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Jan. 5th at 8pm EST

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Spreadsheet for sign ups is here.

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School & District -Subscriptions | Seesaw

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Seesaw is the best interactive learning platform for PreK-5. Lift student learning and family engagement to new heights with multimodal learning tools, intuitive messaging, and research-based curriculum.

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PicCollage - Photo and Video Greetings App

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Make all your memories last forever. Create holiday greetings, wedding invitations, birthday cards, and more. Download the app and start creating now!

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Students uploaded some clipart pieces and then created tasks to go along with their pictures in PicCollage. The final project was uploaded to their Seesaw Journals and then shared on Twitter for the challenge.

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Made with Seesaw - Student Driven Digital Portfolios. Free for teachers!

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Students created math tasks in PicCollage and then uploaded to Chatterpix to read their tasks. They posted to their Seesaw Journals and then I was able to post to our class Twitter account for the challenge.

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Made with Seesaw - Student Driven Digital Portfolios. Free for teachers!

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YouTube share of more ways to share #gmttc math tasks

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YouTube share of more ways to share #gmttc math tasks

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Paw Patrol Best Baby Toy Learning Colors Video Wooden Toys Cars for Kids

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Searching for a GMTTC task to share with your students

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This is a VERY quick video of how I search for a #gmttc (Global Math Task Twitter Challenge) each week. I make a screenshot or snapshot of the challenge along with the name of the class tweeting out the task so that I can remember to include their twitter handle in the response as well as the #gmttc.

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Gives a little more info on how I share the tasks with my students in the classroom.

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A sneak peek into a new challenge for The Global Math Task Twitter Challenge. Join us to share the learning.

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Had my technology club kiddos use this wonderful google slide resource and create a snowman. Then the challenge was to create a math task to write in the text box. We'll be sharing them on Twitter @swampfrogkids

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Do you want to build a snowman?

Well now you can with this fun, and educational, Google Slides activity. This is a great way for students to be creative and to work on their writing skills by describing or writing about their snowman.

Here's how:

Make a copy of the Google Slides "Build a Snowman" template, found further down in the blog post.

The template has a blank snowman and several slides full of items to add to your snowman including eyes, mouths, hats, arms, feet, hair, and more.

Copy and paste the items to build your snowman.

If you need different pictures, you can search for more.

When done building, write about your snowman or snowwoman in the textbox. You can describe them, tell a story about them, or explain who they are.

When all done you can download a picture of your snowman and writing to share with others.

See below to get your own copy of the template, as well as more detailed directions and a video tutorial on how to do the activity.

Get a copy of the template

This activity is created with Google Slides. To get your own copy of the template simple click the link below.

"Build a Snowman" template - Google Slides link
(Original version with movable snowman.)

"Build a Snowman" template - Google Slides link
(Version 2 where snowman cannot be moved. May be easier for younger children.)

Your students can click this link to get their own copy, or you can use Google Classroom to push out a copy of the template to each of your students.

Video tutorial (11 minutes)

If you would like a step-by-step video tutorial on how to use the template, see the video below:

The Google Slide template has multiple parts for the activity. These include:

Slide 1 - The title slide

Slide 2 - A brief set of directions

Slide 3 - The blank snowman. This is where you will build your snowman (or snowwoman) and where you will write about them.

Slides 4 through 10 - Items for building your snowman. These slides contain images that you can copy and paste onto your blank snowman. The items are grouped on the slides by topic including Eyes, Mouths, Arms, Feet, Hats, Hair, and Extras.

Building your snowman

To build your snowman, simply copy and paste images from the items slides onto your blank snowman. You can copy and paste in several ways.

To copy an item:

Click on the picture and press "Ctrl" and "C"

Or click on the picture and click "Edit" then "Copy" in the top menu bar.

Or right-click on the picture and choose "Copy" from the pop-up menu.

To paste an item, go to the snowman slide and:

Or click "Edit" then "Paste" in the top menu bar.

Or right-click and choose "Paste" from the pop-up menu.

Once your item has been pasted in you can adjust it in many ways:

Drag and drop it to move it around.

Press the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it around.

Hold down the "Shift" key and press the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it one pixel at a time.

Click and drag the blue circle on top of the image to rotate the image if needed.

Click "Arrange" in the top menu bar, then "Rotate" and "Flip horizontally" or "Flip vertically" if needed.

Click and drag the corners of the image to change its size if desired.

Click "Image options" in the top menu bar, and then "Recolor" to adjust the color (works better for lighter colors).

Adding your own images

Although the template provides a large variety of items to use for your snowman, you may still want to add some more of your own. You can add more images as follows:

Click "Insert" in the top menu bar, then click "Image".

You can add an image in several ways including "Upload" or from your "Google Drive" or with a "Search"

If you use the "Search" option, you may want to choose "Clip art" from the "Any type" drop down menu to limit your results to clip art style pictures.

Writing about your Snowman

When you are done creating your snowman, now you will want to write about him (or her). You can type in the textbox to the right of your snowman to enter your own writing. This could include:

A description of your snowman.

A story about your snowman.

An explanation of who your snowman is and/or what he does.

Be sure to include your name at the bottom of your writing.

Downloading your Snowman

When you are completely done, you can download a picture of your snowman and your writing as follows:

Make sure you are on the slide that has your completed snowman and your writing.

Click "File" in the top menu bar.

Choose "Download as" from the drop-down menu.

Choose "PNG image" from the sub-menu.

This will download an image of just the slide you are on and not any of the rest of the slideshow.

You can now share your image in several ways:

Email it to someone.

Turn it in through Google Classroom.

Post it on your class website.

Share it through social media.

Combine it with others to make a new slideshow with everyone's creations.

Conclusion

The "Build a Snowman" Google Slides activity can be a great way to let kids be creative and to improve their writing at the same time. One of the great things about creativity, is you never know what students will come up with. Below are a few examples of what my boys and I created.

Feel free to email me images of your students' creations. I would love to see what they make and will be glad to share some examples here to inspire others.

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Do you want to build a snowman? Well now you can with this fun, and educational, Google Slides activity. This is a great way for students to be creative and to work on their writing skills by describing or writing about their snowman.

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Join in the fun! Sign up to tweet out tasks with your students this semseter!

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Join in the fun! Sign up to tweet out tasks with your students this semseter!

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https://goo.gl/a5zTaU

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Originally posted on blog.tenmarks.com on 4/10/2016

by Beverly Ladd, 2nd Grade Teacher, NC and Heidi Samuelson, 4th Grade Teacher, TN

Did you know April is Mathematics Awareness Month? The goal of Mathematics Awareness Month is to increase appreciation and understanding of math. As we reflect on math during this time, we are struck by one particular aspect of the subject: Getting the right answer is not always what math is about. More than the right answer is the journey students embark on as they strive to learn a new skill or solve a task. The importance of math goes beyond the day-to-day standards that we teach. Often, the most important part of math is what is not written on a lesson plan at all. Often, the important part of math is in the connections, communications, and commitment to work toward a goal.

As teachers, we strive for students not only to get the right answers, but also to develop a growth mindset when they make a mistake. Helping a child internalize that making mistakes is part of learning gives them the opportunity to understand that the mistakes they make are proof of learning. Creating this growth mindset in our students is vital to helping them become better learners, as well as developing a sense of determination.

Students who work together in a collaborative learning environment gain social and emotional skills that are priceless and will allow them to be used in careers that haven't been created or thought of yet. These are skills they will use not only in their everyday lives, but also as they work in other skill subject areas.

Often, a student working with a student that has the wrong answer will instill empathy because they have the opportunity to guide and teach the struggling student on how to get the right answer.

Students can also learn with others beyond the walls of the classroom. This builds empathy as they learn to appreciate cultural differences while developing math skills and seeing life from a different viewpoint. Breaking down classroom walls to initiate student collaboration and learning can happen in a variety of methods: Skype, students tweeting from a Twitter classroom account to participate in the Global Math Task Twitter Challenge (@globalmathtask) or in a collaborative online document. The method and frequency can vary, depending on the comfort level of the teacher and the technology resources available, but learning outside the classroom walls is beneficial for all involved!

Learning with other students in a collaborative learning environment allows students to carry their math conversations and observations outside the structured "math lesson," granting math talk to be blended throughout the day. More connections and deeper relationships are discovered, which helps students respond to the mathematical thinking of others, not just in their classroom, but also globally. Critical thinking is continually developed as students look deeper at the different ways in which students from across the globe are solving and sharing math tasks.

In order for students to develop reasoning skills, students need multiple opportunities to practice communicating in math. Challenging students to use both written and verbal methods of communication gives them more opportunities to justify answers. Many times, students gain another viewpoint or method on how to solve a task while listening to other students justify answers to show their thinking. Students must learn to use appropriate vocabulary terms when explaining their thinking. Solutions must be presented in a clear "voice" when sharing with a global audience. This helps everyone develop better communication skills and become more confident mathematicians, not only today, but also years from now when they are no longer in a classroom.

Developing lifelong learners is a goal that every teacher dreams about. We want the students in our classroom to build their own curiosity and interests through discussions, lessons, and activities they have experienced while with us. Using math to spark the imagination and help mold the developing skills of our students, teachers strive to help our students leave our classrooms with more than just what was written in our daily lesson plan book. Let's endeavor to spark curiosity and desire in our students towards collaborating, communicating, and respecting others even though they may look and talk differently. Allowing collaborative learning environments can potently change the way our students learn to develop necessary skills, like respect and empathy for others. Let's inspire our students to treasure the differences that make us unique, as well as to help them see how math can be a common factor for all of us during Math Awareness Month, and always!

Click Here to read the whole article on TenMarks.

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Originally posted on blog.tenmarks.com on 4/10/2016 by Beverly Ladd, 2nd Grade Teacher, NC and Heidi Samuelson, 4th Grade Teacher, TN Did you know April is Mathematics Awareness Month? The goal of Mathematics Awareness Month is to increase appreciation and understanding of math.