Recently one of our fifth grade teachers, Alice Sikkema, was chosen to present in the poster sessions at Georgia Education Technology Conference (GaETC). She rocked it! One of the things shared was the list of "tried and true" technology usage by grade level at our elementary school. Below is the compiled list brought to you by teachers that implement daily. New semesters are a great time to try new things. Especially second semester when students have already found their "new year" rhythm. I hope this list is helpful for you. You will immediately see that our teachers have access to iPads and many of their choices are iOS apps but often there are web versions and android apps for these as well. Good luck as you start your new year and happy integrating!
Kindergarten technology use:
An app for teaching handwriting based on the popular Handwriting Without Tears® Slate Chalkboard activity. Students trace a letter on the iPad but the app won't allow them to trace it incorrectly. They must learn which line comes first in order to progress to the next letter.
An app that allows children to quickly learn common vocabulary.
Number Match is a fun matching game for kids to practice numbers and counting.
SlateMath is an iPad app that develops mathematical intuition and skills through playful interaction.
Matific develops mathematical excellence and problem solving skills through playful interaction.
First Grade technology use:
SeeSaw App (free version) works on multiple platforms-
http://web.seesaw.me/ use for children to have an electronic portfolio of their work in the classroom while also allowing their parents and myself to see and comment on their work. It helps with accountability, cutting down paper used in the classroom, and allows students to explain their thinking in multiple ways (video, audio, photo, drawings, blog, etc). Works on any device.
iPods - Tons of audio books downloaded on them. Students use these as their listening to reading center.
Matific app (cost but free trial) works on multiple platforms https://www.matific.com/us/en-us/ - individualized math games that are centered around the curriculum we are learning that gives me feedback on what students have mastered as well as what they need to be retaught.
Epic app (free) works on multiple platforms-
https://www.getepic.com/ students have individualized e-book libraries based on their interests. It is very engaging and the kids who typically loath reading enjoy it because it is what they like.
Second Grade technology use:
Keynote app (cost) iOS and apple computers -
http://www.apple.com/keynote/ We use the keynote app for student presentations. The students are introduced to the research process. They are assigned a topic and divided into specific groups (as known as typical collaborative learning groups.) Students gather information using the web and are taught to reference and give credit to their resources.
See Saw (free version) works on multiple platforms http://web.seesaw.me/ - We have recently started the implementation of the Seesaw app. This is a student-driven digital portfolio. We are working on students taking responsibility for their learning. This empowers students at a young age to document what they are learning at school and share it with their teacher, parents and classmates. Because this is fairly new to our grade level, we provide assistance to the students; however, it is our goal to make this tool a center that students can document their efforts and eventually be utilized to enable and provide independence for their work.
Math Master iOS app (free)- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/math-masters-free/id514919162?mt=8 Math factorization and recall is important for our students. The Math Master and Blaster apps provide students an opportunity to become a math maniac with Mr. Number using their math skills. They can exercise their brains by remembering their math drills and solve the mental math problems to test their skills. There are 7 challenging games in 1 single app that targets their age group and higher. They can play basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division or the ones that are quite a challenge for them. They can complete an equation with the correct signs or answer the random questions if they want to accept the challenge. They can solve the long complicated equations or pop a balloon with every right question answered. Or challenge a classmate to get on top of the global leader board by answering a difficult question in a minimum amount of time. We especially appreciate this app and use it regularly at a math center. Others include Math Blaster, Math Ninja and Sushi Math.
Epic app (free) works on multiple platforms-
https://www.getepic.com/ We recently started using the Epic app. It is a huge arsenal and an all-you-can-read eBook library for kids 12 and under with unlimited access to over 10,000 high-quality kids’ books. We use it during our literacy block as a reading center. We especially enjoy using this as a partnership with our parents. It’s unlimited and as long as there is technology our kids can take reading anywhere, therefore, students can meet their nightly objective in a myriad of places.
Green Screen iOS app ($2.99)-
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8 This app was amazing. Students made commercials highlighting the finding from the resource of the local landmarks in Chattanooga. This was the objective from their first PBL (Project Based Learning). Students actively explored their assigned local landmarks within their collaborative learning groups. They made commercials highlighting the information gathered from their resources. This app allowed some students to illustrate or use pictures from the internet as a backdrop. We especially liked this app because it was fun and allowed students to constructively critique their oral presentation and group collaboration skills. It was eye opening and very beneficial.
Third Grade technology use:
Online math class!!! There you will find links to videos that have been created to help your class become successful in math.
ViewPure removes all comments and related videos, allowing videos to be watched without distractions, or more likely, without "inappropriate content" from Youtube. Think of it like YouTube without the bloat.
Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn – any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages! Great for reviewing concepts.
Kidblog provides teachers with the tools to help students publish writing safely online. Students exercise digital citizenship within a secure classroom blogging space. Teachers can monitor all activity within their blogging community.
Fourth Grade technology use:
MobyMax finds and fixes missing math skills that are essential for math comprehension. Moby Math is a comprehensive math curriculum for kindergarten to 8th grade. MobyMax finds missing math skills with a quick, efficient placement test.
Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology. The clips short but full of great information then tests the students knowledge with an interactive quiz.
Does a great job supporting the math curriculum.
Doceri iPad app is a remote desktop app that allows you to control the desktop of your computer remotely, from you iPad. Doceri also has an interactive whiteboard that allows you to mark up the screen to illustrate important points.
Fifth grade technology use:
Great as a “whiteboard” while working on math problems with the teacher. Great for brainstorming! Tons of other applications!
An annotation app. Great for math! Students complete their work on this and submit it to the teacher.
Fun app for students to tell a story and explain ideas. There are all kinds of uses for student projects. Students will have super fun using their imaginations.
The Matific approach was designed to provide optimal support for educators to convey math concepts in as effective and engaging manner as possible. Matific episodes enable a blended learning approach. Having selected the relevant episodes, teachers can seamlessly integrate hands-on math explorations into their own class learning format.
Makes simple learning tools that lets the student study anything. Teacher creates flashcards for students to reinforce their learning and great for test reviews. Lots of fun for students. Free!
Gives students the ability to read nonfiction literacy and current events based on their reading level. Also a great way to quiz students on the readings afterwards.
Student-driven digital portfolio used in math to journal their math resources.
A place for students to turn in their work to the teacher and also a place for the teacher to share items with the students.
Ipad camera
Comprehensive typing curriculum that teaches your students typing skills.
Fifth grade students have a gmail account set up where they can only receive emails from our domain name and/or e-mails we give permissions to email our students.
Teacher shares Class presentations with students so they can follow along as teacher discusses concepts being taught.
Teacher shares spelling/vocabulary words with students. Students never have to worry about losing this document since it is on their ipad. Students have the ability to share their learning and writing with their teachers and peers. Great for giving feedback to students via comments. This also teaches elementary students the skills of knowing how to write papers for future needs.
