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

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

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.

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. 

Videos to Enrich the Mind

As I am a visual learner, and have a relatively short attention span, I have always loved educational videos. Schoolhouse Rock and I are old friends... and you all know how I love BrainPop.

This week, I discovered some neat new sources of educational videos on YouTube - to include Bill Nye the Science Guy and Schoolhouse Rock.  And I love the idea of Crash Course History and Biology.  Enjoy:

Crash Course History
This is a series of 37 fast-paced ten to twelve minute overviews of major concepts and themes in World History. These might be a fun way to kick-off or reinforce a unit in the Upper School.

Oh How I Love BrainPop

As a technology teacher, one of my all-time favorite sites is BrainPop.  BrainPop, BrainPop Jr and Brainpop Espanol offer hundreds of animated educational videos for children on a wide range of subjects.  Brainpop was the brainchild of an immunologist and pediatrician named Avraham Kadar, as a creative way to explain difficult concepts to young children.   Let me assure you, he has succeeded!

In the BrainPop movies, Tim and his robot side-kick Moby narrate the movies:

And in the BrainPop Jr. movies, a little girl named Annie narrates with Moby:

Many of the HTS teachers use these videos in the classroom, and our students LOVE them.

The link to BrainPop can be found here:

The link to BrainPop Jr. can be found here:

The link to BrainPop Espanol can be found here:

Our students never seem to get enough time to explore the subject areas that most fascinate them in the school setting, so this would be a great website to suggest on one of those summer days when the heat index is 110... like this week!

There are dozens of free videos each week, or you can sign up for a free trial, so your child can explore the website for a few days.  The home subscription for BrainPop Jr. is about $9 a month, and for BrainPop $10 a month.  I subscribed to BrainPop for a couple of years for my own children, as they were captivated by the site... let me assure you, it was money very well spent!

 I should mention that BrainPop also offers a variety of fascinating games and activities.

Introducing Mathletics

After much research and discussion, the math teachers of HTS have decided to purchase a subscription to Mathletics for the 2012-13 school year for rising 1st - 8th graders.  The great news is that we are able to begin to use it over the summer.

As described in a previous blog entry,  I have heard wonderful things about this site from my friends who teach in International Schools.  It is a program that is aligned with the core curriculum.  Students are able to play online games to work on each math topic taught in a given year... and practice math facts by playing live against students from around the world.  It's incredibly engaging, and for kids who are competitive, it can be very motivating.

If you are interested in enrolling your child in the program before school begins in August, please contact Polly Sileo on psileo@htsdc.org.  She will need to know your child's full name and his or her homeroom teacher from last year.

10 Recommended Apps from our Early Childhood Students

This year, thanks to our generous parents, we were able to pilot iPads with our Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st graders.  Each class received five iPads loaded with (only!) educational apps, and the children played with these apps during center time.  When I walked in to classrooms with these new gadgets after Christmas break, I found I had an immediate hobbit-sized fan club - the kids LOVE iPads.  Everyone involved was impressed by how engaged the kids were while learning basic building blocks in language arts and math. The EC team met earlier this week to discuss the program, and among the topics discussed were classroom favorites, as we look to build our library of "apps that work" for next year.  So, in no particular order, I offer you the favorite educational apps among the littlest students of HTS during the spring semester of 2012:

(All apps can be purchased from iTunes or the AppStore, and many can be run on iPhones in addition to iPads)

1. Don't Let the Pigeon Run the App

This app is more than simply an online story book - it lets children create their own Pigeon stories with their pal, Mo Willems.  Our pigeon-loving students loved the creative possibilities of the three games on this App.


2. Super Why

This was a huge favorite among the younger set. Based on the PBS series, this app offers four games: Lickety Letter Hunt, Wands up Writing, Rhyming Time and Story Saver.  The children love the graphics, and are able to earn stickers as they successfully complete the games.  Stickers are a big deal for these kids :)


3. Math Bingo

This game offers the option to practice math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division... or a mix of all problems. It was very popular with our 1st graders this year, who loved the quirky little creatures that took up residence on their bingo boards.  It is possible to set up a player profile, so you can see which problems your child is solving correctly.

4. Word Bingo

This was a huge favorite among our first graders, but it is possible to set leveled word lists from Pre-Primer through 3rd grade.  Like Math Bingo, the kids found love the critters on the bingo board. Beyond the bingo game, the app also offers a spelling practice options.

5.  Teach Me Kindergarten

The children loved to earn stickers while learning important kindergarten skills such as addition, subtraction, sight words and spelling.  It is possible to set specific topics for the children to work with.


6. Teach Me First Grade

Again, earning stickers was very motivating to our students while they learned all-important skills such as addition, subtraction, sight words and spelling.  It is possible to set specific topics for the children to work with.


7. Bobo Explores Light

Mr. Denny reported that this was a huge favorite in his 1st grade class.  The Bobo Explores Light iPad book takes fundamental science concepts for school-age children, and injects them with humor, astonishment and whimsy.  It is truly wonderful.


8. Pirate Trio - Love to Count

This lovely, engaging British game introduces numbers as being the indicators of order, time, weight and quantity.  Parents are provided a tracking screen which is helpful for evaluating a child's progress.  The kids love this game.


9. Pirate Trio - Love to Read

The companion to Love to Count is an app inspired by Montessori teaching methods designed to lead children through the steps of getting to know words and understanding how to apply them. The child shakes the iPad or iPhone to scatter the letters, and the challenge is to put the letters back into place so the word is re-constructed again.  This was a favorite in the kindergarten and PreK.

10. Little Matchups - Count Money 

OK, I'll be honest.  This wasn't one of our student's favorite games, but a game that speaks to an area of weakness for many of our students.  The "Little Matchups" games are very visually appealing and easy to use for the kids.  Be sure to explore others by this game designer.


We'll be hunting for great new apps to introduce in the fall, so let me know if you discover any wonderful new titles.

10 Ideas for Practicing Math Skills This Summer

Last summer, I provided links to CoolMath4Kids and series of games to build skills in multiplication, such as Multiplication.com and Johnnie's Math Page.  I'd like to offer a few more ideas of websites that have activities spanning many of our grade levels:

1. IXL - this site offers comprehensive dynamic lessons and activities for every grade.  It is possible to take a look at the IXL, and try a series of sample problems, but to get full use, you must purchase a membership for a nomimal fee. A few of our teachers use this site, and love it.  The activities are engaging and the kids find it to be fun.   We will be looking into using this website next school year,  so please let me know if you try it and have any comments.

2. Mathletics - I have heard wonderful things about this site from my friends who teach in International Schools.  It's incredibly engaging, and for kids who are competitive, it can be very motivating.  This is an Australian website.  Again, it is a paid subscription, and we will be exploring it's use at HTS next year.  One of the elements of the site I love is a page called Rainforest Maths.  If you decide to subscribe, please let me know if you have any feedback!

3. Dreambox - We use this website with our 1st - 4th Graders, so they should be familiar with it, and be able to link to our school's page here.  Our younger students love the colorful, imaginative and challenging  games on the website, but never seem to have enough time to play it in school.  Perhaps over the summer would be a good time to work on reinforcing their math concepts!

4. PBS Kids Math Games - PBS Kids offers dozens of free games designed primarily for Lower School students in mind.  I would like to point out a particular group of games that tie into the Cyberchase show.  These games are designed with students aged 8-12 in mind, and our students (especially the 4th and 5th graders) find them to be incredibly fun.  The site is free of advertisements.

5. Internet4Classrooms - This site lists hundreds of games and challenges for students across all our grade levels - in all subjects.  It helps to know exactly what you might need practice with (say fractions), as sometimes I find it takes a bit of hunting to find the perfect game.  The good news is that all the games are free. The downside is that the advertising can get distracting.

6. Khan Academy - Khan Academy is a free website.  Students can set up an account using their HTS Email and password.  They can do activities to strengthen their skills from early learning through Calculus.  They can also watch videos to learn new skills or review old ones (it's great for parents to have a resource to brush up on skills learned years ago as well!)  If students enter their parents' information under the "coach" tab, parents can sign in as the coach and get useful information about activities completed as well as strengths and weaknesses.

7. EdHelper - This site provides hundreds of worksheets to help review skills.  Again, it encompasses all subjects and grade levels.

8. BBC Maths Key Stage 2 (through age 11)

I love the BBC websites because they tend to be very engaging and colorful - and always free and without advertisements.  The links to math sites are offered here, but BBC offers games and activities across a range of disciplines.

9. BBC Maths Key Stage 3 (through age 14)

 
10. Summer Skills - This is not a website, but a series of books recommended by Upper School Mary Shannon to help review skills.

Do you have any other amazing ideas to reinforce math skills?  If so, send me a comment below:

Just Keep Typing...

During the school year, our 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders use a program called Type to Learn during technology class.  I spend a lot of time saying: "Just Keep Typing" to the tune of "Just Keep Swimming" from Finding Nemo :)  The goal is that our students should be typing at least 25 to 30 words per minute by the end of 6th grade.  We do alot of keyboarding at HTS in the Upper School!

During the summer months, I'd like to offer you a menu of fun typing games to keep your skills up to speed.  Be sure to always sit up straight, keep your feet on the ground, and keep your fingers on the home keys when you practice keyboarding!  I promise - you'll be a faster typist if you follow those tips.

1. Typing Games at ABCya 

These games are great for our younger students. Be sure to try Alpha Munchies, Cup Stacking and Keyboard Challenge:

2. Keyboarding Games at LearningGames for Kids:

This site offers a comprehensive menu of games. 

Try them out, and let me know which ones you like best!

3. Free Typing Games:

I have to admit, I find the advertising a bit distracting on this site, but the games are very fun... especially "Desert Typing Racer."

4. BBC Dance Mat Typing
This is a very methodical approach to typing - carefully structured lessons are offered in a colorful, fun format. I like it because the lessons constantly prompt the kids to keep their hands on the home keys.  I have to report that various critters with the Scottish accent who direct the efforts seems to get quite a few giggles in class.

5. Typer Shark on AOL Kids

This is always a favorite among our students - but beware... it gets hard very quickly!!

Happy Typing!

Mrs. Morell