As I interview parents about community outings, many share frustrations with grocery store visits. We often discuss strategies for providing distractions throughout the store in order to avoid challenging behaviors. A short visual shopping list gives the little shopper a chore. This activity keeps the little shopper busy and promotes early literacy skills, vocabulary building and conversation between the adult shopper and little shopper. I used the app Pages to create the visual, then took a screenshot of the visual. For the Bingo part of the activity, I used the app, Doodle Buddy. Doodle Buddy is a free app, but there are some advertisements. To pull up the visual, choose the tic tac toe icon on the bottom, choose "photos" then "camera roll". Select the screenshot.
For younger shoppers, use the stamp icon to select an image. As the little shopper finds the items, he or she stamps the image.
For older, little shoppers, consider choosing the writing tool so the little shopper can practice some fine motor skills by making some Xs or scribbling on the item. Guided access can be used to keep the child in the app and disable the icons not being used. This activity can also be used as a strategy for completing a sequence such as dressing or the bedtime routine.
Blizzard conditions, low of -19 degrees tomorrow morning, school closed tomorrow, likely late or closed on Tuesday, our crazy winter continues. Perfect conditions for another winter related post. Snowballs by Lois Ehlert is a favorite winter read for preschool teachers. In this post, I share a few extension activities.
A traditional follow up activity to the book is an art project where children use various materials to create a collage of a snow creature similar to the book. I loved displaying these creations, each one so unique and reflecting each student's ideas and personality. I wanted to extend this activity by using loose parts that can be arranged and rearranged at a center. During a family gathering, my nephews and neice scoured the kitchen, junk drawer, art cabinet, toy box and yard for materials, added a few embroidery hoops and white paper, then went to work. Different sizes of hoops were used so size concepts were discussed. Following the theme of the book, the kids created snow moms, snow dads, snow babies and snow animals. We took pictures of each creation and planned to create a digital book, retelling the story, but we didn't get that done. It was acutally nice out so we went outside and played in the snow instead!
The second extension involves a "go to App" on my iPad, Faces iMake. It is a great creative outlet and is a perfect match for the Snowballs theme. Kids can create snow people and snow animals using a variety of vocabulary building props available on the app. The app can be customized by using the camera option. Pictures can be imported from the camera roll or taken with the camera. Using a pencil eraser, the object can be cropped from the background and used in the collage. It is easy to resize and rotate objects, and objects can be locked and moved to the front or back. Once again, the children can take pictures of their creations to share with others. I enjoyed the video tutorials available on the app as well. This app offers great features for the price and promotes creativity and vocabulary building. For those of you in my region, stay warm, stay safe and think Spring!
People in Minnesota are using the term “stupid cold” to describe the weather we will be experiencing over the next 2 days. Tomorrow’s forecast is a high of -18 degrees, low of -28 degrees, with wind chills of 50 below zero. Our state will experience over 60 hours of below zero temperatures. On Friday, the Governor closed schools statewide for Monday. It is cold. I thought it would be appropriate to put together a post about a mitten matching activity I created using Explain Everything. My previous post on using Explain Everything for story retelling gives more details about how to use the app.
When I had a classroom, I offered a mitten matching activity using a clothesline, clothespins and children’s mittens. It was great fine motor practice. I usually had some students who struggled with the fine motor aspect of using a clothespin, so I adapted the clothespins, had an alternative clothesline with velcro, and sometimes had the student match the mittens by pairing them on the table or floor rather than hang them. This iPad activity would be yet another alternative for accessing this type of activity. A fun variation of this activity would be to take pictures of your students' mittens and use those as the matching items.
This video was created using the app Explain Everything and gives a brief overview of how I created the activity.
I drew the clothesline using the writing tool. I found the images on Google and saved the images to my camera roll. I pulled the images into the slide and used the lasso cropping tool to crop the images out of the background. I locked the clothesline and the mittens hanging on the line. I locked the scale of the the mittens that will be manipulated by the students. The locking function is activated by tapping square with an i on the left hand side, then tapping the object. Everyone stay warm and stay safe.
Tapping the information icon brings up this menu which includes the lock function.
Story retelling is a key strategy in promoting early literacy skills in young learners. Story retelling supports language development, increased comprehension and encourages a deeper understanding of the language structure of books. It provides opportunities to practice sequencing and use new vocabulary. Research suggests that story retelling is more effective than teacher questioning in increasing comprehension. The Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress include two related indicators, retelling information from a story and representing stories told or read aloud through various media during play.
There are various strategies for story retelling. Using props or toys related to the story, using sequencing cards, role playing and acting out stories are some of the strategies that are effective. This post highlights the use of an app as another strategy for retelling stories. The app is Explain Everything and it is one of the apps I think every teacher should have on the iPad. It is versatile, easy to use and affordable. It is my "go to" whiteboard app because of one particular tool, the free select cropping tool. This tool essentially allows you to create stickers/props that can be manipulated to retell the story. Think of it as technology’s version of flannelboard stories or tongue depressor props and the best part is the animated video can be shared with others.
Here is a quick explanation of the process I used. I went to the site, Kizclub to get the visuals. Under "Stories and Props" there are visuals for many of my favorite books. I saved the PDF’s to Dropbox in a shared file folder so that other teachers can access them. I reviewed the PDF guide for Explain Everything and went to work. Here is a link to the PDF guide for your reference. In order to use the free select tool I took screenshots of each page of the PDF so I could edit the photo. I took a screenshot by pressing the home button and power button at the same time. I opened a new presentation in Explain Everything.
I selected the insert image icon and chose “Existing Photo/Video”. I found the screenshot in the camera roll and selected it. Next, I chose the free select tool and outlined the image I wanted and selected done. I repeated this process until I had all of the props on the slide. In the example, I created a second slide with the images of the characters in “wake up” mode.
The next step is to record the child retelling the story and manipulating the props. The finished product can be sent to You Tube for sharing or can be viewed on the iPad.
Here is the example using the Napping House props. I read the story with Olivia and then we went through the book again and looked at the pictures more closely. I had printed out the props and taped them onto blocks. She stacked the blocks in the order of the story as I retold the story without the book. I presented the app and told her that it was her turn to tell the story. She was somewhat shy about being recorded so I provided some support and prompting.
In this second example, we personalized the experience. I took a picture of Olivia in a sleeping position and we removed Granny and put Olivia in the story. She asked me to tell the story, so I did, but she couldn’t resist joining in, it is a great example of how technology can be socially engaging and promote cooperation and interaction. She liked this version of the story even more! Next time I would have her draw a house and a bed with the drawing tool. What story are you going to try?
Peek a boo is an entertaining, engaging, relationship building game. Hiding and guessing games are always a hit with children. Peek a boo books have a cover that is cut into strips and each strip is removed one section at a time to reveal the picture beneath. I have created many of these books and found the very time consuming to create. My purpose in using these books was usually related to vocabulary building. This activity infuses some novelty while providing the needed repetition to learn targeted words. The books are visually engaging and parents always seemed to enjoy using this type of book with their child. I recently discovered how to create a technology enhanced version of this book using Keynote on the iPad. Unfortunately, as of when I posted this, Keynote on the iPad does not allow for recording so audio can not be added. Therefore, this activity is not intended for learning centers or self directed time. Instead, this is an activity tailored for two or more, an adult and child or children, engaging in this activity together, just like a book. It could be used as a teacher led group activity. This type of format lends itself to targeting describing skills and processing skills by giving the child a clue each time a strip is removed. For example, when using the loon picture in the video, the following clues were given, “it is has feathers and lives in the water”, “it swims fast and eats fish”, “it is Minnesota’s state bird”, “it is a loon”. A variation of this activity would be to provide a related video on the next slide. In a home based setting, this activity would work well for labeling family members and household vocabulary. To create a slide, choose a blank slide and add your picture. Add a shape, choosing the square. Resize the square into a rectangular strip. Repeat this until the picture is covered. Choose the first strip and select "animate", then "build out" and select a transition, I chose "dissolve". Repeat this process for each strip. Press the play button to preview the slide. You can change the order the strips are removed. Continue this process until you have your book created.
Here is the video describing how to create the slide on the iPad. The video includes a few shortcuts to help speed up the process.
Note: Creating the slide/presentation on the desktop version of Keynote is very similar. On the desktop, you can create a recording for the presentation. You could give the clues and the name of the object. This variation would work well for a center. A laptop could be used at center time and the student could use it as a self directed activity. I tried to transfer a presentation created with a recording on a Mac to my iPad. It transferred but without the audio, blah! If you have Powerpoint and want to create a similar presentation/book, Gayle Lovely provides a revealing powerpoint template on her site. Happy creating!
Tiny Tap is an app that can be used by therapists, teachers and parents to create instructional materials for targeted practice of a variety of skills. Users can create a game based page or book using photos or drawings. Photos can be taken with the iPad camera or imported from the camera roll. Also, drawings can be created within the app using drawing tools and stickers. I created the picture scene below with the app, Felt Board. I took a picture of the completed scene which was then saved to my camera roll.
The app is very user friendly but I will provide a few tips that might keep you from getting stuck. Using this picture, I recorded my first question/statement: "Let's play a guessing game, I am thinking of an animal, it has whiskers, pointed ears and says Meow". After recording the statement or question, you are prompted to trace around the correct answer. When done tracing, tap on the question you finished and you will see a menu like the one pictured below.
From this menu you can customize the experience by providing individualized feedback for the student. You can add a response for the correct answer such as, "yes, you found the cat, it has whiskers, pointy ears and says, meow". You can also add a response for the incorrect answer such as, "oops, that is not the cat, try again". If you don't customize these responses, the app inserts various sound effects such as laughing, cheering and a buzzer noise. Another helpful tip I can provide is related to the background music. The music made it difficult to hear the prompts and it could be distracting for some students. You have the option of turning off the music. When you are on the screen pictured below, tap the cassette tape icon in the upper right hand corner, scroll down and select, "no music".
Here is an example of a page I created using the app, Strip Designer. I imported this photo into Tiny Tap and asked questions related to functions of the objects.
Tiny Tap provides some supports to the learners during game play that can be helpful for learners with special needs. If the student picks the wrong object several times in a row, the correct object is highlighted and the prompt is repeated. There is also a replay button that can be selected and the prompt will be repeated. The drawback of this app is the sharing options. Games can only be shared through Facebook. It would be nice to be able to share games with other Tiny Tap users via email.
Tiny Tap has many possibilities for supporting learners who need targeted practice of skills. Tha app could be used to target language objectives, ELL related objectives, math concepts, and of course literacy objectives. Although I have not tried it, the app seems like it would be simple enough for a young learner to use with some support from an adult. I would like to try having a student take a picture of a scene, create a game by giving clues and have other students play the game he or she created. Has anyone had young learners create a game or book using this app? How did it go?
In the previous two posts, I have discussed how to maximize the educational value of using videos with young children and how to make You Tube more child friendly. This post is dedicated to moving beyond You Tube in search of other video content that might be appropriate for young children. Other places on the web to find video content for young children: Start bookmarking!! Kideo: Videos for kids. Some of the content on this site comes from You Tube. When you create an account you can check a box that will make sure your child stays within the Kideo site at all times by disabling links to You Tube. Commonsense media has provided a review of this site. PBS kids: There is a video section at PBS kids. National Geographic Little Kids Videos: Science related videos. Here are some samples, a wood duck video and a woodpecker video. Nickjr videos: Clips from Nickjr. shows. Kidyos: Prescreened videos and games for kids. Create an account so you can create playlists. Can also set a time limit. Kidobi: Prescreened videos. Create an account and a profile for up to 3 children. Commonsense media review. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood videos: Clips and full episodes are available. Sesame Street videos: You can search by subject and age level. This site offers tips for parents for viewing and learning together. Peep and the Big Wide World: Collection of science videos. Fred Rogers Early Learning Environment: Videos for kids and parents. If you create an account, you can create a playlist.
iTUNES Video Podcasts iTunes provides another alternative to You Tube. You can find great educational content on iTunes via video podcasts. Many video podcasts are free and can be downloaded to a mobile device for offline viewing or can be watched within iTunes. You can subscribe to your favorites. Here are a few links to get you started.
Recently, I have been asked to make recommendations regarding digital storytelling apps. I am finally feeling like I have had enough experience with a variety of apps that I can make better informed suggestions. In this post, I will focus on teacher created stories and the app, Book Creator. Special Education teachers create books for many purposes including social stories, vocabulary development, and targeted literacy instruction. In the past, creating customized books was very time consuming and involved scissors, glue, copying, laminating and binding. Technology has made this task much less daunting.
The combination of two features, the ability to add audio and the sharing options, make Book Creator a very useful app. Book Creator works well if you are using 1-2 photos per page and need to have audio. The audio feature is a necessity with young learners who can't read independently. The sharing options are more extensive than many other digital storytelling apps. The finished product is an epub file. If a student is going to be accessing the book on the iPad, the book can be opened in iBooks and the audio remains. If you need to share the book so it can be accessed on a device other than the iPad on which it was created, you can open the file in Dropbox. Once I had the file in Dropbox, I pulled it onto my desktop. I ran into a road block when I tried to open the file on my computer because I didn't have anything installed that could read epub files. My next step was to download the Chrome Extension, Readium. Once the file was in Readium, it opened and the audio remained. You could put the file in a shared folder on Dropbox and make it available to other teachers. There is also an option to email the file as an iBook or as a PDF, which would work well for sharing the support with parents. If a hard copy of the book is needed, there is an option to print.
Book created with Book Creator on iPad, opened in Readium.
I highly recommend Book Creator for the purpose of making materials to support students with special needs. It is easy enough that it can also be used by young learners to create their own books. Here are some ideas of instructional materials that could be made using this app: Preschoolers
Create social stories: how to stand in line, how to ask a friend to play, how to cope with setbacks.
Create customized books with targeted vocabulary.
Create books to support speech/language goals such as functions, classification, and opposites.
Create visual schedules and sequence boards. Toddlers/Home based
Create customized books of family members.
Create books with targeted household vocabulary.
Create books with audio from a family member who may not be available to read in person such as a grandparent or a parent in the military.
Create customized books dealing with situations that may create anxiety such as separation from a parent at child care.
Create a book preparing a toddler for a new experience such as a visit to the doctor.
Create a book from the child's point of view about sensory challenges to share with other family members.
Are you special educator using digital storytelling tools to create instructional materials? What apps have you found useful? What types of materials are you creating?
Self regulation skills has been a hot topic among the Kinderchat network on Twitter. I have learned so much from these connected educators as they discuss this topic. They have been sharing resources and ideas for supporting the development of these skills in young learners. These educators are aware of how complicated the concept of self regulation is and how important it is in a child’s development. Studies are finding strong connections between a child’s ability to self regulate and later academic success. Self regulation skills also play a critical role in a young learner’s social success. There are some children who need more support than others in developing and demonstrating self regulation skills. There is great variation in self regulation skills at the preschool level. Factors such as temperament, social history, social stressors, prematurity, and medications can affect a young learners ability to develop self regulation skills. Some children need specialized instruction especially in regulating activity level and emotions.
The 5 point scale is a tool that is valuable in teaching self regulation skills. Kari Dunn Buron is the teacher who can be credited with the concept of using this simple, but effective tool. Her website explains the concept and provides several examples. I highly recommend her book, The Incredible 5 Point Scale. Think of the scale as a thermometer that provides a visual for levels of a behavior or feeling, applying a number and color to each level. The numbers and colors not only provide a visual but also a common language that can be used to discuss and guide the behavior. The scale can be used to teach skills such as the regulation of voice volume, activity level, and emotions, especially anger and excitement. The voice volume scale pictured above, can be used as a universal tool in a preschool classroom. Children who need specialized instruction might benefit from repeated practice moving from a 4 voice to a 2 voice. In our program, it is not unusual to see the special education assistants in a class wearing a small version of the chart on a lanyard. This mobile version can be used in the library or other places outside of the classroom. When using the scale for managing activity level, the specialized instruction might involve teaching the child how a 5 and 3 looks and feels. The next step in the instruction would be to identify calming strategies to assist in moving from a 5 to a 3.
We typically use Boardmaker to create paper versions of the scale. The iPad along with apps such as Skitch and Doodle Buddy allow a teacher to take a picture of the paper copy and draw over the top of it. The student can circle the number he or she is at and identify where he or she needs to be. Teachers can store the scales on the iPad and have them readily available when needed. Another option is to create a template of the numbers and colors using the application, Pages, on a computer or on the iPad. The template below was created by inserting the square shape, filling it with a color and typing in the corresponding number. This template can be customized with pictures from the camera roll on the iPad. Once a photo is added, the mask option and resizing tool will help you get it to the correct size so that it can be aligned with the corresponding number. In this example, I used the same Boardmaker icons but you could pull real photos from your camera roll. When the scale is finished, a screenshot of the scale can be stored on the iPad and viewed when needed.
I am on the lookout for apps that use the 5 point scale. I recently discovered the free app, the Autism 5 - Point Scale EP. This app has great potential but doesn't quite meet our program's needs. The app opens to a main screen with the numbers and colors, along with drawings of a face expressing varied emotions. When you select a number, it moves to a screen with that number and face. On the second screen, the app allows you to customize it with your own picture, text and even audio but when you go back to the main screen, the customization isn’t there. It also does not allow you to save scales for different purposes.
I am interested in hearing if others are using the 5 point scale or other visuals for teaching self regulation. Matt Gomez wrote a post about using the app, Too Loud, to help regulate voice volume. What visuals have you created? Are you using any technology to support the use of these visuals? Please share your thoughts and experiences.
If you grew up in Minnesota, you might have visited a small amusement park located in Brainerd called Paul Bunyanland. I visited the park when I was a preschooler. While I don't remember any of the rides, I do remember our arrival. As I walked through the gate, a large statue of Paul Bunyan welcomed me to the park and he knew my name! This same magic can be created using the app, Talking Tom, and many of the other similar "talking" apps. Young learners find Talking Tom very amusing and motivating, they are very intrigued when Tom uses their name or mentions their class in the video. Here are some uses of the app in early childhood and special education: Remind students of rules: "remember quiet hands and quiet voice at circle time", "to be safe on the playground we go up the stairs and down the slide". Encourage them to try something new: Have Talking Tom be a special guest who speaks to the entire class when it is time to try a new food at snack. Call him Chef Tom and have him encourage everyone to try a taste. Provide feedback/celebrate success: "You did it, you were safe on the playground". Give clues or prompts for a game: Develop a scavenger hunt related to a concept such as signs of spring and have Tom give the clues, "find something that smells good and grows".
In this example, I use Talking Tom 2 for a rule reminder. For the students I support, circle time can be a difficult part of the day. The combination of factors such as close proximity to peers, large quantities of verbal information, and the need to stay in one place for a long period of time, challenge many students who have difficulty with self regulation, auditory processing, and attention issues. At the beginning of the year, the teacher usually invests a few minutes at the beginning of circle time to remind all of the children of the rules, but toward the middle of the year these group reminders aren't given as frequently. The adults who support the children with special needs typically need to continue to provide reminders about circle time rules. We like to provide the reminders immediately before circle time and provide immediate feedback. We know that after so many repetitions our voices can start to sound like the teacher on the Peanuts, "wah, wah, wah"! In an attempt to provide some novelty we created this video with the purpose of reminding a student of the two rules he struggled with on a consistent basis. The second video was created to provide feedback and celebrate his success.
To create the video, begin by accessing the Talking Tom settings, found under the iPad settings (the gear icon). Find the Talking Tom app by scrolling through the apps on the bottom left and select it.
Turn on the longer listening time and user recorded video. Your next step is to script your message, in order to get the "Paul Bunyan effect" make sure you include the student's name or the class name. I believe the video can be a maximum of 60 seconds. If you pause and Tom starts to mimic your speech, that is okay, it will not show up on the video, only what you say will be on the video. When you are ready, tap the video camera icon, located on the left hand side, near the top of the screen. The icon flashes when it is recording. Tap the video camera to end the recording.
A new menu will appear when you end the recording. If you are not satisfied with the video, tap the X on the top right of the menu and try again. If you are happy with your product, you have several options for sharing the video. If you have an account, you can upload the video to You Tube. The other option is saving it the the iPad in the photo roll by tapping "Photos".
I have been finding many uses for Tom and his friends. I use the app with students to encourage sound and word imitation, they enjoy hearing their voice in the video. If you are allowing a student to use the app, make sure to turn the violence off in the settings, it is found in the same place as the recording options. Also beware of all of the ads and in app purchase options. How do you plan to use the video feature of this app with young learners?
The Fred Rogers Center developed this scavenger hunt type app and it is one of their best yet. The child is introduced to a cute (non threatening), group of aliens who have a broken ship. The child is asked to take pictures of objects that can be readily found in the environment in order to help repair the ship. The aliens describe what is broken, using some great vocabulary concepts in their description. In some cases, the request is a label such as "find a doorknob" or the request is a related to a concept such as "find something heavy". The child is asked to take 4 pictures. The only thing I would change is adding the ability to repeat the prompt because several times the child forgot the prompt as they were walking around the room searching.
The windshield is broken, find something you can see through.
When the child has taken all of the pictures, he is prompted to give the phone to an adult. This app gets bonus points for including caregivers in the activity, it is a great app for playing together. The adult's job is to review the pictures, selecting a thumbs up if the picture matches the request. If a thumbs down is given, the prompt is repeated and another picture can be taken. When all of the pictures pass adult inspection, the aliens review the repairs and thank the child for the assistance. This app is useful in Early Childhood Special Education and speech therapy because many of the concepts presented are common targeted concepts in the area of receptive communication skills. I also appreciate that the app gets kids up and moving, engaging that brain and connecting the real world to the virutal world! It is also an opportunity to practice recall. At the end of the activity you can work with the child on recalling the 4 prompts and pictures. The pictures are not saved to the camera roll so the adult needs to practice some recall skills too. At the end of the activity you could also do a drawing activity, encouraging the child to draw a picture of one of the objects they photographed, or draw a picture of the aliens. This app could also be used with parents on home visits. An early intervention teacher could model the use of this app, demonstrating all of the opportunities it provides for working on a variety of skills. Many thanks to the Fred Rogers Center for this app.
The compass is broke, help by finding something that points!
I have not purchased a visual schedule app yet. I know there are many available, I just haven't taken the time to research the apps and make a decision. Our department uses schedules with many of our students for many different reasons. We go through a large amount of expensive laminating film and velcro to create the schedules. As an alternative, my co-worker recently created some schedules for her Interactive White Board. On the IWB, she used a garbage can for the "all done" box and she figured out how to move objects to the front and back so that the schedule pictures can hide behind the trash can. As she demonstrated this activity, I remembered seeing this same "move to the front" and "move to the back" option while working with the Pages app on the iPad. I tried this on the iPad using Pages and Keynote, it is a very similar process for both apps. Here is a video demonstration of the process using Pages.
Here is the process in screenshots. The first two screenshots demonstrate how to add the pictures, create the grid and add the numbers using a text box. To make locating the pictures a little easier, I created a Schedule Pictures album in my photo album app.
After all of the pictures are in place, the garbage can needs to be moved to the front and the other pictures need to be moved to the back. The screenshot above demonstrates how to do this. First, tap the garbage can, then the paintbrush. Move the switch to the far right, so the garbage can will be in the front. Repeat this process with each schedule picture, moving the switch to the far left so that the schedule pictures will be in the back. Make sure the schedule pictures are smaller than the garbage can so that they can be completely hidden when moved behind the can.
This schedule can be projected during circle time, allowing you to move each item to the garbage can when it is completed. To move the object, tap on it until the blue box appears, then drag it to the garbage can. You could also use Pages and the iPad to make a work station schedule, individual student schedule, or a sequence board for dressing and other tasks. Our program uses horizontal schedules, but you could make a vertical schedule by rotating the items. It takes some practice and patience to become proficient at rotating objects on the iPad, but it can be done! I am going to continue to post some other ideas for activities using Pages and Keynote, they are very versatile apps.
We all scream for ice cream! Need a way to decide what kind of ice cream to serve at the end of the year preschool party? Model a great decision making strategy for your class by voting. Voting provides opportunities to practice many skills. Voting can be an individual or a group lesson. A child can travel around the school, polling adults, practicing social skills along the way. Skills such as greeting others, initiating interactions and asking questions such as "what is your favorite ice cream?", can be targeted. The entire class can get involved by setting up a polling station so that each child can cast his or her vote. Higher level thinking skills can be promoted by asking students to predict the results of the poll and compare their prediction with the results. Counting, one to one correspondence, assigning numerals to sets of numbers and writing numbers are other skills that can be practiced when determining the results of the poll. The concepts of more, less, many, same, equal, and few, can be emphasized when analyzing the results.
The iPad can be used as a polling device for your next voting lesson. In the first example, I used the Pages app to create a template to open in Doodle Buddy. In the Pages app, I inserted images of two different flavors of ice cream on a blank page and then took a screen shot of the page by pushing the home button and power button at the same time. I cropped the Pages border out of the picture using the editing features in the Photo app on the iPad. The next step is to open the Doodle Buddy app and select the tic tac toe icon, then select Photos. Locate the screenshot on your camera roll and select it. Tap the chalk icon and choose a color to make your dividing line. Next, choose the stamp icon and select a stamp for voters to use to indicate their selection.
In the second example, I used Pages to create a template, adding a table to create a basic graph.
If you do not have the app, Pages, you could make the templates on your computer with another program and then use Dropbox to transfer the template to your iPad. Another alternative is using the drawing tool in Doodle Buddy to make the template. You could draw pictures to represent the choices and then draw a grid. Take a screenshot of this template and then open it from the Tic Tac Toe icon. If you want to discuss the results with the group, you can connect the iPad to the projector. Have fun voting!
There are many reasons for using video with young children. Video can enhance learning and provide visual representations the children may not otherwise be able to experience. Video is very engaging and motivating to young learners. The built in You Tube app on the iPad has made accessing You Tube very easy. Early childhood teachers and parents are sometimes hesitant to use You Tube because there are very few safety features and it seems that everyone has horror stories related to searches gone terribly wrong or inappropriate related videos being displayed. Even the comments related to each video can be offensive. To address these very valid concerns, I have been working on finding strategies that may lessen a teacher or parent's apprehension in using You Tube.
Parents and teachers have the option of disabling You Tube under the Restrictions section of Settings, so that the app can not be used on the iPad. Here are a few alternatives to restricting the app. Here are some less drastic alternatives that may make hesitant teachers and parents more comfortable. To make You Tube more child friendly, parents and teachers should consider creating an account and playlists. Having an account allows you to subscribe to child friendly channels such as Seasame Street,Yo Gabba Gabba, and the Houston Zoo. By creating playlists, you are screening and collecting appropriate content for your child or students. Once you create playlists, they can be accessed through the "favorites" tab on the bottom of the app home screen. All of your playlists will be listed on the left hand side of the screen after you have selected the "playlists" tab at the top of the screen. I think the app is more child friendly than the website because when you watch a video on the app, the comments do not appear unless you select the "comment" tab. The comments are often guilty of being inappropriate.
You Tube playlists on iPad
I have been using the built in You Tube app, but was very excited when I heard about an app that makes You Tube much more child friendly. The app, iTube List, imports your playlists and when the video is playing there are no comments or related videos. Children can only see and play videos you have approved. There is also a feature that can be accessed through the settings which allows an adult to set an alert that acts as a timer, warning a child that his or her time on the app is done. The app has been "buggy" at times and has quit suddenly. There are ads in the bottom corner of the play screen if you don't change it to full screen. At the time of this posting, the app was being offered at no cost.
iTube list home screen
Weet Woo is another popular You Tube related app. This app does not allow you to import your playlists. Instead, the makers of the app, collect kid friendly content. You can choose an age range in order to access the most appropriate videos. I often use this app to get ideas for appropriate videos to add to my playlists.
Our department has also started a collaborative Google Doc. The purpose of the document is to collect and share early childhood friendly videos that can be added to playlists. We add videos as hyperlinks so that the person viewing the document can click on the link and be taken directly to the video. We organize the videos by theme, and other categories such as books, songs, parent education, child development, and flashcards. These tips and suggestions are helpful in making You Tube something that parents and teachers are comfortable letting young children access. Please share any of your helpful tips.
On Saturday, I presented at a wonderful, well organized Autism Resource Fair, sponsored by Autism Allies. I was asked to give a general overview of the iPad and how it may be beneficial for individuals with autism and to highlight some apps. I had a difficult time deciding which apps to highlight in the category of augmentative alternative communication (AAC). This group of apps gets a majority of the press coverage related to individuals with special needs. The obvious choice was Proloquo2go. This app has received a great deal of attention, rightfully so, as it is a well designed, useful app. It comes with a large price tag. Many have pointed out that in comparison to other comparable AAC devices which we're thousands of dollars, $189.00 seems very reasonable. Yet, in the world of apps, this is very steep. I decided to highlight Proloquo2Go and My First AAC which has a more moderate price point of $24.99. As I was preparing the presentation, I received an email from a colleague about two apps that were free for the day. I downloaded them and tried them out. I then added them to the list of AAC apps. I really liked this price, free! Even now that the sale is over, the apps are only $2.99.
The apps are Click n' Talk and Talk'n Photos. They were developed by a school district in Minnesota. The district supported a group of teachers who wanted to develop an app to meet a specific need and the results are wonderful. AAC is only one of many possible uses for these apps.
In ten minutes, I created a simple communication board for snack time using Talk'n Photos. You can add text and audio to the picture. Each photo is 2x2 which is quite standard. You can use your own photos or import from the web. The grids are three across and unlimited vertically. I added messages with "I want" along with the name of the food. When you select a message, the screen stays on the grid page. To leave an album, an arrow at the top is selected. As a communication device, this is an easy, affordable start.
Talk'n Photos Album Page, I created the Snack album, the other two are examples that came with the app.
Talk n' Photo message page.
Talk n' Photos can support many other objectives. Grids could be created for vocabulary building, language concepts, social stories, sequencing a self help routine and visual schedules. I hope to share other examples as our staff begins to use the app.
Click n' Talk is a little different from Talk n' Photos in presentation. The grid is similar but when you select a picture, the selection enlarges to the entire screen, the picture needs to be selected again for the message to play. Arrows allow you to navigate between photos. This app may be better suited for social stories and customized books. I created an art and snack album. I added numbers to request a quantity for snack.
Album page, I created an Art and Snack album. The Milo album is a sample story that came with the app.
Snack Album page, when you select yogurt the next image will appear.
Here is a link to a video showing a student using Click n' Talk. I hope to post more examples soon. Please share how you are using these apps with young learners or learners with special needs. Thanks!
