Traits Tuesday: Presentation with Storybook Maker by Merge Mobile, Inc.

Welcome back for our second Traits Tuesday Linky in May! Hoping we have some readers to link up or leave a comment sharing their ideas, resources, experiences, etc... Click our link below to find out more about our linky.

Writing Traits

Ideas

Organization

Conventions

Word Choice

Sentence Fluency

Voice

Presentation

Presentation: Using Storybook Maker to Publish Nonfiction Books

My second graders have been on a wonderful collaborative research and writing journey that ended with the publication of their writing using iPads and the Storybook Maker app. At the time of purchase, it was reasonably priced at $2.99.

About the App:

In it's essence, this is a publishing app for kids.  Kids can...

• enter and manipulate text (color, size, font).
• import pictures (any pictures that can be saved on the iPad with the ability to crop and size).
• style borders and backgrounds (oodles of preset solid and patterned backgrounds and borders to choose from).
• add preset objects (clipart/graphics in the apps graphics library).
• draw (with ability to adjust type tool and color).
• narrate their creations (record and play back function).
• submit their creations to the Storymaker library, save to be read in the app on the device, email a PDF version, or print to a compatible printer).
• manipulate and size anything.
• go crazy creating!

Here are just a few pages from my students' creations!

Storybook Maker is a user-friendly means of presenting writing, and the kids LOVED using it! I recommend this app for any age, really! 

Why not link up or share a comment with your ideas for teaching the traits of good writing??

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation Saturday -- Fun with QR Codes!

Linking up today with Head Over Heels for Teaching's Spark Student Motivation Saturday Linky...

Fun with QR Codes

Both Courtney's and my kids love QR codes! What a simple means of motivating students and providing opportunities to self-correct.

The students in the pic above are working with super hero themed inference cards created by Fun in Fifth Grade.

I have also purchased some QR code products from Caitlin Kramer.

AND I have created some myself!

Monster 2-Digit Missing Addend & Sums with QR Codes

Whacky Watches: Telling Time to 5 Minutes with QR Codes

Whacky Watches: Telling Time to the Minute with QR Codes

 

The latest sets I have made are informational text QR code task cards--similar to those I purchased from Caitlin Kramer, but tailored to our explorations.  These are not posted for free or for sale because I scanned some wonderful new informational texts that just arrived in our library.  I thought the QR cards would also spark some interest in these new texts come library day...

If you have never used QR code activities with your kids, I encourage you to try some.  Lots of goodies available out there, and they are super easy to make.  I used QR Code Generator.

As the school year nears an end, I find myself reflecting back on a year, that at times seemed long and came with its challenges, to relish in my students' accomplishments.  They have come so far! So I share this quote with you all...

Don't forget to fly on over to Head Over Heels for Teaching to read more motivational ideas!

Wishing you the best for a Happy Easter!!

Let's Take a Dive! Ocean Unit in Review--Part One

Our kids have been studying the ocean habitat, ocean food chains, and animal adaptations.  The following are some activities and resources our students have enjoyed in this cross curricular unit.  This is Part One of our sharing...

Guided Reading 

There are numerous nonfiction text resources related to the ocean.  Here are some of the text I used in guided reading groups.  

Ocean Life by Brenda Z. Guiberson (Scholastic Storia eBook)

Ocean Giants by Kate Waters (Scholastic Storia eBook)

Weird Sea Creatures by Laura Marsh (National Geographic Kids Leveled Reader)

Great Migrations: Whales by Laura Marsh (National Geographic Series)

Splash! A Book About Whales and Dolphins by Melvin & Gilda Berger (Scholastic Storia eBook)

Each group focused on problem solving the meanings of unknown words.  This is a continued focus at all levels and all of the texts provided opportunities to problem solve and make predictions about new words.

Ocean Zones & Ocean Animal Profiles

Students learned about the oceans zones and the special adaptations that animals have to help them survive in each of the zones.  Students also researched an animal and created an ocean animal profile.  You will notice more animals in the sunlight zone, as 90% percent of ocean life is found in this zone.  Students also made ocean zone accordion books.

Feel free to download a copy of the ocean animal profile sheet here!

Scuba Kid Craftivity and Poems

The scuba kids turned out super cute!  Students chose to write a lantern or haiku poem, followed the rules of writing the type of poem chosen, and typed their poem for display on their scuba kids' bellies.

Tessellated School of Fish!

My kids have created tessellating fish in past years, but this year we used a new technique.  Students tore blue paint tape to create stripes on their fish.  These areas resisted watercolor and created white stripes on their tropical fish. The kids loved how they turned out, but the tape was not as easy to remove as I would have liked--had to lay them on the heater to get the tape to remove easily.  Will be trying a different tape next time... :0)

A giant googley eye was the icing on the cake!

Ocean Animal Food Chain Pyramids

Found this idea last year on First Grade Wow! What a great visual to help students understand the food chain concept as it relates to the ocean.  This can be used for any food chain, of course!

Sides--animal illustrations, names of animals, producer or consumer labels.

We have even more great ocean unit ideas and student work to share! Stop back to read more from Courtney!

Winter Masterpieces & MORE BRRR! Oh--Five for Friday, too...

What is Five for Friday? Hugh? Oh, now we remember! It has been SO LONG...

 

Weighing in a bit EARLY because we are off today due to the sub-zero temps and wind chills here in Illinois. BRRR!  Some extra time to blog today--time that may not be available tomorrow... 

WINTER MASTERPIECES

Thought we would share some WONDERFUL winter art ideas in keeping with the cold...

We may have shared this fabulous website in the past, but Courtney and I cannot say enough how great this creative blog is---Art Projects for Kids by Kathy Barbo!! Love the kid artwork posted on her sight and the step-by-step directions she provides.  Here are a couple of Kathy's projects our kids have created--

Snowman on Skis

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!  I get warm fuzzies each time I pass Courtney's bulletin board with her kids' masterpieces. These snow friends have character!!  Materials list--black paper, glue, and pastels.  Click here to learn more!

Abstract Winter Trees

SIMPLE but striking is always nice!  Our classroom paparazzi took a few pics of our abstract masterpieces.  My kids love to use watercolors, and they have become experts at mixing just the right color for their needs--beautiful.  We followed the directions pretty much to the T, but triangle templates were not necessary after modeling how to draw a tree.  Click here to learn more!

SCHOLASTIC's STORIA APP

Courtney and I have latched on TIGHT to Scholastic Storia--using it almost daily! If you haven't checked Storia out lately, take a look! Scholastic now allows the app to be loaded on multiple devices and enables teachers to create bookshelves.  As you probably already know, Scholastic offers oodles of nonfiction/informational texts for purchase in book orders.  You will be surprised at the number of these texts that are also available as Storia eBooks--many interactive.  Courtney and I have been using texts during core reading as well as during intervention time.  

 

MENTAL MATH SNOW FRIENDS

Our kids' mental math snow friend craftivities turned out great! This is just one activity we did when exploring the POWER of mental math.  Our kids are becoming addition mental math wizards!

You can find this craftivity and other materials to use with your kids in my packet, Snow Friends Mental Math. Just visit my TpT store!

 
 GUIDED READING & GUIDED MATH ROTATIONS: TO DOs

I have effectively differentiated instruction for my students for 20 years now--but as the expression goes, "Things get better with age."  I am sure many teachers use "to dos" to help guide their students.  I have found this a powerful tool to help build student independence--and I just started doing it religiously this year!  I found some great picture fonts from kevinandamanda.com that help students know if tasks should be done alone or with a partner/s. To Dos are slipped in plastic sleeves and put in work areas.  Also, I adore Kimberly Geswein's font and The Enlightened Elephant's cloud page border. Here are some examples of to dos that I use with my kids.

MATH DISCUSSION FANS

Problem Solving discussion fans are something my students use during guided math rotations.  They provide an independent, yet guided opportunity for kids to talk about math. My students have become great users of this tool! Check it out in my TpT store!

BE A WORD BUILDER EXTRAORDINAIRE!

I created the following word building activity sheets to give my students extra practice with various letter/sound patterns.  The letter/sounds chosen were specific to my students’ needs throughout the year.  I wanted to provide my students with more meaningful word work practice than simply letting them choose from different ways to write their spelling words.  My students also needed extra practice with chunking word parts.  Be a Word Builder Extraordinaire! has fulfilled these needs.  This product is newly listed in my TpT store!

Please enjoy a free sample of Long e: ee - Set 1 to try with your students!

Don't forget to fly on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more Five for Fridays!

All the best for a warm & cozy weekend--even if you aren't freezing!