Augmented Reality Apps for iPad

I just learned about two great apps from the fabulous tech director at my school, Tammy Parks.  It is always exciting to do some brainstorming with Tammy because she always has the coolest things to share.  When she showed me the two apps I'm featuring in this blog, I was pumped. I had not heard about augmented reality yet, but now that I have seen it, I can't wait to implement some of these apps in my classroom.  They are fun, engaging, and exciting.


The first app will definitely be implemented as a math center with the single ipad in my room. This app is called Fetch Lunch Rush by PBS kids.  In Fetch Lunch Rush, students are given a math fact and scan answers to feed augmented reality food to their creature.  Click to watch this youtube video by Children's Technology Review to see how this app works.

Here is a link to a youtube video by BarrowMediaCenter of 1st graders using this app to practice math facts in a hunt style activity. I can see myself doing this type activity when I have a classroom of ipads or have multiple ipads to partner students together.   
**This is not my classroom or my students. 

The second app that I think is totally cool and can't wait to use in my classroom is a coloring app that utilizes augmented reality to make coloring way more entertaining. It is called colAR Mix and is developed by Puteko Limited. With this app, you can print coloring pages from their website.  Students can color the pages with their own color choices.  Using the ipad app, you can bring those coloring pages to life in amazing ways.  Check out this youtube video that demonstrates this app.

Special thanks to Tammy Parks for sharing these great apps!

Popcorn - My students favorite game.

Popcorn is probably the most popular center game I have in my classroom.  The students beg me to put in the rotation all year long.  I've seen a multitude of varieties of this game in other teacher's classrooms and in workshops.  It's sometimes called BAM! or Batman. I've decided to share how I use the game in my classroom.

How to play: 
The object of the game is simple - At the end of the game be the person with the most sticks to win.

Students sit in a circle and pass the popcorn bucket in a clockwise pattern. Each student takes a turn before passing the bucket. 

In a turn, a student will blindly pull a popscicle stick out of the bucket. They will read whatever is on the stick to the group.  If they read the word (or answer the math problem) correctly, they get to keep the stick. 
If they pull the DREADED popcorn stick out, they must put it and all the other sticks back into the bucket. 

The game is over when either time runs out or the students have each passed the bucket around an agreed amount of times.

I must warn you that this game gets VERY, VERY loud.  Students really get into it.  At any moment, you will hear cheers as they get it right, or you could hear moans and groans as someone finds a dreaded popcorn stick.

Store sticks by rubber banding them in groups.

 I have basically been able to create a popcorn game for so many concepts: sight words, phrases, long vowel words, short vowel words, addition facts, subtraction facts, greater than-less than, complete the pattern, money, shapes, time, and more.  I simply use the same popcorn container and just switch out sticks with whatever concept I am wanting my students to work on. 

Self-Checking Clothespin Centers

 I love activities that I can use in centers that are engaging for students and allow them to self-check.  I created these self-checking clothespin centers for very little money, and it was really easy. I took a piece of card stock paper and cut it down the middle to create two separate activities. Using a sharpie, I wrote questions on one side.  The blue center below is an example of an addition center.  I used the sharpie to write answers on a clothespin for each question.  Then I flipped the paper over and wrote the answers next to where the clothespin lines up for each question.  So I have the sums written on both sides of the clothespins.  Students clip clothespins to each number sentence.  When they have finished clipping a clothespin to each question, they flip the card over and check their answers.  Super easy, and students really enjoy doing this activity.

Addition Clothespin Center - There is a letter written on each clothespin because I have more than one of these centers.  The letter denotes to which set the clothespin belongs.

My students enjoyed the clothespin centers so much, I ended up making several for different concepts.  Here is one that I did on green card stock for alphabetizing.  Students start out with a set of clothespins with animal names on it.  They put the pins in alphabetical order next to arrows.  The arrows give them a place to line their clothespins up neatly.  After they believe they have the pins in alphabetical order, they can flip the card over and check to see if they did it correctly. 

Alphabetical Order Clothespin Center - I have several of these alphabetical cards created.  I did these with themes.  The animal names theme is displayed above.  

One of the great things about these centers, besides the fact that they are so cheap and easy to make is that they really engage students.  Students enjoy clipping the clothespins and it is challenging for them to do the activities.  My students will sit and does these for as long as I let them.  Another great aspect is that when students finish, they don't simply say "I'm done! Now what?"  Most of my students will take all the clothespins off and try to do it again to see if they can get faster.  As my students progress, I will let them take a timer with them to the center.  They love it.  :-)

Blogging........by students.

I just want to take a moment to share about a great webservice that I used all last year in my classroom and plan on using this year.  It's called Kidblog.  Kidblog is a FREE, (oh yeah, my favorite four letter word) online blogging site designed especially for teachers to use for their students.  It is a safe environment where teachers have absolute control over content and connections. 


Teachers can create an account without having student email addresses.  It takes as little as a minute to set up a class. Students have the option to customize their blogs if the teacher allows it. My first grade students loved having the opportunity not only to blog, but also to comment on the blogs of their peers. Above is a sample page from one of my students. We started out simple with short one sentence blog posts and ended with students writing weekly blog entries about what they were learning in class.  This was a great review tool for them and assessment tool for me.  I highly recommend this totally FREE website.

Check it out at  www.kidblog.org

Number Sense & Dice Patterns

I just finished participating in the KESAM institute for K-8 Math Teachers.  This eight day workshop covers all areas of math and focuses on how to use concrete models to teach concepts with special attention paid to the five math process skills. One of the great things that I took away from this training was tons of ideas for math centers and activities.

With young students, it is extremely important to develop good number sense.  One of the first things you can do to develop this is to teach students to identify patterns in numbers.  Our adult eyes are quick to identify any object found in groups based upon number patterns we have learned.  For example, look at the two pictures below.  How many ducks?  How many flowers?

I'm willing to bet none of you actually counted the objects in those pictures.  As adults, your mind has learned to identify a pattern of four as well as a pattern of six without counting.  Children have the ability to learn this skill at an early age.  It is a great way to start them on the way to developing number sense.

Dice are a great way to start developing number sense in children.  In my classroom, I begin by teaching students to identify the dice patterns using paper plates.  Much like flashcards, I use paper plates with dots in patterns to play a game called "Name That Number".  Students love it. I progress into students using dice to play the game with each other.  Eventually as students master the ability to identify numbers without counting the dots, I add more than one dice.  Great addition practice as well.

A Few Math Apps for Primary Grades

Number Rack
This abacus style app promotes students' ability to think in groups of five or ten.  In addition, it gives students concrete models where they can practice basic addition and subtraction concepts. FREE!

 Number Pieces
 I love, love, LOVE this app.  I do quite a bit of math instruction with base ten blocks.  This app is one of the best virtual base ten block apps I have seen.  It allows students to group and ungroup blocks. It offers a writing feature where students can write numbers, use as scratch pad, or even circle blocks to group them. What's my favorite four letter word?? FREE!!



 Geoboard
This is a great app for allowing students to explore shapes, symmetry, and more.  My students really enjoy using this app.  On the ipad, it offers two different sizes of geoboards with five band colors to choose from. Lots of possibilities with this app.  Oh, did I mention....FREE!!!! :-)

 

Tiny Tips for My Teacher Friends

Storage Solution -
I have rectangular tables in my classroom.  I enjoy having the tables to promote collaborative learning, but it makes storage a problem.  Seatback pockets are very expensive and haven't been something I could afford to do. Last year I saw numerous posts on using stretchable book covers as seatback pockets.  Sometime in September, I decided to purchase some that were on clearance at our local Walmart and try them out.  I have to admit the work fairly well.  Now, I wouldn't recommend putting textbooks in them, but my students were able to keep workbooks, work folders, white boards, and their computer headphones within easy reach. I paid around $1.00 for each cover, and I am happy to say that all but one will be usable again this year. If you decide to try book covers, I recommend purchasing jumbo size covers.  These hold wider folders better.

Brilliant idea!!!
I have seen these tiny latching containers for the past three years at Staples.  I've always wondered what in the world they would be good for besides holding a few paper clips. The other day I was browsing through Staples trying to decide what supplies I needed for the coming year when I stumbled upon these little babies again.  BAM! It hit me right in the forehead.  These would be awesome containers for dice. They latch securely, are the perfect size, and offer great visibility for students to see the dice. They even stack for easy storage. No more flying dice!! I even scored great on their price because they were on sale for .25 cents.  Normally priced at $1.00 a box, I think it is a decent price for such a great solution.