Category: technology

Posted in technology

Third graders used their five senses when reading the story Twister! As we read the story, we emphasized finding the five senses on all of the pages, admiring the beautiful paintings. After the story, the kids dragged the phrases to the correct sense box in a Seesaw activity I created for them. “Natt’s eyes look big and round and full of tears.” This is a beautifully written and painted story! The kids liked how the illustrator painted the swing at the end of the story to match the text: “The sight of our porch swing stops me. An arm is broken, a slat is missing, it’s sloping on one chain.”

Exploring Animals with Pebble Go: English and Spanish

Posted in picture book lesson, and technology

First graders enjoyed the award winning read aloud, Oh No! by Fleming and Rohmann. They predicted what would happen at the end of the story and who came to rescue the animals. At the tables, they watched the book trailer, sequenced the animals (sheet below), and rotated on the computers to explore animal information on Pebble Go in English and Spanish. PebbleGo is one of our district databases. The kids can listen to the sounds, read short text, and watch videos to go with each animal. After check out, they watched a San Diego zoo video about tigers. Fun!

Oh No! student sheet

September 21, 2019

Amy Kincaid

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This is a Moose…Or Is It?

Posted in apps, picture book lesson, reading skills, and technology

Last week in the Jackson Library, fifth graders studied characters by their appearance, actions, and dialogue in the book, This is a Moose. After the story, they used a Seesaw activity I created to complete a bubble map describing the character(s) of their choice. They were allowed to use two physical attributes and the rest were to be personality traits. Check out their awesome work!

moose

Character Trait Bubble Map Seesaw Activity

grandma bubble map

moose bubble map

moose's friends bubble map

May 19, 2019

Amy Kincaid

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The Sweetest Fig

Posted in picture book lesson, reading skills, and technology

Before STAAR testing, the fourth graders enjoyed a classic tale ripe for some inferring! We read The Sweetest Fig and made inferences throughout. After the story, the kids gathered into teams to play a Factile (Jeopardy) game!The Sweetest Fig

PreLoad Vocab SweetFig Donna MartinSweetFig_Jeopardy w picturesFactile Game

Two Bad Ants

Posted in picture book lesson, reading skills, and technology

Third graders were given just the text portion of the story Two Bad Ants by Chris van Allsburg and had to analyze the text to figure out the location of the ants. Then I showed them the picture so they could see if their predictions were accurate. After the story, they played a Classtools game I customized with questions from the story and had the option to explore the Archibald’s Adventure simulation game.

Two Bad Ants lesson

two bad ants stu sheet

two bad ants1 KEY

Jeopardy Labs Game

Two Bad Ants Jeopardy

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April 22, 2019

Amy Kincaid

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Seeds of Kindness

Posted in character education, picture book lesson, and technology

I had second grade predict what the rabbit and mouse would do when the threatening birds approached in the gorgeous book, If You Plant a Seed. They are happily munching away on the fruits and vegetables from their garden when the birds approach with menacing looks. Among the ‘hide your fruits and vegetables’ and ‘hurry and eat them’, a couple of kids thought of the idea to share them. We discussed the power of a kind deed and brainstormed ways they could show an act of kindness before they left school that day. I gave them the maple seed model pattern and they were to write an act of kindness on that seed and then they let the seeds float up and away. Hopefully, it gave them something to think about as they ended their day in the library.

act of kindness

looping forward/backward video by Boomerang

1 Make a Whirly Seed

2 Write a kind deed you can do on the seed

3 send it flying into the world

Spinning Seed Instructions

Make a Seed Spinner

NASA Rotor Motor Seed Pattern

Technology Station

April 14, 2019

Amy Kincaid

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Our OK Book

Posted in picture book lesson, and technology

The week before STAAR testing, first graders created their own digital book based on Rosenthal and Lichtenheld’s book, The OK Book. The book shows the stick figure shaped like the letters ‘OK’ attempting different hobbies and activities. The figure isn’t very good at these activities yet, but that is ‘ok’ and one day they will find their favorite hobby and talent. The kids used DoodleBuddy to create their pictures and AnyFlip to publish. Check out first grade’s book!

LINK

The OK Book collage

March 17, 2019

Amy Kincaid

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Chocolatina

Posted in picture book lesson, reading skills, technology, and TTESS 1819

Before Spring Break, third graders used inference skills to answer questions in the Eric Kraft story, Chocolatina. They used active response cards to answer other types of questions throughout the book. At the computer station, they read Epic! books about chocolate. Finally, we took a Kahoot assessment in pairs before checking out books.

Chocolatina questions-1pp9v5r

Chocolatina-active-participation-cards

chocolatina

Chocolatina

How Chocolate is Made – video

February 11, 2019

Amy Kincaid

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Fifth Grade Analyzes a Biography

Posted in technology, and TTESS 1819

Last week in the Jackson Library, fifth graders analyzed a biography about the pioneer of hip hop music, DJ Kool Herc. After answering STAAR-formatted questions that explored verifiable facts, inferences about finances, and how we can tell Kool Herc was attentive to his audience within the book When The Beat Was Born, the kids used an interactive Google Doodle game, The 44th Anniversary of Hip Hop, to mix their own record using actual instrumental samples from the 70s. Awesome!

2019-2020 lesson