Small Group Center Ideas

Our division has really been talking hard about small groups. Our literacy plan requires small groups in Language Arts, but teachers are also asked to come up with ideas for Math, Science and Social Studies — even cross-circular activities. Here are some ideas for using Technology in small groups.

Minecraft Edu (Use Prompts to match your content – area, perimeter, models of science or social studies concepts, novel settings, etc.) — All Roanoke County teachers and students have accounts.

Breakout Edu (Digital Breakouts) – https://platform.breakoutedu.com/ ; Create a free teacher account to find the free games; Example: Finding Frosty – https://platform.breakoutedu.com/game/FINDING-FROSTY

Formative (Game Based) Assessment Websites

Kahoot (iPads or Laptops) – https://kahoot.com/
Quizziz (iPads or Laptops) – https://quizizz.com/
Quizlet (iPads or Laptops) – https://quizlet.com/

Reflection

Flipgrid (iPads or Laptops) – https://info.flipgrid.com/
Kidblog — https://kidblog.org

Coding

Scratch – https://scratch.mit.edu/ or install on student laptops so there’s no login needed
Paper Coding / Unplugged Coding — https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Brooke-Brown-Teach-Outside-The-Box/Category/Coding-282394 (Free Activity Available to try it out)
Dash and Dot Robotics – see Tina for first use — https://education.makewonder.com/curriculum/code-to-learn
Code.org – https://code.org/ Keep track of student progress with free student accounts.
Tynker – https://www.tynker.com/
Minecraft Edu Code Connection – see Tina for first use

Organizing

TES (Blendspace) – https://www.tes.com/lessons

Creating

Adobe Spark (Student logins coming soon!) – https://spark.adobe.com/home/
Read Write Think Student Interactives – http://www.readwritethink.org/
iPad Apps (Use Blue iPad Set 3 or iPad Case)
- Draw and Tell HD (K-2)
- Book Creator
- Stop Motion
- Venn Diagram
- ChatterPix
- Pic Collage

Are there any other ideas or resources that you use in your classroom?

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Jamestown Hybrid/Digital Breakout Edu

At the VSTE conference this year, I attended a session where the presenter, Kristine Vester (@kavester) shared her ideas for Hybrid Breakouts. Basically, Hybrid Breakouts were a mix of digital and hands-on Breakout Edu games. Students solved all the clues online, and then once they knew the lock combinations, they used those combinations on a physical box with actual locks. It was appealing to me because it meant you could use less boxes (between groups you could re-lock the box), it allowed for more participation for individual players, and the set-up was a lot easier on me! I still LOVE hands-on Breakout Edu games and will continue to use them, but this idea provided an alternative, especially when there was limited time to make physical game pieces.

I tried it out with two fourth grade Virginia Studies classes. I built a Jamestown Digital Breakout using Breakout Edu’s new platform. There were enough locks in the Digital version that every student on a team would be able to “drive” the computer for a lock.

At the end of the game, the reveal was the lock combinations for the physical box. There were enough locks on this one too that everyone in a group could open at least one lock.

After playing it a few times, I’ve adjusted the clues a bit. I think it’s perfect for students in Grades 4 and 5, which was just what I needed for our Virginia SOLS. All teams were able to Breakout in under 45 minutes, and they had a blast playing!

So, just in case someone else would like to use it, included a link below. For the Hybrid version, you will also need a Breakout Box with a 4 digit lock, 3 digit lock, word lock, direction lock, and key lock (combinations are shown at the end of the game).

Jamestown Breakout Edu – Hybrid (Play Code: 6XW-P1I-WEU)

I went ahead and created a completely digital version of the game too, just in case someone without access to a box would like to play.

Jamestown Breakout Edu-All Digital (Play Code: 8HY-TK7-IUY)

I don’t want to post answers online, but if you need help figuring it out, feel free to contact me.

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Bringing Abe and George to Life with ChatterPix

Mrs. Parks’ Class animated their pictures of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington using the app ChatterPix Kids. Check it out!

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Talking Presidents

Students in Mrs. Kelley’s Kindergarten class brought Abraham Lincoln and George Washington to life using an iPad app. You can see their adorable videos below:

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Pic Collage and Videos with Famous American Speeches

Students in Ms. Barger’s fourth grade class just finished a huge unit on Famous Americans. As part of a STEM activity, students were responsible for writing a speech about a Famous American. They also had to create a poster to use in their speech with a pop-up and movable part.

As students were given speeches, I filmed them (on their assigned iPad). Students took notes when other students gave speeches. Then students watched their own speech and used a self-evaluation sheet to foster self-reflection. They used their notes and each other’s posters to create a Pic Collage containing three facts they learned from listening to other classmates’ speeches.

Students enjoyed the project, and it really gave ownership to giving speeches and listening to others. Both these skills are important Fourth Grade English SOLs.