applying place value understanding- with the Place Value MAB iPad app

Supporting the Butterflies understanding and application of place value to read and write numbers, the first grade students utilize the Place Value MAB iPad app by Little Monkey Apps.

The activity choices within the app provide opportunities for students to use base ten blocks to "make" a verbally provided quantity (Listen and Make), manipulate provided base ten blocks to identify and record a quantity (How Many), and to manipulate base ten blocks to "make" a determined visual quantity (Make The Number).

Three levels of difficulty are available within each activity choice and encourage place value application within the student's individual stage of understanding and development.

a Butterfly uses base ten blocks to create a given quantity (provided orally)
in the "Listen and Make" activity in the Place Value MAB app

a first grader manipulates a given set of base ten blocks
to identify the corresponding number in the "How Many" activity
in the Place Value MAB iPad app

developing mathematical understanding- with the Love To Count by Pirate Trio iPad app

Individual iPads provide the opportunity for students to actively engage in learning activities that are relevant to their individual needs.

Creating an individual Love To Count by Pirate Trio account for each student on the iPad, the Butterflies engage in learning activities that focus on understanding "numbers" in relation to time, order, weight, and quantity.

The app includes the capability to view and monitor student progress.

first grade Butterflies actively engage
with the Love To Count by Pirate Trio app

Spellosaur with individual iPads

The First Grade Butterflies were sooooooo happy to get to the class set of 1:1 iPads!

After receiving their individual iPad, each student created a "new" (Spellosaur accounts on the original 13 iPads were deleted) Spellosaur account on their individual iPad.
Each student referenced his/her individualized Write Words (spelling words) for learning list and created a word list of 10 words in the Spellosaur app.
-see previous Spellosaur post for information on how individualized Write Words for learning are identified and how the Butterflies utilize the Spellosaur app for Write Word learning and review

a first grade Butterfly checks the accuracy of the words
she added to her individualized word list in Spellosaur

first graders create individualized word lists in Spellosaur
on their individual iPads

YEAH!

The First Grade Butterflies with their individual iPads!

We are so thankful for The Mason Schools Foundation and the Wilks and Glinski families for their support of our greatest learning!

iPads In Learning... a 1:1 student iPad ratio in first grade

With the initial grant received for a half-class set of iPads and the generous donation from the Wilks and Glinski families for a half-class set of iPads, the first grade Butterfly classroom is now a classroom with a... 1:1 student iPad ratio!

The Butterflies and I are ecstatic!  With the receipt of the additional half-class set of iPads today, the students are anxious for the iPads to be "ready" for use!

The support of the Mason Schools Foundation and the Wilks and Glinski families are so greatly appreciated- beyond words!

using base ten blocks on the iPad

The first grade Butterflies are developing their understanding of place value, as mathematicians.

Utilizing the Base Ten Blocks iPad app, by Ventura Educational Systems, the first graders cooperatively worked with an iPad math partner to represent quantities with base ten blocks and illustrate quantities with base ten block symbols (for example- a "square" to represent a flat of 100, a "line" to represent a stick of 10, and a "circle" to represent a unit of 1).

iPad math partners cooperatively represent a quantity with base ten blocks

first grade iPad math partners record visual representations for quantities
-with base ten block symbols

developing place value understanding- with the iPad

The First Grade Butterflies explored place value with base ten blocks using the Hands On Math Base Ten Blocks by Ventura Educational Systems.

After exploring and manipulating base ten blocks manipulatives, the first graders continued their exploration of base ten blocks to develop their understanding of place value with the Base Ten Blocks iPad app.

Referencing the "numeral" feature on the app (that correlates the number displayed to the base ten blocks within the frames), the first graders identified patterns in numbers relative to "ones", "tens", and "hundreds".

After the initial exploration and questions to prompt students' thinking and identification of patterns, the first grade iPad math partners cooperatively discovered the "meaning" of ones, tens, and hundreds through teacher directed instructions (ex: add 8 ones to the ones column of the frame), inquiry based questions, and prompts for discussion.

first grade iPad math partners explore base ten blocks
-utilizing the Hands On Math Base Ten Blocks iPad app

Butterfly Math iPad Partners cooperatively explore base ten blocks
to develop their understanding of place value

word study- with the Reading Eggs Spelling app

Using the "Beat The Bomb" game option in the Reading Eggs Spelling 1 (Grade 1) iPad app, the first grade Butterflies cooperatively attempt to identify an unknown word.

Similar to the game of Hangman, the students choose letters from the app "keyboard" in an attempt to identify the unknown word before the "bomb" counts down to zero.  (The "bomb" counts down by one with each letter chosen that is not in the unknown word.)

The first grade partners alternate choosing letters and attempt to utilize known information about how words "work" (for example- recognizing that each word has a vowel and applying blends and digraphs) as they cooperatively discuss their thinking, reasoning, and recognition of features of the unknown word.

The five "game" options within the "Beat The Bomb" game are focused on specific spelling patterns and/or word types and provide opportunities to encourage thinking and application based on students' development as spellers.

Butterfly word work partners cooperatively attempting to "Beat The Bomb"

solving math word problems on the iPad

Math word problems are an essential component in supporting students' mathematical thinking and reasoning, number sense, arithmetic skills, and problem solving.

The Word Problems app by Classroom Focused Software provides students with word problems that support the students in making sense of mathematical concepts and applying mathematical concepts within a context that encourages meaningful connections to authentic problem solving.

With the capability to "listen" to the problem, the capability to choose problem "types", and the capability to utilize a variety of "tools" to identify the unknown in the problem- the Word Problems app is an essential and valuable app for students' mathematical learning and development!

The First Grade Butterflies utilize the Word Problems app independently and cooperatively (with an iPad math partner) to develop, support, and extend their skills, strategies, and behaviors, as a mathematician!

a first grade Butterfly solving word problems
-on the Word Problems iPad app

encouraging phonetic understanding and application- with iPad apps

Supporting students' spelling development, the First Grade Butterflies cooperatively engage in iPad apps that promote their phonetic understanding and application.

Cooperatively, the Butterflies attempt to identify the sounds in the word of focus and apply the corresponding letters in sequential order to accurately spell the word.
With each word of focus, the Butterfly iPad word work partners coopertively identify the sounds in the word and alternate moving the corresponding letter (or letters- for identified "word parts"... for example: moving the "s" and "t" letters for the "st" sound or moving the "a", "n", and "d" letters for the "and" word part in the sord "stand") and explaining his/her thinking and understanding.

The first graders cooperatively utilize the Rocket Speller iPad app and the Cimo Spelling Sound Out iPad app on the student iPads for skill development.

first grade iPad Word Work partners cooperatively apply their phonetic understanding
while using the Rocket Speller app on the iPad

iPad Word Work partners cooperatively hear, identify, and apply sounds
to spell unknown words in the Cimo Spelling iPad app



first grade Butterfly iPad Word Work partners explain their phonetic understanding and thinking
while using the Rocket Speller iPad app

individualized spelling- with the Spellosaur app

Encouraging students' greatest development of Write Word (spelling word) mastery, individualized Write Words for focused learning are identified.

Write Word (spelling word) assessments are administered every 4 weeks and student progress is documented and monitored. 

• Assessments administered are relevant to each student's demonstration of Write Word mastery.  Word List assessments, administered to each individual student, incorporate the word list(s) identified as "mastered" from the student's previous assessment (to monitor continued accurate spelling of previously "known" words), the word list(s) identified as "instructional" from the student's previous assessment, and continued word list(s) as needed to identify words for learning.
• Write Word assessments are shared with parents.  Parents are encouraged to utilize the assessments to identify words for focused learning and words for review at home that are individualized to the child's needs as a speller.

Referencing the most current Write Word assessment, the Butterfly Spellers create a "Write Word learning list".  The students use their assessment to identify (with a highlighter) his/her individualized words for learning on his/her "Write Word learning list".

• Students alternate days utilizing the Spellosaur iPad app for individualized Write Word learning.  On the days a student does not utilize the Spellosaur app, she/he chooses and records (with an "X" in a proceeding box) 5 highlighted words from his/her "Write Word learning list" and makes a "Write Word Learning Choice" (ex: Write-Stamp-Write) for the five individualized words of focus.

After creating their individual "Write Word learning list", 10 words are identified (by the teacher) for focus in Spellosaur (the "S" in the box before each of the 10 words on the student's word list is circled with a colored marker and the date is recorded at the bottom of the paper), and the student creates a "new" word list in Spellosaur with the 10 indicated Spellosaur words on his/her word list.

• As a student demonstrates "mastery" of the 10 words within the Spellosaur app, 10 new words from his/her individualized Write Word learning list are identified (by the teacher) for focus in the Spellosaur app (the "S" in the box before each of the 10 words on the student's word list is circled with a different colored marker and the date is recorded at the bottom of the paper with the corresponding marker color), and the student creates a "new" word list in the Spellosaur app with the 10 new Spellosaur words indicated on his/her word list. 

The frequency of "new" word lists created in Spellosaur is dependent on each student as an individual speller.

a First Grade Butterfly Speller references his Write Word (spelling word) assessment
to identify (with highlighter) his individualized words for focused learning on his "Write Word learning list"



Butterfly Spellers reference their individualized "Write Word learning lists"
to identify the 10 Spellosaur Words for focus
(identified on the list with the "S" in the box to the left of the word)
and create a "new" list of ten focus words
in their individualized Spellosaur app on the student iPads

subitizing on the iPad... using the Quick Images app

Subitizing is an important mathematical skill in a student's development of number sense and arithmetic abilities.

Subitizing is visually recognizing the quantity of a set without "counting".  Subitizing supports a student's understanding of the relationship between numbers.

Subitizing requires students to manipulate numbers, identify patterns within numbers, and recognize a set as a composite of parts and as a whole.

To support the first graders development of the skill of subitizing, the first grade Butterflies utilize the Quick Images iPad app (by Tom Patten).

The Quick Images app provides various structures for developing the skill of subitizing.  Students can subitize sets within a "group", on "fingers", within a "ten frame", within two "ten frames", on a ten bead  Rekenrek, and/or on a twenty bead Rekenrek.

The app includes the capability to control the length of time for image display.  This capability allows for individualization and encourages fluency improvement.  The images can be set to display for 1, 2, 3, or 4 seconds.

The Quick Images app is utilized by the first grade Butterfly Mathematicians independently and/or cooperatively with a math iPad learning partner.
When utilized with a math iPad learning partner, the partners subitize each "image" and verbally explain how the quantity was subitized.  The partners alternate "touching" the quantity for each "image".