The 3rd graders are learning transportation words right now in Spanish class.  We used a new application today on the iPad called ShowMe.  It is an application similar to Screen Chomp, but a bit better because you can add more than one picture at a time.  Today we made a ShowMe on the iPad together.  I wrote the words on the iPad and then the students pronounced them!  It was so easy to use and the students really seemed to LOVE hearing their voices all together.

Here is our Show Me below

http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=ZSdRBho

The first graders have been practicing their numbers, colors and alphabet in Spanish class. I found the coolest iPad app that we used in class today. It practices all three of those topics and the students and I just LOVE it. You can change the language from English (man or woman, Austrailan,American or British) to Spanish to French and to German! It so great! We obviously used Spanish in class. You can change the languages and have two languages (both primary and secondary) talking as you color. It is a great iPad app. It’s called 123 Color HD. There is fun music and it’s way more stimulating than paper and crayons! It’s like a talking coloring book! So cool!

The 7th graders are learning about conjugating irregular verbs in the present tense in Spanish.  It doesn’t sound very exciting, does it?  Well, they made it exciting and more fun for themselves one day in class.  We were watching a goofy video about conjugating irregular verbs in the present tense one in class.  It is by the Standard Deviants and it pretty funny and attempts to make middle school students chuckle while learning about grammar.  Well, we had the iPads out while watching the video and the students were using an app called Glow Draw  and Show ME to attempt some of the irregular verb conjugations during the video.  Well, I watched as I saw one student take it a step further.  She was conjugating the verbs and taking notes, AND THEN emailing screen shots of the notes to herself.  It was awesome.  So then we all started to do it.  Each student was actually enjoying taking notes on irregular verb conjugations on the iPad using the glowing or multi-colored letters. They were so engaged and engrossed in what they were doing.  The next class period we took it a step further and added the screen shots to a Google Doc that we can study from if we have a quiz on irregular verbs.

This activity was nothing of my doing.  All I wanted them to accomplish was to practice the conjugations.  I never thought that what they drew would be something we could keep and then use to study!   What awesome ideas come from students and teachers putting their brains together.  They are the digital natives and I am a digital immigrant immersing myself into their techno native land.    Here are some screen shots of our Google Doc of the pictures from our iPad screens.

The 3rd graders learned some vocabulary to teach them school supplies and school words.  You’ve all seen how Screen Chomp works (click the text if not to see blog post from past) so I thought I would share a video of them in action.  It is so incredible how easy this is for them.  I show them ONCE, JUST ONCE, how the app works and then how to share their work with me through an email (there are MANY steps to follow, it’s so impressive how quickly they can do this) but it is just so natural for them.  They can all do this so easily without my help.  It has proven to be so beneficial for them to hear themselves speaking Spanish when we watch their finished Screen Chomps, and even more beneficial that they are spelling the words and can hear themselves pronouncing each letter.  It is so great!  Here is the video of them making the Screen Chomps.

The first graders made an alphabet book in Spanish class!  It will be coming home soon as soon as we’ve added color to it!  We used it to guide us as we spelled words out loud together on the iPads using an application called Magnetic ABC.  Here are some pictures of the three words we spelled out loud together while dragging the letters on the iPad screen.  Ask your son or daughter if they can tell you what the words mean and maybe spell them for you in Spanish!

Here are some pictures of our screens.

avión-airplane…..botón-button…..carro…..car

Recently the Kindergarteners had the opportunity to explore the various music apps that have been installed on the iPads.  They are a variety of instrumental and music theory activities that reinforce current knowledge, introduce upcoming material and even challenge those that are already taking music lessons with more advanced skill tasks.  Some apps that the students really enjoyed were called My Little Band, Music for Little Mozarts, and Glow Piano.  We had a great time creating music in this fun new way!

The students were offered the opportunity to try out our iPads during Lunch and Learn. They had so much fun discovering new apps. Every iPad in our cart was taken. The kids ask daily if we will be bringing out the iPads again soon for Lunch and Learn.

Colorsplash is an excellent application to teach students the effect color has on an image. ColorSplash allows you to convert your photos to black and white, while keeping your chosen details in color. This effect draws the students’ attention to the colored areas, creating undeniably fabulous images. The application is extremely user friendly allowing you to zoom in for specific detail. The students became mesmerized and enjoyed it thoroughly.

These third graders were using iPads to challenge their mathematical thinking. The Tangram App is installed on our iPads, and is a popular game for all ages. These puzzles help students develop their spatial thinking, geometric understanding, and reasoning skills. Using puzzles, such as Tangrams, help children build a rich background in visual and descriptive thinking about shapes and their properties. It is hard for the kids to put down the iPads once they get started on this game!

Great app to use not only in Spanish as the 1st graders did today but in your own academic classroom. I am amazed at how little help these children need as they maneuver around the iPad interface.  They were not only spelling with their fingers but also speaking it in Spanish.  What a cool way to reinforce letter building and making words no matter what language you speak.