Thursday, April 18, 2013

Do You Hiaku?

I started working with a 1st grade extension group a couple of weeks ago.  (We call them an extension group because they have mastered the curriculum their teacher is currently teaching to the other studnents and their learning needs to be expanded upon!) We just completed a project about animal senses.  We read a book that discussed various unique or unusual senses from several animal species.  The students did additional research on their animals.  They each asked three questions pertaining to the information they had already gathered and then looked on-line to find the answers.  They used an iPad app called Haiku Deck to organize their information and present it to each other and the rest of their class.  This project was relatively quick, informative, and a lot of fun.  It gave the students the opportunity to work fairly independently but still collaborate with each other and with me when they needed assistance.  It also allowed them to integrate technology into their research project.
I think my favorite part about the entire project was when I utilized students from our 1st grade technology class to instruct the students in my group on how to use Haiku Deck.  My campus is lucky enough to have a 1st grade class that has been using iPads at a 1:1 ration all year.  These students are technology experts!  I asked their teacher, Mrs. Russell, if I could borrow four of her digital natives to explain the app to my students and help them set up their Haiku Deck. It literally took less than 15 minutes before I started hearing, "We're done!"  Of course, we had some editing to do (and that still did not get perfected, but it is 1st grade, so what are you gonna do!) and some revisions but they were actually done very quickly. The end result looks pretty amazing, too, as you can see for yourself if you follow the links below!
What are your favorit apps for presentations?
Fish Facts Haiku Deck

Celine and Cade's Fish Facts
Emma and Sienna's Animal Sensors
Karlee and Leah's Chameleon's
Izaiah and Jolee's Ibis

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