Our first grade children have created the cutest project in Spanish class with Sra. Ross. Here’s what she said about the animal project:
As part of our farm animal unit, we discussed using tiene, it has, to describe the different body parts each animal has. We talked about what color the animal is using es, it is, learned the vocabulary for each part, discussed how many parts each animal has, and also what actions the animals do.
In Spanish, the students had written a description on the first page and written and illustrated the answer on the second.
Sra. Ross asked what we could do to record the students and get their work uploaded to Seesaw digital portfolios. Since there were two pages to this, I thought Book Creator would be perfect. The children could make their book and then air drop that to be combined for a class book. The class books could be placed on the class iPads so that students could practice listening and practicing their understanding of Spanish.
For my part, I created a template in Book Creator and air dropped that to each iPad. I then went into each iPad to personalize each book with student and teacher’s names. The children can set this up but I find it saves a LOT of time, especially for the younger students, to prepare as much as possible ahead of time!
In the first class, we had the students take a photo of each paper using the camera that’s built in to Book Creator. In that class, only 6 students completed their book (steps to completion: take photos, insert into Book Creator, record the Spanish, let Sra. Ross listen to it, and air drop the book to me. For a 30 minute class, that was TOO MUCH to do! We only had about 6 people complete their book.
After that class, I suggested that we take the photos and insert them into the books before students arrived. That was SO much better!
Once Sra. Ross checked the work, the students came to me where they added page colors to their books then they air dropped them to me.
Two of the three classes completed their books. The books were saved in the ePub book format as well as a video. Here’s one of the videos (the title slide was created with the Assembly app).
Instructions for Downloading Books:
In order to read the books, you will need to have the iBooks app installed.
Tap on the link while on an iOS device (iPad or iPhone).
Sra. Ross came to me a few weeks ago asking about an app for her second grade students to record themselves speaking Spanish as they described photos. She wanted to share the videos with parents so they could hear what their children are learning in class.
We’ve been using Seesaw, a digital portfolio, with our 1st and 2nd graders so we knew that was an excellent way to share the finished work. The next question was how to combine the photos with their narration.
Fortunately, I’ve been following the Seesaw group on Facebook and have learned SO much! Having read how child-friendly the Shadow Puppet EDU app was, I suggested using that. Let me tell you – this has become one of my ALL-TIME favorite apps! It’s a really easy way to combine 2 or more images, narrate, then save as a video to the camera roll. It also uploads seamlessly to Seesaw (app is created by the Seesaw developers).
Back to Spanish – Sra. Ross and her co-teacher, Sra. Sanders, took the second graders to the playground where they photographed equipment. They asked me to help guide the students as they created their video. Students added their photos, recorded themselves talking about the equipment, and some even wrote the vocabulary or the phrase in Spanish. The videos were uploaded to their Seesaw portfolio. What a great way to share a foreign language with parents!
What a fun time celebrating International Dot Day in Spanish classes!
Sra. Ross had her first and second graders “making their mark” as they discussed how life is like a mirror.
Life is like a mirror. It will smile at you if you smile at it.
The children designed their mirrors to “mirror” themselves – favorite colors and designs. Some students used colors of sports teams they follow. I love that there is even “etching” in the mirror portion.
In Costa Rica, the traditional oxcart or carreta is the country’s most famous type of craft. (Visit Oxherding and Oxcart Traditions to learn more.) The tradition of decorating oxcarts started in the early 20th century. The carts are designed to symbolize things that are important to the owner.
Keeping with the theme, the students decorated their carts to represent something special to them.
I love how our Spanish teachers joined in the celebrations of Día Internacional Dot! Their choice of activities was a perfect way for students to “make their mark” to “see where it would take them.”
Our 3rd and 4th grade Spanish teacher, Sra. Nedrelow, developed a wonderful lesson for Valentine’s Day in which the students made valentines and created an ePub book using the app, Book Creator.
The Book Creator app provides a simple way to create an ebook for the iPad. Images, text, hyperlinks, and recorded narration can be added to the pages to create an interactive reading experience.
Sra. Nedrelow photographed each student holding their valentine. The students then took turns recording themselves reading what they had written.
What a fabulous way for parents to listen to their child speak Spanish!
Links to the class books:To read the ePub book, you must click on the book links below while on an iOS device with the iBooks app (i.e. iPad, iPhone, iTouch). The books will not open on a PC. Downloading instructions are below the book links. We hope you enjoy the students’ work!
I absolutely love what our K-2 Spanish teacher did with her second graders!
Sra. Ross had her students write about what they might find in their backpacks.What a fun way to practice Spanish vocabulary for school items!
But Sra. Ross didn’t stop there – she photographed each student’s illustration and uploaded it to the Fotobabble app on her iPad. Next the students recorded themselves reading their text in Spanish. Sra. Ross then decided to share the work by adding QR codes that linked to the students’ Fotobabbles to the paper backpacks and posting them on a bulletin board. Parents and visitors can now visit the board, scan the QR codes and listen to the children speak Spanish!
Here is just one of the Fotobabbles (flash version):
Here is a non-flash version:
The project took awhile since it’s a bit hard to get everyone recorded with one iPad but it was well worth it – a wonderful way to share what students are learning with parents!
Sra. Ross asked what we could do to record the students and get their work uploaded to Seesaw digital portfolios. Since there were two pages to this, I thought Book Creator would be perfect. The children could make their book and then air drop that to be combined for a class book. The class books could be placed on the class iPads so that students could practice listening and practicing their understanding of Spanish.
After that class, I suggested that we take the photos and insert them into the books before students arrived. That was SO much better!
Once Sra. Ross checked the work, the students came to me where they added page colors to their books then they air dropped them to me.
