There are times I find things online and have no CLUE how I stumbled upon them....and late last night....when I should've been sleeping, I found the PETE THE CAT APP.....Wait until my students see this on Monday!! At the beginning of May, we got the newest book Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons and now we'll have the Pete the Cat App for our classroom iPads! Right now it's only .99 cents at the iTunes store. It will work on both the iPad and iPhone!
In the App, Pete is searching for his guitar. The player has to help Pete search the bus stop, classroom, lunch room and playground to find his guitar. Once it's found, Pete invites the user to "rock out" with him. At first I thought the game was a little tough to find all the items....I wondered if my kids would be able to find them all.....but then I got my reading glasses!! LOL! Now that I have actually SEEN the game, I am sure they can handle it! ;-)
iTunes also has Pete the Cat books available for download as well. Click on the image below to learn more about the App and to download it for the Pete the Cat fans in your life! ;-)
Are you celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week? Well, I am and I'm offering both a SALE and a GIVEAWAY over in my shop at Teachers Notebook. No need to leave a comment or do anything special...(although I'd love it if you added my shop to your list of favorites) ;-) ...but simply click on the images below to check out my saleand see my teacher-friendly materials or enter my giveaway. Be sure to enter the Teachers Notebook Sweepstakes too! ;-)
I have really been enjoying exploring new ways to use the iPad in my classroom. The other day I came upon an App called Doodle Buddy. It reminds me of a child's toy called Magna Doodle, where the kids write on the board and erase with a swipe. But Doodle Buddy is like a Magna Doodle on STEROIDS! ;-)
I have been working hard to teach my students about the concept of using tally marks to count. Some of them have a difficult time remembering WHEN to use the diagonal line across. Sometimes when we work whole group, I see little eyes peeking over to copy from a friend. There can sometimes be 8 tally marks and THEN the diagonal line...as if they suddenly remembered one was needed. ;-)
Bring on the iPad!
I downloaded the Doodle Buddy App from iTunes, and put it to work to help. I also purchased a VGA adapter from the Apple store that allows me to connect the iPad to the projector and we can see the Apps on the big screen. The first time we used it I got goose bumps as I watched nearly everyone of my kids "get it" when it came to tally marks. We'll keep practicing of course..but what a great moment for me in class. Every child was engaged in the activity!
I also plan to use it to practice sight words, CVC words, number concepts and more.. Take a peek at Doodle Buddy in action...(I recorded it with my iPhone)
;-)
Click image to get App
Click image to see VGA adapter for projector, it works with iPad, iTouch & iPhone
I recently came upon Eric Carle's newest book "The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse". I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! I feel it reminds us to slow down a bit...perhaps turn away from the "STANDARDIZED" notion that everyone can fit into round circles...some would even say it's HIP to be SQUARE ;-).
This book opens up a child's mind to express their "inner artist" in ways that encourage thinking outside of the box. I love that the animals in the book are painted with beautiful colors that go outside of the norm.
Due to cut backs in my district, my Kinders are not allowed to have music, P.E. or art with the teachers who are trained to do that work. It pains me so.
But I try to fill in the gaps with the talents I have (which are limited by the way) ;-)
I will say, this year the art work my students have produced is AMAZING!! I am so proud to see their work hanging in the halls, classroom and books they take home. Take a peek at some of our Backyard Birds books.....or our drawings of Abe Lincoln. Didn't they do a GREAT job?
I watched Eric Carle talk about his inspiration for the book and thought it was well worth sharing:
I also wanted to give my students a chance to hear the story, see the images and then be inspired to create on their own. With that in mind, I made this book for students.
There are two versions of my student book and I haven't decided which one I will use with my kiddos. One book is intended to be copied on full 8 1/2x11 paper and students can paint the animals in the book. The other book is smaller and is more or less intended to be used with crayons. (Painting on such a small space may not be feasible). It is also one of my EZ-2 Assemble books which are designed to be copied, folded, stapled and distributed to students. Both book options are in one packet and available at my Teachers Notebook Shop!
The book would be a great activity at an independent center.
I would love to see how your students choose to "paint" their horses!
Today my teaching blog turns 1!! I can hardly believe it was a year ago that I started this blog. I can't begin to say how much I enjoy meeting and sharing with so many talented teachers. I appreciate all the support from my family and friends and people like Fran, Tamara and Leslie; as well as Debbie & Steve at Teachers Notebook and the many wonderful teachers at TBA and beyond! Thanks to all of you for all you do! Another HUGE THANKS to Pam at The Posh Box for her talents and patience as we worked together on making the design of the blog fit just what I wanted! THANKS also to all the folks who take time out of their busy schedules to check in to my blog to see what's-what and share thoughts and comments!
I appreciate you all more than you know!
And with that....here is the final BLOG BIRTHDAY FREEBIE! ;-)
All week I've been sharing Ocean-related freebies in celebration of the 1st anniversary of my teaching blog. (Sea Life is one of my FAVORITE units to teach, and I LOVE going to the beach, so the materials have all been related to that!)
This is a book for Emergent Readers. It contains simple sight words coupled with pictures to support the text. It's also one of my EZ-2 Assemble books which are designed to either print 2-sided from your computer's printer, or carried to your copy machine and printed 1-sided to 2-sided, folded, and stapled and it's ready to give to students. No need to shuffle pages around, just fold and go! It saves both time and papers. I hope your students enjoy the book. And once more....THANKS for all your support!
Check my earlier posts this week to see more of the freebies I offered!
I'm back with another Blog Birthday Freebie! I can't seem to control myself! I really enjoy sharing via my blog, so I hope you don't mind that I've gone a bit overboard with the freebies this week! ;-)
This freebie is for teachers looking for a cool way for students to practice using the 10's frame to show work with place value, 10-20. (AKA Common Core Standard K.NBT.1.... Numbers and Operations in Base 10).
Click on the image to head over to my Teachers Notebook Shop to pick up this really COOL freebie! Also check my recent posts for additional freebies.
In case you didn't hear....my blog is having a birthday soon. I am so excited that I am sharing a few freebies with my followers (before the actual "birthday" ;-)
....Since I am teaching my Sea Life unit at this time...these freebies are HOT OFF THE PRESS.... ;-)
This one is a DEEP SEA DIVING: Counting Backwards set. My kiddos are good at counting forward, but when we count backward from 20, there's a soft murmur (and no eye contact) from some kiddos until we get to 10! Those teen numbers are just so hard to master sometimes! Maybe you find there are a few murmurs in your class too! ;-)
Hope you enjoy the freebies ( click here see previous post) and check out my Teachers Notebook Shop for other freebies and resources. Click on the image below to get your copy...
Welcome to my blog. The Teachers' Lounge is a place for sharing ideas, experiences and advice. The same is true for this blog. For many years I have worked with teachers across the country to share ideas and methods for teaching Math and the use of Technology to young children. I have also taught workshops and graduate level courses on using technology in the classroom. Economic times have caused school districts to cut back on Professional Development. The need is still there and I hope to use this blog as a means to bring a little PD to teachers. I don’t have all the answers, but am always willing to help find ways to help. I love learning from others as well. So grab a cup of coffee, and come on in The Teachers' Lounge!
