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A Step by Step Guide

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I'm here to bring you another amazing app to use in your classroom today!

Here's what you'll be looking for in the app store. It's FREE!

I actually stumbled upon this app by mistake. I was searching for a puppet app to use and this popped up. It is not a puppet app, but no worries - it's even better! I think the name comes from the fact that it is a digital storytelling app.

I like to think of this app as a new way to create slideshows. Think PowerPoint, but much simpler and quicker and using voice to narrate it instead of being text intensive. Students use images (their own or from the web) to create slideshows that they narrate to tell a story.

What are some ways it could be used?

Due to the simplicity of this app, it could be used in SO many ways. Here are a few ideas.

Take pictures of students' original published books and let them read them!

Have students take pictures of shapes in the real world and explain them.

Let students solve the same math problem in different ways and explain.

Take pictures of STEM projects and let students narrate their thought process during the stages.

Take pictures of weather/clouds for students to tell what they know.

Let students locate pictures of famous places, landmarks, or people in history to narrate a tour of a particular city/state.

Students can create slideshows of pictures that represent themselves as introductions at the beginning of the school year.

How does it work?

It really is SO easy! My 2nd graders picked it all up on day ONE!

This is what the app looks like when you open it. It shows any existing slideshows and has the "create new" slideshow button. Simply click that button to begin.

The app defaults to your camera roll, so you can see lots of pictures of my students showing. If students were using pictures that they had taken, they would select them here. If they want to find images from an outer source, they would simply select that source on the left. I usually have my students search the sites under "IMAGE SEARCH."

Image Search is my most favorite thing about this app!! When my students create PowerPoints, it's such a pain for them to find images. Not with this app! Simply click Web Images, Flickr Creative Commons, or Wikimedia Commons - all without leaving the app!! #LOVE Students simply type their search term into the top search box and choices appear! I will say that I think the reason you need to download the "Edu" version of Shadow Puppet may be for the filtering. I was a little concerned when my students were creating region slideshows and one group wanted to talk about Mardi Gras in Louisiana. I searched it myself first and all of the images were fine! {whew}

Once an image is selected, students can simply type a new search word to add more images. Once all images are inserted, they will click the "next" button at the bottom.

Then, the first image in the slideshow will appear. At this point, students can name their slideshow by clicking the little pencil above the image. They can also use the T button to the right to add text to the picture, or the music note button to add music to their slideshow.

Students can use the top right menu button to add pages, reorder pages, or delete pages. They can also go here to "save draft" at any point if they need to leave the project and come back to it later. Or, they have the option to delete the project altogether. If they are ready to narrate their project, they simply click the START button at the bottom.

After narrating all of their slides, students will click the SAVE button. This automatically saves the slideshow in the app. If students mess up while recording one of the slides, they can simply click UNDO on the left. This will only delete the narration of this single slide.

After saving the project, a Preview/Save pop-up will appear. Students can click on the slideshow to preview it. They also have the option to save it to other places - don't worry, a "grownups only" pop-up appears on many of these choices! But, if you use the SeeSaw Digital Portfolio app, you will love this! Your students can save their projects directly into their portfolios!!!!

Need even more ideas? The app has pages and pages of ideas for classroom use!

Helpful Hint:
I've found that students are much more successful if they have a plan before creating and narrating their shows. Therefore, I created these simple planning pages for my students to use. They write what they're going to say and write/draw what they are going to use as a picture/photo. You can download this planning page below to use with your students.

{ Download Here}

So, what are you waiting for? Go download this FREE app and let your students start creating!

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I'm here to bring you another amazing app to use in your classroom today! Here's what you'll be looking for in the app store. It's FREE! I actually stumbled upon this app by mistake. I was searching for a puppet app to use and this popped up.

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11 months of books & questions for $24

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Which one is really better?

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For when you don't have 1-1 devices

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Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with Plickers? It's a strange obsession, since I'm no longer in the classroom and I can't even use Plickers with kids! However, seeing teachers get excited about it when I shared it at the Elementary School Conference was almost as fun as using it with kids! To tell you the truth, I was hooked on Plickers when I tested it out at home. That's when I truly understood how it worked and and saw its enormous potential. Since then, I've been enthusiastically sharing what I'm learning about Plickers with other educators.

If you aren't familiar with Plickers, read my original post, Plickers 101: Digital Exit Tickets and More, to get an overview of how it works. Plickers is a free program that's a cross between hand-held "clickers" and paper QR codes. It's an amazing formative assessment tool that provides academic performance data in a flash.

But as I discovered recently, Plickers is SO MUCH MORE than an assessment tool! Plickers is also a powerful way to connect with your students and to increase engagement throughout the learning process, not just at the end.

Last year I created a free Facebook group for teachers who wanted to share ideas for using Plickers, and that group has grown to over 2,500 members! Not only do the teachers help each other with technical issues, they share truly innovative ways to use Plickers in their classrooms. I've been so impressed with their "out of the box" thinking, and I'm excited to be able to share some of these strategies with you now. Of course, I checked with everyone before sharing their strategies and photos, and all contributors were happy to be included. By the way, if you're interested in joining the group, you'll find that information at the end of this post.
Free Plickers Webinar
Plickers can be a little tricky to set up and use, so I decided to present a webinar with information about how to get started. I also wanted to share innovative ways of using Plickers for more than formative assessment. The webinar is over now, but you can sign up for the replay by clicking over to the Interactive Teaching with Plickers webinar registration page.

Innovative Ways to Use Plickers

Here are some of the most innovative and interesting ways teachers are using Plickers. I introduced the first six strategies during the webinar; watch the recording if you'd like more information about them. The other strategies were shared in the Plickers Facebook group.
1. Team Plickers Showdown
Have you ever thought of using Plickers as a part of a cooperative learning activity? Showdown is a terrific strategy for practicing or review academic content in teams, and adding Plickers makes it even more fun! It's similar to the original Showdown activity I described in my post,Show What You Know, with the addition of team Plickers response cards. Watch the Plickers webinar for a complete explanation of how to set this up and when to use the activity.

2. Lunch Count and Attendance
Plickers makes it easy to take your daily lunch count and attendance at the same time. Just create a generic lunch count question with up to 4 responses and change the lunch choices each day. If you make it part of your daily routine to take the lunch count right after the tardy bell rings, you'll be able to use the results to check attendance.

3. Poll Questions and Voting
Plickers makes it easy for students to respond anonymously to any poll question. It's the perfect tool to use for class meetings or when asking students to vote on just about anything.
4. Choosing Groups or Topics
If you have a problem with kids choosing project groups or writing topics based on what their peers choose, use Plickers to keep the results private until you are ready to share the results. Students are far more likely to choose what they want to do and not what their friends are choosing.

5. Writing Workshop Status of the Class
Teachers who use writing workshop often start by conducting a "status of the class" to check in with students about where there are in the writing process. Once again, Plickers can be a big time-saver! Instead of polling each student individually and recording their responses on a paper chart, why not use Plickers to scan and record student responses quickly? Enter the question, "What will you be working on today?" Then include up to 4 options like "rough draft," "need a conference," "editing and revising," "final draft." You can even export your data to a spreadsheet and print it if needed.

6. Social/Emotional Status of the Class
Jessica Vasquez uses Plickers to conduct a social/emotional status of the class each morning. She starts the day by posting a question about how her students are feeling, and she includes a range of responses like, "worried," "excited," "calm," or "scared." While scanning their responses, she makes a note of students she wants to speak with with privately to find out what's going on. You could also include words that describe physical responses like "sleepy" or "hungry." If you don't have time to talk with students individually, have your students write a short journal entry or letter to you to explain why they choose a particular response.

7. Choose Your Own Adventure Stories
How about using Plickers when reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book to your class? Tami Terry shared this strategy with the group last week. At each point in the story where the reader has to choose between two actions, she identifies one as the "A" option and the other as the "B" option. The kids vote for A or B with their Plickers response cards, and the results of that quick (and private) poll determine which page she turns to in the book.
8. Parent Survey at Open House
Angela Sievers shared that she recently used Plickers to conduct a parent survey during open house. She said that the parents loved using something that their children were using during the day. I also think it's a great way to show parents how you are using technology in the classroom, too!
9. Student-Generated Questions
Melinda Harvey shared that after reading about how New Netherlands became New York, her fourth graders generated multiple choice questions, including answers and non-answers for Plickers. She entered their questions and used them the next day as a review. How did it go? "The kids loved looking for their questions, and got a kick out of seeing the non-answers. Some were silly, some were connections to other curriculum areas, some were very astute! I will definitely try this again!"

A Shout Out for the Plickers Facebook Group
I want to thank everyone who shared the strategies and photos I used in both webinars and in this blog post, as well as the teachers who continue to share in the Plickers Facebook group. If you are not a member and would like to join us, sign up using this Google Doc Form.

Now do you believe me when I say that I'm a bit obsessed with Plickers?! :-) The concept is genius, and I'm thrilled that the program is free! How are you using Plickers in your classroom?

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Plickers 102: Innovative Ways to Use Plickers

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Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with Plickers? I love learning new ways to use it, and I love sharing ideas with other teachers even more! Most educators think of Plickers as a free online assessment program, but I've learned some truly innovative ways it's being used in the classroom.

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Library Map Example

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Bruce-Guadalupe Community School: Elementary Library Map

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Give some a try!

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For multiplication, but easily changed to be used for whatever!

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Just replace the QR code with one that leads to your own google form!

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Just replace the QR code with one that leads to your own google form!

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For students who struggle with reading/remembering directions

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What is Genius Hour?

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Passion Project | Piktochart Visual Editor

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How to help students follow their passions

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TPT

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iPad ELA Task Cards for the SeeSaw App (NO PREP)

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If you need IDEAS on how to use the SEESAW app and you want ways to use it today, this PRODUCT is for you! Download this product and you will have 50+ uses for the app along with posters and great ideas for ELA projects! SEESAW is a fairly new app.

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Desert Animals: Informational Article, QR Code

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Desert Animals: Informational Article, QR Code

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TPT $12

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Desert Animals: Informational Article, QR Code Research Page & Fact Sort

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Desert Animals: Informational Article, QR Code Research Page & Fact Sort is a set of 12 informational articles all about Desert Animals located in the North American Desert. These articles are full of interesting facts and details that students can use during reading and writing activities.