Technology in the Classroom at CAIS
4th Grade Nutritious Meal Multimedia Project
"Lost and Found" Animation Play
Ever wondered how to increase students' motivation by empowering them to be both playwrights and theater directors? In Annie Liu and Michael Hsu's classes, fifth graders wrote plays on the theme of lost/found items and then acted out their plays virtually by using an animated video site called GoAnimate. In order to create their GoAnimate videos, students first divided their plays into scenes and brainstormed characters and dialogues on paper. Then using the GoAnimate site, students animated scenes and characters based on their scripts and added props and sound effects accordingly. Last but not the least, students provided voices for all of the animated characters in the play. Check out an example below!
Hour of Code Comes to CAIS
CAIS kids code! In December, nonprofit organization Code.orgorganized a worldwide campaign called the "Hour of Code" designed to get millions of students of all ages to participate in a one-hour introduction to computer science. This year at CAIS, all students in grades K-8 participated in the event. Students completed one-hour tutorials designed to demystify code and show that anyone can learn the basics of programming. The event was a hit with our students. In fact, according to one first grader whose class's Hour of Code was postponed due to the rain day: "I wanted to come to school because I wanted to do the Hour of Code!"
Make Your Own Stylus
Have you ever stopped to think about how your iPad stylus works? Or, for that matter, why your phone or iPad screen responds to your touch? In technology class, our sixth and seventh graders learned about the basics of conductivity and how their iPads' touchscreens work. Then, using nothing more than a pen, wire, conductive foam, and tape, they constructed their own simple styluses! Sound like fun? You, too, can be a "maker" and try this at home! Just check out the handy do-it-yourself video below:
December/January 2015 Edition
This month in tech news from the classroom: second graders bring their textbooks to life with the help of a digital puppet theater; fourth graders give us advice on good nutrition; sixth graders flex their stop motion animation muscles; and a whole school gets caught up in the coding craze!
Read on to learn more about the exciting ways teachers and students at CAIS have been using technology!
"Talkative Textbook" Puppet Show
Thinking about a new twist to make reading Chinese textbooks more fun? Ask our second graders for advice! In Chinese class, second graders are learning about personification in their unit, "Talkative Textbook". In this story, inanimate objects (three textbooks) come to life! These talkative textbooks like to chat about how their owners treat them. After reading this story, students used the iPad app Puppet Pals to create a puppet show representing the story. They selected characters to represent the three talking textbooks and created a puppet show by recording their own voices to make each textbook speak in a distinctive voice. See the example below to see how our second graders rock it!
4th Grade Nutritious Meal Multimedia Project
Wondered what the ultimate solution is for students who are picky about food? Ask fourth grade Chinese teacher Annie Liu for advice! In Chinese class, fourth graders designed their own balanced three meals per day and listed all the categories of nutrients each food contains. In the project, students used Google Presentations to design slides that introduced their chosen foods. Then they used Movenote to create synchronized videos with slides and presented their meal plans using real food as props! Click here to see an example.
"Lost and Found" Animation Play
Ever wondered how to increase students' motivation by empowering them to be both playwrights and theater directors? In Annie Liu and Michael Hsu's classes, fifth graders wrote plays on the theme of lost/found items and then acted out their plays virtually by using an animated video site called GoAnimate. In order to create their GoAnimate videos, students first divided their plays into scenes and brainstormed characters and dialogues on paper. Then using the GoAnimate site, students animated scenes and characters based on their scripts and added props and sound effects accordingly. Last but not the least, students provided voices for all of the animated characters in the play. Check out an example below!
CAIS kids code! In December, nonprofit organization Code.orgorganized a worldwide campaign called the "Hour of Code" designed to get millions of students of all ages to participate in a one-hour introduction to computer science. This year at CAIS, all students in grades K-8 participated in the event. Students completed one-hour tutorials designed to demystify code and show that anyone can learn the basics of programming. The event was a hit with our students. In fact, according to one first grader whose class's Hour of Code was postponed due to the rain day: "I wanted to come to school because I wanted to do the Hour of Code!"
Writing Workshop, the Digital Way
For the second consecutive year Lower School informational writing took on new life...in the form of a digital book! Students in Maggie Spillane and Shannon Selerowski's third grade classes became digital publishers by using the iPad app Book Creator for their informational writing project. Choosing topics of expertise, students taught readers about their topic through the use of a variety of text features. This year, second graders got in on the fun, too: students in Christina Booth and Shannon's classes used Book Creator for their procedural writing (how-to) unit! To see an example of a third grader's informational eBook, click here.
For the second consecutive year Lower School informational writing took on new life...in the form of a digital book! Students in Maggie Spillane and Shannon Selerowski's third grade classes became digital publishers by using the iPad app Book Creator for their informational writing project. Choosing topics of expertise, students taught readers about their topic through the use of a variety of text features. This year, second graders got in on the fun, too: students in Christina Booth and Shannon's classes used Book Creator for their procedural writing (how-to) unit! To see an example of a third grader's informational eBook, click here.
Animated Science
This winter our resident stop motion animation experts, the sixth graders, put their skills to the test with a new challenge in science class! Students were tasked with choosing a topic related to density and buoyancy and explaining their topic through the use of stop motion animation. Working in groups, students shot the footage for their videos and later added voiceover to help explain their concept. Check out this example of the students' work below!
Make Your Own Stylus
Have you ever stopped to think about how your iPad stylus works? Or, for that matter, why your phone or iPad screen responds to your touch? In technology class, our sixth and seventh graders learned about the basics of conductivity and how their iPads' touchscreens work. Then, using nothing more than a pen, wire, conductive foam, and tape, they constructed their own simple styluses! Sound like fun? You, too, can be a "maker" and try this at home! Just check out the handy do-it-yourself video below:
Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities
CUE Rockstar Mini Camp - Petaluma, CA, Feb. 13-15
IntegratED PDX 2015 - Portland, OR, Feb. 25-27
Designing Making Experiences - Palo Alto, CA, Feb. 27-28; Oakland, CA, Mar. 20-21
Teach Through Technology - Harker School, San Jose, CA, March 7
Annual CUE Conference - Palm Springs, CA, March 19-22
Leadership 3.0 - Redondo Beach, CA, April 16-18
iTeach 2015 - San Domenico School, Marin, CA Jun. 15-16
CUE Rockstar Teacher Summer Camps - Various locations in CA, June-August
