iPad teaching app I LOVE

Today we used an app called Chatter kids on our iPads.  It allows students to take a photo of something, draw a line to make a mouth on it, record their voice and then it animates the picture to look like it is talking.  We have been learning about how weather affects us and so my students took pictures of different types of clothing and explained what type of weather you would wear that piece of clothing in.  They loved it, giggles, smiles and cheers all around.  They were so excited to share what they knew!  I will try to post on of their chatter kids videos another time.

Snow Days and Christmas in February

I live in an area that gets very little snow each year, but always some.  We got 6 inches and the temps have been very low so it was light fluffy snow.  It is flat, open, and windy as well.  Clearing the roads has been next to impossible so we have not had school all week.  But does that mean I have not gone in, of course not.  Especially after getting an e-mail from my principal  titles Christmas in February.  We went to full day pre-k this year, which meant adding pre-k classrooms to our school, which was funded by a grant.  Well a huge chunk of our order came and my classroom was full of boxes.  I braved the bad roads and cold temperatures to go through everything.  While it is amazing to have all of these resources in my room it is a lot of go through!  I am glad we had these snow days because I have worked on it now for about 6-8 hours and it is still a mess.  I am going in again tomorrow, it must get done tomorrow, because I think we will be back to school on Monday.  Below is the carnage from my trip today.

How is it February Already?

This year is flying by and I have done so many fun new things this year.  It has been a very hectic but rewarding year.  This year we went form half day pre-k with a morning and afternoon to full day pre-k.  It has been a lot of work, but wow has it been worth it.  I already have students who are writing sentences!  They are amazing me at every turn.  One of my favorite projects this year was making self portraits.  My students each made a self portrait and then we wrote I am _____. on them.  They loved it.  I took a long time to complete, but it was so worth it.  We first made the portraits and then one or two kids a day would write I am _____. on their portrait.  They are really spectacular.  Her are some examples.

 

Something else I have discovered is gonoodle.  Gonoodle is a website that you can use for brain breaks.  It works best if you have a smart board or projector of some sort.  I like that it is customizable.  For mine I added a bunch of Laurie Berkner Band clips from youtube that my kids love.  I do not have to search for the link and my kids love watching our character grow as we gain more points.  It is a must have for every primary classroom.