Search results matching tags 'elementary' and 'intermediate'

Top Kindle Fire Education Apps for Math

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:33:00 GMT

Below is a list of the top Kindle Fire Educational apps that I use in my intermediate classroom for math. I have used them all successfully for both remediation and enrichment after teaching the concepts tied to our curriculum. My students love the opportunity to use the devices for math! If you are interested in any of the apps for your android device, simply click on the picture and it will take you to amazon.com where you can download them for either FREE or a small fee.

Each app is rated based on a 5 "flame" system.

1 flame = app was terrible, never want to use again

2 flames = app was OK, but didn't find it worthwhile

3 flames = app was somewhat useful

4 flames = app was useful and fun

5 flames = app was amazing! Want to use it all the time!

Card Droid Math Flash Cards: This app provides flash cards for multiplication and division (also addition and subtraction). You can change the settings which allows you to choose the problem set the students will do. It makes it individualized based on the students' needs. You can change the amount of problems from 10-50, can change the color of the background, and even the sounds! RATING: 5 out of 5 flames! The app is $.99.

Math Bingo: This fun game provides problems to solve for multiplication and division (also addition and subtraction) while playing bingo! You can select a level of difficulty for each game: easy, medium, hard. If you are looking for enrichment or a challenge for your higher learners, this isn't an app for them. Even the hard levels are easy. But my lower level students loved this game. RATING: 4 out of 5 flames. The app is FREE.

Math Training for Kids: This app allows multiplication and division practice (also addition and subtraction) at the same time if you choose. You can customize the problem sets where it can have a mix of two different types of problems. There are levels of difficulty that you choose from. You can also change the problem set from 10 to 100. Once again, the only drawback for higher level learners is that the "hard" level is way too easy. But for lower level learners it is a great app. There is a "statistics" button that keeps track of how well the students do on each problem set. That is a great feature to see the students' progress. RATING: 4 out of 5 flames. The app is FREE.

Peter’s Pig Money Math: This is an app for students to practice counting money. There are three levels: easy, medium, hard. You can sort money into jars, count the value of money and select the correct amount, and choose which pile of money has the greater amount. This is great practice for those students that struggle with coins. RATING: 5 out of 5 flames for money counting! The app is FREE.

There were some math apps that received a 1-3 flame rating. Those apps were: A+ Flash Cards, Let's Do the Math, Fun Math Tricks, Awesome Arithmetic, Flash Math, and Flash Cards Math. So I took those apps off of my device and will not use them with my students.

As more math apps become available for the Kindle Fire we will be rating and adding them to this blog post as well.

Make sure to check out our other blog posts about using the Kindle Fire in the classroom and for future ratings too!

Allowing Student Electronic Readers into the Intermediate Elementary Classroom

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:07:00 GMT

principal and media specialist (librarian)

Internet Use Agreement

Acceptable Use Policy

Letter home to parents

Discussion with students (only appropriate books, no apps)
Students police each other

Wireless-rules,

Setting up the Kindle Fire for Checkout in the Elementary Classroom

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Now that my classroom has Kindle Fires to use, I realized that I needed to have some kind of policy of how to check out the kindles and what ground rules needed to be followed. You can click on the picture below to download the ground rules that I established with my students.

After discussing the ground rules, I introduced the students to the check out sheets that we would be using on a weekly basis. It has a spot for the student's name, the day of the week the student would use it during our Daily 5 reading block, and a place to write down the books that were read by the student. Since I have four Kindle Fires (and each has a different color case) I made four charts. This way all of my students would get to use the Kindle Fires at a minimum of twice a week during our reading block. Click on the picture below to access the check out sheet.

At each Kindle Fire check out station, I have an accordion folder that contains two folders. One folder contains the names of the students who will share a particular Kindle Fire throughout the week. This is not only for the students to know who is in their group, but also for me to keep track of which students are using each Kindle. The second folder contains a list of all the books on the Kindle Fires with a brief summary of each. I have found this useful for students to look at and read through before browsing the books on the Kindle. They are able to make a decision more quickly on which books to read.

Underneath each folder is a clipboard with the Kindle Fire check out sheet as mentioned above. I have these copied onto card stock and then laminated. Students use vis a vis pens so that they can be easily washed off at the end of the week.

Below is an example of a template for Kindle Fire groups. Since I have four in my room, that is how I divided my students. Obviously depending on the number of Kindles you have in your classroom, your chart would look a little different. This is a management piece for me that allows me to see which students are using each Kindle.

If you are a teacher who uses any electronic reading devices in your classrooms and have some hints or tips of what works in your room, I would love to hear them!

Stay tuned for future blogs on exciting ways we will be using the Kindle Fires in my classroom!

#ELTBITES Challenge: We like to move it, move it

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:50:00 GMT

Once in a while I read something and I find myself thinking, "Now, why didn't I think of that?". Well, Richard Gresswell had such an idea. He started a blog, called it ELTBITES, and challenged us: "Describe an activity that requires no more than the teacher, students, and possibly making use of the board, pens, and paper. Describe the activity aims and procedure concisely in no more than 200

Stand By Me, Japan

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:53:00 GMT

This is a good an excuse as any to listen to a good song, and, at the same time, be reminded of the suffering the great nation had to endure earlier this year. Why not use this video as a springboard for a class discussion on natural disasters, for example? You might like to read this post on activities using songs.

Used to + infinitive or -ing?

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:37:00 GMT

There are two forms of 'used to'. When we talk about past habits and states, especially when they are no longer true, used to is followed by a verb in the infinitive form and always refers to the past. When we want to convey the meaning of 'accustomed to', used to is followed by a verb in the -ing form; this version exists in all the tenses: present, past and future. In addition it has to be

Saxon Genitive: Steve Jobs's or Steve Jobs'?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:28:00 GMT

I was surprised, to say the least, to see this on Twitter yesterday. I immediately responded with this tweet. The apostrophe 's to denote possession is also known as 'Saxon genitive', which originated from Anglo-Saxon, also known as Old English. The fact that English is the only language to use this form of spelling makes it difficult for learners. The purpose of this post is not,

Truth or Lie: Activity for any classroom

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:23:00 GMT

I recently responded to a blog challenge by a video recording of myself - you can see it by clicking here. Most EFL teachers are probably aware of the activity where students are asked to say some things about themselves, and the others are to guess if they're true or false. I suggested taking this a step further and have the students bring video recordings of themselves saying those things. But

Blog Challenge: Compare & Contrast

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:23:00 GMT

This challenge has been suggested by Anne & Brad. Although there are many personal photos in my collection that I can choose, I decided on these two, which weren't taken by me. And that's all I'm going to say about them! What can you say? Add your comments below.

Adjectives with -ed and -ing endings, but how about relaxed and relaxing?

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:42:00 GMT

Most learners very quickly grasp the concept of the difference between adjectives ending in -ed and those ending in -ing. They would have been told that adjectives ending with -ed describe our feelings and those ending with -ing describe what cause the feelings in the first place. Compare: We were bored out of our minds in today's class. Today's class was terribly boring! Suzanne was terribly