Kindergarten Collaboration

Kindergarteners using technology- who would have thought!? Well, I designed a literacy lesson that allowed my students to work in small groups and use technology to create a big book of their own. During shared reading we have been exploring the series of BIG BOOKS by Colin Hawkins. Students showed interest in creating their own books, so I figured- let's turn this into an extended lesson that integrates many early literacy elements. Here is a very brief description of the activities that culminated into a wonderful product of student learning:
1. Students create vocabulary list for their chosen word family and brainstrom story element ideas.
2. Students work together through the writing process as they write, revise and edit sentences.
3. Students add detailed illustrations and practice fluency as the record their narrations for their story.
 Here is the "-at" Team's BIG BOOK:

Here is the "-ug" Team's BIG BOOK

Digital Story Done!

Check out what it's like to be young again! Watch my digital story about our kindergarten class.

I can't wait to show my students the final product- they'll love it! Also, the parents will enjoy seeing this during orientation.

"A Day in the Life of a Mount Olive Kindergartener!"

Thank you to my fellow grad students for their input on my rough draft. I listened to all your suggestions and it definately improved my video.

Creating Classroom Communication

Here is my first attempt at creating a GOOGLE FORM.... it was very easy! I thought this would be a great form that any teacher can put into their classroom webpage.

This form is geared towards a kindergarten classroom where the family members come in and drop off/ pick up the students.

Do you think you could use this in your classroom? What changes or add-ons can you suggest?

Diigo... Where'd You Go?

I have been having problems with Diigo. In the beginning it was easy (isn't it always?). With a few simple steps, I was able to add Diigo to my toolbar. I clicked away, adding sites here and there. I especially liked blogs created by fellow kindergarten teachers. I continued for about two weeks. Then, while reviewing Diigo in my EDUC519 course, I realized I had been doing it wrong. I had been clicking the Diigo button when I was on a site I liked. But I was unaware of the following steps regarding labeling and saving.....All of my sites were gone... or never there to begin with.


So, here is my new Diigo account. It is slowly growing again. Hopefully it will help out teachers who are looking to find more creative ideas for their classrooms, or in search of educational information. Enjoy!

A Digital Day

I am creating a digital story for my classroom. I wanted to make something that could be used more than once, so I decided on
 " A Day in the Life of a Mount Olive     Kindergartener." 
 I can use this digital story during orientation for the parents and then during the first days of school for the students. It can also be edited to update pictures and present again at the end of the year for graduation. 

A few slides need to be added. It is missing slides for the classroom door, name cards, math, guided reading, read aloud, parent pick up, and a goodbye slide.

                                        It's almost complete!  Check out what I have so far:

Hip-Hop-Hooray for Animoto

It's finished! My first Animoto is complete. It is different from my original idea for three reasons:

1) My orginial concept of "Kindergarten Rules" is still in the works, but I did not feel like it was long enough to produce yet.
2) My classroom students have decided they would like to learn about planes and trains and automobiles; so a "Transportation Study" is in full effect. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce new transportation vocabulary to them.
3) Searching for the perfect musical accompaniment.


What were my road blocks on this Animoto journey? Well trying to find a different mode of transportation for each letter in the alphabet... not easy. I resorted to using some other forms of vehicle-vocab to fill in the harder letters; such as O, U, E, K, N, Q, V and X.

I decided to look for a hip-hop song because I think my students would get excited and move to the beat while learning! I purposly looked for an instrumental-only song so the words/lyrics would not distract them. Also, I want them to be able to call out the names of the differents forms of transportation while the Animoto is playing- making it more fun and interactive.


Here is it.... Enjoy!

(If Animoto does not play, click here Transportation Animoto.)

Any more suggestions for letters O, U, E, K, N, Q, V and/or X???

Animoto's Making Me Cry!

I came across an Animoto that brought tears to my eyes. It inspired me to develop another great Animoto for my classroom (after I finish my first one of course)!

I would love to have my kindergarten students write sentences about their grandparents, choosing one grandparent, or as many as they would like. Possibly using sentence starters like:
My grandma is funny when _________________.
My favorite place to go with my grandfather is _______________.
My grandmother's favorite food is___________.

For the photographs, I think I would have a classroom throw-away camera that I would make available for students to take home. Or have parents email me the pictures.
What an amazing keep sake this would be for them to reflect upon as they get older! I want to make one myslef with my Grandma.

My Grandma and her twin sister just turned 85. She has recently ditched the New England weather and is living it up in Curacao for the next 2 months. You go Grandma!

Attempting Animoto: Teaching a Teacher

And it begins..... my first attempt at creating an educational video for my classroom. Can you believe that I have never heard of an Animoto!? Animoto's are everywhere; on Facebook, on Pinterest, on YouTube , even on Twitter! Heck, these little videos have more friends than I do! So it seems that I must jump on the band-wagon and check it out.
Just like teachers must do in preparation of a lesson, some brainstorming must be done. I must assess my current skills and plan how bring myself to the next level. Therefore, diving right into Animoto is out of the question. I must provide myself with the proper learning tools so I can succeed in my task.

Here is my 10-step plan on how I will develop my own Animoto for my kindergarten classroom:
1) Learn what an Animoto is through books or internet.
2) Browse through various Animotos about kindergarten.
3) Download proper Animoto tools and necessities. Which ones cost MONEY and which ones are FREE?
4) Brainstorm ideas for classroom Aninmoto.
5) Start the creation process.  Tips to help create Animotos.
6) Share with colleagues and collect feedback.
7) Apply necessary tweaks.
8) Present to kindergarten class!
9) Observe their response and listen to their feedback.
10) Attempt Animoto again...?!?

I have currently completed steps 1 through 4 and have decided what my Animoto will be about....THE CLASSROOM RULES. I thought this would be a great idea because it is a video that I can use throughout the year to introduce and reiterate expected behaviors. I can even replace photographs with student work, pictures and writing as the year moves along. 

Here is an Animoto I enjoyed, it shows how student work can be effective and engaging: