The countdown is on, 2 weeks until Christmas break!! Y'all, am I the only one that feels like this year has FLOWN by?!  It's crazy!!

I have a few things I want to share!  This first one is AWESOME!  If you've heard of Greg Tang Math, you know how great this game is for your kiddos!  I was recently introduced to the game "Kakooma".  It's a math fact fluency game that can be played with addition and multiplication.  I originally downloaded the app on my phone, tested it out, and it worked great!  However for some reason when I downloaded it on my ipads at school, there are glitches.  All you need to do is go to this website: http://gregtangmath.com/games.html?game=kakooma and add it on the home screen of your ipads.  In this game, you pick the operator, puzzle, and difficulty level.  I highly encourage you to have your kiddos click on "Practice" before they start playing the game.  Here is a video of myself practicing the game. (I tried to go slow for y'all to watch, and it's shaky because I'm using my left hand to video! I never said I was an expert with technology! Ha!!)  If you watch all of the videos, you can see how much this game can be differentiated!!

 

Here are a few more games his site has to offer!  http://gregtangmath.com/games.html This is another good option for you to add on the home screen of your ipads! :)

 

 

 

I also wanted to share some different ways I've introduced apps to my kiddos.  Have you ever felt like this?

Let's be honest, sometimes it's cooler having other kids teach us how to do things!  When I wanted to introduce the Seesaw app to my class, I ventured out and asked an expert class to come teach my students.  Mrs. Perdomo was nice enough to have her 2nd graders show my class how to use the app.  They had so much fun learning not only how to use it, but different things they can use it for!  If your class is not already using Seesaw, I highly recommend it!!  My firsties have already saved several pic collages, recorded themselves reading stories they've written, recorded themselves teaching how to solve math problems, Chatterpix about Thanksgiving, word sorts and much more! 

The last thing I wanted to share is how 1st Grade incorporated technology in our Thanksgiving rotations.  Every year, we do fun rotations at Thanksgiving.  This meets several ELA and S.S. TEKS!! (Story elements, holiday traditions, origins of holidays, etc..)  This year, knowing how much we want to be using technology, we decided to have a techy rotation!! This just so happened to be my rotation! We all decided that we wanted to teach our kiddos how to use Chatterpix.  When each class came to me, I taught them how to use Chatterpix. The other teachers donated their ipads so every student could have their own.  After learning, they got to explore!  Options were to say "Happy Thanksgiving" or to use a fun Thanksgiving picture to talk about pilgrims, the Mayflower, or a Thanksgiving tradition their family had.

Thanks for reading!  I hope you found something you can use!