Earlier in the year, and with a class set of iPads available to explore, I considered tapping into the children's enthusiasm (or obsession) with Minecraft. It was impossible to escape their interest in it, with discussions often steering towards the game and the Minecraft survival guides that populated most of the tables in class.

With that in mind, and using the popular app Popplet, I put together some ideas about how it's potential could be maximised.

We then held a class debate as to whether or not we should allow the game on the school's iPads. Children we're asked to submit a piece of persuasive writing, outlining their arguments for or against the title. This activity alone highlighted the potential Minecraft could have for inspiring and engaging learners as children worked hard to complete their persuasive writing articles in their own time, outside of school. The majority of the boys, who ordinarily wouldnt produce additional work at home, completed a piece of writing. The discussion was interesting and in the end 'yes' came out victorious, much to the boys' delight. You can see some of their digitally produced arguments on the discussion post here:
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/minecraft-yes-or-no.html
A photo of their 'working at home' display can be seen here:
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/minecraft-yes-or-no-score-update.html

However, as with many things, it was sometime before the app was purchased, installed and ready to go.

This week marked that moment, as year 5 embarked on 'Minecraft day'. A day filled with Minecraft activities. Some creating written work, some paving the way for future writing and others revisiting maths skills based on ideas discovered via twitter: http://mrparkinsonict.blogspot.com/2014/02/minecraft-maths.html

Minecraft Literacy:

Our first lesson of the day saw us taking our first class venture into the retro-esque style of Minecraft. However, rather than simply play the game, children were asked to document their experience in note form. They were asked to imagine themselves as a pioneer or marooned adventurer having to make do in an unknown landscape. Their ideas to later be turned into a diary of their exploits.

Examples of the notes taken:

Follow up lesson:
The following day, the children used their notes to create diary entries in the style of an explorer who suddenly found themselves in an unknown land. The entire class were focused and engaged with the task, and were able to produce high quality pieces of work, many to a greater standard than they would have ordinarily produced. Here are some extracts from the children's writing:

Day 1
Confused, I looked around wondering where I was. Eventhough, it was boiling hot I was freezing cold. Following this, I let out a blood curdling scream saying "WHERE AM I"?!. After that, I looked at a formidble tree( it was like an angel). As I punched through the everlasting tree I punched the last piece of wood and made some wooden planks. Then, I got to work on building house ,which was really small '. Then I made some tools such as pickaxe and a axe. As, night got near I panicked . I slowly paced around the dispicabaly small  room wondering if I'd survive the night. Just as it was midnight a slithering spider crawled through the doors and in to my house. I killed the spider then heard the dead of the night groan 9 aka zombie). It was howling like there was no tomorrow. At one point I got annoyed and I was like a furocius beast as I cut of his head.

Day 2
Day dawned ' wich was thankfull' and I peered outside with my groggy eyes. I went in to the sea ( just down the hill) and washed my face. However, when I went home I felt an urge of bravery. Qucikly,  I ran back down to the sea and jumped. Swimming to a little block, I looked at the amazing view. Dusk fell and I darted back home (so that I wouldn't get attacked). Cautiusly, I opened the door incase ny monsters had gotten in. Luckily there was sheep all around so I made some shears and sheared the sheep. I made a bed and slept so I didnt have to face the monstrus devils.

Day 1
Spontaneously, my feet skimmed across the dirt. Panicking, I went on a long scavenge, which was utterly easy, mainly for wood. Sprinting, (too fast) I slipped and SPLASH! “Help! anyone there?” Into a deep, flowing lake I fell. Luckily, my hand gripped onto the terrain therefore it was time for me to climb out. Meanwhile, a timid farm animal squelched through the field in front of me. However, I didn’t  want to hurt it. Due to this, I turned for the top of a mountain so I could build my shelter (made of tree bark) Devistated and distraught, night swept in at the speed of a racing car. Even though, I hadn't managed to find any food I had certainly managed to sleep well.

Day 1
Petrified and confused i looked slowly around the unknown world. Quickly, i saw some blocks of wood therefore i sprinted to collect it for shelter and fire. Moreover, still panicking i started to biuld a house for shelter, which was made out of wood. Another thing, it was nearly night time terrified i seen a black spider, who had red eyes, was howling like then wind! Suddenly, a wolf(which was barking ouitside my door) was waiting for food. Following this, it was pitch black however hearing despicable howling growns in the distance.

There are many more examples in the pupils personal website section of the class blog: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/category/curriculum-pupil-personal-webpages/1.html

Minecraft Numeracy:

Our second lesson was based on the excellent ideas found at http://mrparkinsonict.blogspot.com/2014/02/minecraft-maths.html.
Using a class expert to guide us into creation mode, we looked at how we could create rectangles quickly using the in game resources. Then by taking a screen grab and importing it into PicCollage (see more on PicCollage here: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/piccollage-moving-beyond-posters.html) we commented on the shapes perimeter, area and ratios contained within. Some of the children were able to simplify their ratios to the simpliest form using their knowledge of factors. This proved a fun activity to revisit a skill we needed to keep fresh in our minds burg without the need for good old fashioned worksheets.

Here are just some examples but many more can be found on the main section of the blog at http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com

In addition to this, one pupil went further, creating his own 'Times Table Shed' to teach essential multiplication facts. You can watch his explanatory video here: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2014/03/nathan-minecraft-maths1.html

More Minecraft Literacy.

Our afternoon focused on creating an information text. At first, we examined some pages from the ever so popular books and annotated the features we could see. We used this to build a checklist of what we needed in our own work. We then set about using PicCollage to create our own information page on a different Minecraft creature.

Here are some examples:

Overall, I felt that Minecraft provided a platform which kept the children fully engaged throughout their activities and focused on the learning objective and the task they had been asked to complete. For some of the children, they were able to complete their work to a higher standard than they may have ordinarily have done so. This was most notable with some of the less confident male writers. I also found that as the children were using the iPads, and involved in a game they thoroughly enjoy, that they were much more receptive to feedback and willing to go back and make improvements or additions based on the advice they had been given.

It was also an excellent opportunity to flip the tables, giving some children the chance to be the expert - A role that they may not normally take. Some children, who wouldn't normally feel confident enough to do so, were happy to lead the class, giving examples of how to complete activities on the class whiteboard. Great for building their confidence and developing their speaking and listening skills.

My advice would be - Give Minecraft a go!

MINECRAFT MONDAY!

Finally, after a lot of discussion earlier in the year, we will be taking a day to explore the education potential of Minecraft.

So many of you argued 'for' the game and fought of some excellent counter arguments by the girls.

Minecraft Monday will include.

Literacy: diary keeping / note making for descriptive writing and diary entires later in the week.

Numeracy: including area, perimeter, ratio, proportion, fractions, decimals and percentages.

Literacy: Non-chronological report writing - creating an information page in the style of the ever so popular books that have appeared in class all year long.

Below is our original discussion post (please not we can't add comments to this thread any more)

Digging Minecraft Style!

What a great debate. However, voting is now CLOSED! Thankyou to everyone who took part.

If you would like to join the debate, you will need to put your persuasive writing skills to the test and present an argument supporting Minecraft. Alternatively, you may wish to voice your opinions arguing against the game.

To take part you need to post your argument online or bring a hand written or printed version to the Year 5 classroom (it will be put on our 'Extended Learning Wall').

Remember a good arguments will include:
-A title.
-An opening paragraph or statement introducing your point of view.
-Paragraphs explaining each argument for or against. (Include facts to support your arguments and remember strong openers and connectives too!)
-A concluding sentence or paragraph summing up what you think!

I look forward to reading your ideas! (Not in Year 5? No problem. Feel free to take part as the discussion is open to all)

After some thought and reading pupil ideas for the use of Minecraft in the classroom, here are a few of the possibilities. I think there is plenty of potential.

Last year, when given the opportunity to begin to use iPads as part of my teaching, one of the biggest challenges was how to find a way through the masses of apps and how to feel like their use was having an impact! Conscious that I wanted to avoid the devices being used purely as extension or bolt-on activities, it wasn't as straight forward as I had expected. It took some time to find ways of incorporating ipad use in a way that it couldn't be replicated, or just as effective, using traditional methods.

Even when discovering Apps that shone, standing out from the rest with their educational potential, it wasn't always obvious how they could be used in a sequence of lessons to promote learning. However with some searching, and a heavy reliance on the networking value of Twitter, I discovered some excellent ideas.

This blog post is will hopefully help that journey for others. Below are copies of lesson plans used for several iPad Games based units including Minecraft, ThemePark, Angry Birds, Temple Run 2 and PixelPress. More detail on the activities, including examples of the work produced and the impact can be found here: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/using-ipads-in-education---support-for-teachers.html


Files below in PDF format for the following units of work:

Minecraft (Literacy & Numeracy) 3 to 4 lessons Please note, the follow on literacy writing lesson is not documented in this plan.

Angry Birds & Temple Run 2 (Literacy, Numeracy, Geography) 7 Lessons

PixelPress - (Literacy & Computing) 6 Lessons

Theme Park - (Literacy) 4-5 Lessons

Take a glance over the 2014 Curriculm's Computing section and one thing will be strikingly apparent - That coding or programming play a large part in the skills that the children should be taught with a large proportion of the coverage relating to this.

NOTE: 'Algorithms' are defined as 'an unambiguous procedure or precise step-by-step guide to solve a problem or achieve a particular objective.'

In Key Stage 1 pupils should be taught to:

- Understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions.

- create and debug simple programs

- Use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs.

In Key Stage 2 pupils should be taught to:

- Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.

- Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output.

- Use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs.

Therefore, it is essential that teachers have a range of approaches for providing an opportunity for children to develop such skills and to practice giving logical and clear instructions. Although such wording can make the requirements of the new curriculum seem demanding on a teacher's own knowledge base, there are some simple Apps that can enable the required coverage without an expertise in the subject.

Below is a list of possible Apps that could be used to approach some of the requirements mentioned above. They are particularly suitable (but not limited to) Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2.

Daisy the Dinosaur - FREE

Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy Dinsosaur. This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this apps' challenges. (Description from the Apple AppStore)

Bee-Bot - FREE / Bee-Bot Pyramid £0.69

Based on the award winning floor robot that has been used throughout schools for some time, the app makes use of the physical bot's functionality and enables children to develop their skills in directional language and programming through sequences of forwards, backwards, left and right 90 degree turns.

There are 12 levels of progression . Each level is timed and awards stars based on the speed and level of accuracy of the sequence created.

Ideal for replicating Bee-Bot activities without the need for a class set of physical robots or worrying about batteries needing replacing.

The FREE version of Bee-Bot has been designed for younger learners (KS1) whereas the Pyramid version is designed for older or more experienced pupils (Lower KS2), allowing you to control the Bee-Bot through a series of 12 levels of an ancient Egyptian pyramid, unlocking doors, collecting treasure and out-smarting mummies as you go. The Pyramid version also supports the mathematical strands motion, direction and geometry.

A.L.E.X - FREE (First 25 Levels - In App Purchases)

An alternative to Bee-Bot (perhaps for boys who aren't as keen on the flowery garden setting). Alex is a puzzle game which requires a logical sequence to be programmed to get a robot through the level. Not only does A.L.E.X provide a basic and useful concept of programming, it also introduces sub routines and debugging in a nice way.

The firs 25 levels come free, with 35 further levels available as an in app purchase.

Kodable (FREE and £4.99 for Kodable Pro)

Kodable is an educational iPad game offering a child-friendly introduction to programming concepts and problem solving. Aimed at children from 5 years old and up (And tools for adults too), Kodable Pro comes with 3 worlds and 90 levels of programmable fun.

A free version is also available as a sensible way to introduce yourself and the children to the app.

Cato's Hike (FREE and Paid version £2.99)
Cato uses programming to help rescue a little boy called Cato. While playing outside, Cato discovered a portal to another world. However, this world was unlike is own and did not follow the same rule. The only way to overcome the obstacles and problems there is to write a program for himself.

The app also allows users to create their own levels before writing the program to navigate them.

The app costs £2.99 for all of the levels but a free version with limited progression is available as a sensible way of trying it out first.

Creating your own level designs in Cato's world:

Light-Bot (FREE to try - £1.99 for FULL version)

Light-Bot is a programming puzzle game that uses many of the mechanics that are rooted in programming concepts. Starting of with simple procedures (see the photo below) the game progresses into developing players' understanding of basic control-flow concepts such as loops and conditionals, just by instructing a robot to light up tiles and solve levels.

The full app contains 40 levels and 20 challenge stars to complete.

Hopscotch - FREE

Hopscotch teachers children to code using simple intuitive building blocks that stack on top of each other to complete a set of instructions (a procedure). Pupils can create games, animations and other programs in this colourful, interactive environment.

It is a useful app for approaching the New Curriculum KS2 skill, mentioned above, of programming with 'various forms of input and output'. The app allows children to create programs that respond to inputs such as tilting the iPad in a given direction, shaking the iPad or noises.  

Procedures in Hopscotch are created in a colourful manner (great for progression in Computing if Years 5&6 follow on using programming tools such as Scratch)

Cargo-Bot (FREE)

Cargo-Bot is a puzzle game where you teach a robotic crane how to move crates (think of those amusement machines where you can win sweets or soft toy prizes). The app is for more advance programmers therefore more suitable for lower Key Stage 2. It encourages a logical mindset and progresses with a fast learning curve.

The game challenges the user with the need for logical thinking and is worthy of exploration. It is also an app that itself was created using another iPad coding app (Codea) and is a good example for children to see that as they get older and develop their skills set, they too could be making their own games.

You know you have discovered an excellent App when, after only a few moments after installing, you find yourself mulling over it's many possibilities within the classroom.

'Tiny Tap' is one such App where quite quickly it's great potential becomes apparent. Add to that it's completely Free, without annoying pop ups or adverts, and it's a winner!

In short, the application allows you to create your own games which you tap to play. These can be shared with the Tiny Tap community and similarly, you will have access to hundreds (if not more) of games and activities created by others.

Below is a quick over view of Tiny Tap and some examples showing its use and potential.
From the main screen you will be presented with a book shelf that allows you to:
- create your own activity.
- play activities already in your library.
- or visit the market place.

As you can see, this is all presented in a colourful and child friendly way.

One of the doors that Tiny Tap opens is the ability to be able to create your own activity suited exactly to the needs of the children in your class.

Instead if trawling the internet looking for a game or activity that almost fits the requirements, you can quickly create an activity that does exactly what you need it too. No need to make do with a slightly too easy / challenging alternative. No need to choose one that isn't quite the skill you are trying to look at.

Creating an activity.

As you can see from the photo below, you can draw whatever you need using a range of tools, add photos from your camera roll or add pictures from a wide range of themes already built into the app.

One your backgrounds are set (be it your own design, a photo, text or a combination of them all) you can then Set up your activity.

This included:

- Recording your own question or instruction followed by choosing the correct answer / area on the screen by drawing around it with your finger. Responses for current / incorrect choices can also be recorded. (Some examples being can you find the word with and 'igh' sound? Can you find cat? What is 35 x 100 and so on? Click in the verb in this sentence... And so on.

- Cutting out and area which then has to matches to its place on the screen. Again there is plenty of potential such as competing spellings, dragging answers to a maths question to the correct number sentence, balancing equations etc

 Below is a video from Tiny Tap showing how quickly an activity can be set up:

I'm sure there is almost endless potential for the number of activity types that can be created but to serve the purpose of an example, here are some ways in which I have used the App:

Pre-School Activity Example:

As with many discoveries, the first port of call in investigating Tiny Tap was at home. Downloading it for the first time at the weekend, and not having a class to try my ideas out on, meant my 3 year old became the guinea pig.

In the short video, you can see the simplicity but effective nature of Tiny Tap where the correct word has to be found based on the oral instruction.

There are also a large number of simple activities available on the marketplace suitable for younger children. And the colorful nature of the in built resources, make this a great app for EYFS and KS1 children.

Similarly, Tiny Tap was also used to create quick SPAG games in Year 5&6, where children created 'silly sentences' and then used the App to record their own questions putting their knowledge to the test including:

Children created questions asking to find the article, adjective, noun, verb, adverb, preposition etc.

In Year 5, we used Tiny Tap to create our own numeracy games as a quick revision tool.

As part of keeping equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages fresh in our minds, we all designed our own game card.

These were then photographed and added to Tiny Tap before recording our questions such as:

'What is equivalent to three quarters?'

'What is the same as 100%' and so forth.

The children thoroughly enjoyed this and were hooked in knowing they were making their own game but had to think carefully whilst setting their questions, drawing on their own knowledge of equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages. The children then swapped their iPads and played each other's games, further testing their understanding.

The game creation also served as an assessment activity for myself as I was able to observe the extent to which children felt comfortable in pushing their understanding whilst creating their games.

For example most children stuck to the safety of working with tenths in their comparison to decimals and percentages. However it was interesting to see who included improper fractions, equivalents to tenths, quarters and so on. Some setting their fractions as 100ths and 1000ths and asking for the decimal or percentage equivalents.

Below are some photos of the children making and testing their activities.

As part of 'Safer Internet Day' children in Year 5 and 6 used the application to create their own Safer Internet Quiz activities. This was a great way for them to reinforce the themes of the day! Below are just some examples.

Puffin Academy is a brilliant solution to solving the obstacle that some websites pose when accessing then on an iPad. Apple don't like Flash (it's a long story) thus anything that uses it will not run properly or at all on an iPad.

However, with the fantastic Puffin Academy, this can be overcome. The app is free and allows access to to educational websites only (that have themselves signed up).

Simply install, search for the website you wish to use and, if it's available, away you go!

For our school Puffin Academy will allow pupils to access both Education City and Bug Club which is fantastic news.

Puffin Academy is available for FREE in the App Store.

Accessible sites can by found through a straightforward search function and then launched though the given links.

Bug Club running on the iPad. Fantastic news!

One of the first questions that comes up when using iPads as a way of producing work is "How do you get the children's work from the iPads into their books?'
Email is one solution but requires each child to have the mail account set up, and individual mails to be sent to the teacher. This in itself is a laborious task and still requires the teacher to then download all of the files before printing can begin.

Aidrop is the simpler alternative to this and allows the teacher to quickly collect the children's work to a single place - their own ipad.

Although it isnt the solution for every iPad activity, it can be used for some of the apps covered on the blog such as:
- Puppet Pal Videos
- Popplets
- PicCollage
- Notes (created in the notes app)
- Skitch images

A quick guide to using Airdrop and collecting work
Please note: To share work, it must be first saved to the camera roll (Videos - from Puppet Pals, iMovie or the Camera. Pictures from PicCollage, Skitch, Photos)

1. Checking AirDrop is visible to others:
The first step is to check that your own iPad is visible to others. To do this swipe your finger from the bottom of the screen to bring up the options shown bellow.
Now, select the 'Airdrop' option and 'Everyone'.
This will make your ipad visible to others.

2. Sending the work
The children will now need to find the piece of work they wish to send in the camera roll (a video or image).
They need to select it (so it is ticked).
Then click on the Airdrop logo as pictured below.

3. Finding the teacher's iPad and sending the work.
The pupil's iPad will then search for other iPads.
As you can see in the example below, my iPad was the only choice so could be tapped and selected.(
(Note: When using with a whole class, the children will have to look carefully for the teacher iPad as their own will apper as well)

4. Recieving the childrens work:
Once the children have sent their work, a message from AirDrop will appear on your ipad as shown below.
Simply click Accept and the video or photo will be transferred to your camera roll.
NOTE: Children need to do this one at a time as the ipad will cancel the action if too many pieces of work are sent at the same time.

Printing:
To print work, connect your ipad to the computer using the charger cable.
Find the work on the iPad (as you would on a memory stick)
Copy it to the computer.
Highlight all of the images.
Right click and print.

http://www.padlet.com/

Padlet is a free, online resource that allows real time collection of thoughts and ideas. Although, not an application that needs installing to the iPads, Padlet can be very quickly set up on a desktop computer (email and password is all registering requires) and then accessed via Safari on the iPads.

Quite simply, Padlet is one if those educational tools that falls right into the 'simple yet very effective' category.

Allowing you to create a virtual pin board, Padlet allows students to post (or pin) their thoughts to the board. The beauty of this is that they appear virtually in real time. This eradicates the need for a traditional hands up approach , where ideas are collected on a one by one basis and then scribed to the board. It also ensures that everyone is involved and engaged, removing the opportunity for children to take the 'leave it someone else' attitude. Within minutes, the teacher can present a class with a problem or a task and have 30 or more individual thoughts or responses. A Fantastic way, of quickly assessing, building class ideas, collaborating, evaluating, sharing ideas and so forth.

Here are some links to Padlets we have used:

http://padlet.com/wall/layeinkrpm Literacy: Direct and reported speech for a newspaper report.

http://padlet.com/wall/sb7swyp2d Literacy: Similes and metaphors optional homework task.

http://padlet.com/wall/21ptve5th Literacy: Rhyming words

http://padlet.com/wall/f6x8i51hqw Numeracy: Revisiting a mathematical problem.


Below are some examples of how Padlet has been used in my own classroom.

Numeracy:

As part of a mental starter, I set the class a problem from the 2003 Year 5 QCA paper. This was a question I wanted to revisit as previously children had struggled with the concept. With Padlet I was able to briefly explain what the question involved but then give each child a chance to submit their own solution. Most importantly this meant that every child had to think about the question and how they could solve it. There was no option of sitting back while others found the answer and fed back to the class. I was also able to respond to those children who hand'the quite understood by responding to their solutions as they appeared on the whiteboard.

The problem:

The solutions submitted to myself:

Literacy - sharing ideas:

As part of a literacy lesson we used Padlet to share rhyming words as we were preparing to write rhyming couplets based on our topic work. Children were able to submit their ideas quickly, allowing more time for their own writing activity.

Children were also able to revisit the class ideas via Safari and the iPads on their tables. A great way to support their writing.


Literacy - Creating success criteria:

As part of a lesson writing a diary entry, the children were asked to read an example diary entry and decide what they felt made it a strong piece of writing. The class were then asked to submit one of their thoughts to the Padlet. This effectively allowed us to quickly build a selection of features that we needed to include in our own work. Effectively a class success criteria in 5 minutes, without the need to stand and scribe then on the board whilst talking one to one feedback. Again, it was a powerful tool form making sure that all children were thinking about the initial question of 'what makes a good diary entry ?'

Rhyming words example:

Revisiting whole class ideas to support writing with individual iPads

Literacy - Collaborative homework.

As part of talk homework for Big Writing, children were given the optional challenge of sharing a simile or metaphor to describe the Highway Rat. Throughout the evening, children added their examples which created a fantastic resource to be used as part of teaching the following day as well as a supportive tool for writing through access with the iPads.

In Additon to this, children in more than one class (in this case Years 5 and 6) worked together, using the same Padlet to share their thoughts. A great way for children in different classes to support each other with their thoughts. It also meant that Children who struggle to complete their talk homework task still had ready access to some excellent ideas.

Ideas collected as part of homework:

Using Padlet to supprt Big Writing.

Thankyou to Mr Temple for pointing out this superb resource!

Below is the full PowerPoint presentation from today's speed learning event at Brandon.
The PowerPoint looks at examples of using iPad games as part of teaching and learning, citing examples from the following:

• Angry Birds
• Temple Run
• Theme Park
• Minecraft

This week in numeracy, we have been using the popular iPad game 'Angry Birds' to help us revisit some of the mathematical concepts that we have found tricky in the past.
Through playing the game, we have looked at:

• Types of angles (Acute, Right & Obtuse).
• Probability / Chance words.
• Nets of 3D shapes
• Measuring angles.

Lesson 1
In our first lesson, we played Angry Birds and thought about the angles that we were using. We thought about which angles were best, to help us complete the level, and the chances we had at being successful for each angle type. This allowed us to revisit some of the language associated with chance and probability. We created posters in PicCollage to show what we had found out! (Some examples are shown below)

At the end of the lesson we revisited a QCA test question about probability and the language associated with it. Using the iPad app 'Socrative' we answered the questions again hoping to show improvement in our understanding.
Our Autumn Term QCA test results showed 30% of the class had been successful in answering the question correctly.
After our 'Angry Birds' lesson 70% of us were successful in answering the question correctly (90% answered 1 of the two questions correctly)

Lesson 2
In the following lesson, we created our own Angry Bird characters. Using the nets of 3D shapes, we carefully assembled our characters. We then created a poster for display, showing which nets turned into which shapes. Hopefully this will help us to recognise nets of shapes in the future and to understand what they are.

Our 3D Angry Bird shapes!

Lesson 3
In our third Angry Birds lesson, we sketched our own level designs. We then photographed our levels as well as the characters that we created in Lesson 2. Using PicCollage we were able to crop our characters (cutting away the unwanted part from their photo) and add them to our levels. Finally we were able to add the angle that we thought the birds should be fired at to have the best chance of completing our level.
We will be able to use a protractor (angle measurer) to measure these angles in the next lesson.

Lesson 4
In our final session, we measured the angles we had suggested on our own Angry Bird level designs. We used a protractor (angle measurer) to carefull measure the angle in degrees. We moved around the classroom trying to measure as many angles as we could. It was fun seeing all of the different level designs but getting to practice our skills in numeracy as well.

References:
For more fantastic ideas, many which have
been used here, check out these other excellent blog posts:

http://mrparkinsonict.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/using-popular-ipad-games-as-stimulus-in.html?m=1

This week, we have spent some of our topic time looking at the popular iPad game 'Temple Run'. We have used the game as a writing stimulus, thinking about the setting and the character. We have planned our own adventure story in the style of the game and have used our Big Writing session to produce a final piece of work.

Lesson 1
In our first session, we played the game and thought carefully about where the game could be set. We decided that it was most likely set in a temple somwhere in a far away jungle or rainforest. To find out more about this, we used the excellent webiste www.oddizzi.com and found out a bit more about jungles and rainforests around the world.
Here are just a few examples of the research we completed courtesy of Jamie M, Alicia and Brooke:

Lesson 3
For our third Temple Run lesson we began to pull our ideas together and plan for writing our own Temple Run themed adventure story. After watching a short video montage of Indiana Jones action clips, we used PicCollage to create our own story plan. As you can see from some of the examples below, plenty of imagination has been used and I am sure our stories will be an excellent read.

Lesson 4
The final lesson of our Temple Run themed learning, pulled everything together in a long piece of writing. Using our story plans and the knowledge of the character and setting we had developed during the week, we began our stories.
45 minutes later, we had produced some fantastic adventure stories of our own.
Well done everyone!

ShowMe is a handy App that allows you to turn the iPad into a virtual whitebaord. Using the on screen controls, users can quickly add images or their own annotations to the screen which can then be recorded, narrated over and played back when they are required.

Here are just some suggestions for using ShowMe in class.

Virtual whiteboards:
With a class set of iPads, ShowMe can be used during whole teachng in the place of the much more traditional whiteboards. One advantage to this is that the children can record their methods during main teaching and play them back to themselves as a visual prompt during independent working. A handy reminder of how they should be setting out their work / solving problems. (The pens can't conveniently run out either)

Virtual Support:
ShowMe can also be used as a means to support individuals, or groups or children, who need support when a teacher or support assistant are unavailable. For example, during main teaching where more able children could really benefit from a greater challenge than what the rest of the class is being taught or for an individual (or group) working at a different level or pace to others. Or simply when you are unable to spread yourself as far as you would like.

An example of this is shown below. In a Year 2 class, a group of children were much more able and talented in mathematics than their peers. It was simply not appropriate for them to take part in some of the main teaching strategies. Therefore they needed a greater challenge. However, as with many challenges, the children needed some support, to guide them with what they were doing.

Through using ShowMe, the children were able to be left with problems to solve that were an appopriate challenge. They were given a short explanation to remind them how to approach the questions and were then left a single iPad (works well in single iPad classrooms) with a video explanation of what to do. The children were then able to replay the methods they needed to use to reinforce what they should be doing.

Another example of using an iPad app to support children or groups can be seen in a post on BookCreator here: http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/book-creator-creating-digital-books-ibooks.html

The two examples below are screengrabs from ShowMes explaining finding change using a number line and grid method for multiplicaton. Both used in Year 2.

Peer Support:
In a similar manner to above, it is also nice for the children to be able to explain what they have been doing to help support others as well as way of reinforcing their understanding. These can then be shared on the class blog, which children could refer to to assist with homework activities (particularly if the method isnt something that their parents will have used at school)

Some examples:
Fact Families
http://1tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2014/02/jessicas-show-me.html
Explaining Grid Method
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/09/brook-and-roan-explain-grid-method.html
Multiplying Decimals
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/09/drew-and-rachel-explain-multiplying-by-decimals.html

During the week, beginning 21.10.13, the class used an iPad game as a stimulus for their ideas and writing. Below is an outline of the week and how the game was used to generate ideas which were later used in a longer piece of written work.

Many of the ideas can be seen in the mind map below which was created at the lesson planning stage using the iPad app 'Popplet'.

Day 1
In the first lesson the children took a virtual trip to a theme park using the computer game 'Theme Park'. They briefly explored the park, looking at the rides and attractions before taking screen grabs of those they found the most interesting.

Following this, the children were tasked with creating a poster showing what the park was like and the attractions they liked to most.

Day 2:
The children then used the ideas from their poster and virtual visit to create an advert suitable for television.
To do this they:
- Saved themepark images from the internet using 'Safari'
- Edited images, adding their own faces using 'PicCollage'
- Used the photo and video functions of the iPad's camera.
- Used 'iMovie' to create their final advert.
Here is just one example of the many created:
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/drew-theme-park-trailer.html

Their work was added to the blog, with a link added to their literacy books (including a QR code which can be scanned as a direct link)

Day 3
Today we focused on writing the best sentences we could using the ideas we had formed about the theme park.
At first the children created simple sentences, which they then assessed themselves using a scoring sheet. The children then tried to develop their sentences using their understanding of what would make a stronger setence. Their final sentences were again self assessed, giving the children an understanding of exactly how much they had improved their original ideas and hopefully how they could continue to do so in the next lesson.

Day 4
In the final lesson, we pulled all our ideas together to write a written recount of our day at the theme park. The children were encouraged to refer to their scoring sheets from the previous lesson and to try to maintain this standard in their final piece of writing.

Well done Nathan. Following our work this week, based on the iPad game 'Theme Park', I was really impressed to see how hard Nathan has been working.

Take a look at the picture below showing some examples from this term's literacy.

As you can see, Nathan is making a big effort to improve, which I love to see!

Great work, Nathan. Bring me your organiser when we are back from our break for a success card stamp.

Yesterday, we worked hard to produce posters to remind us of our virtual visit to a theme park. (We used 'PicCollage' to to combine screen grabs of our park and text describing what it was like).

Today's job (22.10.13) was to create an advert suitable for tlevison advertising the park and all of its exciting features. Some of us chose to produce happy or feel good adverts, others chose to promote the scrarier and more thrilling parts of the park.

At first we collected images from the internet using 'Safari'. Then we captured photos and videos of ourselves role playing our theme park experience before editing some pictures using 'PicCollage' (we had great fun adding our own faces to the action shots). Finally, we used 'iMove' to create our final adverts ready to share.

Below are links to some example of our adverts.
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/drew-theme-park-trailer.html
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/rebecca-theme-park-trailer.html
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/jamiet-theme-park-trailer.html#comments
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/kieran-theme-park-trailer.html#comments

You can find many more by selecting a pupil name or scrolling though the blog.

Following our virtual visit to a theme park, we are going to be creating and sharing our own Televison adverts.

As part of this we will need lots of exciting photographs from the park.

We will be using Pic Collage to put ourselves straight into the action. Here is an example where Mr Patterson, Mrs Ovington and two brave volunteers have dared to test one of the rides.

Looks like fun!

We all know that we come to school to learn? It is great that we work hard in lessons to improve our writing skills, but it is even better when we take control of our learning and look for opportunities to extend our skills outside of the classroom (at home).

We have had a very interesting discussion about whether or not we should have the popular game Minecraft on our school iPads. Many of us have taken the time to flex our intellectual muscles by giving up some of our time to write persuasive arguments. Some arguing for the game, others against.

All of work is shared and celebrated on our class 'Extended Learning Wall'. Feel free to drop by and read some of our work.

The debate is still on-going so if you would like to take part, bring your writing to Year 5 or post your comments to the Minecraft debate below.

PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS TO THE MAIN POST BELOW!

This week all of our work is based around a virtual visit to a theme park courtesy of the appropriately named iPad app 'Theme Park'.

We used the screen grab function to take images of the attractions we liked.

The remainder of our lesson today focused on creating a poster using the app 'PicCollage' which would remind us of the attractions at the park as well as help us to persuade others to visit the park in the future.

Tomorrow we will be using our posters as inspiration for a persuasive advert for television or radio.

Here are just a few examples of our work:

Next week in our literacy lessons, we will be visiting a theme park and basing our literacy around what we discover there. Take a look at the mind map below. Can you see anything that you are looking forward to?

Some our work will include:

Using iPads, taking photographs, creating posters, recording video clips, photo editing, creating a persuasive T.V. advert, writing and performing radio scripts, up-levelling and self assessing our writing and writing a recount of our trip.

Phew! That's a lot to be looking forward to.

Both Year 5 and Year 6 have been working hard in science throughout the term, learning about plants and animals.

Today we worked with a Year 6 partner creating mind maps showing what we have found out in the past few weeks. Find out what we do with them next week.

Here are some examples but for more head over to the Year 6 blog:

http://6tanfieldlea.weebly.com/

Although a console game, rather than an iPad titile, Fifa Ultimate Team was used as a means of investigating the childrens knowledge of fractions, decimals and percentages after a week or so of lessons. The part of the game used as part of the lesson was accessed via the iPad App ' Football Club' from EA Sports.

The example shown was a lesson starter (10minutes) and plenary session (5-10minutes)

To provide the children with a real life example of where they could find fractions, decimals and percentages, we looked at some of the cards from the Xbox / Playstation game 'Fifa Ultimate Team'.
Using a Powerpoint, that simulated opening a pack of cards from the game, the children were presented with a range of Premier League footballers. From this they were presented with the following task to assess their current understanding.

What ratios can we find in a pack of Ultimate Team cards?
What proportions (fractions) can we find?
What percentages or decimal values can you find?

Look at the card colour (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Look at the team played for.
Look at the nationality.

Children then worked individually, or in pairs to generate as many ratios, fractions, decimals or percentages as they could from the cards shown. (Apologies from the photo quality)

At the end of the starter, the children were informed that all of the cards had been put up for sale (which I had done prior to the lesson) on the game's auction house.

At the end of the lesson (looking at fraction and percentage word problems) we revisited the cards to see which ones had sold. 6 of the cards had sold (2 silver and 4 gold).

The children were then challenged to create a word problem that reflected what had actually happened to the cards, including a fraction or percentage as an answer.
Although quite a challenging task to end the lesson, there were some good examples created.

For more on our Temple Run lessons, please visit:
http://5tanfieldlea.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/ipads-in-education-temple-run.html

References:
Many of the ideas here have also been referred to by Mr Parkinson's excellent blog:
http://mrparkinsonict.blogspot.co.uk/

Squeebles Addition & Subtraction is a fun App designed to practice mental addition and subtraction skills. As one App of many in a series of educational apps (Search for Squeebles in the App Store to Browse multiplication, fractions and spelling alternatives), the game provides a fun and interesting way for children to practice their basic numeracy skills.

The premise of the game is simple. Answer questions to earn stars to be spent on racing cars and Squeebles to drive the unlocked cars.

Children can choose to focus on Additon, subtraction, find the missing values by using their knowledge of the inverse or take a quick test. All to earn the stars they need to upgrade their vehicles.

Once enough questions have been answered, users will be granted a short period of game time to see how far they can race their cars and try to set their own personal record. Before returning to the maths to earn further upgraded and more game time.

Simple but effective!

Each area of questioning comes in 4 levels from addition of single digit numbers up to 3digit + 3 digit, with the same for subtraction.Teachers can control the levels children having access to, ensuring that the challenge is appropriate at all times.

Too hard? Difficulty can be adjusted to suit the needs of individuals.

Once children have collected enough stars, they can trade in their winnings for a range of racing cars. Then, take their car to the track to see just how far they can race it! Only by playing the game and pushing their numbers skills, can the children earn the fastest cars and the best unlocks.

Class lists can be set up quickly, giving each child their own account in which they can collect their own rewards. This makes Squeebles as useful app for the single iPad classroom.

The teacher controls allow each child to have an appropriate challenge set. For younger or less confident children, the harder levels can be disabled until necessary. Whereas for older or more confident children, the opposite can be applied with the easier calculations not presented as an option during their game time.

Finally, teachers are able to view the progress of children with statistics for their performance monitored at all times. Squeebles keeps track of their accuracy making it easy to spot if the challenge needs increasing or adjusting . As well as this, reports will show which questions the children are finding tricky and need further work on during lessons.

Check out more from the Squeebles range in the App Store.

Class Dojo is a free and fun app that allows you to keep records of behaviours, attitude, effort etc and keep track of this using a simple points system.

It provides a great way of visually keeping track of all the positive things that are happening in class (negative points are there should you desire), providing a nice way to revisit the positives during they day and give praise to the children who have been making efforts each day.

A class can be set up in a matter of minutes, with each child being given their own avatar, of which there are many, that can then be awarded points based on a set of fully customisable criteria. If desired, points can be removed for chosen criteria.

Children enjoy being able to choose their own 'little monster' avatar to represent themselves as their scores are tracked throughout the week.

Points are clearly shown next to each child's name and are kept until rest by the teacher (at the end of the day / week etc)

Class Dojo also has a simple register so that the children displayed in the rewards part of the app are in class that day. This is particularly useful if you are planning to use the 'select all' feature to award points in bulk.