Blog Archives - cmcselementarylab

Coding w/ Scratch JR

9/22/2014

Our 1st and 2nd graders are learning to code -- and we are using the app -- Scratch Jr.
http://www.scratchjr.org/

We are working our way through the tools and today we added more scenes and the sound option! It was wonderful to see the students begin to start telling stories with scratch jr rather than just having a cat move in a circle.

Here is one of our students -- hard at work.

DOT DAY VIDEO

9/22/2014

Please enjoy our DOT DAY video -- made with animoto

http://animoto.com/play/ufJbD3oKdpv1ExjPC2PZbQ

Dot day -- Friday, September 19, 2014

9/19/2014

Kindergarten today and we totally redid DOT DAY!
First of course, we listened to Peter read "THE DOT" to us --
as we sat on plastic dots.
But then we switched things up a bit --
we DANCED on our dots to the WIPEOUT zumba on GoNoodle
we COLORED our dot pictures and added BIG red/green/blue/yellow and SMALL smiley dots
we used the app MOSAIC and made DOT pictures. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mosaichd/id421126665?mt=8
Whew -- I was tired - but what fun!!

Had just a bit of time to take pictures -- we were busy!!!

Dot Day -- Day 4 (September 18, 2014)

9/19/2014

Today was 3rd, then 1st, then 6th........
and each class was fun on top of fun!

We listened to Peter again -- and was great to hear students from last year share their memories! I especially enjoyed watching the parent helpers play and enjoy as well.
Lots of laughter -- Miss Wagner had to say once "I enjoy your excitement but it needs to be a bit softer".

Please enjoy our dot pictures -- and see their creativity as they tried many new ideas.

DOT DAY #3 -- It just keeps getting better (9/17/14)

9/17/2014

Today we had 4th grade then 5th and 5th -- so I knew it would be above and beyond because there is a "Oh, I can do more" attitude with these classes.
We started with the video -- lots of "OH, I love this story" "remember Miss Wagner when he told us he feel asleep and that is how he drew his first dot" -- so, this story is becoming a memory for my students. (love that)
I showed examples of doubles, triples, and quadruples !
The 1st fifth grade class decided to make a class dot and we divided the dot into 20 sections......lots of math skills today.
5th grade also used the doINK app and took pictures of themself and imported the dot!
It was loud -- crazy fun -- a bit chaotic -- but sometimes we just need that.
And lots of teamwork -- which is always good!
Please enjoy our pictures --

DOT DAY #2 -- September 16, 2014

9/16/2014

Today we had 3rd grade, then 1st grade, then 6th -- so it was grand to see learning from a variety of levels.
I am always a bit timid with my 6th grade -- but loved hearing comments like "I love this book" and "oh, I remember this".

We had a LOT of fun today putting dots into groups of 2 and 4. We started calling it double dotting -- and it looks like I will have to print out more DOT pages to make it to Friday.

We also started using the chattermix app today -- but since time was short, I think we will need to return to this app again later this year. Also, one of the pictures below is from our MUSIC CLASS learning to make their marks with notes! (thank you to Mrs. Hammarstrom for including dot day into her schedule!)

Enjoy our pictures from today!

DOT DAY #1 September 15, 2014

9/15/2014

Our first day of DOT DAY was great! Even had one student remember to wear dots!

We watched the video here: http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2014/05/12/take-the-den-to-work-day-archives-make-your-mark-and-see-where-it-takes/

and then began to color our dots!

After the dots were colored -- we opened the colAR apps on our ipads and began to have fun as our dots came to life. The 4th grade class also tried to use the app Chatterpix but we just did not have enough time to get everything done today -- perhaps next time.

Students started folding their dots in 1/2 and in 1/4's to team up with other students to make their dots connect!

We all had a great time!!
Miss Wagner

colar App: http://colarapp.com/
PDF of dot for app: http://www.fablevisionlearning.com/pdfs/dotday_colar_page.pdf

Below are images from today!

Getting Ready for DOT WEEK

9/9/2014

I am pleased to share that the all classrooms will be involved with the INTERNATIONAL DAY DAY project the week of September 15th.
We participated last year and all the students had a great time.
After we listen to the author -- Peter Reynold's read his book "The Dot" -- we will be coloring dots.
Then we will use 2 separate apps to animate our dots.
The colAR app --
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colar-mix/id650645305?mt=8 (to 3D our dots)
and the Chatterpix app --
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chatterpix-kids-by-duck-duck/id734046126?mt=8 (to make our dots talk)
It is a fun week -- filled with LOTS of creativity.
Over 1,000,000 students worldwide will be participating as well.
You can read more about the project here: http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/