Life in 1st Grade - iPods - Making Use of What You Have

The months of December and January were spent in a 1st grade and 3rd grade classroom. I was in 1st grade in the morning and 3rd grade in the afternoon. The 1st grade classroom is a co-taught class with 2 young teachers who are very willing to be reflective and improve their teaching practice. They were ready for new ideas.

After meeting with the team we decided that they needed help with math centers, and they wanted to use their iPods more. They had approx 13 iPods sitting in a cart that they were not using. The iPods were 4th gen. iPod Touches, and could only be updated to iOS 6.1.5. I started by updating the iOS and investigating what apps would be compatible. I used APPitic. There are quite a few app review sites, but this has become my favorite. The site was especially useful because it tells you what device(s) will support the particular app. Next I double checked the iTunes description just to make sure. I picked a mix of free and paid apps. I loaded approx 8 apps onto the iPod Touches.
Next I suggested using QR codes because they wanted something that their students could do independently during math centers. I loaded a free QR code reader app. I grabbed a free QR code addition packet from Teacher Pay Teachers. It was created by one of my co-workers, Amanda Zanchelli (Learning to the Core blog). I was able to show the 1st grade team how easy it was, and how much the kiddos liked doing it. QR codes are great because you can give kids the ability to move around the room if you like. Next, I made a scavenger hunt of my own, and showed them how to do it. They picked it up right away, and the next time I came to the room the kids were working on a QR code math scavenger hunt made by their teachers.  I provided the teachers with some resources and off they went. I was so happy to see that. They have really expanded on the idea by making QR code Valentine's movies . They posted these on their class webpage and the kids are able to listen to them during center time using QR codes. The students really like listening to each other on the iPods! These teachers also shared their new found expertise with the rest of the members of the 1st grade team.
This link will provide you with more info on how to use QR codes in the classroom, this blog post will walk you through how to set up a QR code lesson for book trailers.

Using QR codes in math centers

QR Valentine messages from all 1st graders

The next thing they wanted to accomplish was something to improve their reading centers, and another way to utilize the iPod Touches. I suggested that we do a project that would be Above the Line. Thanks to Shannon Soger (iTeach Above the Line Blog) for the inspiration on this project. In the end students read books at their reading level, and shared them with their classmates on the iPod Touches. First, the teachers allowed the children to pick books on their level. We call those "just right books". They practiced reading their books at home and to a partner, so that they would know them well. Next each child used Photobooth to take a picture of their cover and all the pages. I taught them to go to Edit - Auto Flip New Items when taking pictures of the illustrations in the books. This way the pictures won't be backwards. Then they read their book into iMovie. They did not have to look at the camera because we dropped the pictures over the words in the form of a cutaway, in iMovie. Each student got to design their own introduction by choosing a background, writing their book title and their name and finally adding music. I exported to movies to the desktop, and then saved them on my flash drive. Next I put the movies into iTunes on my computer. Finally, I sync'ed the iTunes with the iPod Touches. Now the students can click on video on the iPod touches and listen to each other read their books. Click on this link to watch a screencast of the process. 

Taking pictures of our books

Recording our words in iMovie

QR codes and Book Trailers - Working in an Above the Line Classroom

Welcome to my blog: Tales of a 1:1 Instructional Coach
I will be sharing the trials and tribulations of being an instructional coach in a K-8 1:1 school district. I hope to showcase how teachers are using technology to meet standards and keep kids moving forward. I will also be sharing my experiences of building relationships with teachers in order improve their teaching practices and move them Above the Line.

This past week was an exciting one. I worked in a 4th grade classroom all week. We created book trailers and published them using QR codes. When the QR code is scanned, a student book trailer can be viewed on any mobile device. Although the explanation is long the process is simple. The students did a phenomenal job producing and publishing their own videos. 
First, each student read a book on their reading level. The classroom teacher provided a script that included: title, author, setting, problem, and recommendation. The recording also included a hook like, "To find out more read this story." Next each student recorded themselves in iMovie. This could be done in Quicktime or Windows Movie Maker too if you don't have iMovie. They took a picture of the book's cover using Photo Booth. I taught them how to do cut aways using their book's cover. A cut away is just that - the movie continues while the viewer sees the book cover (or whatever still picture is inserted) while still hearing the students voice telling about the book. There are many videos about how to do a cut away, but I have found this one most useful Book Reviews in iMovie by CrunchEd Productions. This video can be posted on your class website for students to watch over and over again till they understand the process. You could always make your own screen cast, but there are so many videos available why would you reinvent the wheel? 
Once students were happy with their movie we had to save them to somewhere where they could be shared. We use Google Apps for Education in our district. Each student has their own Google Drive account. We logged in and uploaded our movies to Google Drive. Next, we used Unitag QR Code generator so that we could put the book cover into the middle of the QR code. We copied and pasted the Google Drive URL and uploaded the book cover photo to the generator website. Make sure you change your share settings in Google Drive to Anyone with the Link. Otherwise the QR code can not be viewed. 
Almost done - students dropboxed the file to their teacher, she sized them and printed them out! The picture above shows one of the QR codes and the bulletin board where all the QR codes are posted. The students enjoy clicking on each others codes and listening to their classmates book review. The key now is to get students to read the books that were reviewed. 
Stay tuned ~ this week, this same class is going to use augmented reality to do biography book reports.