Tech Tips Tuesday

Integrating ICT with Maths

Last week I had a great lesson planned for Maths. I was going to get the laptop trolleys and have my students use a Microsoft Word template to insert 2D shapes into a table. It was fairly straightforward and I had my template ready to go.

Unfortunately, on arrival at school, I found a big red sign on one of the trolleys stating "DANGER. DO NOT USE". I wasted no time tracking down someone who could give me more information. As it turned out, the trolley had been sparking, and was thus deemed unsafe until it could be looked at further by someone in the know. Needless to say, that didn't help me with only 20 minutes until my class walked through the door!

As is often the case when you plan to use technology, I had to rethink what I would do. There were still four laptops and I have a student computer in my room, so I grabbed them. As I went to leave the storeroom, I noticed the iPads, which I hadn't yet utilised. I had no idea what apps were on them, but a plan started forming in my mind - and all it required was the camera and a drawing application.

So what I ended up with was four Maths centres:
1. Using the laptops with the Microsoft Word template to draw and describe common 2D shapes: triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, rhombus, trapezium and octagon. The second page involves students creating their own design with polygons of their choice - but students did not get to this in the time allotted, and finished during our lab session.

2. Using iPads to photograph five shapes in the classroom environment and then using Draw Free to trace the polygons in the photos and label them.

3. Using rubber bands and geoboards to explore quadrilaterals and then draw them in their maths books.

4. Using plastic sticks of various sizes and pins to create polygons with a variety of sides and explore how these shapes change when tilted and manipulated in other ways.

What resulted was a really enjoyable set of Maths centres focused on exploring polygons. I should also mention that I used the Mathletics dictionary and concept search to support my definition of polygons and quadrilaterals prior to the activity centres.

It's great when things work out, even when they don't initially go to plan!

Tech Tips Tuesday

iPad for Preschoolers #3 Let's Pretend

Some of my little guy's favourite apps are those that allow him to play pretend. He enjoys exploring different roles both in the 'real world' and using technology. We don't set a strict time-frame for screen time (TV, iPad etc) however, we make a point of finding time for other forms of play. The iPad forms only one small aspect of his total play time. In most cases, he would prefer to take down one of his toy boxes and play pretend with actual objects. The iPad version proves most useful when he needs some down-time, or when we are travelling. That said, there are some great apps available which spark the imagination and provide opportunities for children to play pretend and learn while doing so.

Little Charley Bear
This is a simple app and free (at time of writing). It is based on the television program Little Charley Bear which is about a little bear with a big imagination. It contains video segments from the television episodes, with a puzzle challenge mid-way through the shortened episode. I can identify with the narrator in his interactions with Little Charley Bear, and I'm sure my little guy shares the frustrations of Little Charley Bear as the narrator tries to determine the things he is pretending to be/do! My biggest struggle with this app is that it is really just another form of 'watching TV' and while my little guy loves following Little Charley Bear's adventures, it is hard to justify - except as down-time!

Toca Boca Apps
We first discovered Toca Boca through Toca Kitchen Monsters (the lite version of Toca Kitchen) because my little guy loves cooking - both pretend and real. The beauty of these Toca apps is that the children get to cook for someone and see their responses to how it tastes. They select an item from the fridge, prepare it and then serve it. Other apps, such as Baby Chef by MyFirstApp.com, allow children to decorate a meal and photograph it, but it isn't served or eaten. Order Up!! To Go by Chillingo Ltd takes it further than the Toca apps, but is designed for an older audience - thus my little guy needs me to help him with it.
We then tried out Toca Doctor, which allows children to pretend to be a doctor and solve problems to 'fix' the sick person. This involves giving injections, pulling out splinters, cleaning and dressing cuts, removing lice and more!
Toca Store is another of our favourites as we seem to go shopping in the real world on quite a regular basis. This is a great game for two (if you can convince your preschooler to share with you) with one taking on the role of shopper and the other shop keeper. I find it a useful tool for talking about money, numbers and counting as well. My gripe with this app is that if you run out of money, the magic purse winks and gives you more. While I'm sure we would all love a purse like this, it's unfortunately not a reality!
I bought Toca Train as a treat for my little guy, because he SO loves playing with trains. It was a winner! He loves controlling the train, stopping for passengers and reloading the cargo - just as he does when he plays with his wooden train set or Thomas set or Daddy's LEGO trains... (need I go on!)
We got Toca Hair Salon in response to my little guy's reaction to haircuts. We thought that playing with other people's hair might prevent his concerns about having others cut his. We're not quite there yet, but he does enjoy playing with this app and seeing the reactions of his customers when he cuts off all their hair, or sprays it bright colours!
One last app from Toca Boca that is a winner is Helicopter Taxi for iPhone only. It doesn't really qualify for this post, but is worth a mention all the same.

I realise that this post may read as an advertisement for Toca Boca, but this is not the case. They just produce quality products that Preschoolers enjoy. I'd love to see a Toca Builder in the future and maybe a Toca Emergency (eg. Ambulance, Police, Fire Officer).

Have you discovered any similar apps, which provide opportunities for children to role play?

Other posts that might interest you:
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #1 Mathematics Concepts
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #2 Alphabet Apps 

Friday Fun - 5/6/09

This week Miss Eschauzier was teaching relief classes across the school, so I was back on board again. It was nice to be back again, but tiring at the same time. It's crazy how quickly you get out of the habit!

Fun This Week

Captain Lister Takes Us Back in Time
This week Captain Lister took us back to 1787 and the journey of the First Fleet. He explained how the Industrial Age influenced the lives of people, with machines taking over many people's jobs and people turning to crime in order to survive. He explained about the use of hulks on the River Thames to house the many criminals and Britain's need for a new place to send convicts as a result of the US War of Independence. Captain Lister went on to describe the journey and created discussion around the statistics of people aboard the First Fleet at the beginning and at the end. We finished with the arrival at Botany Bay and the significance of Australia Day.

Sketching the Golden Grove
On Monday afternoon Mr Tucker taught students about the ships of the First Fleet and worked with students to sketch the Golden Grove. He put the image up on the interactive whiteboard so that students could see it clearly to sketch it. You can see it, and the other ships of the First Fleet at the website of the First Fleet Fellowship.

Rounding Numbers
This week my class learnt how to round numbers to the nearest hundred. We used pretend cash register print-outs and students rounded dollar amounts in order to make an estimate. They then used calculators to find out the actual total and to work out the difference between the actual total and their estimate. We also spent some time doubling and halving numbers and students worked with a partner and a mini whiteboard to select numbers and double or halve them. Students who wanted a challenge chose two-digit numbers with each digit odd.

Frisbee Golf
Having played frisbee golf on camp, we set up a quick course for PE this week and students played in small teams. Not everyone got a turn this week because we had a lot of rain, but we hope to get back to it next week.

Indigenous People Group Projects
Students worked to finish their projects this week. As always when working digitally, there were issues with files being overwritten, people wanting to record audio at the last minute, photos with no credit given etc but I'm looking forward to taking a closer look at them and giving students opportunities to explore each others' work.

Fabulously Funny Fairytale Plays
This term students who are not part of the Fife and Drum Band have been learning and preparing plays. This week they worked on memorising their lines and organising themselves on a stage-sized space. We talked with each group about the props and costumes they will need.

Farewell Miss Eschauzier
Today was Miss Eschauzier's last day at our school, so we had a party to send her off. She has worked really hard with the students and has taught them a lot during her internship. They have become very fond of her and will miss her greatly. A couple of students put together a movie with photos and videos for Miss Eschauzier to take with her to remember her time with us. Other students created cards and brought small gifts. Students had the opportunity to tell Miss Eschauzier what they learnt from her and what they enjoyed about her. We then shared party food. We hope she comes back for a visit soon!

This week we my Literacy class read more of New Gold Mountain. You can read about it here.

Stepping Back to Watch

Today is World Teachers' Day. I'm not really sure what that means elsewhere in the world, but in my school we wear badge for the day and some of the kids and parents say thank you. It doesn't really take up any of the teaching time or have any other impact on the day.

Today we also had our Walkathon. This last week I've been very busy trying to get all the notes sorted - permission slips, sausage sizzle notes, sponsor forms, medical information... I was frustrated trying to chase it all - not that I blame the parents, it was just A LOT of notes. On top of that, the notes were supposed to be collected in all different places by all different people, and then they put a ban on printing more of the medical forms, so I had to email them out! Aaaahhhh!

So, today, it was nice to have that all sorted and to be able to head off to the park for the day.

The walkathon went well. The kids enjoyed being out walking in the park and the scenery was truly beautiful. Every now and then a couple of kids whinged about how they'd like a break, but isn't that just what you do on a walkathon? A few of my boys decided to run it and got 8km done instead of the 4 that everyone else did. We had a sausage sizzle lunch and then had one of those: "So what's next?" moments. I don't think we had been told what was supposed to happen, and I don't remember reading it anywhere, so we took the kids for a play under a couple of really big trees.

At first the kids didn't know what to do. They looked a little lost and confused - how do you play without equipment or balls? After a few false starts: "No! We're not climbing trees!...Or swinging on trees!...Or hitting trees with sticks!" they seemed to get the hang of it. And, before long, they were completely absorbed in their own little nature games. It was fascinating to step back and watch what they were doing and observe how their play progressed without any direction from teachers. I saw some really great learning taking place - the sort of learning that you couldn't plan for!

It began with some boys discovering that you could hit sticks into the ground with another bigger stick...

They started digging holes and ditches as well...

The girls caught on and made some stick structures of their own...

Of course, not all of the Year 1 kids got involved. There were other games happening as well. Some kids started a game of 'families' or 'house' or whatever they call it these days. Some kids did clapping games, or walked around singing the 'schnappy' song. Some determined how high they could kick their leg up on a tree. And some built a home for a moth they found (until it blew away). There were a few who struggled to think of anything at all to do, and spent the time feeling bored. It was REALLY fascinating to watch how they amused themselves.

When we got back to school I continued with some sense of the 'free play' idea. We had a quick story and then I gave the kids big sheets of chart paper. I suggested that they could use these sheets to make a huge picture with a small group. I also suggested they could make an amusement park - or something. The cooperative work was great and the kids really enjoyed what they were doing. It was fun and I enjoyed seeing what they created together.

So, point of the story? I used World Teachers' Day 2008 to step back and watch what my students can do without me!