How To Keep Kids On The App You Have Chosen!

How ironic that I would receive a text sending me to a blog post about using Guided Access on my ipad since just today we were talking about locking folders to keep kids where we want them to be!

I have not tried using Guided Access because in my class I have very little trouble keeping my kiddos on the app I have told them to use; however, last year I would have loved this option!

This blogger did a great job of explaining the option so I will just link you to her post and let you see for yourself.

If you try it out, let me know!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

I got a "Wonderful Awful Idea"

The Grinch is a favorite in our house this year.  My 6 year old has watched the 30 minute cartoon at least 9 times since it's saved on our pvr, we've watched the full length movie and now we own the app!

For $4.99 you can own the electronic version on Dr. Seuss's classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  The app offers a few pretty cool features.

The coolest in my opinion is being able to set yourself as the narrator.  You can then read the book aloud and it will record your reading so next time you choose Read It To Me....... you can choose to listen to your version!  How cool would that be to have grandpa read the book for you!

The app also allows you to click on the pictures and it tells you the vocabulary of the objects in the picture.  You can turn sound effects on or off, and we all know how much Seuss loves his sound effects!  Of course like most book apps, you can choose autoplay, read it to me or read it myself.



For a little fun we also bought the Grinchmas app.  It is totally just for fun!  You get to be a mean Grinch or a merry Grinch and you fling snowballs or presents into chimneys.  It's a little tricky but it added to our love of the Grinch!




 

Deleting Music

It never fails, whenever a new IS0 comes out my son's ipod does not have enough room left to update it.  Never again will I buy an 8G anything:)

We are always trying to decide what we can delete????  Today we decided to downsize his music library.  Or so we thought we would.  We tried everything to delete about 30 songs.  After 30 minutes of failure, we googled it!  I LOVE google!

We got a few answers... connect it to your itunes account on the computer and choose to manage the music library.  Of course itunes wanted us to update and that whole process SLOWED us down.  

But then we hit the jackpot!!!! 

1.  Open your music.
2.  Click on songs.
3. Slide your finger slowly along the song to the right and a red delete button appears|!
4.  Click it and you are done!!!!!!

How easy... and secretive is that?!  

Now you know:)  


 

Monkey Word School Adventure

He's back............
that favorite little monkey that my kiddos love has a new game  Monkey Word School Adventure  It's an educational app for reading and writing.  There are spelling games, phonics games, word seaches and sight word reading games all intermixed.  While playing the games you earn creatures to store in your terrarium.  There are customizable settings and the difficulty increases as your child plays.  

The game is advertised for children ages 3 - 6, but in my opinion it is perfect to reinforce most grade one skills!  The games is priced at $1.99.

I can't wait to introduce it to my kiddos!




Thanks to Carrie for recommending it to me and you might want to check out the site that she follows Smart Apps for Kids.

Pictello Project part 2

About a month ago I posted about my pictello project which I thought turned out just great.  This morning I had a few spare minutes and played around with the program just a little bit more.

I was able to take the project and save it as a pdf.  That pdf is saved as book on my ibook shelf.  I then dicovered that I could email that pdf or print it as a paper copy.  Now of course when you do that you lose all the audio functions that you may have incorporated; however, having a printed copy of the book would be super exciting for some kids!  Not to mention I would love to add it to their portfolios.

My next steps......
We have created stories on 5 different ipads.  I would like to get all the stories onto all the ipads (or at least mine so when I give the pod back I still have them).  I would like kids to be able to read these stories in ibooks during read to self time.

I wanted to attach the pdf copy to this blog post but I just can't seem to figure out how..... maybe next time! Check out pictello, it's fun!
 

Inspiring Students

Sometimes all it takes is a question.....

Why won't my ipod at home take a screen shot?  How do I delete my apps?  How do I make a folder?  These are the questions I have been asked lately by my little firsties.

How exciting!!!!!  This means they are using and exploring at home!  I had a few parents even come to parent's day and jokingly say... "Why did you teach about screen shots?  I have millions of photos on my phone now!"  I laughed and said "Did you know how to take one before?" and they admitted they are even learning from their children!

These questions have lead us to little mini lessons about using the ipad.  And to all the questions we have had the ah ha moment!  That's when I know I've got them... they can hardly wait to go home and use what they have learned!  Soon they will be teaching me:)


 

My November Apps

A new month means a new folder with some new apps and the return of some old favorites.

My system seems to be going well.  I have had only 2 students venture into the "off limit folders" and because I know my apps well, I quickly heard they were where they were not supposed to be and redirected their learning.  Everyone else is just very excited to use the apps in our monthly folders.

What's new this month?

Mathletics (what I've said about it previously)
 
If you have not yet got this free app - get it!  All the kids in our school have user names and passwords to access it.  It is excellent practice that meets our Manitoba Curriculum.

Spelling City - a class favorite from September.

  
Another freebie that has word list personalized by ME!  Search my name "Christine Williams" to find the word lists.

Monster Squeeze


This app is $1.99.  I was lucky and got it for free.  The kids love it, but I don't think I would pay that price for it.  Watch for a sale instead.

Mo Willem's Pigeon App


For 4.99 we will have hours of fun with this app.  We will draw the pigeon, create our own stories and listen to each others stories.  It is kid friendly, easy to use.  Kids ALWAYS love it!

Doodle Buddy



It's free and it's FUN!  We have almost all had a turn using Doodle Buddy with our idress app project.  We have also learned how we can use Doodle Buddy to practice our spelling words.  I think this month we will be creating our own art work with Doodle Buddy.

This is my last month with the pod.  Not sure how I will live without it come December.