Back to School!

We're back to school today, and it's so great to see the kids back and excited about all our new techie endeavors at Holy Trinity.

I would like to share two resources from the amazing Common Sense Media :

The Back to School guide:

Parents Top 12 Back-to-School Tech Questions:

I'm happy to answer any questions about the HTS tech program for you.  You can always reach me on mbmorell@htsdc.org.

Oxford Owl Learning

Apologies for neglecting the blog for a couple of weeks! Catherine and I spent several days last week at Harvard attending an "iPad in the Classroom" workshop sponsored by EdTech Teacher - which was amazing.  We're still processing all that we learned and how best to share it with our teachers and students!  Look for blog posts in the coming weeks based on the workshop :)

Meanwhile, I discovered the Oxford Owl Learning website earlier this week from one of my favorite blogs: iLearn Technology.

Oxford Owl has over 250 free eBooks available online, designed for children up to age 11 develop their reading skills.  Audio is provided for each book (a wonderful feature!), and the books have activities that focus on reading comprehension and story recall.  The site also has tips for parents and teachers, printables and online games.  Sadly, these books do not yet work on iPads...

The Maths section (as they call it in the UK) is designed for children up to age 7 to develop math skills:

Explore and Enjoy!  Mrs. Morell

Hundreds of Ideas for Summer Fun - Part One

Once again, I've been wandering through Pinterest, and have found several great blog links, lists and ideas to share to inspire summer fun ... and learning!

100 Things to Do This Summer from Honest to Nod - The Land of Nod blog:

10 Mostly Offbeat Ways Teens can Learn Something this Summer from the Washington Post:

Amazing Apps for Every Grade Level at Holy Trinity School

During the 2012-13 school year, as we piloted using iPads in every classroom at HTS, our teachers and students sampled hundreds of Apps.  Many were fantastic, others not so much :)  At the end of the school year, it was time to clean house, so the teachers were asked which Apps they would like to keep for the 2013-14 school year.  The incredibly organized Mr. Clark has spend the past few weeks getting all the iPads updated for the next school year, and we thought our school community might enjoy taking a peek at the Apps that have made the cut.  Keep in mind our list will evolve a bit as the summer progresses...
PreK-K iPads

• Addition Wiz Free**
• All About Letters Interactive Activities
• Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic HD
• Bob Books #2 - Reading Magic HD
• Cimo Spelling (Sight Words)*
• Don't Let the Pigeon Run this App*
• Elmo Loves ABCs for iPad
• Fish School HD - by Duck Duck Moose
• Freefall Spelling
• I Like Books - 37 Picture Books for Kids in 1 App
• Kids Learning to Read - Little Reader 3 Letter Words*
• Letter Writer Oceans (Preschool ABC's)
• Little Solver - Preschool Logic Game
• Math with Mouse
• Monkey Math School Sunshine
• Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
• Montessori Numberland HD
• Musical Paint
• Park Math HD - by Duck Duck Moose*
• Raz-Kids**
• Scribble my Story - A Fingerprint Network App**
• Skitch**
• Starfall ABCs
• Starfall Learn to Read*
• TeachMe: Kindergarten
• TeachMe: Toddler
• Word Magic*

The Amazing TED and TED Ed

I am a bit obsessed with TED Talks - and the TED Ed website.  I have been known to lose track of space and time while surfing through lists of videos, feeling alternately inspired and completely inadequate.  My Upper School students are familiar with the  TED Ed "playlists" of my faves for them to peruse during tech class if they have finished a project or test early.  If you have a tween or teenager  complaining about being bored, I would highly recommend sending them a link to TED Ed to wander through... new videos are added every week.

I stumbled across this cool infographic from OnlineClasses.org, which explains the phenomenon...

I have found it to be a bit overwhelming to try to figure out the best talks to watch from the hundreds available, so often turn to lists of favorites from various websites to guide me.  Many of my favorites can be found on these lists:

From the Under30ceo blog... 25 Amazing Inspiring and Unique TED Talks you must watch

TED Talks Education

TED Weekends from the Huffington Post

Do you have a favorite TED Talk?  Share it below...

National Geographic Asks: What's the Big Idea?

I spent part of my childhood overseas, so have been fascinated by geography and travel from a very young age.  It should come as no surprise then that one of the many blogs I follow is the wonderful National Geographic Education Blog.  A few days ago, they unveiled a program to help families and educators prepare for summer.  From creating a family tree to constructing a compost pile, National Geographic has put together a host of cool projects. As they say, we all know that the end of the school year doesn't mean the end of educating!

If you are looking for something to do with your kids this summer, check out the Ideas for...

indoor family fun:

A Wander Through A Handful of Kids Literature Blogs

From the Collecting Children's Books Blog

I thought this blog entry would simply be revisiting a blog entry that I love from last year, but then I became completely lost on the Internet by a series of fierce wonderings (as Luke's 3rd grade teacher would say):

So, re-printed from last year, a  lovely blog post about starting a summer book club for your kids.  I found the blog "Dinner: A Love Story" a few weeks ago, and have been enchanted for a couple of reasons.  The first is that the blogger manages to prepare a home cooked meal for her family every single night of the week.  It's a dream of mine.  At the Morell home, we survive on Chipotle take out for days at a time.  The other reason I adore this blog is that the entire family loves children's books, and has a series of posts suggesting various wonderful titles (and several I'd like to try...)  Blogger Jenny Rosenstrach sets up a summer reading program for her kids - something I used to do when my kids were younger.  Like me, she uses shameless bribing (one summer, when Peter was in 2nd grade, he earned nearly 20 playmobil men).  So take a moment to check out the summer reading program, the book lists, and perhaps even the dinner suggestions too:

Dinner a Love Story Summer Reading:

This year, when I wandered back to see if Jenny had a new list of books for the summer (she does not), I discovered that she recommended a wonderful blog dedicated to children's literature:

Mrs. Little: An Obsession with Children's Books

With entry titles like: "If Amelia Bedelia was a Chanel Client", and "If your son sleeps with a light saber... " I was hooked.

So then I wondered what other Children's Literature blogs might be out there that I have been missing, and came across a fascinating article by Elizabeth Bird which appeared in the School Library Journal a few years ago.  Titled:  This Blog's for You: Ten of the best blogs for folks who take kids' lit seriously (but not too seriously).  I wandered through all ten, and have chosen three that I found to be fascinating... and hope you do too!  

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

I consider it fair to say that of all the children’s literary blogs, the most visually stunning (with consistently kicking content) is the product of Eisha Prather and Jules Danielson. They provide amazing interviews of up-and-coming authors and illustrators. - Elizabeth Bird

Educating Alice

A blog written by Monica Edinger, an educator at New York City’s Dalton School, this regularly updated site features whip-smart commentary and classroom experience regarding all aspects of children’s literature. - Elizabeth Bird

Collecting Children's Books

This may be the best-written children’s literary blog of all time. Librarian Peter Sieruta doesn’t just retell the history of children’s books—he brings it to life and makes it dance! - Elizabeth Bird

Time to stop wondering and wandering!  I have laundry (and reading!) to do...

Enjoy!

Mrs. Morell


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LearnZillion

Upper School Math Teacher and tech guru Polly Sileo recently attended a professional development conference, and discovered a cool new resource she would like to share with the HTS Community.


Learnzillion contains videos that review a range of math, grammar, phonics, reading and writing  topics that align with the new Common Core standards.  Our teachers recognize it will be a great resource to help prepare lessons and provide differentiation - to help struggling kids review,  or kids who need a challenge think about new concepts.  For parents or tutors, it could be a great resource for many of the same reasons.   This website is similar to Khan Academy,  but it is created by teachers and is more intentional, and far less procedural than KA.

I have provided a pair of screen shots to help give you a sense of what the lessons look like...

If the program sounds intriguing, you can read more it in the following news articles:

•  CNN Report
• EdSurge

Enjoy!

Mrs. Morell

KidsPost Summer Reading Club - Animal Adventures

Each summer, the Washington Post KidsPost sponsors a Summer Reading Club.  This year, the focus is on animal adventures.  You have to love a crew that wrote:  "We at KidsPost have been squirreling away (or gathering) books.  We've worked like dogs to find interesting titles.  And we've waited till now to let the cat out of the bag."   If you have a child who loves animals, you may want to check out wonderful list of titles, mostly with 8 to 12 year olds in mind:

• Survivors: The Empty City, by Erin Hunter
• Never Say Die, by Will Hobbs
• Pegasus: The Flame of Olympus, by Kate O'Hearn
• An Army of Frogs, By Trevor Pryce
• The Familiars, By Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson
• The Tale of Despereaux, By Kate DiCamillo
• The Cats of Tangelwood Forest, By Charles de Lint

Parents can register their children on the Washington Post, and any child who reads any or all of the titles on the list receives a bookmark (the program works on the honor system).

Learn more about the program by visiting:

KidsPost Summer Reading Program

Six Great Online Games for Summer Learning

Whenever I am feeling reasonably confident that I am an expert on the educational resources on the Internet, boom! someone sends me a link to a completely new website or idea that I have never heard of... it's so humbling.  

Today, Karen Robinson forwarded this article from the Mind/Shift website,  highlighting six games from PBS Learning Media involving such cool topics roller coasters, sugar, and secret missions...perfect summertime fare.  In some cases, you might need to set up an account on PBS, but that is easily accomplished:

• Amusement Park Physics (grades 9-12... but I suspect younger kids will be able to enjoy!)

18 Books that Will Inspire Your Kids - from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Today is my first official day of summer vacation... so much to read (and do), so little time!

A friend shared this intriguing list from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation yesterday...  I think I'll need to check out a couple of the titles to add to my own list, such as How to be an Everyday Philanthropist, and Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People.   I must say I've never come across Toilets of the World (from the 5th grade list) in a local bookshop, but it could be just the thing to engage a reluctant reader.

Take a peek and see if any of the titles appeal to the readers in your home:

http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2013/06/Summer-Reading-18-Books-That-Will-Inspire-Your-Kids

Just keep reading...

Mrs. Morell

Keeping Kids Engaged Through the Summer

Many of the Holy Trinity teachers turn to Edutopia for inspiration and great teaching ideas.  Today's newsletter focused on preventing the Summer Slide - with parents in mind.  Follow the link below to check out their fun and engaging activities to keep brains busy:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/resources-prevent-summer-slide-matt-davis

Mrs. Miller's Top 10 iPad Apps for 1st Grade (Rising 2nd Grade)

Reading

   1.    The Opposites - $1.99: Challenges students to match up pairs of opposing words in increasingly difficult levels.  (ages 7+)

   2.    Learn To Read –Four Letter Words - $.99: Learn how to read up to 300 four letter words.  Options for audio hints and adding your own voice.

3.    Scribble My Story – Free: A book and art creation app where kids can create their own stories.

4.    Raz-Kids – Free:  Type in your child’s Teacher Username:  egeraghty and select your child’s name from the class list.  Practice listening to and reading books.  Leveled books starting at Level aa up to Level Z.  Can continue to increase the student’s reading level as they progress.

Mrs. Miller's Top 10 Apps for Pre-K (Rising Kindergarten)

Phonics

   1.     Starfall ABC’s - $2.99 (Very basic:  See, hear and interact with letters and sounds in words, sentences, and games) and,

Starfall Learn to Read - $2.99:  There are 15 mini-books, each focusing on a specific beginning sound, ending sound and vowel sound, along with videos and activities to enhance literacy learning. 

2.     Free Fall Spelling - $.99:  Works great with Pre-K/K as a tool for learning the alphabet by turning on “Show Hints” under the Settings menu.

Mrs. Miller's Top 10 Apps for Kindergarten/Rising 1st Grade

Catherine Miller spends quite a bit of time with little people and iPads, and has put together a list of her favorite Apps for hours of learning fun:

Phonics

1. Starfall Learn to Read - $2.99:  There are 15 mini-books, each focusing on a specific beginning sound, ending sound and vowel sound, along with videos and activities to enhance literacy learning.

2. Free Fall Spelling - $1.99: 150+ spelling words of common objects.  Three ways to practice spelling: Letter Drag and Spell; Typewriter Spell; Word Scramble

3. First Words Deluxe – $4.99: Learn to spell words in these categories: animals, vehicles, colors, shapes and items around the house.

4. Word Magic - $.99:  Fill in the missing letter (beginning sound, ending sound and middle sound).

5. Scribble My Story – Free: A book and art creation app where kids can create their own stories.

Great Websites for Rising 4th Graders

Following is Mrs. Miller's list of favorite ideas for rising 4th graders.  These sites will help your children improve their typing speed, master multiplication facts, and provide ways to practice spelling, grammar and phonics... all while having fun!

Keyboarding

BBC Dancemat Typing

Great Websites for 3rd Graders

Yesterday Mrs. Miller presented ideas for rising 2nd graders - today she has put together a list of her favorite websites to keep rising 3rd graders engaged in learning fun over the summer months.  These sites will help your children improve their typing speed, master math facts, and provide ways to practice spelling, grammar and phonics... all while having fun!

Keyboarding

Alpha Munchies

Great Websites for 2nd Grade

Mrs. Miller has been busy assembling a fantastic list of online resources for rising second graders.  The hope is that they make learning fun, so keep our students engaged over the summer!  (Lists for other grades to follow:)

 Keyboarding Sites

Dancemat Typing

Summer Reading - For Parents!

Our amazing summer reading suggestions are now in place for each of our classes at HTS.  This summer, our faculty will also be undertaking a summer reading assignment, and we thought we'd pose a challenge to you, our parents, as well.  Following are a few titles from our teacher summer reading list, and a few others that come highly recommended... So pick up a couple of these titles, or download them on your eReader... and head to the beach :)

Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success

By Madeline Levine

Psychologist Madeline Levine, author of the New York Times bestseller The Price of Privilege, brings together cutting-edge research and thirty years of clinical experience to explode once and for all the myth that good grades, high test scores, and college acceptances should define the parenting endgame. 
Teach Your Children Well is a toolbox for parents, providing information, relevant research and a series of exercises to help parents clarify a definition of success that is in line with their own values as well as their children’s interests and abilities.

Teach Your Children Well is a must-read for parents, educators, and therapists looking for tangible tools to help kids thrive in today’s high-stakes, competitive culture.

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Children-Well-Parenting/dp/0061824747/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1369852899&sr=1-1

Digital Fun for Creative Kids

Our friends at Common Sense Media have released their annual summer treasure trove of ideas for digital fun, and this year creativity is king:

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/guide/digital-fun-for-creative-kids

One of the things I love about the Common Sense website is that they carefully assess each app or website with age levels in mind, which makes it easy for parents to evaluate what is best.  In scanning some of the suggestions, I am so comforted to know that the folks at Common Sense agree that all that time my boys have spent on Minecraft and Civilization is actually educational...

The guide offers a number of suggestions for crafting and creating art, storytelling, coding, creating media and building.   Sounds like hours of fun to me (as long as it is mixed in with a good bit of physical fun as well!).  Be sure to leave a comment if you have found a particularly amazing app or website you would like to share...

15 Apps we can't live without at HTS

A few months ago, a team of HTS teachers gathered for an informal dinner to chat about how we're using the iPads in our classrooms this year -  and how we'd like to evolve into using iPads for even more project-based work next year.  

Across the school, we have sampled a huge number of Apps with our students.  We set out to identify and share the Apps we can't live without. 

Catherine and I plan to write a series of blog posts over the next few weeks to identify lists of Apps that with specific grade levels in mind, but thought we'd start with our across-the-board teacher faves.  

Please let us know if you have any personal favorites you have discovered with your kids!

Language Arts:

1. Starfall - Our Early Childhood crew loves this App! There are 15 mini-books, each focusing on a specific vowel, along with videos and activities to enhance literacy learning...Kids can learn to make that difficult transition from knowing their letters and letter sounds to actually reading. Starfall Learn to Read provides great features to help kids of differing skill levels. If kids are struggling, they can tap on a word to hear it sounded out and see each part of the word highlighted. If kids are pre-readers, they can tap on the sound icon to hear the sentence read aloud. With each mini-book, kids get exposure to the target sounds with plenty of repetition. Starfall's Learn to Read, with its well-designed books and activities, is an excellent tool for helping kids boost skills. (Thanks to the amazing team at Common Sense Media for part of this review.)

Just Keep Typing... Part Two

Summer is a great time to work on keyboarding... especially because so many typing programs these days are actually a ton of fun.  (Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) I actually learned to type on a typewriter with the keys blacked out, and let me tell you, it was no fun at all :)

I wrote a blog entry on keyboarding last summer that highlighted a number of our top programs - BBC Dancemat Typing being my personal favorite.  A number of other ideas have landed in my inbox over the past few months, and I'd like to share them with you.

One of my best resources for techie ideas is the fabulous Free Technology for Teachers blog.  One of these days I need to send blogger Richard Byrne a batch of chocolate chip cookies or something to thank him for keeping me up to date on the latest in educational technology - he makes me look smart!

 Richard has suggested a number of other options to explore, and I have included a number of them below.

Typing Adventure is a web-based program that is designed for ages 8 and above that looks to make keyboarding fun. Over 70 lessons, practices and tests are available with a subscription... the good news is that there is a free 30-day trial available for parents.

A Pair of HTS Summer Programs

We would like to announce two new programs to held by HTS teachers this summer:

Vic Gallerano will be conducting two workshops:

Intensive Writing Skills for rising 6th, 7th and 8th Graders - Thursday, June 20th - Wednesday, July 3rd (1pm to 3pm at HTS)

Writing the High School Application Essay - Monday, July 8th through Friday, July 19th (1pm to 3pm at HTS)

Details can be found on this flyer or by contacting Mr. G on vgallerano@htsdc.org

Polly Sileo will be conducting a Virtual Summer Math Program.

Details can be found on the flyer or by contacting Ms. Sileo on psileo@htsdc.org

In case you have missed it, a list of local summer programs and Holy Trinity tutors can be found on Holy Trinity's Summer Information Page.

Common Sense Media's Essential Books for Kids and Teens

We are busily working to compile our 2013 Summer Reading Lists at Holy Trinity School... we promise, they will be done soon!  It's still April (for a few more hours) we have plenty of time...

The following guide landed in my inbox the other day, and it's tough to not be intrigued by a guide that promises: "150+ Chances to Get Kids Hooked on Reading for Life."  The fabulous folks at Common Sense Media sought to create a list that will engage, entertain, and maybe even enlighten young readers.

The guide is divided by age group: ages 2-6, 7-12, and 13-17, so there is something for everyone.

I found this list to be a great collection of timeless favorites... ones my own (now teenage) children have read and loved over the years... and well worth a look.   Enjoy!

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/guide/essentialbooks

Teach your Monster to Read

Lower school tech teacher Catherine Miller has been using Teach Your Monster to Read with some of our early childhood students, and they absolutely love it!   This engaging website would be a great resource to tuck into your summer learning stockpile for little people.

A Children's Book Guide to Travel

Once again, I had another blog idea in mind, but got sidetracked by something amazing that landed in my inbox. (really, I'll get to those keyboarding suggestions soon)

Once upon the time, our family had the chance to live in London.  Some of our fondest memories involve summers traveling through Europe with the kids... and often times the way to bring the history or culture alive for the kids would be through storybook references.  Like Paddington Bear, we wandered through Paddington Station in London, we marched the streets of Paris like Madeline (but not quite in two straight lines) and hiked in the hills of Scotland imagining the flying cars in Harry Potter were zooming above the Hogwarts Express.  We also made a pilgrimage to Doune Castle, where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed, and the kids had great fun clopping coconuts as they pretended to gallop into the castle... but I digress.

Pinterest for Summer Learning

My daughter introduced Pinterest to me last year as a site to pin fabulous fashion, design and travel ideas.  If you aren't familiar with the site, it's an online bulletin board, where you can post links to articles, photos, quotes and ideas.  It's SO much fun, and completely addictive.  So much so, that I had to give it up for a while.  It wasn't helping me get through my to-do lists.

Educators around the country have adopted Pinterest as a great way to share ideas, projects and websites... so the good news is, I now have an excuse to peruse Pinterest for teaching ideas.  Perhaps I can convince my higher-ups it counts as a teaspoon or so of professional development...

Article Alert: The Touch Screen Generation - How Children Use iPads (and a list of suggested Apps!)

My flight was delayed on the way home from Spring Break in Florida yesterday, so I set out to buy a pile of magazines to pass the time.  Though I was briefly tempted by People Magazine's account of how Kate Middleton's pregnancy is progressing, the cover story of the Atlantic magazine caught my eye as a slightly more useful read: "The Touch Screen Generation: How Children Use iPads," by Hilary Rosen.  It's a fascinating piece for parents of young children (and their teachers!)  The link to the article can be found here.

Rosen says: "Norman Rockwell never painted "Boy Swiping Finger on Screen" and our own vision of a perfect childhood has never adjusted to accommodate that now-common tableau. Add to that our modern fear that every parenting decision may have lasting consequences—that every minute of enrichment lost or mindless entertainment indulged will add up to some permanent handicap in the future—and you have deep guilt and confusion. To date, no body of research has definitively proved that the iPad will make your preschooler smarter or teach her to speak Chinese, or alternatively that it will rust her neural circuitry—the device has been out for only three years, not much more than the time it takes some academics to find funding and gather research subjects. So what’s a parent to do?

DIY.ORG - Creative Adventures for Kids

For those of you who know me well, it will come as no surprise that I was one of those Girls Scouts who was obsessed with earning every possible merit badge.  Cooking, canoeing, sewing, photography - I earnestly worked through the checklists for them all... almost.  I fell short by three, which still haunts me to this day.  The daily checklist is still my constant companion, however.  

So, when I came across this new website called DIY.Org, which challenges kids to undertake creative projects to earn badges, I was instantly intrigued.  Then I started exploring the site.  Wow, I'm impressed.  On this Summer Learning blog I usually recommend websites, apps or books that keep kids inside.  This site challenges kids to be curious, active and wildly creative - and even occasionally get outside - while learning!   This has instantly jumped to the top of my personal favorites list.  Oh, and it' free, which is a plus.  (At some point, DIY plans to sell the embroidered badges, but this isn't an option quite yet.)

Learning A-Z and RAZ Kids

Once upon a time, many years ago, my youngest son was struggling to learn to read.  In retrospect, I think it was simply a case of finding the block corner and any opportunity for imaginary or active play far more interesting than the storybooks in his classroom, but he was a bit behind his classmates, and his teachers were becoming concerned.  So, during the summer between first and second grade, his teachers encouraged us to read to him A LOT, and work with a series of leveled readers that could be found online using the website Reading A-Z.   This is such a fantastic resource.

E is for Explore

Happy New Years All!

I discovered this amazing blog this morning from the iLearn Technology Blog.  What a find!!  Blogger Erin Bittman is a graphic designer who has taught Pre-K and graphic design to kids.  The design of the blog is beautiful, and the hundreds of ideas are brilliant.  I think you will find ideas for every subject and grade level with this blog to help perk up lessons during those long January days. Topics include discovery/exploration, science/engineering, mathematics, art, literacy, social studies and seasons/holidays.