Summer Learning Opportunities

There are still so many fantastic ways to learn and grow this summer!

Weekly Tech-y News ... Double Issue

Click the images to download a PDF.

Christmas Books with Green Screen Awesomeness

This project was so much fun! Inspired by Brigitte Hollohan, we used the DoInk Green Screen app ($2.99) to take photos of each student in Mrs. Parisien's first grade in front of an image of Santa in the night sky. We used this image, but you could use any you like. It would be really fun to let students make their own using the Make a Scene: Christmas app ($2.99).

Once the pictures were taken, we could have done any number of things with them! Print them for cute Christmas cards or gifts, add to Seesaw and type or tell their story, create a collage in PicCollage Kids ... really the possibilities are endless! We decided to have each student write a Dear Santa letter using this cute FREE template, then load all the photos into Book Creator app, and have students read their "Dear Santa" letters onto each page. It easily shared to Seesaw, and turned out absolutely adorable!

Hour of Code Stations

Loved helping with Hour of Code stations in Mrs. Bishop's 1st grade. Students were split into groups of 3-4 and participated in each of these activities. The combination of hands-on, "unplugged" activities, plus coding on devices, was amazing. The transfer of skills was apparent, and the students' perseverance and stamina for creating code and problem solving was phenomenal.

Read more to see the activities the students participated in!

1. Osmo Coding
2. Daisy the Dinosaur FREE app
3. code.org
4. ThinkFun Rocket Turtles game
5. Hopscotch Coding from Teach Outside the Box

Brooke Brown from Teach Outside the Box has some amazing resources for coding with little kids on her blog. Check it out here!

I also really loved Seesaw's webinar for K-2 students, How Do You Build An App. Check it out below:

Label Thanksgiving Dinner with Seesaw Activities!

Using the template below, students drag labels to the correct Thanksgiving foods. Students then use the drawing tool to draw their family in the photo, and add their favorite Thanksgiving foods. They can use the microphone or screencast option to tell about the foods. Click the image below to access a template with directions, and keep reading for examples from Mrs. Erickson's awesome first graders!

Teach Your Monster to Read

Teach Your Monster to Read is a wonderful, engaging program that motivates children to learn the basics of reading. It features a variety of levels for pre-K and kindergarten students, and would be helpful for beginning of year 1st graders and struggling readers as a "boost". Continue reading to see how to use this tool in your classroom.

Create a teacher account for FREE online at Teach Your Monster to Read. You can add your students - it will create a star code and password for each student. You can also set which level you want each student to begin at. Click here to view the game levels. They will need this information to login to your class account.

The online version is FREE, and students can access it from computers or Chromebooks. The iPad app is $4.99, but Billings Public Schools teachers are super lucky, as the app went free for a short amount of time last spring and the amazing Deana Elder bought licenses for BPS teachers to use in their classrooms. So if you'd like this app added to your classroom iPads, please submit a Help Desk Ticket and let the techs know which iPads you would like it installed on.

When you open the app, you will have the option of enabling school mode. Follow the on screen instructions to enable this, and enter the star code for your class (you will see this information in your teacher dashboard after adding players to your class).

Enabling the school mode will automatically direct your students to the login page. Each student will need to login using their name and password. There are login cards available to download and print from your teacher dashboard. You can't customize their password, so they will need to copy and eventually memorize the password.

This program, sponsored by Usborne Books, is an engaging way for students to practice early literacy skills. The students absolutely love it!