Mini Book Reviews

Students explored a fun way to share their favorite books in Reader's Workshop. Two apps were used in the process, Pic Collage and Yakit for kids. Here are a few samples.

Reflective Blogging

Grade 1 students have been doing a phenomenal job blogging so far this year.  For the most part, first graders post a photo of their work and then type a sentence about what they learned or give more information about the image.  Mrs. Hellgeth decided that her students were ready to extend the types of sentences they included in their blog post.  So, her class explored and practiced making reflective blog posts.  They were exposed to ways you could be a reflective thinker by asking themselves one of the three questions below:

1.  How has my thinking changed?
2.  What do I know, but what am I still unsure about?
3.  Why is this new learning important?

Here is the lesson

Student Samples

How has my thinking changed?

What do I know, but what am I still unsure about?

 Why is this new learning important?

Festival of Stories

Grade 1 students are participating in the lower elementary school's Festival of Stories. In order to get ready to celebrate reading and authors like Todd Parr, students made READ posters.  The idea was for first graders to use the style of Todd Parr, bold solid colors with a black outline, when creating their posters. They also had the opportunity to consolidate several functions in both the Drawing Pad and Pic Collage apps.

Authentic Foreign Language Practice with Green Screen by DoInk

Students in Grade 1 used the app Green Screen by DoInk to recreate an authentic restaurant visit in order to practice their new unit vocabulary.  This 'app'tivity not only helped students apply their language skills, but it engaged them in a new way which made presenting their skits even better.

Check out one of the finished products below.