The One iPad Class ~ Notetaking Apps

I recently bought an iPad (for mostly work use-and some play!), and have been discovering apps that I can use as a one iPad class.

I thought I would share the apps that I use and how they make my life easier! 

These apps will be mostly for teacher use only. They will also be mostly free, and those that I've paid for will not be too expensive-with the exception of one or two after I've tried out their free versions! :)

First up:

  Evernote {FREE} Evernote has taken the place of my anecdotal note binders-it's all here in one cool app.

You can have as many notebooks as you want, and even nest notebooks together (so they're all in the same section).

I have notebooks for all my students, as well as notebooks for PD I've attended, and books I've read.

Using it for my students, I love that you can take a note, and add a picture!

This is helpful to see what their work looked like, as well as why you made that observation.

Diary of a Note So Wimpy Teacher has a great post on Evernote as well (and a free guide!).
Purely Paperless has a section here.

Next up is:
KustomNote {FREE} KustomNote works with Evernote. You can create templates in KustomNote , take your note, and then select which notebook it will go in for Evernote.

You can find templates on their website, or create your own.

Once you have a template, you can select it and add a new note.

Fill in the fields, and choose which notebook to go into!

I will say that they have recently done an overhaul of the app-it was way glitchy before, and I had a lot of problems with it. However, with the new overhaul, I haven't had any of the same problems, and it is much smoother and easier to use.

EDITED: KustomNote is now Transpose. I haven't had time to use Transpose, but it looks like it is the same concept, just a different name.

Last but not least,
{$$$-$24.99} I would HIGHLY recommend trying out Confer Lite (their free version) before jumping into the pool to purchase this one.

I use this mostly for my reading groups, although you can use it in the general classroom as well.

(Although, I prefer Evernote for general class notes. I think Confer works better as a small group notetaker)

You can set up groups by subject.

And add students to each group.

I like this one because not only can I take notes and add pictures like Evernote, but I can also add teaching points, strengths,  and next steps.

It also saves previous teaching points, strengths and next steps, so you don't have to keep retyping the same thing.

It helps me narrow down which students need what help.

Laugh Eat Learn has a great post on Confer. As well as some app suggestions!

Those are the three main apps I use to take notes in my class-and it really has streamlined my process! I've also found that I am taking more notes on the kids than I did before-it's just so much easier now.

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Close Reading: Poetry Style

Earlier this week, we worked on some of our close reading skills. Using what I've learned from my workshops, we close read some poetry.

We started off with 'Let It Go'. I had my paper passer pass them out blank side down, and then I had the kids flip them over at the same time.

The reactions were awesome! There were some cheers, as well as lots of moans and groans. Most of my kids have little siblings who constantly play the song/movie :).

I had them do the first read on their own, and write down what they thought the message the author was trying to get across was.

After we shared, we came together to do the next part.

I read it a second time, asking them to listen for figurative language as I read. There were some giggles during this, as I was trying hard not to sing...and I guess it came our serious/sarcastic to my kids!

We marked up our text together, numbering the paragraphs, different types of figurative language and rhyme structure.

Then I had them find two examples (from the text-one group somehow got a little confused-even though everyone else knew it was text evidence) of the author's message we came up with. I had them work in pairs for this part, so they could discuss it.

Then I showed them how to do the Poetry sheet I got from the Mailbox ages ago.
Now it was time for them to do it on their own! And by on their own, I mean with partners :)

I had them do the same steps we did for 'Let It Go' for a Robert Frost poem I typed up a few years ago.

Some groups worked very well together, and some needed a little more guidance.

But all of them worked fairly hard!

This lesson took a lot longer than I thought it would-the whole afternoon! I definitely this is was worth it to expose them to more poetry and get those thinking caps going!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Guided Reading: Main Idea and Summarizing

Happy Monday!

I wanted to share how I've been working with my two guided reading groups.

Both of these groups are at S and T (now T and U), above expectations for fourth grade right now.

However, my S group is struggling with the main idea of a text, and my T group is struggling with summarizing!

So I've pulled together some quick, easy lessons for us to do-that works with any book! (Although we are focusing on Nonfiction for this)

Now, my S group is made up of kids exclusively from my class. And I taught them main idea...it was one of the first skills we worked on!

But they were still struggling with finding a main idea, so I decided to dedicate a whole book and block of lessons to work on it.

The book I choose was from the wonderful, amazing reading series that we have. I do actually like most of the guided reading components of this!

This book is divided into four sections-one for each of the seasons. I though it would be perfect to focus on a season at a time.

It starts with summer, so I had them read it (independently) and come up with what they thought the main idea was.

The next day, I had them tell me their main idea. I wrote each of them down, and we discussed them.

We slowly put together main ideas that had things in common, weeded out those that were in left field, and came together with one, cohesive main idea.

Working on main idea with a reading group~we slowly went through the process of saying what we thought it was, discussion of like ideas and coming up with one main idea. Their job is to now find details to support-then it'll start all over with the next chapter! 📝📖 #iteach456 #iteachfourth #guidedreadinggroups #mainidea #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers

A photo posted by Smiles & Sunshine (@smilesandsunshineteacher) on Feb 20, 2015 at 11:48am PST

After we had a cohesive main idea, they needed to find details to support, as well as read the next section and repeat.

The next section went much better.

We started out by sharing our ideas again.

Our main ideas were a little closer together this time!

Then when went through the pages and wrote down the most important idea of each one.

We discussed what they had in common-what they needed to be successful, and came up with an answer.

Which then helped us form another cohesive main idea that included elements from each one!

It's been very interesting to see what each student thinks is the main idea.

I sent them back to find supporting details, read Spring, and come up with the main idea. We'll repeat this throughout the book-and hopefully have stronger main ideas by the end!

My T group is made up of a mix of kids from all three classes. And while I know that they have had summarizing, I don't know how it's been taught or how much it has been practiced.

I had noticed that when I have asked for a summary from this group, most of them have been giving me retells. So I thought a quick lesson was in order!

I wrote down the components of a nonfiction summary-like I had discussed with my class-and had them copy it down in their notebooks, so they could refer back to it.

I modeled using Thundercake, which was our Mentor Text last week.

Then, as we just finished the book you see peeking out, I sent them to work on summaries for it. 

They did well! I was much more pleased with the quality of summaries than I had previously gotten-let's hope they keep it up!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Close Reading Workshops

This year, one of my professional development goals was to learn more about comprehension strategies and close reading.

So far, I've attended two workshops, as well as reading a variety of blog posts (though I don't think those count for PD credit!), and some books.

The first workshop was very technical and very much focused on the components of a close reading lesson, without much practice. No lie, it was a little boring-and overwhelming.

The one I went to earlier this month was more focused on us doing close reading lessons and experiencing close reading. I also attended this one with two coworkers. I felt that I had learned more at this one-and am better able to do it with my kids now.

It was a BER workshop, so you can check to see if it is coming to your area-I recommend going if it is!

I also got some validation during this one-which was nice after a difficult few days.

Here are some of my notes-although Mini got a bit of a workout too~I did an interesting mix of tech and paper :) (I have an Evernote Notebook created with the workshop info-if you would like it, please send me an email-I can share it with you!)

It was super interesting, and I've been applying some of the easy to use strategies in my class (the next day!).

She also recommended some books, which I just had to pick up!

Baloney is by Jon Scieszka-the camera cut it off

Of course, strange things happen when you are ordering from Amazon, and books mysterious appear in your cart :)

The top two are new Mentor Texts, and First Day Jitters is a replacement-with all my moving, my original got lost somehow!

I'm thinking of making a close reading binder this summer, using the resources I've found from my two workshops, blog posts, and Pinterest. That way I can have everything in one place! :)

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Story Mountain

After spending quite some time on the characteristics of nonfiction, it was time to shift the focus back to fiction!

I start out by pulling out my plot mountain chart I made a few years ago.

I pulled out two of my favorite stories to read with my class, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, and Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester.

I read The Paper Bag Princess first, and as a class, we plotted out the story (the yellow stickies).

We talked about what each thing meant at the point in the story, and wrote it down.

Next, we did Tacky the Penguin (which my 4th graders thought was hilarious! :) and plotted that story out (the green stickies).

The next day, we added plot (and setting!) to our notebooks.

Now that we had practiced together and discussed it, it was time for some partner practice!

I laid out some books for them to choose from, as well as one of Kelly B.'s  organizers (which I bought WAY back when-in 2012!)

Away we went! I had my students pick their partners (and for the most part, they made good choice partners!), and they read away.

Some groups choose to fill out the organizer independently, and some choose to work together-and that's okay! I wanted them to have a little more practice before I move them to totally independent.

After our partner practice, I wanted to see what they could do by themselves. I passed out Shawn the Speedy Snail (from ReadWorks)

and had them do their story mountain as a reader response in their notebooks.

I loved looking at all their mountains-they were as unique as them!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn