Chromebooks and the Daily 5

Chromebook Set Up

This year I have been lucky enough to get 7 Chromebooks in my classroom. One is a designated teacher computer for use during reading groups or differentiation groups. The other six are for student use. My goal is to incorporate them into my Daily 5 routines and then move onto other content areas as well. For now I have the kids using them to access predetermined websites. The websites they are currently using are Dreambox Math (district purchased subscrition), Teach Your Monster to Read (Free), and Literactive (Free).  I have created a "dummy" account that the chromebooks are logged in as. This allows me to set up the bookmark bar with links of my choosing. They can even be set up from my Chrombook or computer. You just need to be logged into your dummy account. 

At this point the Chromebooks are a choice. My goal for their use in the near future is to give the kids an assigned time to use the Chromebook. They will also be expected to learn to sign in and work on things like writing through the use of Google Docs or email.

iPad Storage

In our classroom we are lucky enough to have 4 iPads that we can use daily. We will also be getting some more next year. One of my goals for this year was finding a cheap way to store them in the classroom between use. I planned to pick up a dish rack like I have seen on Pinterest but saw this Maple Rack at the Container Store (Can't wait for the new one to open up in Milwaukee) and fell in Love. It is so cheap, easy, and SAFE! It fits both my iPads and iPad Minis perfectly. I can also locate the rack near an outlet for easy charging.

Click Here for a Link to the Container Store Website

Here is how it looks when used for iPads:

Here is the intended use for the maple rack:

McGraw Hill Free Apps

The below apps are currently free! My students already love them and we have only had them for a couple days!

Word Wonderland

Word Wonderland focuses on: short vowels, word families, and long vowels. It includes easy, medium, and hard levels.

Grammar Wonderland Elementary

Grammar Wonderland focuses on nouns (common, proper, concrete, abstract, singuar, plural, & possesive), verbs (action, past tense, irregular, helping, & agreement), and adjectives. This game has four levels: easy, medium, hard, and expert.

Grammar Wonderland Primary

  Grammar Wonderland Primary is an easier version of the game above. It focuses on nouns, verbs (past and present), and adjectives. 

Moshi Handset Phone

Handset Phone about $8

 

  

The Moshi had set phone can be used as a headphone and microphone. When recording books this handset can cancel out background noise for easier recording.