iPads in Kindergarten LiveBinder

Here are some of the LiveBinder's I've created to accompany my seminars- they have lots of information and links to sites that focus on using technology in kindergarten, with an emphasis on iPads for both the beginner and advanced iPad user.  It's something I hope to add to as I find more resources, so I hope you'll bookmark and come back often!  Let me know if you find it useful or have links you think I should include.

Teaching with Technology in Kindergarten LiveBinder

Awesome Apps Livebinder

 Digital Kindergarten LiveBinder

















NCCE Session Teach Connect Learning with Social Media

NCCE Workshop NCCE Wiki- Magic of iPads

Connected Science: Science Project, Wiki's, Google Docs, and Skype

I LOVE my Twitter PLN (Professional Learning Network) #kinderchat !  We have been doing some exciting things this year!

My class has joined  Kindergarten classes from Canada, US, and New Zealand to find out if eggs are the same around the world... We are conducting a simple but fun science experiment.  More information can be found here, Eggciting Experiment Wiki, on the procedures and observations with the kids.  There are google docs embedded in the page that we have used to document the project. 

Today my students skyped on the iPad with a K class participating in the project from Vancouver Island, British Colombia- a couple of my students showed their eggs, and her students shared theirs.  The children had a great time sharing their observations.  I love skype play for the converstions and sense of wonder the children have.  They discussed the time (Vancouver BC is in the same time zone as us) weather (they had rain too) and even recess.

I love mistakes!

After all, mistakes are often the stepping stone to finding a new solution to a problem. So, I want to fess up to making a mistake on my blog! I try to be transparent to my students when I make a mistake (and I even make mistakes on purpose sometimes- although it's not necessary to pretend- I make enough naturally!) so they see how I react to a challenge.

On the right you may have noticed links to some of my favorite sites... yesterday I was doing a recording of my screen to use in a presentation for the mobile2011 conference and realized that I'd entered .com instead of .org on one of my favorite sites. So, I want to give a little attention to this site- even though it's not "digital" per se, I use it regularly.

http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/ so I fixed the link- it should work now!

If you do art with elementary (and up too) kids you HAVE got to see this site. I have done her giraffe mural and countless other activities from here.

One way I incorporate using technology in my art lessons is to use google images to find art similar to the project we are doing. For example, when we made a Kandinsky mural, I showed students a lot of artwork by Kandinsky and some other modern artists.

Then I printed some info from a website and put it up along side our mural to let other classrooms benefit from our art and the history of modern art. I also printed mini-photos of some of his other work and put those up too.

Last week we were painting and one students' piece reminded me of Van Gogh's Sunflowers... so I connected and showed some of his depictions of sunflowers.

GAK: an Integrated science, math and technology lesson

     I haven't made gak all year.  How did that happen?  Gak has been a staple in my classroom since 1998 since I was introduced to it at the Cooperative Children's Center in Seattle. Yet, here it is, almost February and my students haven't touched the magical stuff.
     I had promised myself and a student that I would make it this week, and by Thursday we'd had a holiday (Thank you MLKJr!), a tired day (thanks to a busy weekend, and a board meeting) a late start (no thanks to you icy roads) and then it was Thursday AM, my chosen mobile mac lab morning.  So- I had a choice, mac lab or GAK?

Well, I decided on a whim to combine them.  Usually I have 23 kids, usually I have a high-school aide or a volunteer at 10 am.  Well, this day I had 11 kids absent thanks to many viruses and bacteria floating around our school.  And my student helper was not available.  So, I decided I could handle a science lesson, 12 kiddos AND the mac lab on my own.  Was I crazy?  No.  It went great, or well as great as any activity with 5&6 year olds can go.  I introduced the materials, water, borax, and glue.  I asked the kids about the substances and we discussed whether any of them could be played with.

I asked the kids to go to their computers and log on, then go to Pages and type up a prediction of what would happen when we combined the materials.  Most predictions were that it would be gooey, sticky, gross or even explode!  (I bet he thought the borax was baking soda and maybe we would make a volcano.  Or he didn't trust my science abilities.  When we cooked gingerbread cookies I did set off the fire alarm and caused an unplanned K-12 fire drill.)

Then, I began to measure out the materials and we combined them (letting the kids help).  They watched in amazement as solid and liquid and heat caused a chemical reaction to make a new substance. 

Then, I of course let them play with the amazing blobs of gak.  Afterward, they added what gak really felt like to their documents and took a picture using Photo booth of them with their gak.  (I actually clicked their photo as I didn't want gak on the keyboards- too risky)

We had fun; we did science, math, and used technology all in one hour and it was relatively painless!

I challenge you to share one of your great but simple lessons with me now!

For those of you who haven't experienced GAK yet (really???)  add literature to the lesson and read Dr. Seuss' Bartholomew and the Oobleck- it's really not gak in the story but close enough.  Oobleck receipe first (no heat necessary)  It also acts like a liquid until pressure is applied.  It is messier than the gak though, really.

Oobleck Ingredients:

• 2 parts cornstarch
• 1 part water
• food coloring (optional, as could stain clothing and skin)

Gloopy oobleck
Most liquids' viscosity changes because of temperature. But non-Newtonian fluids' viscosity changes because of pressure. Scientists haven't decided yet what makes oobleck behave like this.

Gak Receipe

Mix thoroughly in bowl A

• 1 1/2 cups very warm water
• 2 cups Elmer's glue
• food coloring (optional, as could stain clothing and skin)

In a bowl B, mix thoroughly:

• 1 1/3 cups very warm water
• 2 level teaspoons Borax

Mix the contents of the two bowls together kneading until it is fully combined. Discard any remaining liquid.