In my 2nd grade class we are in the middle our animal unit.
This week we have been learning about amphibians. This week’s Friday Five has
some of the technology used in my unit.
1.
Teacher Resources: Do you have a go to place or website to find
information for your units? Two of my
favorites are www.readworks.org
and www.discoveryeducation.com. Read Works provides many grade
level texts that can be used as nonfiction reading passages during your science
and social studies time. This week we
have been using a passage called Scaly or Slimy. It is a second grade text that we have paired
with the book the Salamander Room by Anne Mazer. Discovery Education has the Reading Rainbow
video of The Salamander Room that not only reads the story but also gives extra
information about Salamanders.
2.
NatureTap: My students are researching reptiles and amphibians
in an app called NatureTap. This app is produced by Green Mountain
Digital. The app is free but each new
classification of animals will have a cost.
The pictures are beautiful. When
you find the animal that you want to learn about, you tap and the information
appears. Each creature has a discussion,
identification and a map that shows where it can be found. This app also has several games including
memory, puzzles, and photo quiz.
3.
AmphibiaWeb: This is a simple app that allows you to find
frogs, toads, and salamanders in your area. It uses your location to find
amphibians native to your area. It gives
great information but the text might be too difficult for younger children to
read independently.
4.
National
Geographic for Kids and the San Diego Zoo Kids.
Both of the websites are great for student research. NG for Kids allows students to search for
their animal. Usually there are pictures,
video, and other cool facts about their animal.
Some content will not work on an iPad but there is an app for
that.:) San Diego Zoo-Kids allows
students to search by classification.
Research is kid friendly. They
also offer animal cams to take a peek into some animal habitats live.
5.
Haiku
Deck: This is one of my favorite apps to
teach. It is a great first step app when
it comes to research. Students can find
pictures through your favorite search engine and save them to the photos
folder. They can use research they have
found from books, websites, or apps.
They easily add the pictures to the deck and write words or a sentence
to describe the picture and Haiku deck does the rest. You can save their beautiful presentations on
the ipad or send it through email. I
have mine save their work through another app called Showbie.
Bonus Fun: Two of my all time favorite
things to do with animals is to let students create their own animal. One of the first websites I wrote about in
Friday Five was Build Your Wild Self. It
is still a favorite as a fun way to introduce a writing activity. Another fun
way to do this is through the Animal Creator app. Some other fun animal apps are National
Geographic Geo Dash and Mask Jumble.
Have a great Week!
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