In our unit, Home Sweet Home we learned about different types of homes and read some stories to help the students understand the Big Idea of the unit.
Types of Homes PicCollage
The first thing the students should do as they begin is Google search “Homes around the World”. Here is a tutorial on how to save a Google image you can use for a refresher for yourself or to introduce it to the kids. Then, choose 5 images of homes they find interesting and save them to the iPad camera roll. Next, they can access the images through the PicCollage app and create a collage of homes around the world.
Before you begin using PicCollage you need to make sure that the students are well versed with using Google searches, saving pictures, and have used the PicCollage app before . Each group of children will need access to an iPad and internet connection. Not all images will save easily to the camera roll, so please make sure students know to pick a different image if the one they want does not save easily. Each group can work together to make one collage or students can work individually. Below is an example of the PicCollage we created and the task card we used.
Instead of limiting the number of pictures used, you could choose to let the children have freedom with how many they would like to use and talent them choose the grids and the sizes of the collages. The more familiar they are with the app, the better the collage will turn out. You can use the final product on your concept board for display as well. Another way to differentiate the activity and extend it would be to add content vocabulary from the lesson to each photo. The students can print the PicCollage on a poster maker to share with the grade level or the whole class. The students can share group posters or individual posters of the different types of homes. Another idea to use these collages for engagement is after sharing the collages, the students can classify each type of home into categories based on individual criteria created by the student.
There are many different ways you could use this app with many different levels of students. The possibilities are endless! This app is a simple tool that will lend itself to many different first grade activities throughout the year and across the curriculum. The more you use it, the easier it will be to use. This is a great introduction to other technology apps that use photos such as ThingLink, Book Creator, Little Story, MyCreate, and Chatterpix. Have fun learning with photos. Thinglink Small Group
Who lives at the White House? In the unit, Home Sweet Home, we read a variety of stories that lend themselves to teaching students about the different types of homes around the world. This blog shows you how to use the app ThingLink to enhance a lesson from this unit and check for student understanding while having fun! We used a technology app that will enhance the lesson about the White House, it is a ThingLink with a photo of the White House. This activity will pair with the story, The White House.
ThingLink is an app where you can create posters and add links, comments, and videos to that poster. In this blog the students will use a photo of the White House and link the picture with facts and content vocabulary to enrich the picture and model understanding of the story and the content vocabulary from the unit.
Sounds easy enough right? How do you do it? Each group of children will need access to a shared iPad and the ThingLink app. It is a great idea to make sure students are familiar with the app ThingLink before attempting this activity. Students will use an iPad and do a Google search to find a picture of the White House and save it to the camera roll. Then they will use this picture as their ThingLink photo. Then they will add links to videos, songs, books, and text that will illustrate their understanding of this story. If you want to provide the photo of the White House, you will need to preload the photo of the White House to the camera roll for the students to use for their activity.
Here is the student task card we used and an example of the finished project. They can use this app with other stories as well to find other types of homes in different places and labeling. This app is key to student facilitated learning. It can be used across the curriculum for fun and to increase engagement wherever you want to add some spice! Codeable Crafts Inquiry Task
This blog is a resource that can be used to enhance activities during the unit by using a technology app called Codeable Craft.
Before starting this project you should make sure that the students are familiar with using the Codeable Craft app and coding. Coding is the process of assigning a code to something for the purposes of classification or identification. Cubetto is a great way to into introduce coding to students. You can contact your school DIS and check out a Cubetto. Here is a link to learn more about Cubetto.
The story that the activity links with is A House is a House for Me. After the students read the story, they will brainstorm nouns and their homes. We chose “noun” because the story states many nonliving objects and their “home”, so we wanted to give the students the freedom to choose anything that has a “home” whether it was living or nonliving. The students will use the Codeable Craft app (here is a quick how to link) to illustrate a noun and what it’s home would be. After creating the illustration of the noun and it’s home, the students will then code the noun to move to it’s home and add the sentence “A __ is a home for a ____.” Then they can share their creation with the class.
This is the task card that you can use to teach the activity. This activity can be used during workstations, inquiry days, or whole group instruction to check for understanding and to add a little fun. If you want to differentiate some, each student could make a page in the Codeable Craft app and then you could put it together as a book for the class. When the students have completed their pictures they can add words to the illustrations to tell the story. We hope this app is one that you can add to your tool belt to enhance other lessons as well. You’ll see, it’s simple and fun!
Standards
ELA 1.RC.6, 1. MC.3 Computer Science 1.DL.1.2 AuthorsWhitney Pierce
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