Student How To for Google Classroom

Here is another resource that I started creating during distance learning as we were trying to teach students and parents how to use Google Classroom from afar.

One issue that I kept having is that our teacher side of Google Classroom looks different from the student side, so sometimes I would have to ask them to share their screen with me to help them out. This resource will show the students the buttons and tools that are on the student side of Google Classroom so they understand how to navigate it.

This presentation uses screen shots/images rather than videos and include directions in both english and spanish to help students and parents.

Here are the items included:

• Joining a Classroom
• Classroom Stream
• navigating the Classwork Page
• how to Submit Assignments
• understanding Class Comments and Private Comments
• how to Check Grades

Click on any image above to see the presentation or visit my Google Site to view all of the resources for students.

What other things would you like students to know how to do with Google Classroom that I may have left out??

https://bit.ly/AmberPotterWebsite

Electronic Classroom Forms

Every summer I typically go through my Google Drive and clean up/organize. I came across some forms that I had created a few years ago that I printed out for my classroom binder.

One of the things that I wish I had grabbed before I left school on March 13 was my classroom binder because it has the most up to date information for my students. We are able to access student information online, but it is not always accurate.

So I decided to make my printable forms digital!

1. Classroom Binder

This digital file allows you to keep all of the important information about your classroom in one place. The pages can still be printed out on regular computer paper.

The file includes the following pages:

• About the Classroom
• Classroom Procedures
• Daily Procedures
• Discipline Procedures
• Emergency Procedures
• Daily Schedule
• Class List
• Transportation
• Daily 5
• Birthdays
• Student Logins
• Monthly Calendar

   

You can click on any of the images above to get a free download.

2. Student Information and Communication Log

This digital file has a slide for each student where you can put their information and their parent's information. There is also a space where you can keep track of when you communicate with each student's parent. There are 3 lines on each student information page and then a full page after each information page. The title page has a link to each of the student information pages.

    

You can click on any of the images above to get a free download.

3. IEP Snapshot and Goal Tracker

This digital file has a slide for each student with an IEP. You can easily keep track of their accommodations and the hours and services that they receive. There is also a slide for each student that lists their goals and has a space where you can keep track of the activities that have been completed to reach that goal. The goal page can be duplicated to accommodate how many goals they have. The first page has links to the IEP snapshot page for each student.

    

You can click on any of the images above to get a free download.

Enjoy getting organized for the new school year! What other resources do you use to help keep you organized throughout the year?

Beginning Letter Sound and Word Family Activities

As we get closer and closer to school starting back up again, I feel like there is a good chance we will be doing some type of distance learning, at least to start off the school year.

I am also at home with a 5 year old who is supposed to be starting kindergarten this year. So, I decided to clean out my word work folder and see what types of activities that I can turn into digital activities.

First up, is a beginning letter sound activity. This was made using Google Slides and LOTS of hyperlinks to other slides in the presentation.

While this activity does not give you a grade for how the student does, it is self-checking. This means that if the child clicks on the wrong picture, it will take them to a slide that tells them to try again and they will go back to the slide they were just on. They will not advance to the next letter until they have selected the correct image. I used both capital and lowercase letters, so each letter is included twice. I put the letters in a random order, as I have been working with my daughter on letter identification outside of singing the alphabet song.

The second resource is working with word families. In this activity, the student drags and drops letters from the bottom of the slide to create words using the word family endings. I tried to include clipart images at the top of the slide to help, but you could also delete these if you don't want the students to have any hints. This activity is not self-checking, so the students would need to submit it to you or have someone check it for them. The presentation contains 35 different word families, so I would copy and paste the slides that you want them to complete into another presentation before assigning it. This way it is not overwhelming and redundant for the student and less work for you to check.

These would be a great choice board activity for grades K-1, or even newcomer ELLs.

Be on the lookout for more resources like these!

I absolutely love using Words Their Way. Want to learn more about it? Check out my blog post on getting started by clicking here!

Find the free downloads on the Resources page or click on one of the images above.

Math Supports

As mentioned in my previous blog about math manipulatives. I also have these math supports that I use with my students as well.

I usually create math resource folders using the 2-pocket folders that have the prongs in the middle of them. I then put in plastic sleeves through the prongs in the middle and then put in the supports from this document, so that my students have access to them throughout the school year. 

The nice thing about putting them in plastic sleeves, is the students can write on them with dry erase markers and then erase it when they are done. This is especially helpful when using the clocks or the coordinate grids. Students can practice writing the time or finding ordered pairs and then hold them up so I can see them. 

You could also choose to print these supports out in a smaller format. There are a couple of ways you can do this. If you want to print one page of the same support, you will need to right click on the slides and click on duplicate. If you want 2 per page when you print, then you need to just duplicate them one time. If you want 4 per page, you will need to duplicate them 3 times. If you want them smaller, but don't care if they are the same support on one page, then you can just leave the slides as is. When you are ready to print, you will need to go to File in the menu bar and click on Print Settings. It defaults to 1 slide without notes. Click where it says that and a drop down menu will open. Select either Handout - 2 slides per page or 4 slides per page depending on the size that you want them. 

You can laminate these supports as well, which would also allow students to write on them with dry erase markers. If you print them in a smaller format, you can get rings to organize them and be able to easily pass them out to students.

The possibilities are endless! How do you use these types of resources/support items in your classroom? What other resources do you use that I have left out?

Click on the image below to download your copy or check out my Resources page.

Technology Spotlight: Nearpod

While preparing for distance learning, I searched through the many types of educational technology out there to try and find something that would fit my needs. I have used Nearpod in the past, but decided to give it another try during the 8 weeks that we did online learning.

So what is Nearpod? It is a website that allows you to create interactive lessons. It can be used as an add-on in Google Slides, or you can go directly to their website and create lessons. Their website also has a ton of lessons that have already been created that you are able to use. You can search by grade, subject, etc.

There are 2 ways to use Nearpod once you have your lesson created. You can enter Teacher-Paced mode or Student-Paced mode. Teacher-paced means that the teacher controls the slides and when to advance to the next one. This is great for in the classroom or during a Zoom/Google Meet teaching session. During distance learning, I always chose the student-paced mode and allowed the students to enter the code to access the lesson on their own time.

Here are a few ways that we used Nearpod during distance learning:

• matched fractions with models
• matched vocabulary with definitions/images
• drew representations of fractions
• highlighted a section of text to find the main idea
• created a Flipgrid video to explain their thinking when solving a problem

I put together a presentation for the teachers at my school so that they could learn more about Nearpod. You can check it out by clicking on the image below:

Nearpod has resources available on their website. There are webinars that you can sign up for on a variety of topics. They have self-guided instructional lessons to help you get started. They also have many how-to videos available on their YouTube page, which you can access from the resource page as well.

https://nearpod.com/resources

If you would like to see a sample lesson, go to https://nearpod.com/student/ and enter the code below:

DPFBU (active through August 31)

Math Manipulatives (Printable and Virtual)

We still aren't quite sure what this school year is going to look like, but I can tell you that if/when we do get back in the building there will be lots of changes. One of those changes is going to be on sharing supplies and tools in the classroom.

I can tell you one of my favorite things to use in the classroom for math is manipulatives. Allowing students to use hands-on tools to help them build a deeper understanding is so important. But if we aren't able to share supplies, how in the world are we going to share math manipulatives. We would either have to disinfect/wipe them down between each small group or class or else ask the school to provide a large amount of the supplies. We all know how hard it is to get the schools to purchase anything!

I decided this summer that I am going to start working on making my own individual manipulatives for my students and I am excited to share them with you all! Side note - I teach 5th grade, so while I tried to find manipulatives that are used in the lower grades, if I forgot something please let me know and I can add it.

I found these storage organizers at Michaels.  They are priced at $41.99 regularly, but you can catch them on sale ALL the time, or use one of their amazing coupons they have every week.

The storage box holds 16 smaller containers. So I purchased 2 of them and now each of my students has their own individual container for math manipulatives. You can choose to store all of the manipulatives in the container at once, but I preferred to just put the manipulatives we will use each unit in the box. For example, when we are working on place value, I will only have the place value blocks and the place value chips in their container. I also number the containers and then assign each student a container so there is no sharing involved.

When printing the manipulatives you have a couple of different options. You can choose to print them on cardstock or print them on regular paper and laminate them. I can doing a combination of both. The items that like place value blocks that can put cut on the dotted lines I am printing on cardstock. The fraction strips and pattern blocks that I am going to cut out into the actual shape I will do on regular paper and then laminate.

In the event we will be doing distance learning or some type of hybrid learning, the manipulatives in the Google slides presentation can also be copied and pasted into an assignment where you want the students to use them. For example, if I want my students to build numbers using place value blocks while completing an assignment in Google slides, I can copy and paste multiple copies of the place value blocks into the presentation and the students can drag and drop them as needed.

There are also some great virtual manipulative websites out there that can be used with students. Two of my favorites are:

• Glencoe Math from McGraw Hill Education (this website does require flash)
• Toy Theater

The printable math manipulatives can be found on my Resource Page or by clicking on the image below.

I am going to be posting another resource soon that includes more math manipulatives/supports that can be printed out. Some of them includes things like hundred chart, multiplication table, place value chart, etc. Check back soon!

Math Word Wall

I am pretty sure I have changed the way my word wall looks almost every year I have been teaching, but this past year I was really excited about how it looked and wanted to share it with you all!

As mentioned in a previous post, we adopted a new math curriculum this school year. So I decided to create my word wall as we went through the year. Each unit I would decide which words needed to be added and that is how I grouped them on the wall. 

Each word wall card is 1/3 of a piece of paper so that it is large enough for students to see the word, definition, and an image that helps explain the meaning of each word.

You can download them for FREE from the resources page on my blog or by clicking on the image below.