March 22, 2013
Volume 3 Issue8
1. Great Apps Available
a. Tools 4 Students
b. Bluster!
c. i Tell a Story
d. A+ Spelling Test
e. TCEA App Evaluation Rubric
2. What is the Difference Between "Doing Projects" and Project Based Learning"?
3. 7 Ways Common Core Will Change Your Classroom.
Professional Development Newsletter Archive
Great Apps Available:
a. Tools 4 Students
Fantastic news! Mobile Learning Services just added 25 new Graphic Organizers as an inapp purchase to Tools4Students. These are just some of the exciting new organizers that will help students with their thinking: Chapter Notes, Document Analysis, Writing Organizers, Drawing Conclusions along with 7 different blank organizers that students and teachers can customize.
This app features 25 graphic organizers for students to use to organize their thinking while reading or preparing to write. Covers all common comprehension skills: cause /effect, main idea/detail, sequence events, pro/con, story elements, characterization, word meaning, plot, KWL and much more. Save to your device and/or email. Use again and again. Project on board and collaborate with team members. Use to organize notes while reading or use them as a prewrite to school papers. Great tool for instructors as well.
b. Bluster!
This word matching game develops vocabulary and word understanding for school-aged children, or anyone brave enough to battle the elements. Shine bright in single-player mode as you learn and practice important word skills. Match rhyming words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms, homophones, adjectives, and more.
Collaborate with a friend in team mode. The multi-touch iPad screen allows both players to play simultaneously, so you can work together to weather the vocabulary storm. Switch to versus mode and play head-to-head for the ultimate test of your lightning quickness. Disrupt your opponent with weather attacks like tornadoes and blizzards - it’s thunderous fun and just might give you the edge you need to reign supreme!
Bluster includes over 800 vocabulary words. Players choose a skill to practice and then try to make matches of three. Ten matches wins a round.
c. i Tell a Story
“i Tell a Story” allows children to narrate and record their stories. But as a complete audio recording and editing tool, there are countless other uses, such as having adults record stories and messages for the little ones in their lives to listen to. Add funny sounds and music if you want, plus a picture, title, and your name, and send your audio book for others to enjoy.
d. A+ Spelling Test
Creating a list of spelling words to study is easy. Choose the list name. Add words - words are immediately checked for spelling to avoid mistakes. (NB: The dictionary will flag contractions as errors.) For each word you add, record your own audio. Three different activities:
- Ace it - Instead of taking a regular test, when you click to "Ace it" you have to keep repeating words until you spell them correctly.
- Practice - The practice mode does not track your score and offers a quick preview of each word when needed with just one click.
- Unscramble - Instead of instantly hearing the word and having to spell it, you see a scramble of letters and have to figure out what word they are for.
- Review mistakes - With each test you took, you can choose to quickly just retest any / all mistakes. In addition, on the main page, you can click to review all the words that were misspelled on their last attempt.
Lesson idea: use this app for vocabulary review by recording a definition to go with the word instead of just reading the word aloud.
e. TCEA App Evaluation Rubric
With more than 500,000 apps available for use on iOS devices like the iPad and iPod touch, how can you make a good decision about which ones are best for education? TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) has developed an app evaluation rubric. Click the link above to view the rubic.
Here are the recommendations that TCEA has for iPad apps.
2. What’s the Difference Between “Doing Projects” and “Project Based Learning”?
In this blog post, Aditi Rao shares information as she puts it...
Thanks to Amy Mayer of FriEdTechnology for this fantastic comparison describing the key differences between “doing projects” and project-based learning! This, my friends, is exactly what I have been trying so ineptly to explain to educators at my own school. There’s a BIG difference, and one that completely changes how the classroom is run and what students take out of it.Click here to read the article.
3. 7 Ways Common Core Will Change Your Classroom
In this blog post, Jacqui Murray shares the main changes coming with Common Core:
The biggest pedagogic change to American education since the arrival of John Dewey is happening right now. It's called Common Core State Standards. Its goal: to prepare the nation's tens of thousands of students for college and/or career. If you are involved in any part of teaching, administrating, or planning, you are holding your breath, downing an aspirin, and crossing your fingers, knowing a storm is about to hit. You've prepared, but is it enough?Click here to read the article.
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