iPads in Kindergarten at Alexandra

In Kindergarten we are looking at using the iPads to address a few areas of need.  First we considered our focus groups:

• JK and SK girls [targeting girls’ engagement with the Kindergarten Science and Technology curriculum]
• 5 JK and SK students demonstrating a need to increase vocabulary and semantics, including 2 SK girls experiencing receptive and expressive language delays
• 1 SK boy [targeting enrichment]

Then we decided that our Diagnostic Assessment would be based on interviews to be recorded on video with each of the Kindergarten students. The responses to the interview questions would be our baseline starting points for each child. The following are the questions we used in our interviews:

1. Using a large moth - (a) I am placing an insect on a tray. Look closely at it. What can you tell me about it? Use your describing words to tell me what you know. What do you wonder (want to know) about it?  
2. Using a frog habitat - (a) Now I am going to show you a home built by people for a tiny frog to live in all year long. What do you see in his home?  What do you wonder (want to know) about it? (b) Most frogs live in big ponds outdoors - in the woods or marshes. It is getting colder now and soon it will be winter. What do you think happens to the water in the pond then? What do you think happens to the frogs then?   
3. Using class collected tree photos of leaf-bearing and evergreens - Let’s look at some pictures we took on the playground recently. We called this time of year “the fall” because leaves were changing colours and falling to the ground. What might we see when we go back and look at those trees [picture # 1, then picture # 2] now that is has been so rainy and windy?
4. Using a book about composting and a pot - I am going to show you the cover of a book called Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth . We will be reading this book soon. What do you think this book might be about? Look at the cover (front & back) and the pot Mrs. G. has brought in to help you make your predictions (guess).
5. Using both a bird nest and a bird house - I am going to show you 2 objects. One object is a nest. The other object is a birdhouse. What do you know about nests? What do you know about birdhouses? How are they the same? How are they different?  
6. Using a poster of lightning over a city - When I uncover the photo, I want you to just look at it and think about it and think about what you want to say about it.
7. Using binoculars and a magnifying glass - We are going to be trying to locate birds on our school playground. I am going to show you 2 objects –  a magnifying glass & binoculars. Which object do you think is going to help us do this best?  Explain using the word “because”.

 Video Clips

Here are some video clips of JK and SK girls. The JK girls show a lack of wondering in response to the interview questions. The SK girls appear more involved but not actively engaged. So…can the use of ipads promote more active engagement with the Kindergarten Science and Technology curriculum?

Here are video clips of 2 SK girls attempting to respond to the interview questions. The girls struggle with receptive and expressive language during the school day. So… can the use of ipads increase oral language skills [e.g., vocabulary, semantics, concepts]?

Here is a video clip of an SK boy. He reads easily [Primary Benchmark 19] and loves to do so as often as he possibly can. He is a reluctant participant in any other tasks/activities that he engages in during the school day; notwithstanding that he is a very capable student. This reluctance is seen in the video clip where he gives minimal responses to the interview questions. So…can the use of the ipad provide him with enrichment tasks/activities that he will find challenging, enjoyable and worth putting an effort into?

Summary

Now we are going to once again look at the interviews, this time with a view to deciding, after reflection, what apps we might select to promote growth within our focus groups.

Rules for iPad Use in an Intermediate Classroom

Found this awesome website that identifies, from experience, some essential rules for effectively using iPads in middle school classrooms.

http://isource.com/2013/03/12/essential-rules-for-effectively-using-ipads-in-middle-school-classrooms/

I particularly like the suggestion to group apps like settings, messaging, FaceTime and game centre into a folder labelled not for use.

iPad to video student responses

Nothing fancy....I have a student in my class who is non- verbal autistic. We are in the process of making some changes to her IEP and her amazing EA was asked to use 15 different kinds of candy to establish the candy that will be her most potent reinforcer.  The EA used an IPad and video taped this process.  This was great because the Ea was able to share the video with our resource teacher later in the day.  Later the spec. Ed consultant was wondering if the student preferred a certain colour.  The video can re-watched to see if there was a preference to colour.    So simple....and very valuable

e-Texts at Mariposa ES

If we provide access to eTexts and supportive technology, what impact will this have on student engagement and collaborative learning?

At Mariposa, we are trying to find the balance between old textbooks and new curriculum. We currently are using Geography textbooks that are clearly out of date, as the information and statistics make predictions for the population in Canada, for the year 2000. SO! We're tired of saying 'sorry' and have decided to venture into the world of e-Texts!

In our proposal, we outlined the value of being able use up-to-date texts as well as interactive features that will take the learning just from a note on a page, into actual context and understanding. 

We are also curious to see the effects of more access to computers in the classroom, on the acceptance of the SEA laptops for some of our students. Currently, there is a 'stigma' amongst our students, in that none want to be labelled as a 'laptop kid'. We hope that if EVERYONE has access, then this stigma will be broken down.

At this point in time, we are having some difficulty actually acquiring the texts. We are in the process of purchasing and hope to have them up and running for the next blog! 

education + creation = EDUCREATIONS!

Hello All
Nice to read about the various uses and ideas surrounding our new tech!  :)

For the past few weeks I have had my students using the i-pads in a variety of ways.  Below is a list of activities they have been doing collaboratively or individually with the assistance of i-pads.

1) Using the Educreations app, students have made posters that are interactive.  Upon designing a poster that has traditional images and text, they have also added music, their own narration and extra drawings or images that appear throughout the recording of their poster "show".  This activity was very successful.  Students were engaged, had fun, were able to take their creativity to the next level and became quite proficient with it, very quickly.  They then shared their posters in various ways-- with a partner, in a carousel seating and in front of the whole class.

2) Using the Videolicious app, students created 1 min. films (with images, film clips, background music and voice over) of a description of a character from the novel we were reading or of an advertisement for a product (media study).

3) Currently, as a course culminating activity in French, students are creating their own short films.  They are collaborating and working on their scripts at school and from home using Google Drive and are using the i-movie app to film and edit their work.  I am still learning how to use this app in order to train them through this.  They are SO EXCITED about the real time nature of Google drive and are thrilled to create movies as a final task.

4)  Currently, another class has written children's short stories (for thier grade 1 reading buddies) and would like to create digital, interactive versions of their texts.  Using the Educreations app or the Book Creator app, they will record images of their books and of their voices reading the books, page by page.  This will provide an excellent resource for the grade 1 buddies to have digital story books that they can read, listen to, and follow along.

It's been a great start and I am excited to learn more and implement more ideas!
Cheers!
Rebeka

Diagnostic

This month I wanted to perform a diagnostic so that I could compare my
results from the beginning of this inquiry to the end. I did this by
providing my students with a quick survey that asked about their research
skills and knowledge of how to use technology to help them answer their
questions, which I will use again at the end of the year. As well, we did
a mini-inquiry into Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Week. Without much
help or advice, the students went on to research one of four questions of
their choice. They were able to use our laptops; however I did not give
them any instruction on which sites or programs to use. I’m excited to
be able to compare the quality of product and the answers of the survey to
yearend results. 

The students' wrote Halloween narratives based on the work of Mike Wade's books and then it Happened.  Our focus was on writing the main idea/problem, events and details in our work.  After completing their stories the students created an iMovie trailer based on their work.  The trailer was to highlight the main events, giving clues about their story without giving the solution/ending away.
As they complete their trailers they will be uploaded if you would like to watch.