haven't needed my i pod touch that I won this summer at a tech conference. I decided to write my grant for another i pod touch, a case and an i tunes gift card. My grant was approved and a couple of weeks ago I bought my i pod touch and everything to go with it. I decided to get the otter box cover for both the i pods. It was a good move even though it was kind of costly. I got them from Walmart. When I got home I realized that one of cases was for an older generation of i pod. They didn't have anymore in stock at Walmart so I looked on Amazon. They were cheaper there by almost $20.
I had been pinning different lists of apps to use in the classroom for a while now. I didn't want to overwhelm the kids with a lot of apps so I just started with 4 different ones. There is a Curious George one that is free that the kids love. It was one of the top rated apps on the itunes store. The one I really wanted to share with you is based on the Bob books. If you aren't familiar with these books, you can check them out here. They are good for early reading. They have simple text with words kids can sound out. The app is much like the books. They click on words of the text and they have to build the word, then the program sounds the words out for them. Check this link out to see the app.  It's $1.99 and I think it's worth it. While tutoring on Wednesday, I let one of the boys use this app while I read with the other one. One of my ELL students was so into this app. He was stretching out each sound as the app did.
I've been really impressed with how my students have responded to have the ipods. They haven't argued about them and they are actually remembering to turn them off. I have just let them explore with the games on there right now. I would like to eventually tell them what I want them playing but I think they need time to explore first. I hope to post about these once a week. Do you have ipods in your class? What kinds of activities do you do with them? What apps are your favorites?

Favorite websites to use in the class

I am really enjoying being a part of the teaching blogging community. I am so inspired by the things I see other teachers doing in their classroom. I needed this. I was feeling tired when it came to teaching. I love the kids but dealing with everything else was getting to me. I had lost my spark. Discovering all these blogs has helped me to find my spark again. I feel like I'm teaching like I was when I first started teaching. I dressed like a scientist yesterday for our first science lesson with apples. (Although I did get this idea sometime in the middle of the night when I was laying in bed not sleeping) I say all this to say, I was thinking about needing some new websites to use in my classroom. I use starfall a lot and while my kids love it I'm wanting a little variety. So I thought I would appeal to my blogging friends for some new websites to use and have a linky party.
Here are the guidelines:

Blog about your favorite website resources to use with your students in the primary grades (pre k - 3).  Link up to the party by including your direct link to that post and not your general blog.
My favorite websites to use the classroom are:

• http://www.starfall.com
• http://illuminations.nctm.org
• http://en.childrenslibrary.org
• http://www.abcmouse.com  (I haven't actually tried this one out much. I'm still exploring but it looks pretty good.)

These are some of my favorites. What are yours? Link up and join the party!
As people link up, I'm going to compile a list of the website resources provided and hopefully publish it to my blog at a later time.

Random Post!

I don't have much going on this weekend which is actually kind of nice. I think I need a little bit of time to just veg out at home. I need to finish a baby blanket for our P.E. teacher and his wife. They just had their first child a few weeks ago. I started it this summer but just couldn't seem to get it finished once I started getting ready for school. So hopefully I'll finish it this weekend.
I have some school things to work on too. I plan to post some literacy centers for the letter A and my flipchart for my promethean board for the letter A.  I was doing my usual Saturday morning blog stalking and saw a how to on how to make a sign with the student's names. It was on Peace, Love and Learning. So I played around with that this morning. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but I thought it turned out well. It was pretty easy to do. I did mine on publisher but Donna used power point. 
Check back tomorrow for my A activities and flipchart.

Starfall on the Promethean Board

One of the other ways I use my promethean board a lot is with other websites. It's so nice to have access to different websites for the whole class to use. One of my favorites is www.starfall.com. If you haven't visited starfall and you teach kindergarten or first grade you need to visit. They have a ton of good games and activities for students this age. I've been reading a lot of blogs about starting writing with kindergartners and starting with labeling. This was part of my lesson plans this week was to work on a picture of animal families and have the students label the picture. Well, we haven't talked about labels at all. When I had my students in the computer lab yesterday, they were playing on starfall. A couple of the boys were using labels on one of the activities. So today as introduction to labels we did this activity together. This link should take you to the labels http://www.starfall.com/n/me/myBody/load.htm?f. It is under the It's fun to read and then the about me tab from there. The kids enjoyed this. We'll see if it stuck in their heads about what a label is tomorrow when we finish the lesson. After using this website, they drew a picture of their family and tomorrow they're going to label it. You can get that page here. When we get finished, we'll make a class book out of it. I try to do a class book a week.

Using Flipcharts for reading

The next way I use flipcharts a lot is with my reading series. I worked this summer and created some flipcharts to go with each week of the series. We use the treasure series. It has 3 weeks of a smart start to get them ready. I started with those charts to see what worked and what didn't. I really liked it and now I've got to get to making more flipcharts.
Treasures comes with a lot of charts and resource books and you can find the same things on the cd-rom that comes with it. I've downloaded all these charts and resources. Last year I would just pull it up on the board but sometimes it was hard to find the workbook page I am looking for. So using the camera tool on the promethean board, I'm able to copy and paste the pages into my flipchart.
This is how you do that:
1. Open the document you want to put in your flipchart.
2. From your promethean software chose the desktop annotate option. This will allow you to use the promethean tools on the desktop.
3. From the tools menu chose the camera tool and then chose fit the area.
4. Use the arrows to fit around the document you want to use.
5. I think the copy to clipboard or my resources are the best options to use. If it something you'll use more than once, I'd copy it to resources rather than just the clipboard.
6. Go back to the flipchart that you're working on and then paste the document into the flipchart.

I use this for the teaching chart that comes with our reading series a lot. It is easier to me to write directly on these charts using the flipchart rather than the desktop annotate. It saves me time from searching for the charts needed. I just look the first time when making the flipchart. I also use this for the worksheets. Treasures has the whole workbook as a pdf file. Especially at the beginning of kindergarten, this is great for the kids to learn how to do the workbook pages.

I also include in my flipcharts, interactive writing charts. I've done these in the past using chart paper. The thing I like about using my board, is that I can turn it into a pdf and then print the sheet needed for the students. They can practice reading their sentences at home. Eventually, I'm going to print the sentences and cut them apart for the students to put together again. The writing charts usually have our sight words in them or they are connected to the theme we're working on.
We do our handwriting as part of learning our letter of the week. I thought the board would be a fun way to practice writing the letters. So I included a page that had some handwriting lines on it. Using the dual user function, I was able to have two kids practicing writing their letters at the same time. This was the first time I used that function and it was pretty cool. The kids were so surprised that 2 of them could do it at the same time.
You can get my chart for M week on this post and hopefully I'll get ahead of making the charts soon.
Check back later this week for a how-to post on including media in your flipcharts.
M Flipchart
If you would like to see some of my other flipcharts just leave me a comment. Please leave me a comment if you read this and found it useful. I love getting feedback and I just don't get much.