Common Core App

Yes, Common Core is everywhere and now you can view them from your phone!  My first thought is, "Yeah, right, just what I want to do, look up CCSS while at the baseball game". But then I decided that there might be times I do want to get to the CCSS quickly.

That’s why I figured it’d be worthwhile to point out a free app that brings all the Common Core standards into one easy-to-read format: a mobile app! The app is called ‘Common Core Standards‘ and is quite handy for anyone looking to learn about the Common Core on the go.

Writing and Collaborating

No longer are students bound within the classroom walls.  Technology allows them to collaborate and work with students all over the world.  There are many places to find projects that connect classes together.

I have used ePals before to find short term projects or just to have year long writing buddies.  One year my students were pen pals with a class in Italy only instead of exchanging letters, we exchanged emails.

A couple of years ago a 4th grade class I worked with wrote stories using Storybird. This is a great book authoring site where you choose beautiful artwork from the site and write a story inspired by that artwork.  The book these 4th graders wrote were to be sent to Haiti.  One of the official languages on Haiti is French.  So the 4th grade students collaborated with a high school French class about 60 miles away through Skype, email and through the Storybird account.  The French class edited the books, gave suggestions on the storyline and then translated the book into French.  The books were bilingual books with and English page and corresponding French page.

There are so many ways to collaborate with other students.  It will take a little up-front work from the teacher, but the benefits are so HUGE.  The students are writing with and for a real audience.  They take more pride in their work.  The younger student love meeting and talking with the older students.

Here is another example of an 8th grade class working with a  3rd grade class.  Check out their writing project Writing Project.  They used 2 apps Book Creator $4.99 and Scrap Pad $4.99 that do cost, but I think the results were very worth it.

Non-Fiction Text Aligned to CCSS

ReadWorks is a non-profit resource that provides 1000's of non-fiction reading passages with associated text-dependent question sets, leveled using the Lexile framework for grades K-6.  Users can search lessons by grade level and Common Core State Standard.

Lesson plans, Student Handouts, Graphic Organizers and Teacher Materials can be easily downloaded and printed for later use.  Free registration allows you to set up your "binder" where you save your selected lessons.

Right now there is a limited amount of lessons per grade, but as this resource is shared with more teachers ReadWorks will be able to get more partners and therefore more funding for additional lessons and resources.  So, share the information.

***Note:  This blog has tabs across the top to navigate to core area subject pages.  ReadWorks is a resource listed on the Comm Arts page.

Video Tutorial

Comm Arts Teachers with iPads...Listen UP

This app is a Communication Arts teacher's dream.  Or, I guess any teacher who has to grade papers. The app is called MarkUp; it is created by the developers of ShowMe (another great app).   When students write a paper, they email it to your MarkUp email address and when the teacher opens the paper in the app she can annotate over the paper (this is easier to do with a stylus) and then emails the paper back to the student.  The apps is $1.99 right now, but no more taking home bags full of papers.  Check out this video and information on MarkUp. 

Calling All Students and Parents

......or "Texting all Students and Parents"....   If your school allows you to use mass texting, emailing or other messaging services and you aren't using it, I think you are letting a great opportunity pass you by to stay in contact with your students/parents by giving them text reminders before school or in the evening. 

There are some great services that makes it quick and easy for you to contact all of your students and/or parents and for them to contact you, yet keeps your personal phone number private.

I just discovered WDWDT (What Did We Do Today).  This app allows mass texting for teachers.  You can create lists for each class.  Click on the link above to read about all the great features.  Also, note at the bottom of the WDWDT  page for another app created by this same company: Cover It Live. http://www.coveritlive.com/  I think I need to check this one out and get back to you on it, but you may not want to wait for me.

A favorite for a lot of teachers is Remind 101.  This texting service keeps the teacher and the students numbers private while communicating through texting.

Google Voice has lots a great features.  If you create a phone number through Google Voice then you can group text and no one has your real phone number.  This number does not take voice phone calls, only texting messages.  When you are sent a text (SMS) message you will also receive an email message which makes it nice when you are at school if are not allowed to have your phone out. 

I did not create a Google Voice number, I synced to my actual phone number and I use Google Voice as my voice message provider.  I set it up through the website and downloaded the app to my phone.  When I miss a phone call I and the caller leaves me a voice message I get an email and Google Voice attempts to turn the message into text.  There are usually several mistakes, but I can usually get the idea.  However, I have not found a way to use group texting since I used my own phone number.  If you know how, then leave a comment on this post.  We all want to know.

Socrative Update

I posted about Socrative earlier in this blog, but they have some new updates that I think are worthy of mentioning.  One new feature is that you can now add images to multiple choice and true/false questions.  This will be great for math problems and diagrams.  The second feature is that Socrative now attempts to grade short answers.  Teachers put in the answer(s) that are acceptable. 

Read information from Socrative about the new features. http://bit.ly/ZC1U7j

Click here to go to the past post on Socrative.

Socrative:  Probably my favorite.  Turn any computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone into a clicker repsonse system.  Teachers can create an instant Multiple Choice or Short Answer quiz by asking the question orally and students sending their answers in via their device.  Or, teachers can pre-create a test in Socrative for students to take.  In this format, teachers mark the correct answers and get an excel spreadsheet showing all of the answers. 
Pro:  Easy to use, Free, Allows teachers to ask questions without pre-making a test (formative assessment)
Con:  I don't see anything right now that is super negative about this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eseWmUyi7L8

Common Core Lesson Resources

There are a lot of websites that align with Common Core, the trick is finding them.  I really like Thinkifinity just to search for any kind of teaching material.  Now they have their resources searchable by Common Core.  Check them out!

Thinkfinity
Main Site
Common Core LA link is for 8th grade, change to your grade level
Common Core Math link is for 4th grade, chage to your grade level
Common Core Science  link is for 10th grade, change to your grade level
Common Core SS  link is for 2nd grade, change to your grade level