Posted in Projects, Reading, Roanoke County Schools, Writing

Video Book Reports

Students in Mrs. Bralley’s class created Video Book Reports.  They wrote scripts, recorded videos on the iPads, and took pictures of themselves holding their books.  After their videos were uploaded to Vimeo, they created QR codes to link to them.  Mrs. Bralley hung their pictures with the QR codes in the hall so people could scan them and listen to their book reports.  You can find their videos here: Video Book Reports   It was a great project!

Cross posted on the Oak Grove Digital Archive.

Posted in 21st Century Learning, Character Counts Series, Guidance, iPad, Roanoke County Schools

Being a Kind Friend Sock Puppet Shows

Mrs. Pettipiece used Sock Puppets with students in first grade to have them practice friendship skills (sharing, taking turns, being kind and polite).  Students had to share an iPad with a friend to create a puppet show.  In their puppet show, students acted out scenarios, practicing good friendship skills.

Here are a few examples of their work!

Video Nov 18, 2 15 34 PM from elemitrt on Vimeo.

Video Nov 18, 2 17 52 PM from elemitrt on Vimeo.

Sock Puppet Friends 3 from elemitrt on Vimeo.

 Cross posted on the Oak Grove Digital Archive Blog.

Posted in Links, Reading, Roanoke County Schools, Tech Tools

Read, Give, and Share Books Online!

wegivebooksI just found an amazing free resource and I wanted to pass it on to all of you. We Give Books is a free online library of children’s books that enables your kids to help other children around the world while they’re reading. The best part is, your reading will directly impact the great work of non-profit organizations around the world! Their tagline says it all, “combining the joy of reading with the power of giving.” It’s the perfect tool for parents, teachers, caregivers, and anyone who loves children’s books!

When you go to www.wegivebooks.org, you’ll be able to read a special selection of books without a We Give Books account, but you have to sign up to access their full library. It’s definitely worth it, though. It’s just a quick form, and once you’re signed up, you’ll have access to over 150 quality children’s books! There are a lot of familiar classic titles, and even more new ones for us to discover. You can sort the books by age level, genre, author, and seasonal selections in the “Featured” section, so everyone can find something they like.

On the Causes page you can learn more about where your donated books are going. This fall, We Give Books is focusing on early childhood literacy across the United States and supporting great causes like Jumpstart for young children. In the winter, you’ll be able to read to support global literacy and give books to non-profits like Room to Read. They also give you the option to donate to help your book donations reach even more children.

We Give Books is a program of the Pearson Foundation and Penguin Group. Penguin works with its authors to provide an outstanding selection of online books while the Pearson Foundation donates print books to charity partners. We Give Books is a great way to get your children excited about reading and to teach them about the importance of helping others.

Posted in Augmented Reality, iPad, Roanoke County Schools, Science

NASA Spacecraft Lands at Oak Grove

NASA Spacecrafts visited Oak Grove in Mrs. Becker’s 5th Grade Science class last week.  Okay, so they didn’t actually visit for real, but virtually they did, thanks to the augmented reality iPad app called Spacecraft 3D.  This app allowed students to view 3D digital replicas of the spacecraft and explore them in the classroom environment.

Students blogged about their experience with this activity.  Check out their posts on their blogs.

Cross posted on the Oak Grove Digital Archive.