Apps cost a small fortune when you have to pay to put them on each device. So, I have turned to an idea that Bloom's Taxonomy my be the best way buy them. I think that if the students are going to be using iPads that they need to do something only than play games. Yes, games have there place but I think iPads can do way more than that for us. 




Using Blooms Taxonomy in education is a highly effective way to scaffold learning for students. iPads bring a new opportunity to embed student learning through the use of technology. Blooms Taxonomy can help student show their learning in new ways. The pyramid is broken into Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating.  My hope is that as I begin this journey, that I will find apps that meet my criteria of fitting into Blooms. Kathy Schrock has created a number of references that have helped me begin my pursuit for creating a list of Blooms on a budget (ie; FREE).





Edutopia has also created app listing for each category.  Diana Darrow including a brief definition and criteria as well.  Stop by can check out her blog. Have a Blog Hoppin' Wednesday!!

Picturing Penguin

6th graders have wonderful visualization skills when paired with poetry. Last week (before our half day and field day) they started working of how to visually describe a poem in only pictures. Visualization is important because it means you have to infer using pictures. When readers visualize, students construct meaning by creating sensory images. I started with poetry to help my students gain a deeper understanding of inferring.

As a group, we started with Eloise Greenfield's "Honey, I Love and other Love Poems." Rope Rhyme helped students begin to think outside the box. I put both poems on an chart paper without the title. I wanted to group to infer a title before I told them. The group keyed into important words like "jump right in" and "clappedy-clappedy sound" to infer the poem was about jumping rope.  As we worked through the poems as a group, we created a list of things they saw. This list would then become the list of pictures they would go and find.

I also used "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to help a new student access the concept. She was able to see the poem and create a list of items that she could find pictures for. She list was more literal but with the help of the others in the group she added a space shuttle, moon,and  planets. The students each picked out their own poem to create a list of pictures that they could go and find that described the poem.

Once they had the list of pictures, they went looking for them on Google. When they have their pictures, they will go to Glogster to create the poster of their poem. The only words they can use are their name, the title and author of the poem. Nothing else. Pictures to come. How do you teach student visualization? Which mentor text have you found to be the best?

My new student joined us from out of state four weeks before the end of the year. I created both of these hand outs to help her classroom teacher understand Autism.
Tips for Working With Student With Autism Teaching Students With Autism

Earlier this week, I posted about using Web 2.0 tools to create a final product. Prezi was the first one I tried. (Free account for teachers to use for educational purposed only.) Prezi is like a Power Point but its much, much shorter. I kept students to the templates, so they had three boxes to put the key word that would help them remember what the main idea was. No sentences. Plus, it's easy for the students to use and it doesn't take days. I'm a big fan of short, sweet, and student friendly when it comes to technology.

For my comprehension reading groups, I use The Comprehension Toolkit by Stephanie Harvey & Anne Goudvis. They have written a Primary version as well that I use. The Toolkit teaches students comprehension strategies through gradual release.

My sixth graders have been working on using the strategy "Sift and Sort" to determine what is important to help them find the main idea. Once they have found the main idea and written it down, they move on to creating their Prezi. The group will present to each other on Monday.  Here's a look at what they look like. All on a single screen. As they move through the presentation the document will move to each header.

My district is moving towards having students use Google. Next year, school websites will be on Google as well. I stumbled across Kathy Schrock's Bloomin' Apps. She has a wonderful tech based website. She has broken down Google apps, IPad apps, and several others by Blooms Taxonomy.