Apps for creative story writing

This blog wrote a great post on apps to help students with creative story writing:

Today, there are lots of apps that can help students generate creative story ideas. Here are five worth taking a look at.

Things to Think About is a free iPad app that offers 100 writing prompts created by students for students. The prompts were created by 2nd through 5th grade students in Jackson County, Michigan. The app itself was built by two high school students in the same county. Things to Think About has writing prompts spread across twelve categories. Each prompt has a picture drawn by a student. A short audio recording of a student reading each prompt can be heard too.

Write About This is an iPad app (free and paid versions available) containing visual, text, voice writing prompts for students. Students can respond to the writing prompts they see by writing directly in the app or anywhere else that you want them to write. Write About This allows students and teachers to create their own writing prompts too. To create a writing prompt you choose  picture from your camera roll, type a prompt, then record your voice to go along with the prompt. Prompts and responses to prompts can be shared via email. Sharing via email is disabled by default. Sharing can be activated in the app’s settings. The free version of Write About This contains 50 prompts. The paid version of Write About This (currently priced at $3.99) has nearly 500 prompts.

Shake-a-Phrase is a fun iPad app (currently priced at $1.99) for elementary school and middle school students to use to start stories and practice recognizing parts of speech. Shake-a-Phrase has three basic modes; shake it, story starter, and quiz mode. Each mode has five themes; animals, monsters, fairytales, sports, and random. In “shake it” mode students shake their iPads to have complete, but random sentences appear on their screens. The “story starter” mode presents students with a new random story prompt each time they shake their iPads. In both of these modes students can favorite sentences and prompts to refer to later. Shake-a-Phrase’s quiz mode presents students with random sentences in which they have to identify nouns, adjectives, verbs, conjunctions, and prepositions.

Brainstormer is an iPad app (current price $1.99) that started out as a website in 2009. The web version has been replaced the the iPad app that quickly generates story starters for you. The basic Brainstormer app has three wheels of words and themes that you can spin. You can spin each wheel separately until you have a combination of words that you think you can use. When you have selected a story starter you can share it with others through email, Twitter, or Facebook.  That’s all there is to the basic Brainstormer app. You can add more words and themes to the app through in-app purchases of “character creator” and “world builder.”

Sentence Builder from Abitalk is a series of iPad apps designed to help elementary school students learn to construct sentences. The app asks students to build sentences about the pictures that they see in the app. Each picture is accompanied by a set of words that students drag and drop into place to write the sentence that they hear read by the narrator. For example, in one picture children will see two people running and they will have to write the sentence that they hear the narrator read. Sentence Builder will tell students if they have written the sentence correctly or not. Sentence Builder allows parents and teachers to create their own lessons. To create a lesson start by selecting a picture from your iPad’s camera roll then write out the sentence that you want students to create. You can use your own voice to narrate the sentence or use the app’s native voice for narration. Sentence Builder Free is a free app for Kindergarten through grade 2. The full version of Sentence Builder costs $2.99. The full version offers more pre-made sentences, more complex sentences, and more word choices.

[Source]

5 Apps for connecting with Parents

I previously shared '5 apps that really engage parents' but with school underway, I wanted to re-share these ideas for teacher's in classrooms that have to start thinking about Meet the Teacher night and parent teacher interviews also.

1. Skype: Skype for computer, smart phones and tablets lets parents join in classroom events like story time and special presentations without having to be physically present. Even military parents overseas and grandparents who live far away are taking advantage of the Skype platform to read to students and participate in celebrations. Creative teachers ask students to find the parent’s/grandparent’s location on a map and ask a few questions to learn about the local geography, landmarks and culture. Skype can also be helpful as a way for working parents to attend parent-teacher conferences.
2. Twitter: Whether it is class homework updates, project deadlines, school news or dinnertime conversation starters, teachers are taking advantage of Twitter’s free tool and keeping parents up to date and involved in classroom happenings. In a day-in-age where most parents have cell phones, Fast Follow by Twitter becomes a simple and reliable alert system. To use it, all you need to do is setup a Twitter account and ask parents (and older students) to text Twitter’s shortcode of 40404 with the message “follow [your Twitter username].” From there, parents will start receiving all of your updates via text message in real-time.
3. VolunteerSpot: Get more parents involved in the classroom by streamlining how you ask for help and making it easier for parents to sign up to help. VolunteerSpot replaces paper signup sheets, reply-all email chains and backpack Pony Express. Simple online signups from smartphones, tablets or computers make it easy for class parents to choose a spot that fits their schedule or to send food or supplies for special events; auto reminders and calendar syncing help parents keep their commitments. Quickly organize parents to read to the class, help in the lunchroom or at recess, attend parent-teacher conferences, and help with class parties, field trips and performances.
4. Pinterest: A virtual vision board for classroom inspiration, Pinterest offers a great way for teachers and parents to build community and share ideas. Invite class parents to create and share pinboards with links to age-appropriate themes and ideas including educational boards like fun math apps, favorite books, vocabulary games, and science fair ideas – student-centric boards like recess games, scholarships and prom fashions – and boards geared towards parents such as healthy snack and lunch ideas, afterschool sports resources, and class party ideas.
5. Edublogs: A free, safe blogging platform for teachers, students and school communities, Edublogs lets you easily create and manage student and classroom blogs that keep parents up-to-date on class happenings and give students a safe portfolio for sharing their work with parents and extended family (via password-protected blogs). Post a few times a week adding videos, photos, links to volunteer signup sheets and educational resources – parents will enjoy your current content and feel more informed and connected to the classroom.

Source: http://www.weareteachers.com/community/blogs/weareteachersblog/blog-wat/2013/05/30/5-apps-that-engage-parents-in-the-classroom

Tech Tuesday: Remind 101

I have blogged about Remind 101 before as a great took to stay n touch with parents and student regarding everything from homework to fieldtrips.


What I like about this post from http://www.twoguysandsomeipads.com is the screen shots and descriptions from the program....

 

Remind 101 is an tool that allows you to text your students or stay in touch with parents in a secure and safe way. Teachers never see student or parent phone numbers, and they will never see the teacher's phone number. Educators can send messages using the mobile app on Android and iOS devices, as well as www.remind101.com.


This tool is great for friendly reminders about field trips, homework, plays, events, or a kind motivational message. Remind 101 has recently redesigned their iOS app with great new features and a teacher resource page to help with any questions.

These pictures are of the newly redesigned Remind 101 iOS app.

Download Remind 101:
iOS
Android 

This is def. something I want to try using.....

Social Media Icebreakers - Age Appropriate

We Are Teachers has some social media icebreakers for back to school. You could also do some of these as a TTOC (sub) since most do not actually use social media or technology (the rules vary in districts) but the ideas from them. These ideas were in response to a 5th grade teacher looking to use social media ideas in the classroom.

1. Talk about digital footprints by having students trace the bottoms of their shoes on pieces of papers. Then, with pencil and Sharpie, have them draw the lines they see on the bottoms of their shoes. Scan their footprints into the computer and have kids add text around their illustrations describing what it means to be a good digital citizen. —Rachel O.
2. Create a "Fifthbook" bulletin board display where students can routinely add "status updates" about what they are learning. Begin by having them fill out predeisgned templates that are similar to a Facebook bio. Then, throughout the year, have students add their mood, feelings and other updates. —Tabitha F.
3. Try having students fill out a Facebook profile for a character from a summer reading book. You can do it via pencil and paper or online. Then have kids choose their next book based on their classmates' recommendations. —Dominick D.
   
   *** I did this when I taught Grade 9 with A Mid Summer Night's Dream: You can see it here
4. Have you tried Edmodo? It's a great social media platform that's completely safe for students as young as kindergarten. It does a nice job of mimicking the experience of grownup sites like Facebook and Instagram. You can have students fill out their profiles and share them as an icebreaker activity. —Karen L.
   
   ***My daughter's teacher used this
5. Have each student write down three statements about themselves. One of the statements must be false. Then have the children share their statements with the class, challenging the other students to guess which statement is incorrect. It's a nice way to get to know one another AND talk about how easy it is to lie on the Internet! —Francis K.
6. Try making a giant paper iPad with an app space for every student. It's up to the student to fill that space and keep it updated throughout the year. —Brandy G.
7. Make a "Futurebook" bulletin board display. Challenge students to write and illustrate Facebook profiles showing their future careers, hobbies, pets and families. It's a great way to talk about goal setting! —Sabrina K.

Ipads in the classroom

Found this awesome blog post:

There are many reasons to use iPads in the classroom - besides the fact that they are super cool. Studies have shown that using iPads can increase student engagement and test scores. These studies also show that there are both three approaches to integration - teacher to student, student to student and student groupwork - and three types of apps - interactive, reference and productivity/creativity.

• Interactive apps require user engagement, but do not create new materials. Examples: Angry Birds, Hotel Tycoon, GraphingCalcHD, MayanMath
• Reference apps provide a wealth of information - just like the reference section of a library. Examples: Bible, NutritionFacts
• Productivity/Creativity apps allow users to create or produce something. Examples: Keynote, Pages, Numbers, drawing and painting apps, music creation, movie editing

iPad Effective Use in the Classroom (October 4, 2011)

Apps Parents Can Use to Promote 21st Century Literacy

Found this awesome compilation at https://edshelf.com/profile/100fmcx/apps-parents-can-use-to-promote-21st-century-literacy 

VanSun: In today's digital world, teachers should be best and brightest

It will come as no surprise to anybody who has been paying attention that kids in today's classrooms with their BlackBerrys, iTouches, iPhones, thousands of apps, Google, Wikipedia, Face-book, Twitter and laptop windows on the world are making a new kind of demand on public education and its teachers.

"Digital" has always been in these kids' cultural DNA, they've likely never written in cursive, their cellphones tell them the time and are their social lifelines, they can organize a flash mob in two minutes and anything bizarre that happens in a classroom will be on YouTube later that same evening.

Teaching this group in a classroom is not getting any easier.

Today's kids are awash in a computerized technology that does not distinguish information and knowledge. So it will be up to their teachers to help them distinguish gold from dross.

Read More at Vancouver Sun

Cool apps for note taking

Live Notes

Live Notes is a colorful note-taking and sketching app that allows for simultaneous audio recording. Draw shapes and doodles during a lecture or meeting. Type text and choose from a variety of fonts and bright colors. Tap parts of a sketch to hear the audio that was recorded at the specific point in time when the sketch was drawn. 

Live Notes is a paid app, but you can try Live Notes Lite for free. 

Note Anytime

Note Anytime is an app for taking notes, sketching, and annotating PDFs. Caligraphy tools support improved letter formation providing assistance with sloppy iPad penmanship.  Use the app to easily import and markup PDFs. Export notes to popular social media sharing sites, like Twitter, Facebook and Drop Box. 

Note Anytime is currently a free app available in iTunes.

 

 

ScratchWorks

ScratchWorks is a note-taking app that allows users to take notes on one side of the screen and browse the web on the other. Type text notes or insert a sketch area into the notes for doodling. It also provides a custom math keyboard. 

ScratchWorks is a free app, available in iTunes.




Source:  Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners

Ipad App: Answer Pad

Saw this new app that allows you to turn your ipad into a "clicker" which is ideal for teaching as you can get immediate responses from students as you teach and adapt the lesson as needed based on real-time feedback.

http://theanswerpad.com/index.php/go-interactive/ is where you can check out all the details. I heard about it from one o fmy new fave websites Teachnology Tailgate who writes:

The Answer Pad is a free way (1 class per teacher up to 35 students) to use the iPad as an interactive answer sheet. This is great for any T/F, multiple choice, fill in the blank, etc etc type of test or quiz. The teacher uses the web interface to setup their class and get instant real-time results. Plus, everything The Answer Pad does is aligned to state standards.

Now, they released their latest update w/ Go Interactive, this basically turns your iPad into a "clicker system". It allows students to answer any question the teacher asks, and they use their iPad to respond, either tap on Y/N, T/F, thumbs up/down, fill in the blank, or draw their answer.
 

I don't have an ipad, but I have a SMARTboard and my teaching partner next door uses an ipad for everything... I am excited to try our a browser/web version of this when it comes out.

ipad apps for Story Telling

Technology Tailgate posted these great ipad stroytelling apps:

Storytelling apps are one of the most powerful aspects of the iPad. They allows for collaboration and creativity that I couldn't really achieve before using the iPad. Here are some of my favorite Storytelling Apps. 

Toontastic (example HERE)

Feltboard (examples HERE and HERE)

Skitch ...for labeling ( example HERE)

Sock Puppets (example HERE)

Puppet Pals

StoryBuddy 2 (examples HERE)

My Story 

Educreations (examples HERE)

ShowMe

Explain Everything

Little Bird Tales (post with examples HERE from web tool but app is similar)

Draw and Tell

Haiku Deck

Strip Designer

SonicPics

Book Creator

Draw-n-Show

StoryPatch

Story Dice

Superhero HD

StoryBot

ipad apps for interactive and engaging classroom

Engaging Presentations using ipad apps writes:

If you are tired of PowerPoint and Keynote, it's easy to change up your normal routine. As much as I love these presentation tools, it's important to keep my audience engaged, and often a quick deviation from the usual is the perfect trick.
There are so many fantastic free iPad apps that are great for the classroom. Whether you have access to a single iPad that you use to create presentations for your students, or your students are creating their own presentations in a 1:1 classroom, you'll want to add these to your must-have list!

1. Haiku Deck - feels a bit like powerpoint slides, but short bits of text
2. Prezi - Great for presentations, like a slide show but on one page that zooms in and out of sections to show presentation.
3. Screencasting - copies screen and allows voice integration. Great for showing a lesson.
4. Educreations - works like a SMARTboard on your ipad
5. Screenchomp - copy screen easily
6. Doceri - screencasting, desktop control, and an interactive whiteboard combined into one
7. Snapguide - create step by step guides

I have only used two of these before (Prezi and Screenchomp) so I found this list exciting to read about.

Have you used any of these in  your classroom? Tell us about it!!


A lot of the new edu-blogs I follow do this link-up thing, so I thought I would give it a try... add your link to a technology blog post you have:

Mind Mapping

As an educator you have likely encountered mind maps used in a variety of ways. I love the visual organization and creativity mind maps allow.

I saw this cool way to use mind maps on ipads, ipods and such....

Check out the app here:

ipad, ipod, mind map app

ipad apps under $10

My school has quite a number of ipads in use by teachers and students. One student in my class uses his ipad constantly and my teaching partner is glued to his. I personally, do not have an ipad, nor do I have the desire to get one (at this time) but I do see their use in the classroom and so when I saw this post I thought I would share for any ipad lovers out there:

Technology Tailgate Blog has this list of apps on a budget

Obviously, since I don't have an ipad, I have not tried and tested these apps, but they are inexpensive and likely offer trials if you want to check them out.