Safari is the iPads default internet browser. With it being free and installed on all Apple devices, it is a great way to give children access to web based resources; something that shoulnt be overlooked.
With a class set of iPads you also have 30+ ways of accessing the interenet but without the awkwardness of then having to complete a piece of work in the limited space left by a computer and keyboard. Here are some examples of how to make best use of Safari: Access to online applications: There are many great online tools that can be used through a web browser (Youtube videos, online dictionaries, blogs etc). Having a class set of iPads can give ready access to such tools. See a separate post on Padelt, an excellent example of using Safari to make the most of an online tool. http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/padlet-combing-thoughts-collaborative-thinking.html Accessing Websites: With an internet browser at their finger tips, children can research topics and use the web as a source of information for example using Oddizzi in Geography based learning. Oddizzi linked to Temple Run: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/ipads-in-education-temple-run.html Christmas themed Geography: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/being-thankful-this-christmas.html Accessing Weblinks via class blogs: Combinig the class blogs with web research works particulalry well. Instead of giving children a web address to copy into the address bar themselves adding it to the blog is an effective way of pointing children in the right direction. Similarly, when you want your class to look at a specific website or webpage it is much easier than relying on their search engine skills or giving them an open ended task of 'research x y and z' which often sees a lot of time wasted just looking for a suitable source of information. Some examples of weblinks created on the class blogs: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/world-hunger-feed-the-world.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2014/02/rich-and-poor-georgians-during-the-time-of-dick-turpin.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2014/02/mondays-literacy-padlets.html http://4tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2014/02/tommy-armstrong.html Acessing video clips: As well as quick access to weblinks, it is sometimes useful to use ready access to the blogs via Safari to allow children fast access to video clips. For example during a Talk for Writing unit, the children had worked in groups to orally re-tell part of a discussion text. By placing the videos on the blog and giving each child an iPad, they were able to access each part of the text if they needed the support during the boxing up stage. Here are some examples: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/guy-fawkes-and-the-gunpowder-plot.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/should-daleks-be-allowed-on-earth-introduction.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/should-daleks-be-allowed-on-earth-arguments-for-pt1.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/should-daleks-be-allowed-on-earth-arguments-for-pt2.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/should-daleks-be-allowed-on-earth-arguments-against.html http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/should-daleks-be-allowed-on-earth-conclusion.html Another example is to provide children will videos that would be useful to their learning during a lesson or unit of work eg: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2014/01/next-week-in-numeracy-division.html ShowMe is also a great resource for this. See more about ShowMe here: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/showme-providing-virtual-support.html In Numeracy, we have been investigating the properties of rectangles.At the end of our lesson we were given this challenge:
"If we join the points of the letters on a keyboard, how many letters have lots of rectangles, one rectangle or no rectangles?" Add your thoughts to the blog to earn some team points or perhaps a success card stamp!Good luck. You could use Brett's properties list to help you. (Extremely neat today Brett. Well done!) Puppet Pals is a fantastic App, that every teacher should have as part of their iPad teaching toolkit. The application allows the user to create puppet shows using preloaded characers and backdrops. Using the app, users can move the characters around on their virtual stage, retelling a story or narrating events which are captured as part of a final video performance. However, where the App really shines is the ability to import your own images from the camera roll and add them to performances. The best examples of this being where children have created their own artwork to be added through a simple cropping tool. Year 1 Example: Click on the photo below to be taken to an excellent example of Puppel Pals being used in Year 1. Year 2 Example: The two videos below show Puppet Pal videos created with a Year 2 class as part of a unit on the Lambton Worm. During the unit, the children had listened to the story and retold it orally. The children had worked in mixed ability groups to create scripts for part of the story, which they then performed as part of a whole class re-telling. Following this, children create their own art work in the form of backdrops and characters, which could be used to re-tell the story. Their art was then added to puppet plas and used to re-tell the story in their own short animation. Here are examples from two groups: The Lambton Worm - Story Opening (Year 2). The Lambton Worm - The Worm Escapes (Year 2) Year 5/6 Example:
As part of topic work, which included local history about George Stephenson, children in Year 5 and 6 used Puppet Pals to recount the events of the Rainton Hill Trials. Children had previously used iPads to research the even and then followed this up by collecting images themselves, adding them to Puppet Pals, cropping them, and retelling events through their own drama or narrative. Click on the picture below to be taken to one example of this. Decide Now! Decide now is another example of a simple, yet effective, App. Sometimes, you may want to select a child at random. Perhaps somthing as simple as deciding who gets a reward, role, job etc. Or to keep children on their toes by randomly choosing who will answer a questions / share an idea etc. 'Decide Now' provides a quick and easy alternative to names in the hat / on a stick. The children are always interested to see 'who its going to be'' and younger children may enjoy pressing the button to spin the wheel. Within the App, you can set up multiple wheels, which is a great way to set up different wheels for when you want to target a specific group of children. (For smaller groups, a child's name will appear more than once) Below is an example of this: iSpin HD
In a very similar manner to 'Decide Now' (above) , 'iSpin HD' is an App that uses a spinning wheel to randomly select. However, in 'iSpin' children physically place their fingers on the iPad screen and are assigned a colour. When all fingers are removed, a spinning ball randomly chooses the winning colour. A great way to create a fun and interactive way of randomly selecting. Particularly good for small groups. We have been learning how to read grid references in our topic work recently. This week, we decided to put our skills to the test by taking a walk around the local area. Equipped with an OS Map and a handful of 6-figure grid references we set off on our quest to find out exactly what was at our referenced points. Working in small groups, we were successful and, as you can see from some of the photographs, had a great time in the process. This week in literacy we will be writing a report on life under the sea.
We will need to think carefully about the features we need to include in report writing and the order that we will set out our page(s) Use this link to improve your knowledge on report writing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/writing/reports/read/1/ Alternatively, you may prefer to play a game to help improve your knowledge of the genre: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/writing/reports/play/ In Big Writing this week we will be writing a report on 'Life under the sea'. Will we need to prepare by collecting information that can be used in our writing. Books and the internet are a good place to start. Here is a website that may give you some ideas: http://www.wildengland.com/wild-animals/sea-creatures 'Spellosaur' is a fun App that allows children to practice their spellings. Although a paid application, the free versions are still an excellent way of allowing children to rehearse the words they are finding tricky. As the app allows you to enter your own spellings (even in the free version) its potential is suitable throughout school. Spellosaur - FREE versionThe free version of the app is designed to give you a taster of what the full package has to offer but still presents enough to make it a useful addition. Spellosaur allows you to enter your own words to learn and as you can see from the list below, these can be as simple or as complex as required, making the spelling lists fully customisable and suitable for whatever the age and need of each pupil. Older children can quickly enter their own words to set up a quick fire spelling challenge. Once spellings have been entered, the App takes the user through a series of levelled activities which include:
After all 4 levels have been completed from the word list, children can complete a short test activity to see what they can recall. Following the test, children are presented with a results sheet. Spellosaur - First 400 Words - FREE versionIn a similar fashion to Spellosaur above - the 'First 400 Words' edition focuses on spelling through a sequence of learning activities, leading to a test at the end. The Free version of the App appears to be limited to the first 100 words of the 400 available in the full App, so a 'First 100 Words' essentially.
Skitch is a useful annotation App that allows you to add text, arrows, highlighting and writing to photographs, pictures or maps. Although it's functions are relatively simple, they provide plenty of potential. Below are some of the uses for Skitch in the classroom. Annotating text This example shows a pupil who has identified the features of a diary This example is part of a Year 5 topic based on the game 'Temple Run'. Using a screen grab from the game, characteristics of the main character and the game's setting have been added. Maps Skitch has an in-built map feature which allows the user to zoom in and out on a world map before taking a screenshot which can then itself be annotated. Blurred / pixelation. Sometimes it is useful to blur part of an image which can be achieved simply using Skitch. Cropping an Image
Skitch allows you to crop an image and focus in on a specific part. Once your image has been cropped, your chosen part is zoomed into. This is particularly useful for focusing on a particular part / question during a task. In the example shown, a specific question from a fraction activity has been selected which has then been discussed with the class and annotated to show the solution. Next week we will be sorting shapes based on their properties.
We will be looking at the different types of triangles; equilateral, isosceles, scalene and right angle. We will be looking at the properties of rectangles and other quadrilaterals (four sided shapes). As well as this we will be plotting shapes using co-ordinates. Here is some useful information to prepare you for our lessons next week: Triangles: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/2d_shapes/read/2/ Quadrilaterals: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/2d_shapes/read/3/ Co-ordinates: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/grids/read/3/ Here are some games to help improve your numeracy skills: 2D Shapes (including triangles and quadrilaterals): http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/2d_shapes/play/ Co-ordinates: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/grids/play/ Book Creator is an excellent Apps for creating digital books. By using a range of simple options, the App users to create iBooks very quickly by adding:
Below are just some ideas for using Book Creator in lessons. Literacy As part of a Year 2 topic based on the book 'Pumpkin Soup' by Helen Cooper. The children had spent an afternoon making an alternative soup for the animals in the story to try. As part of this, lots of photographs were taken as a record of what the class had been doing and to be used as a writing prompt for instructions the following day. However, Book Creator allowed for an alternative (and more enjoyable) way of revisiting what had been done as well as becoming a writing prompt for less confident writers. By adding text and photographs of the day (before lesson), a simple book was created to share with the children at the start of the lesson. The class were then able to review the steps taken and add them to the pages as part of the main teaching, reviewing the process and discussing the language and features used for instruction writing. The children were also asked to add the audio to accompany each step. Very quickly, the class had a digital book explaining how to make vegetable soup in pictorial, written and audio form. Following this, children were able to write their own instructions on how to make vegetable soup. The digital book was used to support less confident writers during their task, as they were able to revisit the book and click on each step to here an audio reminder of what was done. Science Similarly, Book Creator is an excellent resource for documenting the class' work in a Science investigation. For example children can keep a record of some of the key decisions they have made throughout a scientific investigation, recording short audio or video clips explaining their thoughts (see picture below). In a Year 2 session, investigating forces, children we able to explain what they were finding out through their investigations and add it to the book. This was a great way of reviewing what they had found out at the end of the lesson; revisiting the book and viewing each group's video clips. Finally, children were able to add follow up questions, or further areas they would like to investigate at the end of the book. By the end of the lesson, the children had a complete book showing their investigation through initial thoughts, predictions, investigating, what had been found out and what could be done next. Writing Support - Virtual group / individual support. As well as creating fabulous digital books, Book Creator can also be used in a simple but effective way to support children with their writing. The photos below show two examples of how recording audio alongside some visual prompts have been used in a Year 2 classroom to assist children with their writing. In this example, children had been set the task of creating a paragraph about part of the school. One child, finding it hard to retain their thoughts, used Book Creator as a way of revisiting their thoughts and ensuring they managed to complete their writing task. Photographs were quickly added and then the child recorded a sentence about each photo. They were then able to revisit their ideas at any point during their writing and recall what they had agreed to write about. Similarly, in this example, children in Year 2 had been tasked with writing descriptive sentences setting the scene for a story. To support less confident writers, each child in the group recorded an idea to be used in their writing. The iPad was then left with the children, who could at point click on their ideas to hear them read back to them.
Arguing to stay on Bryher is a very tricky task and I am pleased that some of your feel confident that you can convince us all that we should stay. Here is a fantastic paragraph from Roan! It does everything to challenge our point of view. He gives us plenty of examples of why we should stay and uses questioning effectively to challenge our thoughts. Well done Roan! (Brilliant use of openers too!) First, I am staying because there are so many precious memories. I can even remember my 10th birthday. Another thing I can remember is when Dad and Billy used to ride the gig together. It would be so sad to leave it all behind. In addition to this, I remember me and Billy milking the cows. Also, the 10 storms I have been here to see. Wouldn't you be sad if you left it all behind? Wouldn't you rather remember all of the memories than forget them? I know I would rather remember them. Please learn your spellings for next week. You could also use spellings as extra handwriting practice as we are having a big push to improve our presentation over the next few weeks. Use this fantastic song, performed by Year 5, to help you remember what mean, mode, median and range are. Thankyou to Mrs Ovington for the suggestion. X-Factor here we come! Last night, the girls football team took part in two league matches. Instead of simply standing by between matches, they put their ICT skills to good use creating this fantastic video of themselves in action. Well done to our own Year 5 girls, Aime, Hannah and Brooke who took part.
Is this a challenge to the boys? I look forward to seeing if they can create their own video as well!? Link to the video on The Year 6 Blog: http://6tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/football-fiesta.html |