The Digital Classroom 2013 Infographic

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Hour of Code in the Intermediate School

Every Grade 4 student participated in the Hour of Code. Congratulations Grade 4! It was fantastic to see how many students found coding to be a particular talent and an area that they would like to persue.

Day 5 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

We had 660 students participate in the Hour of Code this week. This included students in GATE and Math Enrichment! Well done Intermediate School!

G5 Have a Google Hangout with a Programmer in Korea

Ms Kim's grade 5 students had a Google Hangout with a computer programmer in Korea after their Hour of Code experience. He is a computer programmer at Celebrity Magazine, so the students enjoyed learning about his job, the different coding languages, and what makes coding so fun!

Day 4 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

Day 4 Hour of Code with Grade 3 students...it is great to have teachers getting involved too!

Day 4 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

By the end of Day 4, we have had 528 IS students participating in the Hour of Code.

Day 3 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

Grade 4 students, and their teacher, getting into programming during the 'Hour of Code'.

Day 3 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

By the end of Day 3, we have had 352 IS students participating in the Hour of Code.

Day 3 of the Hour of Code with Grade 5

Grade 5 students learning the basic building blocks of code... loops and if/else statements during Day 3 of the Hour of Code.

Hour of Code in the Intermediate School

The Hour of Code is not just for kids... our teachers are getting involved too!

Day 2 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

By the end of Day 2, we have had 242 IS students participating in the Hour of Code.

Day 2 with Grade 3 and 5 

Day 2 GATE Students 

Day 1 of the Hour of Code in Intermediate School

During Day 1 of the 'Hour of Code', 132 students from Grades 4 and 5 were thoroughly engaged in coding activities provided by code.org.
Why are we getting our students involved in the 'Hour of Code'? Coding helps to develop computational and critical thinking skills, and, as pointed out at code.org, it shows students how to create, not simply use new technologies.
One grade 5 student summed it up on his blog post: "...it is important to know how to code because coders are the rulers of the future!"

Day 1 with Grade 5

Minecraft Math

What a great way for my Grade 3 students to incorporate math, technology, and their love of Minecraft. Students created and modeled stories - incorporating their understanding of multiplication, addition, and subtraction. This was by far the easiest thing I've done to encourage them to write to explain!

Grade 3 iPad Launch

Students in three third grade classes and their parents recently embarked on a voyage of learning and discovery. 66 iPads were handed out to some very excited students and they immediately went to work showing moms and dads what to do.

Here are some pictures of the exciting event.

Along with being responsible for managing their own iPads, students and parents were shown the following video highlighting just a few of the reasons we're using iPads as a tool for learning. 

What First Graders Say About Blogging!

What a year it is has been. I never thought as first grade tech coach we would have been blogging with first graders but I can honestly this: first graders get it! They can blog. 

A big thanks must go to the two teachers Mrs. Derksen and Mrs. Joyce who travelled on this journey with me. Blogging was tech integration at its very best. Students and teachers collaborated, communicated and created. 

In the second to last day of school, Mrs. Joyce had her first grade class state what they liked about blogging. Check out what they have to say in their final posts for the 2012-13 school year.

http://sasp215.blogspot.sg/

Dear Ms. Fraction

Fourth graders worked on Dear Ms. Fraction stories using iMovie. It was a great way for them to integrate technology and model their mathematical thinking in the context of real world application.

3rd Grade Fractions

It has been exciting to watch my 3rd grade students become so engaged in fractions.  Using manipulatives to model their mathematical understanding, journaling their thoughts with words and pictures, and putting the two of them together in an iMovie gave proof of their deep understanding. Check it out!

Piper's iMovie About Fractions

HS Demo Slam Presentations - April 30

Special Thanks to Eric B, Kris K, Virginia S, Jean R, Dan S., John J. for showing your stuff!

Digital storytelling in first grade

This year, first grade students have learned a new word: narration. Using two applications, Puppet Pals and Doodlecast Pro, first graders have begun to acquire the necessary skills to retell a story, narrate a cartoon in Chinese and to transform their non fiction research projects created on Keynote into a screencast.

Retell 

Puppals Pals was our first foray into digital storytelling. An introductory lesson in the lab provided students with all the required skills to use Puppet Pals to tell a brief story using a fixed set of characters. We then moved onto the next stage using the skill of retell and the famous story, The Gingerbread Man.

Image files of the five main characters for the Gingerbread were searched and selected. These were then emailed out to all the first grade iPads and Instructional Assistants learned how to add the pictures to the camera roll and imported them into Puppet Pals. Teachers reread the story to the students. Students then took their iPads and retold The Gingerbread Man using Puppet Pals. The following is an example from a first grader in Mrs. Eide's class.

Storytelling and World Languages

Storytelling is a vital learning tool in the World Language program. Doodlecast Pro is a screencast application which can be used to narrate imported Keynotes or PDF files. First graders in  Chinese classes regularly learn language via repetitive patterned stories. Using a story created by a Primary School Chinese teacher, Huali Xiong, we were able to retell the story of Wang Wang the puppy who thinks his reflection in a pond is another dog! Here is an example of a student's retelling of this story in Chinese from Mrs. Derksen's class. Such examples can become important assessment tools for World Language teachers. 

Non Fiction Research: Narrating Keynotes on Doodlecast Pro

In the second semester, first graders learned the non fiction genre. Choosing an animal research project, they created their very own presentations using Keynote on the iPad. This is a far cry from the days when first graders used a complex template in Powerpoint to simply replace pictures and enter text. In addition to creating their own presentations, students were able to export their work to Doodlecast Pro and narrate their presentations. The following is an example from a student in Mrs Coole's class.

Summary

Puppet Pals and Doodlecast Pro are just some of the many applications that make digital storytelling in the primary school a reality.  Students can create new stories or narrate presentations. This opens up doors to new possibilities in how first graders learn and share this learning. Students learn an array of new skills creating products with relative ease. The added advantage is that these products can be uploaded and shared via teacher blogs. 

Voicethread

https://voicethread.com/share/4415478

iPad Enhanced Learning

MS 1:1 Laptop Program Launch

HS Demo Slam in Faculty Meeting

HS faculty learned from their colleagues in the last faculty meeting. Have a look at the presentation below to see some of the technology demonstrated. Special thanks to Rick S., Anne-Marie R., Clay B., Martin W., Kris K., Simon B. and Lance M.!

Service Learning and First Grade

In first grade, SAS students are collaborating with Seng Kang Primary School to learn from one another and to share a final product with the community. Teachers find it important to share out such events with the parent community via their teacher blogs.

In February, 13 first grade classes visited Seng Kang Primary and this was followed up by a visit to SAS by Seng Kang students in March. Two videos were produced for communication purposes and uploaded to YouTube. Teachers embedded these videos into their teacher blogs. Click here to see an example of one of our first grade teacher blogs. 

A slideshow using movie maker in Picasa was created to document the visit to SAS by Seng Kang Primary School. This was uploaded to YouTube and using audio swap, we were able to find the perfect soundtrack to accompany the video. 

For the visit to Seng Kang, an iMovie trailer was created focusing on two schools coming together in the spirit of service learning. This trailer will also be a teaching point to introduce first graders to iMovie trailers on the iPad. Students will use still pictures from a field trip to create their very own trailer in the final quarter of this school year.

iPad Slam in IS