Summer School Plans

I had a wonderful week off..... and I'm back.... at summer school. 

:) 

It's really a pretty good gig. Only a half day and we are allowed to create our curriculum. 

I am working with second graders this year and I have paired with another teacher since we have such a large group of second graders. She does math and I do reading... then we switch... 

We grouped them as close to their English ability levels (according to WIDA) as we could - so that we could differentiate as much as possible in the three weeks we have with them. 

So - here are my plans, some screenshots of the amazing ELL resources from readingatoz.com, and some websites and an app I will be using this week as we learn about....

SHARKS! 

Here is a screen shot of one of the Sharks books, and the ELL resources that accompany it!
I loved that I could choose books that aligned with my children's proficiency levels and matched up to their WIDA scores! This made planning so much easier! This will definitely be a purchase I am adding for next year!
:) 

A great website : Discovery Kids - Sharks in Slow-Motion

Shark App

We made vocabulary books from the ELL teacher resources section ... the kids loved them! (of course I printed them out in color.... my EL babies need any and all help they can get!)

Free Civil War apps!

Who likes free? 

Me! Me! :) 

I was doing some research last night... my 5th graders are learning about the Civil War. It has been

 A LONG time 

since I learned about the Civil War. We also happen to live in a state that has some Civil War history - which makes this ten times cooler {for me anyway.... }

I was planning on using Google Earth to zoom into some of the battlefield sites so they could gain some  perspective.... where the battles happened... terrain... proximity to important cities or military outposts...

since we can't actually go and see any of these things IRL...

I started looking through the app store...

there are a heck of a lot of games about the civil war - which might be interesting to play after we have done some research....

But. Then. I. Found. Free. Apps!

Free battlefield apps - 

with maps 

lists of generals and militia

timelines

AND

videos and photographs!

JACKPOT!

These apps are all affiliated with civilwar.org 

This is a Civil War Trust trying to preserve acres of battlefields. 

I went a *little* crazy. Here is a picture of my phone after downloading - oh.... 15 apps or so... 

:D

I was up until at least midnight last night touring Gettysburg. 

Warning - Some of the pictures are graphic - they show dead soldiers on the battlefields, horses, houses that had been attacked... full of primary sources!

{interviews, first hand accounts, pictures}

SO PLEASE - PREVIEW!

Okay - Ready for the bad news? 

They are only on the iPhone right now. 

:(

BUT - if you have a VGA cable - you can hook your iPhone to your projector... and TADA - everyone can see! :) 

There is ONE app for the iPad... I am in the process of downloading and installing now. 

The Gettysburg app had a tour that needed to be downloaded (these are originally meant to be walking tour guides...) 

But I went ahead and downloaded all the information so that I could wander blissfully through the app. 

{DORK}

Okay - so - if you grab these - let me know what you think! So far I am pretty amazed at the quality since it is free.... jus' my two cents. :) 

What other resources do I NEED for teaching Civil War? Anything you use and love? Help a girl out! I've spent most of my teaching career in first and second - so I'm at the edge of my comfort zone here! :) 

OH MAN - 

I almost posted without including links! Whew, so happy I caught that! :) 

YES  - I am missing a few battles... I am working on adding those now! :) 

There is one I would really like - Love Letters from the Civil War - could it be any more romantic! :) 

Maybe another day! ;)

Have a great night!

Five for Friday

I am linking up with DoodleBugs for the Five for Friday linky. :) 

Here are a few pictures from my week...

My first picture is of my countdown app... yep... weird? maybe. I actually have less than 51 days until my beach vacation with my bf. I am so excited - a week of beach, pool, sun, and sand. Getting around only by golf cart. No cares or plans to adhere to. Eating and napping and eating again. This is truly one week of my year where I am stress-free. Quality time with kids and friends. I can't wait. Really, can't wait...

{this whole trip is very funny, because I hate the beach. 

say what? 

YEP. I grew up a block from the beach. I've been beached out. BUT this is one week that I look forward too. and the way 'we' do the beach....makes me love it again... 

small doses... then showers and food, naps, then back to the water.}

Next picture: more washi tape

I blogged about it the other day. 

I *think* I *might* have a problem. 

{first step, admit problem - check}

This time I used it to redo the labels in an old moleskin notebook. 

Third picture: Korean idioms book. :) 

We have been working on idioms this week...

of course - idioms do not literally translate... so...

one of my loves bought in a book about idioms in Korean. 

It was so cool to see. 

I admit - I sat there... looking at the pictures... trying to figure out some of the idioms...

I seriously wondered how these children were able to come to the US, speak no English, and survive... let alone thrive after a short period of time. 

Could I do that? 

NOPE. 

{I'd be that kid, under my desk, crying...}

They also found a website (naver.com) that has a bunch of translations. 

My favorite idiom that we did - drop in the bucket. 

That one took some work - but once those little light bulbs went off - they were bright! :) 

Fourth picture - my g2 on the iPad. 

Our current favorite app - 

Endless ABC's. 

This app has some *outstanding* words for the kids to build their vocabulary with.

The characters act out a little skit to illustrate the meaning of the word, and the definition is given. 

Then - they all run across the screen and the letters fly everywhere. The kids need to put the letters back in the right places (you can see an outline to match them too). 

But - while you are moving the letters, they make their letter sounds... which is hysterical.

We spent a few hours over the past week playing with this one as a family. :) 

Good times. 

Fifth picture - my commute to work...

Yes, that is what you think it is...

I wish I was joking some days... This time of year it is pretty common to end up behind a tractor of some sort. They are great about pulling over and letting cars pass. I couldn't pass up a picture of the rear end - to post on my fb, and tease all my *big city* friends! :) 

And that... is my week....

How was yours? 

Lakeshore apps for ipad

I got so excited I had to rush back to my blog to post this... I just downloaded 2 FREE lakeshore apps for my iphone. They are so much fun - my dd has taken over my phone! Guess now I can buy an ipad and not feel SO guilty about it. :)


Here is the link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beginning-sounds-interactive/id465479183?mt=8

But you can also go into the itunes store and search for lakeshore... I think there are 3 free apps in all. :)