Technology for Teachers

CAIS Spring Tech Highlights

2015-06-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

Technology in the Classroom at CAIS

June 2015 Edition

WOW -- has there ever been a lot of cool stuff happening with technology in our classrooms lately! Read on to learn more about the innovative ways in which CAIS faculty and students have been using technology this spring.

Makers Movement Comes to CAIS

The new middle school makerspace may still be under construction, but making is already happening here at CAIS in our lower school art classes! Art teacher Lisa Ostapinski has developed a series of making projects with her classes this semester. For instance, second graders created stop motion animation videos with clay characters. Third and fourth graders made drawing botsusing motors and battery packs. Students attached motors to strawberry baskets and created drawing machines by attaching markers, pencils, pens, and paintbrushes to the baskets. They also viewed and discussed contemporary kinesthetic art that uses motors, particularly drawing machines. Finally, in a project that integrated both science and art, fourth graders learned about circuitry in science class and transferred that knowledge to create three dimensional paper sculptures illuminated with LED lights in art class. Students viewed and discussed contemporary artwork with LEDs including the Bay Bridge "Bay Lights" project. Check out the amazing video below showing our students and their drawing bots in action!

Design Thinking Across the Curriculum at CAIS

Across grade levels, languages, and subjects, design thinking has begun to take hold in classrooms across CAIS as more and more teachers find creative ways to integrate this approach to their curriculum.

In second grade art and Chinese, students embarked on a unit involving interior design. While learning relevant vocabulary in Chinese, students were paired up with a partner and charged with designing the "ultimate bedroom" for their partner. Students followed each step of the design thinking process, starting with creating empathy and researching the client by interviewing their partners. Next they sketched and created a prototype using paper and recycled materials. During the process they solicited feedback and made adjustments accordingly. Finally, students gifted their prototype to their partner and wrote a letter describing what they put in the room and why.

In a collaborative project betweenfourth grade science and English, students imagined what life might be like for a person in the California Gold Rush. In small groups, students worked to identify and describe this individual, then discussed a challenge that person might have faced. Next students designed a new solution that would make this person's life better. Given a set of craft supplies, students collaborated to build a prototype of their design, then presented their creations to the entire class.

In eighth grade math and technology, students used the design thinking process to brainstorm ideas about ways to improve their personal electronic device (iPad or iPhone). Students sketched ideas individually and then in groups, then built a prototype. During the design process, students calculated the surface area of their product in order to estimate the cost of materials to build their model. Using the 3D drawing software Tinkercad, students created a 3D model of some part of their product, and some groups ultimately created a 3D printout of their design.

Using Technology to Enhance Mathematical Reasoning Skills

As Weiwen Yang told her students, "Knowing the right answer to a problem is not as awesome as articulating the reasoning behind it. However, articulating the reasoning is not as awesome as listening and giving constructive feedback to other people's reasoning." Starting with this philosophy, third grade students not only needed to write about their methods to solve a division word problem, but also needed to clearly explain and record their methods using the Explain Everythingapp. After recording, students presented their videos to three classmates, who asked clarifying questions. Finally, students filled out individual checklists on iPad to make sure they remembered to include all the key points.

Understanding Circles in Third Grade Math

What is a good way to introduce the concept of a circle to students? In third grade Chinese, Weiwen Yang developed a clever way to teach this idea using a tale about a cow tethered in a pasture! In this story, the shape of the grass area where the cow eats day after day eventually becomes a circle. Students developed an understanding of the circle concept and then retold the story with complete structure of beginning, middle and end. Then students created their own animated cow story using Explain Everything app and explicitly illustrated the circle definition.

Integrating Explain Everything App in Kindergarten Chinese

Ever considered using Explain Everything to make worksheets more engaging for students? You can use Explain Everything to design interactive activities such as word-picture matching, fill in the blanks, or storytelling with pictures. This spring, Yanmei Yang and Xiaoqing Chen collaborated to create worksheet templates in Explain Everything and pushed the templates to students' iPads through Dropbox. In class, students opened the template, matched pictures and words, and recorded themselves telling a story. Kindergartners completed these projects in their units on Forest Animals, Sea Animals and Spring Season in Chinese class this spring.

Taiwan Exchange Trip: Mission Impossible

This year, our fifth graders were tasked with a special mission for their trip to Taiwan. Their mission (whether or not they chose to accept it) was to accomplish seven specific tasks during their stay abroad. Each task comprised a part of a larger research project, designed to help our students study and learn about Taiwan...and synthesize this information in order to share their learnings once they returned! Check out this example of one of our students' final presentations below.

Studying the Stars with iPads

Imagine gazing up at the stars on a clear night. Can you see Orion's belt? What other stars can you identify? In Jack Crow's sixth grade math and science class, students were able to identify objects in the sky using their iPad's built-in compass and accelerometer and the powerful astronomy app Starry Night. Combined with another great science app, Sky Safari, students had a virtual planetarium right on their iPads and a treasure trove of astronomical information at their fingertips. According to Jack, using these apps "added a level of understanding of the universe that I never had as a kid." He continued, "Now that we have [these iPad apps] I can't imagine another way of teaching astronomy."

Heating Up 7th Graders' Beijing Trip with Baidu Map and Taobao Website

In an exciting new project designed to prepare seventh graders for their trip to Beijing, students used Baidu map (similar to Google Maps) to navigate virtually around the neighborhood of Sanfan School, where they were would study in Beijing. Using newly learned directional language, each student guided a classmate to a place of interest near the school and displayed photos of the location. Before landing in Beijing, students were already familiar with many of the street names and views in the neighborhood where they would study!

To add another level of fun, students looked up the prices of common merchandise on Taobao website (similar to eBay). Allotted ¥1000 to "spend", each student purchased merchandise and opened an online store, designed using Keynote slides. In class, half of the students pretended to be buyers with ¥300 to spend and bargained with their peer "merchants". At the end of the class, all students created trading reports on what they bought and sold.

Seventh and Eighth Grade Scientists Get Creative with

Video game illustrating the path of eel migration, created by 8th graders.

Technology

Students' creativity has been shining through with their use of technology during the past trimester in science class! Students in Susan Sherman's science class conducted research on disease pathogens (7th grade) and animal migration (8th grade). In creating their final reports, three seventh grade groups opted to present their disease stories as a video play, while another group portrayed their findings using hand-drawn animated cartoon figures. The eighth graders were similarly creative: two eighth grade groups chose to create animated maps of their animals moving on their migration route while a third group used digital maps and pictures to illustrate their story.

Building A Historical Perspective on San Francisco andBeijing

What did San Francisco and Beijing look like back in 1906, just before the great earthquake in SF? In Chinese class, eighth grade students learned early 20th century Chinese history and wrote essays comparing American and Chinese cities. In this project students specifically chose and researched landmark buildings that reflected the economic development and social changes in SF and Beijing. Then in the technology class, students built sculptures of the landmarks (SF Ferry Building, Beijing train station, SF Flood Building, Beijing Old Tea House, etc.) using cardboard and added kinetic features to the crafting materials using Hummingbird robotics kits. If you stand in front of the train station sculpture, the bell will ring and the train will move. If you clap your hands, the door to the tea house will open. Finally, students added the historical city view paintings they created in the brush painting class as background for their kinetic sculptures. In sum, students provided a small but vivid glimpse into San Francisco and Beijing's past.

Flattening the Middle School Classroom: Connecting with China

In a first-of-its-kind project, CAIS middle schoolers connected with peers at the AnQiu QingYun Bilingual School in Shandong, China this spring. Overcoming tremendous logistical difficulties (such as the 15-hour time difference!), CAIS seventh and eighth graders chatted with students in China via Skype. All six Skype sessions were carefully planned to include topics on lifestyle, Chinese cuisine, hobbies, etc. Different sessions involved different tasks and activities: guessing games, prepared interviews, and open-ended Q&A, to name a few. Students took notes during the sessions and reported their reflections afterwards. Here is a short video capturing some moments of the Skype sessions.

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

iTeach 2015 - San Domenico School, Marin, CA Jun. 15-16

EdTechTeacher 2015 - Menlo Park, CA Jun. 22-26

Teach 21 West - Hamlin School, SF, CA Jun 22-25

CUE Rockstar Teacher Summer Camps - Various locations in CA, June-August

Google Apps for Education CA Summit - Palo Alto, CA, Jul.11-12, 18-19

Designing Making Experiences - Oakland, CA Aug. 6-7

Fall CUE Conference - Napa, CA Oct. 23-24

Midwinter Tech Update

2015-01-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

Technology in the Classroom at CAIS

December/January 2015 Edition

This month in tech news from the classroom: second graders bring their textbooks to life with the help of a digital puppet theater; fourth graders give us advice on good nutrition; sixth graders flex their stop motion animation muscles; and a whole school gets caught up in the coding craze!

Read on to learn more about the exciting ways teachers and students at CAIS have been using technology!

"Talkative Textbook" Puppet Show

Thinking about a new twist to make reading Chinese textbooks more fun? Ask our second graders for advice! In Chinese class, second graders are learning about personification in their unit, "Talkative Textbook". In this story, inanimate objects (three textbooks) come to life! These talkative textbooks like to chat about how their owners treat them. After reading this story, students used the iPad app Puppet Pals to create a puppet show representing the story. They selected characters to represent the three talking textbooks and created a puppet show by recording their own voices to make each textbook speak in a distinctive voice. See the example below to see how our second graders rock it!

4th Grade Nutritious Meal Multimedia Project

Wondered what the ultimate solution is for students who are picky about food? Ask fourth grade Chinese teacher Annie Liu for advice! In Chinese class, fourth graders designed their own balanced three meals per day and listed all the categories of nutrients each food contains. In the project, students used Google Presentations to design slides that introduced their chosen foods. Then they used Movenote to create synchronized videos with slides and presented their meal plans using real food as props! Click here to see an example.

"Lost and Found" Animation Play
Ever wondered how to increase students' motivation by empowering them to be both playwrights and theater directors? In Annie Liu and Michael Hsu's classes, fifth graders wrote plays on the theme of lost/found items and then acted out their plays virtually by using an animated video site called GoAnimate. In order to create their GoAnimate videos, students first divided their plays into scenes and brainstormed characters and dialogues on paper. Then using the GoAnimate site, students animated scenes and characters based on their scripts and added props and sound effects accordingly. Last but not the least, students provided voices for all of the animated characters in the play. Check out an example below!

Hour of Code Comes to CAIS
CAIS kids code! In December, nonprofit organization Code.orgorganized a worldwide campaign called the "Hour of Code" designed to get millions of students of all ages to participate in a one-hour introduction to computer science. This year at CAIS, all students in grades K-8 participated in the event. Students completed one-hour tutorials designed to demystify code and show that anyone can learn the basics of programming. The event was a hit with our students. In fact, according to one first grader whose class's Hour of Code was postponed due to the rain day: "I wanted to come to school because I wanted to do the Hour of Code!"

Writing Workshop, the Digital Way
For the second consecutive year Lower School informational writing took on new life...in the form of a digital book! Students in Maggie Spillane and Shannon Selerowski's third grade classes became digital publishers by using the iPad app Book Creator for their informational writing project. Choosing topics of expertise, students taught readers about their topic through the use of a variety of text features. This year, second graders got in on the fun, too: students in Christina Booth and Shannon's classes used Book Creator for their procedural writing (how-to) unit! To see an example of a third grader's informational eBook, click here.

Animated Science

This winter our resident stop motion animation experts, the sixth graders, put their skills to the test with a new challenge in science class! Students were tasked with choosing a topic related to density and buoyancy and explaining their topic through the use of stop motion animation. Working in groups, students shot the footage for their videos and later added voiceover to help explain their concept. Check out this example of the students' work below!

Make Your Own Stylus

Have you ever stopped to think about how your iPad stylus works? Or, for that matter, why your phone or iPad screen responds to your touch? In technology class, our sixth and seventh graders learned about the basics of conductivity and how their iPads' touchscreens work. Then, using nothing more than a pen, wire, conductive foam, and tape, they constructed their own simple styluses! Sound like fun? You, too, can be a "maker" and try this at home! Just check out the handy do-it-yourself video below:

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

CUE Rockstar Mini Camp - Petaluma, CA, Feb. 13-15

IntegratED PDX 2015 - Portland, OR, Feb. 25-27

Designing Making Experiences - Palo Alto, CA, Feb. 27-28; Oakland, CA, Mar. 20-21

Teach Through Technology - Harker School, San Jose, CA, March 7

Annual CUE Conference - Palm Springs, CA, March 19-22

Leadership 3.0 - Redondo Beach, CA, April 16-18

iTeach 2015 - San Domenico School, Marin, CA Jun. 15-16

CUE Rockstar Teacher Summer Camps - Various locations in CA, June-August

Hour of Code: A Huge Success

2015-01-11T21:20:00.001-08:00

CAIS Kids Coding!

For the second year of CAIS involvement

with the worldwide Hour of Code program, Educational Technology Coordinator Kerri Willa worked closely with faculty to expand
participation schoolwide in grades K‐8. As Ms. Willa explains, "We feel it is important for our students to be exposed to computer science." The project dovetails with Makers Movement integration at CAIS to help children see themselves as creators and not simply consumers. CAIS students and teachers embraced the activity. In fact, when school closed for inclement weather on the Thursday of that week, Ms. Willa heard from a first grade student, "I wanted to come to school today because I wanted to do the Hour of Code!"

Organized as part of Computer Science Education Week each December, the Hour of Code is designed to demystify coding and show students that anyone can learn the basics of programming. As Ms. Willa (@kbwilla) tweeted: "Fifth graders collaborated to solve some vexing Lightbot coding challenges" and "Kindergarteners and first graders worked with the Kodable app."

Propelled in part by high profile help with its awareness campaign (see PresidentObama participating), the program has grown spectacularly since its inception just a few years ago. However its leap from 10 million participants to 92 million in one year is just as much a testament to the excitement kids have around discovering this is something they too can do.

Fall Tech News at CAIS

2014-11-26T09:34:00.003-08:00

Technology in the Classroom at CAIS

October/November 2014 Edition

This month in tech news from the classroom: Lower School reading presentations get a multimedia upgrade; students hone their vocabulary and math skills with a pair of fun web-based programs; and sixth graders create cool claymations inspired by stories read in English class.

Read on to learn more about the exciting ways teachers and students at CAIS have been using technology!

Math and Pinyin Learning Made Fun with Interactive Apps

Looking for a fun way to differentiate math practice in your Chinese classroom? Consider trying the Honeybee math app! First graders are enjoying practicing their math skills with this new app. Students can choose their own difficulty level, ranging from basic addition and subtraction through single-digit multiplication and division problems. In addition, students can practice in different learning modes, with or without a time limit. Best of all, students can create problems for themselves and check their graded results at the end.

Learning Pinyin is fun with our newly introduced best friend Monkey King Pinyin app! Touring with Monkey King, first grade students learned pronunciations, tones, and written forms of all Pinyin initials and finals. Students were highly engaged in learning as they sought to overcome all the difficulties to help Monkey King proceed in his Journey to the West.

Take a Trip to SpellingCity!

How can we make learning vocabulary more engaging andeffective? In third through fifth grades this year, the answer is: SpellingCity! After several successful years of use in sixth grade Humanities class, SpellingCity has now found a home in the Lower School as well. Bringing a new level of excitement to word study, SpellingCity allows students to play fun games that teach them word spellings and definitions. Teachers, too, are big fans of this new tool, as it provides the flexibility to introduce students to new word lists or have them revisit old lists and work with the words in a new way. Even better, our full classroom sets of Chromebooks make it possible for teachers to seamlessly integrate this web-based tool into their classroom instruction.

Multimedia Poetry Presentations in Fourth Grade Chinese

Reading presentations took on new life in fourth grade Chinese classes this year thanks to the addition of an exciting multimedia project! After composing their Chinese poems, students began work on iMovie presentations. Selecting images from a shared image folder created by teacher Lucy Sui, students inserted both their poems and images into iMovie and set their poems to music. By rehearsing their read-alouds, they were able to adjust the iMovie clip length to match their reading pace. Check out a few highlights from the students' multimedia poetry reading below!

Chinese Poem Recitation with English Slideshows

How do we celebrate Chinese, English and technology learning in one project? Check out our fourth and fifth grade classes' poetry reading projects! Students wrote poems in Chinese and then translated their poems into English. Next, using Google Presentations, students created slideshows with English translations of their poems and selected backgrounds and images. During the presentations, students recited their poems in Chinese with the English slideshows as their backgrounds. Student worked together in teams with one student advancing the slides as another student presented. To see some sample slides from two students' Google presentations, click here.

When Fifth Grade Met Sixth Grade...

"What will life be like in middle school?" is a question that is at the forefront of many of our fifth graders' minds. To help answer this question, our fifth and sixth grade Chinese teachers collaborated and developed a clever idea for a project to help our students bridge the gap between Lower and Middle school. In Chinese class, sixth graders created Keynote presentations about their classrooms, teachers, curricula, schedules, and so on. Then they visited fifth grade Chinese classes and introduced their slides to their fifth grade buddies. After the presentations, our middle schoolers patiently answered any questions their fifth grade buddies raised. Click here if you, too, are interested in learning about what sixth grade is like!

Learn to Make Ninja Stars with Sixth Graders

Writing a "How-To" expository essay in Chinese can be daunting. However, our sixth graders are determined to tackle expository essay writing skills in Chinese class! Not only did students write and illustrate step-by-step instructions on how to make origami ninja stars, but they also created tutorial iMovie videos to help others replicate the process. You will be amazed by how our students accurately used advanced vocabulary such "fold in half", "meet center crease", "crease and unfold", and "line up the edges" in Chinese. If you don't know how to create a ninja star, see below to find out!

Middle School Mathematicians Excel with IXL

Looking for a tool to help reinforce students' foundational math skills, or perhaps provide extra practice with newly introduced concepts? Look no further than IXL! Middle School math teachers Kaicy MacLeod and Scott Muir are using this web-based K-12 math practice tool to help build their students' skills. "The power is in the reinforcement," says Scott. "Students get instant feedback on how they did." IXL features worksheet-type practice in which students complete an individually customized number of problems until they demonstrate mastery. In addition, teachers find that they can use IXL both for remediation and enrichment depending on students' individual needs.

Sixth Grade Cross-Curricular Stop Motion Animation Project

This fall sixth grade teachers Jake Sproull, Jeri Countryman and Peery Sloan collaborated to develop a cross-disciplinary project that rolled humanities, technology, and art into one! First, in technology class, students learned techniques for creating stop motion animations using the iStopMotion iPad app. Next, students transferred these skills to art class, where they used a variety of techniques and materials (such as clay, tin foil, fishing line and paper) to animate scenes from stories inspired by ones being read in English class. Check out an example of the students' work below...and find out what happened when the three little pigs encountered the big bad wolf!

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

Increase Student Learning with Mobile Devices and the Best, New Apps (Grades 6-12) - Sunnyvale, CA, December 9

IntegratED PDX 2015 - Portland, OR, Feb. 25-27, 2015

Teach Through Technology - Harker School, San Jose, CA, March 7, 2015

Annual CUE Conference - Palm Springs, CA, March 19-22, 2015

Leadership 3.0 - Redondo Beach, CA, April 16-18, 2015

The Back to School Tech Report

2014-09-30T14:31:00.002-07:00

Technology in the Classroom at CAIS

September 2014 Edition

Just over a month into the new school year and already our students have been busy using technology! In the Lower School, the new classroom sets of Chromebooks have been coming in handy for our third, fourth and fifth graders for tasks ranging from practicing their keyboarding skills to studying Chinese characters. In the Middle School, all sixth, seventh and eighth graders now have iPads and faculty new to the 1:1 iPad program (including our three new teachers and eighth grade Chinese teacher) have seamlessly transitioned into teaching and learning with iPads.

Read on to learn more about the exciting ways teachers and students at CAIS have been using technology in the first month of school!

"Our School, Our Community" Digital Storytelling

First graders started the year off with a bang with their first integrated unit...and first technology project! As part of the "Our School, Our Community" unit, students used the Drawing Pad app for iPad to create colorful portraits of themselves. Next students combined these images with photos of different areas of the school to generate a slideshow. Finally, students recorded their stories along with the slides using the iPad app Explain Everything. Students enjoyed recording it again and again to perfect their speech! Below is an example of how a first grader described CAIS and himself.

Using Edmodo in a Blended Learning Format:

Digital Chinese Initiative (DCI) Update

Fourth Grade Teacher Lucy Sui, working together with DCI Program Manager Adam Ross, created a blended learning assignment to teach students how to do multiple digit multiplication in Chinese. After Lucy taught her math lesson in class, students were later tasked to log in to an online class page in the educational website Edmodo to review the steps of multiplication in a flipped classroom video. Students then engaged in a task to listen to an applied problem in Chinese, and then to provide a recorded answer to the task in their own words in Chinese, which they then uploaded to the Edmodo site. Lucy and Adam will be planning more work for the fourth graders via Edmodo in the coming weeks.

Sample assignment and student response on Edmodo.

Making Memorizing Chinese Characters Fun With Quizlet

Memorizing Chinese characters can be fun! Fourth grade teachers Lucy Sui and Annie Liu created a virtual vocabulary learning class using Quizlet, a free study tool. In Quizlet, teachers create a list of new phrases and their definitions, then invite students to log in using their classroom Chromebooks. Once students log in (with their CAIS Google Apps accounts), they can learn the new phrases at their own pace in different modes such as flashcard, speller, and scatter game. Teachers can see students' participation, performance, and even study habits on each activity. Fourth grade classes are thrilled to use this tool -- how about your class? (Click here to see Lucy's classes' Quizlet flashcard sets.)

Fifth Graders Go Globetrotting with Google Tour Builder Take a virtual trip around the world and experience summer through the eyes of one of our fifth graders! In Sean Mosconi's fifth grade class, students started the year with an innovative project that integrated a fresh, new tech tool to a traditional back-to-school task: writing about the summer. First students composed personal narrative stories about five different places they visited over the summer, honing in on a small moment for each story. Next, students used Google Tour Builder to create a virtual tour of the places they visited and experiences they had along the way. Students pinpointed the various locations and customized their tours to include photos, text, icons and more! To take a spin around the globe with one of our fifth graders, click here (note that you must have the Google Earth plugin installed on your computer to be able to view the tour).

Go For a Space Race in Middle School Math Class!
Racing rocket ships in math class? Sounds like Socrative! This easy-to-use student response system is just one of the tools Kaicy MacLeod uses to make her seventh and eighth grade math classes fun and interactive. Using Socrative, Kaicy prepares practice problems and quizzes for the class, then pushes them out to students with the tap of a button. Students log in to her classroom via their iPads, solve problems and submit their responses. Teachers can access an automated report showing details of how students responded and can opt to display student responses anonymously to the entire class. Best of all, Socrative can be used on any device (laptop, tablet or phone), is appropriate for all age levels, and is completely free! For more ideas on how you could use this great tool in your classroom, click here.

Google Scripts Disrupt Eighth Grade Chinese Writing Class
Looking for a good way to distribute your Google Doc assignment to students and give students timely and individualized feedback on their work? Doctopus and Goobric are the way to go! In eighth grade Chinese writing class, Chu-sheng Tang created a writing assignment in Google Docs and pushed it out to her students using Doctopus Google App script. Doctopus automatically creates a folder in the teacher's Google Drive with copies of the assignment sheet for each student. Then Chu-sheng created a rubric for the assignment in Goobric (another Google App Script) and used it to assess her students' writing. Finally, Goobric generated an automated email to each student containing their score, the rubric, and individualized feedback. Click here to see a sample email sent to an eighth grade student with feedback on the writing assignment.

Back and Better Than Ever:

Typequick and Common Sense Media Programs
Now in their second year of implementation, Typequick and Common Sense Media return to campus much like our students after their summer break: a little older and a little wiser. Once again students in kindergarten through eighth grade are building their digital citizenship skills with the help of Common Sense Media. In the Middle School this year, Common Sense lessons will take on new life as part of a newly enriched and evolving advisory program, led by Middle School counselor Rachel Packer. Typequick, too, returns to campus with enhancements to the program. Students in third, fourth and fifth grades have been busy with start-of-year typing assessments and getting their typing practice underway.

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

OETC IntegratEd - San Francisco, CA, October 3-4

Fall CUE Conference - Napa Valley, CA, October 24-25

EdTech Innovation Symposium - Santa Clara, CA, October 27

Increase Student Learning with Mobile Devices and the Best, New Apps (Grades 6-12) - Sunnyvale, CA, December 9

Annual CUE Conference - Palm Springs, CA, March 19-22, 2015

The Final Final: Year End Tech News

2014-06-06T12:21:00.001-07:00

Technology in the Classroom at CAIS

May/June 2014 Edition

Time flies when you're having fun...with technology! As the year draws quickly to a close, we wanted to take a moment to share some of the exciting news about end-of-year technology projects that have been happening in our very own classrooms.

Looking back, it has been a momentous year for CAIS in educational technology. We are so impressed by the efforts you have made to develop your skills and find new and creative ways to integrate technology to your classrooms. We applaud you all for the great work you have done and look forward to collaborating with you on more tech projects next year!

Best wishes for a relaxing, rejuvenating summer.

Thank You, Brad
The end of every school year brings mixed emotions. We
look forward to new beginnings while also having to say some sad farewells. This year CAIS loses a longtime, tireless and devoted employee, one whom we personally know well. Brad Wright deserves the lion's share of the credit for what CAIS's technology program is today. It is thanks to Brad's wisdom, vision and leadership that the very content of this newsletter exists. Brad's exceptional qualities are seemingly too numerous to list: he is selfless in his willingness to help; unfailingly patient; unflappable in the face of adversity. He is someone we all rely upon and trust implicitly.

Brad, we thank you for your immeasurable contributions to this school. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with you, and we wish you all the very best.

Oral Presentations Go Digital
In preparation for their final presentations, first graders created digital collage animation videos using the Pic Collage and Puppet Pals iPad apps. In Pic Collage, students searched for images and created two or three digital collages based on their own stories. Then in Puppet Pals students created a personal avatar using photos of themselves. Finally, students recorded their speech by manipulating the avatars and flipping through the collage photos. These animation videos became background videos on their oral presentation day. Here is a cute video of a student describing "What is Courage".

Design Your Dream Shoes, Then Bring Them to Life!
If you could design the coolest pair of shoes you could possibly imagine, what would they look like? And moreover, what would they do if you could bring them to life? In Lisa Ostapinski's second grade art classes, students recently tackled these very questions. First students designed their dream shoes, then created them out of clay. Next students received a crash course in stop motion animation (think:Gumby or the old school Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie!) Using iPads and the iStopMotion animation app, students worked in groups to animate their dream shoes in a short video. Check out an example of the dream shoes in action below!

Animal Folk Tales Play
Have you ever wondered why different animals have their own extraordinary features? Fifth graders would love to share their thoughts with you! In Michael Hsu's fifth grade Chinese classes, students chose one special feature of an animal and developed their own stories about that feature. In groups of four or five, students selected one student's story and developed the story into a play. They prepared the props and practiced their expressions for about a week before the actual iMovie shooting. Take a look at one student's video "Why The Snake Is Long" and see how students immersed themselves in their roles!

Digital Books Meet Colonial America
In a project involving what has undoubtedly become one of the most popular apps used in classroom technology at CAIS this year, Ron Morris's fifth graders used Book Creator to digitize their informational books on colonial trades. Each year, Ron has incorporated technology in a different way to this project, a perennial favorite among students. Students research a specific colonial trade and present the results of their findings both through an informational book and physical artifacts which they create. At Colonial Day, the culminating presentation, visiting parents and students stopped by fifth graders' stations to view artifacts and browse through the digital books displayed on student iPads. To see an example (and perhaps learn something about the colonial shoemaker), click here!

Six Seconds of Science!
Design and conduct your very own science experiment...then present it in six seconds! Sound like a daunting task? Not for our sixth graders! In a collaborative project between Mark Churchill's sixth grade math/science class and Jeri Countryman's technology class, students created short, snappy videos illustrating their science fair projects. Their challenge: to clearly show their experiment (the what, why and how) plus the experimental results in a six second video. Students began by creating a storyboard and then learned iMovie skills such as how to insert photos and videos, edit and trim clips, and add titles. After creating their videos using iMovie, the final projects were compiled into one master video file and projected on loop during the Middle School Science Fair. Check out one example of a student video below (and remember, this will only take six seconds of your time!)

Confucius is Coming
Two thousand years ago, Confucius said: "Teach students according to their aptitude", "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and "Two heads are better than one". This year sixth graders in YaChing Hsu-Kelkis's Chinese classes learned these famous sayings from the Analects of Confucius. Students not only memorized these sayings but also related them to their own lives. Using Google Docs, they collaborated in small groups to develop their own play scripts. Then they assigned roles to their group members and practiced the acting before shooting video. Students enjoyed acting out their own stories and editing the footage using iMovie. Check out one group's video below!

Creating Interactive Digital Magazines
For the second year in a row, sixth graders in Jake Sproull's English Humanities class rounded out the year by flexing their digital publishing muscles! In their capstone writing project, sixth graders created their own magazines on a topic of their choosing. Students had the option to "go digital" with part or all of their magazine. In a collaboration with Jeri Countryman's technology class, students learned to use iBooks Author, a Mac application, to create a digital book with a section that included a short story and an interactive ad. In addition, students learned to use BookryWidgets to create fun interactive widgets. To see an example of a student's digital story and interactive ad, click here. To view a student's final magazine project, click here.

Disease-Fighting Superheroes in Science Class
Evil HIV cell Herman I. Vernon, meet Lymphina, the HIV-fighting superwoman! In small groups, students in Susan Sherman's seventh grade science class chose a disease-causing pathogen and conducted research on their nefarious bug. Instead of writing a report, students wove together a storyline involving a superhero, supervillain and super-powered animal to illustrate their findings. Using the Comic Life iPad app, students then brought their tales of triumph over disease to life! Check out one student's project in the photo, taken at this year's fantastic Middle School Science Fair on June 4.

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

Harker Teacher Institute - Palo Alto, CA, June 7

iCore - Crystal Springs Uplands School, June 9-10

Teach 21 West - San Francisco, CA, June 23-26

Institute for 21st Century Educators - Oakland, June 24-26

Organizing Your Makerspace - Lighthouse Community Charter School, Oakland, CA, June 26

The iPad Classroom - UC Berkeley, July 7-9

Google Chromebook & The Google-Infused Classroom - UC Berkeley, July 10-11

The Advanced iPad Classroom - UC Berkeley, July 10-11

Design Making Experiences - Lighthouse Community Charter School, Oakland, CA, July 17-18 or August 7-8

Google Apps for Education CA Summit - Palo Alto, July 19-20

CUE Rockstar Teacher Camp - Las Vegas, NV, July 21-23

Fall CUE Conference - Napa Valley, CA, October 24-25

The Spring Ed Tech Roundup

2014-04-30T18:17:00.003-07:00

The latest and greatest tech news from the classroom at CAIS. Read on to learn about what our teachers and students have been doing with technology in April!

Interactive Books Enliven Kindergarten Reading Centers

In McKenzie Morgan and Kimberly Reid's kindergarten classes, students are experiencing a new level of interactivity in their reading centers thanks to fun interactive reading apps! Students work in reading centers and rotate through an iPad station approximately once per week. There students may read an interactive eBook, such as "All By Myself" by Mercer Mayer. Students who are learning to read can build their literacy skills by listening to the story narration. In addition, students can learn new vocabulary through tappable words and pictures. After reading the book, students work on making text-to-self connections. Another reading app used by some kindergarteners at their iPad stations is Lexia Reading, which allows pre-readers to develop phonemic awareness. Finally, some students who need work on reading and spelling sight words use a Sight Words app. Our kindergarten teachers are finding that the iPads are proving to be useful tools to differentiate reading instruction in their classrooms!

First Graders as Chinese Music Video Producers

Budding rock stars in our midst! This month first graders in Sue Geng's class choreographed, directed, and performed their very own music videos. Using a Chinese version of the classic children's tune "If You're Happy and You Know It" (如果感到幸福你就拍拍手), students worked in groups and assumed different roles in their music video production. One student served as director/videographer while two children choreographed and another assumed the role of lead singer. They may have missed the lyrics once or twice or even been a bit off-key, but they were having a great time learning Chinese and making music videos! Check out the adorable results of their efforts below!

Digital Storytelling Meets Writing Workshop

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!"

These words from the classic fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs" became the inspiration for our second graders to compose their very own fairy tales this spring. In Ryan Hughes and Diana Gross/Lisa Ma's second grade English classes, students completed a Writing Workshop unit on fairy tales. First, students hand-wrote and illustrated their stories. Then they brought their stories to life through digital storytelling. Students used Drawing Pad to create their illustrations and SonicPics to record their voices as they read their stories aloud. Check out an example of a student's fairy tale project below!

Students Get Imaginative with Chinese Digital Books

Learning transition words has never been so easy...or so much fun! Second grade students in ChiChi Su and Teresa Shyu's classes practiced writing with transition words in a fun digital book project. First students brainstormed an idea for something they would like to have. Next students wrote about what they would want to do with that item if they were to get it! In their writing, students were required to use transition words such as "first", "next", "then", and "last". Students illustrated their writing using Drawing Pad iPad app, then imported their pictures to Book Creator and recorded themselves reading their stories aloud. Check out the sample student video below, in which one student proclaims: "If I have a dragon, first I will take him to barbecue marshmallows in the sun!"

Using Graphic Organizers to Enhance Chinese Writing

Third graders in Teresa Shyu and Weiwen Yang's classes used Kidspiration and Popplet to create graphic organizers to help prepare for in-class debates. First, teachers showed students different examples of mapping diagrams that could be used for opinion and narrative writing. Then students worked individually or in groups to create their own mind maps. Students created thought bubbles to capture their ideas and connected related bubbles to organize their thoughts. One significant benefit of using these graphic organizers was that the maps made it easy for teachers and students to identify where more detail was needed to expand students' ideas.

Writing Workshop Goes Digital: Take 2!

Google Drawing of Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana

Once again, our Lower School English teachers have put a new spin on informational writing with the help of technology. This year Anne Valentino and Sean Mosconi used their Social Studies unit on California Missions as the basis for their Writing Workshop study of informational writing. Fourth graders researched the missions using books and websites, then crafted informational writing projects that included many of the important features of an informational text. After composing their writing in Google Docs, students transferred their writing and images to Book Creator to create attractive digital books. In addition, some students opted to use Google Drawings to create an image of the layout of their mission! To see an example of a fourth grader's informational eBook, click here.

Learning About Immigration through Filmmaking

Are you familiar with your family history? How much do you know about the challenges your ancestors faced as immigrants? To answer these questions and learn more about immigration, fourth graders in Annie Liu and Cheryl Teng's classes interviewed family members or family friends about their immigration experiences. After the interview, students compiled their subject's responses into stories. Using iMovie, students then transformed the stories into movies by combining video footage of the interview, historical photos, subtitles and music. See an example of a student project below!

Let's Go to Africa!

Our sixth grade students have been busy honing their presentation skills this spring! In Jake Sproull's sixth grade English Humanities class, students researched an African country of their choosing. Concurrently, in technology class with Jeri Countryman, students learned to use two different

presentation apps: Keynote and Haiku Deck. For the Africa

project, students chose one of these presentation tools to share their discoveries about Africa with the rest of the class. Some of the required components of the presentation included a "fast facts" section of statistics, a timeline of the country's history, important sites, and culture. And, of course, students used plenty of images and graphics to make their presentations more visually appealing! Click here to see an example of a student project.

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

iCore - Crystal Springs Uplands School, June 9-10

Creativity, Learning, Innovation, Collaboration, K-12 - Castilleja School, June 10-11

CUE Rock Star Camps - Various locations in CA, June/July

Design, Do, Discover - Palo Alto, CA, June 19-20

Teach 21 West - San Francisco, CA, June 23-26

Institute for 21st Century Educators - Oakland, June 24-26

Google Apps for Education CA Summit - Palo Alto, July 19-20

Tech News from the Classroom!

2014-03-31T16:01:00.001-07:00

Our iPads, MacBooks and Chromebooks have been getting a workout these past two months! Some recent highlights: first graders get creative on their iPads; fourth graders make healthy eating fun with multimedia presentations; and seventh graders teach us a thing or two about how to make dumplings. Read on to learn more about the latest and greatest technology happenings in the classroom at CAIS!

Just Me, Myself, and My Explain Everything Video

Would you like to personalize learning for your students and engage their imaginations? Sue Geng did just that with her first grade students! In this project, students learned how to describe themselves and their physical appearance. Using the iPad app Explain Everything, students created videos in which they took photos of one another, imported the images to videos and labeled their body parts in Chinese. Finally, working in pairs, students recorded themselves explaining the similarities and differences in appearance between themselves and a classmate. Check out the example below!

Creative Content Creation Meets First Grade Math

Looking for a way to liven up your math instruction? Check out what our first graders are doing in Chinese math! Students developed their own word problems to demonstrate their understanding of subtraction. Using iPads and the Explain Everything app, students created videos in which they illustrated, explained, and solved a word problem. See an example student video below.

Bringing New Life to Prewriting with Kidspiration Maps

Want to add some pizzazz to your writing unit? Consider trying Kidspiration! In a recent Writing Workshop unit on persuasive essays, fourth graders in Sean Mosconi's and Anne Valentino's classes used the iPad appKidspiration Maps to support their prewriting process. Using Kidspiration, students created a graphic organizer to display their thesis statement and supporting reasons. Not only were the diagrams visually appealing and fun to create, but they also helped students organize their writing and generate ideas. In addition, Kidspiration Maps has the added benefit of converting from visual diagram to text at the mere tap of a button! Click here to see an example of a student project in writing view.

Healthy Eating Made Fun through Multimedia

Think your diet might benefit from a nutritional tuneup? Ask our fourth graders for advice! In Chinese class, fourth graders learned about eating balanced meals based on six categories of nutrition: water, carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals. In this project, students used Google Presentations to design slides that illustrated healthy eating, then used Movenote to record themselves reading descriptions of their balanced meals. The final product was a multimedia video presentation with slides and synchronized videos. Click here to see an example!

Touring CAIS, Fifth Grade Style

Ever wondered what our campus looks like through the eyes of our students? As part of an ongoing collaboration with Tsai Hsing school in Taipei, fifth graders in Ron Morris's class were tasked with introducing the Taiwan students to the CAIS campus. In small groups, students worked together to produce videos presenting various parts of the school, such as the library, gym, music room, and playgrounds. Using iPads and the iMovie app, students recorded footage, edited it, added captions and music, then uploaded their videos to their shared Edmodo group for the Taiwan students to view. The results were both creative and highly entertaining! See a student project example below.

Lost and Found with GoAnimate

In a project that is a perennial favorite among fifth graders, students in Michael Hsu's Chinese class used an animated video site called GoAnimate to practice vocabulary relating to lost/found items. First students scripted stories in which they lost something of value to them. Next it was time to bring their stories to life using GoAnimate. To create their videos, students chose characters, added speech balloons containing text, then recorded their speech balloons by reading the text aloud. In the example below, a girl loses her sister. Will she manage to find her missing sibling? There's only one way to find out!

The Ever-Evolving Book Report

In yet another fun twist on the traditional book report, last month Jake Sproull's sixth grade English Humanities students created a "Character Caricature" to report on their historical fiction book of choice. In an integrated project with Jeri

Countryman's sixth grade tech class, students created a poster using the Sketchbook MobileX iPad app. In their poster, students had to portray important aspects of their character including name, physical characteristics, personality traits, and what the character might say. Students were also tasked with creating a background that represented a specific scene from the book. Finally, students had to back up their facts by citing specific page numbers related to poster elements.

Exploring Big Questions in Science with TED-Ed

Is space trying to kill us? How would our bodies work without the force of gravity? These are some of the questions our seventh grade students have grappled with through TED-Ed lessons in Susan Sherman's science class. TED-Ed is a fantastic resource that offers both original online lessons and the ability for educators to build their own lessons around a TED-Ed Original, TED Talk or YouTube video. Educators can add their own questions, discussion topics, and other supplementary materials to their online lesson. In seventh grade science class, students watch a short video, answer multiple choice questions, then post a response to a discussion prompt. If you haven't checked out TED-Ed before, take a peek and see if there might be something for you and your students!

Learn to Make Dumplings...Compliments of our Seventh Grade Chefs!

Dumpling making took on a new twist in Jiun Chou-Young's seventh grade Chinese class this year. Not only did students get a chance to make the tasty traditional Chinese treats, but they also created their very own tutorial videos to help others replicate the process! After making dumplings in class and documenting the process with photos and videos, students used iMovie on their iPads to compile and edit their footage. Finally, they added subtitles and recorded themselves reading pre-written, step-by-step instructions. Dumpling making newbies, take a look and you may learn something from our students!

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

CUE Rock Star Camps - Various locations in CA, June/July

Design, Do, Discover - Palo Alto, CA, June 19-20

Teach 21 West - San Francisco, CA, June 23-26

Institute for 21st Century Educators - Oakland, CA, June 24-26

Google Apps for Education CA Summit - Palo Alto, CA, July 19-20

Writers Workshop Goes Digital! And More...

2014-01-29T18:29:00.003-08:00

This month: Writers Workshop gets a digital twist; fifth graders connect with students across the globe using Edmodo; and first graders hone their stroke order skills with a fun iPad app. Read on to learn more about what's been happening with tech in the classroom at CAIS!

Writers Workshop Goes Digital

Informational writing just got a whole lot more exciting! This year, third grade English teachers Shannon Selerowski and Ryan Hughes introduced a new twist to their Writers Workshop unit on informational writing. Rather than creating traditional paper books, students used an iPad app called Book Creator to create digital books. Students chose a topic of interest to them and crafted books on their topics with many of the important features of an informational text. Even the publishing party got a digital twist: third graders visited first grade classes to share their eBooks. Students loved this new take on their writing project! To see an example of a third grader's informational eBook,click here.

Facebook for School? Why, it's Edmodo!

Want to create a safe, online community for your class where you can post notes, quizzes, assignments, resources, and more? Looking for a way to facilitate productive online discussions between your students in a way that is safe and secure? Consider tryingEdmodo! Several of our fourth and fifth grade teachers have been experimenting this year with this terrific online tool. In Ron Morris's fifth grade class, students are using Edmodo to access links to Khan Academy videos, check reminders about class assignments, and ask one another questions about homework. Edmodo has been met with rave reviews from students and their parents, too!

Flattening the Fifth Grade Classroom

Do you know how the typical day of a student in Taiwan compares to a student from the US? Just ask one of our fifth graders! Ron Morris and our fifth grade students have kicked off an ongoing collaboration with Tsai Hsing School in Taipei. For their first collaborative project, students at CAIS and Tsai Hsing recorded the ways in which they spent their time over a period of 24 hours. Next they compiled and analyzed their class data as they looked for similarities and differences between the schools. CAIS students used Google Spreadsheets to create colorful graphs (see below for an example) and posted the graphs to the two schools' shared Edmodo group. Stay tuned for further exciting collaboration with Tsai Hsing as the school year continues!

Book Reports for the 21st Century...Take Two!

In December we reported that book shares have taken on new life this year in Jake Sproull's sixth grade English Humanities class. In collaboration with Jeri Countryman's sixth grade technology class, students are using a different tech tool each month to report on their independent reading. This month students completed their book project using a fantastically fun and highly versatile iPad app:Puppet Pals! For their project, students created and recorded a video that featured several characters having a dialogue that described the book or a scene from the book. Some students chose to use stock characters included in the Puppet Pals app, while others chose to create their own characters. The results were both creative and highly entertaining! See a student project example below.

Unleashing Students' Imaginations with Google Presentations

Fourth graders have been busy honing their presentation skills in both languages this year! In Annie Liu and Cheryl Teng's Chinese classes, students learned to use Google Presentations to create posters raising public awareness on healthy habits (click here to see an example). Students built skills such as inserting clip art, manipulating colors, and arranging shapes to create colorful and eye-catching posters. Then in Anne Valentino and Sean Mosconi's English classes, students reinforced these newly learned skills by creating Google Presentations on Native Californian tribes. In small groups students studied one of California's native tribes and created a presentation containing information about their tribe such as location, food, and shelter. Finally, students presented the results of their research and their Google Presentations to their classmates. Click here to see an example of the fourth graders' work!

Making Memorizing Characters and Stroke Order Fun!

Want to make memorizing Chinese characters and stroke order more fun? Quizlet and Chinese Writer are the way to go! Both tools utilize a game-based learning environment which not only motivates students, but also enables them to practice at their own pace and receive immediate feedback. In fourth and sixth grade Chinese classes, students use Quizlet and choose from different study modes (like flashcards, scatter games, Space Race games, etc.) to memorize their newly learned Chinese vocabulary. In first grade Chinese classes, students practice tracing/writing the characters and earn points for using the correct stroke order. See below to watch a first grader in action!

Upcoming Technology Professional Development Opportunities

East Bay CUE Cool Tools 2014 - Oakland, CA, Feb. 8

CUE Rock Star Napa Valley - Napa Valley, CA, Feb. 14-16

Annual CUE Conference - Palm Springs, CA, Mar. 20-22

"Hour of Code" comes to CAIS!

2013-12-12T17:58:00.002-08:00

From this week's school newsletter, the Thursday Flash:

Sixth Grade Students Participate in Worldwide ‘Hour of Code’

During Computer Science Education Week, from December 9-15, millions of students are learning computer code during the "Hour of Code." The campaign was launched by nonprofit organization Code.org and is designed to get students interested in computer science. The goal of the worldwide campaign is to get 10 million students of all ages to participate in the Hour of Code.

CAIS sixth graders participated in the Hour of Code on Thursday, December 12. Educational Technology Coordinator Kerri Willa and math and science teacher Mark Churchill teamed up to bring students a one-hour introduction to coding. The interactive activity included a lesson on computer generated drawings, a coding challenge and a free form activity using what students learned during the lesson.

"The idea is to show students that anyone can learn the basics of programming," Kerri Willa said. "Understanding the power of computing is crucial to success in today’s world, and Mark and I were excited to introduce our students to and participate in this worldwide campaign," she continued.

What's Happening in Classroom Technology

2013-12-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my first 2013-2014 newsletter on technology in the classroom at CAIS! Each month I will bring you a sampling of the exciting classroom projects that are happening in the area of technology. Read on to learn about what's been happening with tech this fall at CAIS!

Building Better Digital Citizens
Our school-wide implementation of the Common Sense Media digital citizenship curriculum is now in full swing! In the lower school, lessons are taught in English classes; in the middle school, Common Sense Media lessons are taking place in advisory. Students have been studying topics ranging from choosing good keywords for online searches to learning about their digital footprint. In third grade, students kicked off their digital citizenship lessons by brainstorming what the words "Common Sense Media" meant to them. Coming soon: Chinese translations of key vocabulary and questions for each Common Sense lesson to allow students to discuss newly learned concepts in Chinese.

Koalas, Emus and Dingos, Oh My!

This fall we unveiled a new keyboarding program to our third, fourth and fifth graders called Typequick. (Fun fact: it was once used by our very own Pete Moore with his students during his former life as a technology teacher in Australia!) In Typequick, students build keyboarding skills while traveling around Australia accompanied by adorable native Australian animals. Third through fifth grade English teachers have been busy introducing Typequick to their students in class. The new program is getting rave reviews from kids, who enjoy its video game-like features that make learning to type more fun!

A New Spin on Paperback Chinese Books

Kindergarten and first grade students and teachers are using technology to transform traditional paperback Chinese books into interactive, multimedia reading experiences. Using the Educreations iPad app, students and teachers take photos of the book pages and record themselves reading the books aloud. The digital storybook is automatically saved online for public access. Students can access these books at home using links that teachers email to their parents. In addition, teachers attach QR codes linked to the online storybooks to the back of the paperback books. Students use iPads at their classroom listening station to scan the QR code and read the digital storybook. See below to watch a Kindergarten student in action!

Not Your Mother's Book Report
Book shares have taken on new life this year in Jake Sproull's sixth grade English Humanities class! As Jake has continued to innovate the integration of iPads to his curriculum, he has developed a new take on an old project: each month students are using a different tech tool to report on their independent reading. For their first book project of the year, students used iMovie to make a trailer designed to entice people to read their book. Each student had to incorporate basic literary elements such as theme, characters, a plot summary and setting to their iMovie trailer. "It definitely made it a more interesting and authentic way to share books," said Jake. See below to view an example of a student's iMovie book project.

Middle School Multimedia Essay Project

This year, seventh and eighth graders are experimenting with new ways to share their outdoor trip experiences. Seventh graders used iMovie to make short slideshows highlighting their trips. Eighth graders participated in an "Outdoor Trip Essay Press Release Event" in which they read their trip essays aloud and fielded questions from an audience of classmates, then created and edited videos of these presentations. In both seventh and eighth grades, students posted their videos online and created QR codes linked to the videos. Finally, students printed out their QR codes together with their essays. Click here to see a sample of a student essay. Don't forget to scan the QR code with your smartphone to watch the video!

Fall CUE Gets High Marks from Teachers

On October 25-26, four CAIS teachers (Kimberly Reid, Ryan Hughes, Susan Sherman and Jake Sproull) joined our educational technology coordinators for two days of learning about teaching with technology in sunny Napa Valley. Mark your calendars for the next great opportunity for ed tech PD: the fantastic Annual CUE Conference in Palm Springs, CA, on March 20-22, 2014!

Tech Tool of the Week: Pinyin Learning App 儿童拼音游戏-细菌大挑战HD

2013-02-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

This week's featured technology tool is an iPad app for learning Pinyin called 儿童拼音游戏-细菌大挑战HD, which translates to "Children's Alphabet Game - Bacterial Challenge". Here at Chinese American International School, our first graders have been busy practicing their Pinyin using this fun app. Students listen while Mandarin Chinese Pinyin syllables are pronounced. Meanwhile, floating bacteria (each labeled with a Pinyin syllable) move across the screen. Children must tap on the bacteria that corresponds to the sound they heard in order to "kill" the bacteria. In this way students can practice their spelling in Pinyin. Skills covered by the game include recognizing the full range of Pinyin syllables from simplest to most complex, including all four tones, as well as spelling commonly used Chinese characters. Clearing all levels of the game indicates a full grasp of the Hanyu Pinyin content. Our first graders aren't quite there yet, but it's only a matter of time!

Below are screenshots of the app:

Check out this first grader's excitement as he progresses through the game levels!

Tech Tool of the Week: Catch Me If You Can!

2013-02-02T16:42:00.004-08:00

Catch Me If You Can! Primer 1
level with simplified characters.
Topic: restaurant phrases.

This week's featured technology tool is a set of Mandarin learning apps created by none other than one of our very own parents here at Chinese American International School! "Catch Me If You Can!" is a series of games designed for children or adults with some knowledge of Chinese.

In the Primer 1 level, students practice
vocabulary used in corresponding
Level 1/2 games.

In each game, students listen to and “chase after” Chinese words and phrases to create sentences. These words and phrases are drawn from a single topic of interest, and different versions of the app exist for different topics. (For example, topics include classroom, cooking, restaurant, shopping, swimming, and even losing a tooth!)

The app lets students listen to the sound of each word and see how words are used in making different sentences that are idiomatic and colloquial. While the goal of the game is to "catch" all the phrases and sentences presented, students have the ability to advance at their own pace and replay words/phrases as needed. In addition, students can choose to listen to the phrase word by word, listen to the whole sentence, or have only visual cues. Finally, students can also freely explore the sound of each word and try to make phrases and sentences independently.

The inspiration for app developer Tiny Watt Games in creating these games was found in a problem faced by students at our school. Learning a foreign language in a classroom setting means that students have limited opportunity to hear how words and phrases are used in daily conversation. By playing Catch Me If You Can!, students can improve their Mandarin acquisition by increasing their exposure to spoken Chinese.

Level 1 is more complex than Primer 1
and requires students to listen to and
"chase after" Chinese words and
phrases to create sentences.

Catch Me If You Can! Level 1
with simplified characters,
restaurant theme.

Catch Me If You Can! is available in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters. In addition, for each topic, several versions of the app exist: P1 (Primer 1), L1 (Level 1), and, in some cases, L2 (Level 2). The P1 level is free and is designed to give students the ability to practice the vocabulary used in the corresponding Level 1/Level 2 games. Level 1 is designed for 3rd-5th graders learning in a Mandarin immersion environment; Level 2 is more appropriate for 4th-6th graders.

To learn more about these fantastic apps, check out the Tiny Watt Games blog. Here you will find more information about the apps as well as all the phrases used in each game. Special thanks to CAIS parent and Tiny Watt Games founder Pei Yu for developing this fantastic series of apps and allowing us to use it on our school iPads with our students!

Tech Tool of the Week: GoAnimate

2013-01-26T10:42:00.001-08:00

This week's featured technology tool is a terrific, easy-to-use tool for creating animated videos called GoAnimate.

GoAnimate allows users to quickly and easily make videos consisting of animated characters. It features easy-to-use drag and drop tools and libraries filled with a variety of characters, props, backgrounds, and music. You can create your own characters and record yourself speaking, or use text-to-speech actors in over 20 languages. There is nothing to draw or download; everything is ready for you to use. Story lines can be as simple or complex as you wish, and with so many different options it is easy to differentiate for different students' needs.

Here at Chinese American International School, several of our Mandarin teachers are using GoAnimate with their students to create digital stories in Chinese. In our 5th grade Chinese classes, students recently completed a unit that focused on vocabulary related to the idea of "lost and found": losing an item and then trying to find it. Students created a dialogue in which one character loses an item and has to question other characters to try to find the missing item. After composing their scripts, students created a GoAnimate video to bring their skit to life. While GoAnimate does not support Pinyin input, students were able to copy the Chinese text from the typed version of their script and paste it into speech bubbles in their GoAnimate videos. The final step was to record their own voices reading the script. Using GoAnimate adds new dimensions to a project that was once strictly paper-and-pencil based. It allows children to creatively express their ideas, practice speaking Chinese, and create a final product that can be easily shared with a wider audience. Check out some samples of the finished products below!

What could you use GoAnimate for in your classroom? GoAnimate videos would be great for flipped classrooms, teacher lessons, student presentations, creating video tutorials, creative writing, and more. Here is a list of some other ways that schools around the globe are using GoAnimate with their students.

GoAnimate includes both a free and a paid version. It also offers special school subscriptions that allow teachers to set up classes and student accounts, keep student work private (if desired), monitor and review student work, allow downloading and sharing only with teacher approval, give kids access to characters/backgrounds/props that are school safe, and more. Our school subscribed for a site license. For more information on GoAnimate for Schools, click here.

To learn more about how to create a GoAnimate video, check out GoAnimate's YouTube playlist of "How-To's and Tutorials". Below is a short tutorial that includes a brief introduction to GoAnimate:

Tech Tool of the Week: Chinese Writer

2013-01-19T12:18:00.001-08:00

Chinese Writer app by trainchinese

Here at Chinese American International School in San Francisco, where half of our students' daily instruction is conducted in Mandarin, one of our top priorities in educational technology is to identify tech tools for Chinese language instruction and practice. One of the tools that has been widely used by our Chinese faculty this year is an iPhone/iPad app called Chinese Writer. Chinese Writer is a game in which students can practice writing characters, study stroke order, and listen to pronunciation of characters. Its options for customizing characters for student practice are extremely valuable for our teachers.

In Chinese Writer, students tap on characters that fall from the top of the screen. Once they tap the character, they must quickly draw the character using the correct stroke order. While students are writing the character, they are also listening to an audio recording which allows them to listen to and practice the pronunciation of the character. After each game, students can review what they practiced and view stroke order diagrams if they need extra help remembering how to write a certain character.

Screenshots of the Chinese Writer app

Chinese Writer comes with its own, ready-made sets of characters that are divided into packs by difficulty level. In the free version, you can access several hundred of these characters. Additional character packs require an in-app purchase. Here at CAIS, we chose not to use the pre-set character packs but rather to create our own sets that are customized for our students' Chinese curriculum. In order to accomplish this, we set up a subscription on Chinese Writer's parent company website, trainchinese.com. Next we gathered vocabulary lists from our Lower School Chinese faculty. Based on these lists, we then created our own, customized "character packs", one for each grade level. We then downloaded the character sets from trainchinese directly into Chinese Writer. Students enjoy racing against the clock to write the characters in time before they fall to the bottom! This app has proven to be a valuable tool for practicing characters in our Chinese classrooms this year.

To see Chinese Writer in action, check out the brief demo video below:

Tech Tool of the Week: Wallwisher

2013-01-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome back to school! This week's feature is an incredibly fun, versatile, FREE tool called Wallwisher. Wallwisher is an online multimedia bulletin board. It allows students to post their thoughts on a common topic using electronic sticky notes on a shared digital wall.

Think of Wallwisher like an electronic corkboard. You create a board, then share that address with your students, who can then go on to the board and simply click on it to add their comments. Students can not only add comments but also links to images, videos, or websites. And they can do all this without ever having to sign in! Best of all, it works on both laptops and iPads!

What can you do with Wallwisher? There are many potential applications of this tool in the classroom. For instance, you could use Wallwisher to pose a question, get students' answers, and give them feedback - all on the same page. Check out Wallwisher.com for great examples of different kinds of walls. Here is an example of a wall where a teacher posted a Word of the Day and asked each student to write a sentence using that word. Other possible uses include: collecting feedback from students; making lists; sharing videos; and brainstorming ideas. You could use Wallwisher for collaboration to share ideas, resources, and thoughts on a topic. You could use it to create a KWL chart and ask students to share what they know and what they want to know about a topic. Lots of different possibilities!

To learn more about using Wallwisher, check out the video tutorial below.

Tech Tool of the Week: Google Custom Search

2012-11-30T16:26:00.001-08:00

This week's tech tip is yet another cool tool from Google. Did you know that you can create your own customized search engine? Google Custom Search allows you to build a search engine customized with content for your grade level or for a particular unit of study.

To get a sense of what a Google Custom Search looks like, check out this kid-friendly search engine created by a teacher. Try typing a term into the search box and look at the results. You'll notice that the results look like any other Google Search results, but now take a closer look at the sources. All of the results are from pages that the search creator chose.

One great feature of Google Custom Search is the ability to invite collaborators to contribute to your search engine. You could collaborate with other teachers to create a customized Google search, or even have your students help you build the custom search engine.

To create your own customized search engine, go to the Google Search Engine home page and click on the blue button that says “Create a custom search engine”. Now fill out the form. You’ll need a title and a short description for your search engine, plus a list of the sites you would like to add to your search. Once you’ve finished the form, click the next button and you are finished! You can now test your new search engine. If you think of additional sites you would like to add later on, you can always come back and tweak what you’ve done.

To learn more about creating a Google Custom Search, click here for instructions. You can also watch the quick introductory video below. If you're interested in learning about more advanced techniques, check out Google's detailed instructions here.

Tech Tool of the Week: Google Lit Trips

2012-11-09T14:50:00.001-08:00

Would you like to bring the literature you teach to life? Then try this week's featured technology tool, Google Lit Trips! A Google Lit Trip is a free, downloadable Google Earth file that maps the journeys of characters in a book. Using a Google Lit Trip, students can actually travel along with the characters in a story to all of the places where the characters go. You can use Google Lit Trips to accompany the literature your students read in class and enable your students to have a much richer experience of the story!

In a Google Lit Trip, a book character's journey is plotted out on Google Earth, and a marker is placed on each location where the character goes. At each place mark you can find a wealth of supplementary information including relevant photos and videos, questions for discussion, and links to information about "real world" references made in that section of the story. Students can see where the characters are and that the characters are in real places...sometimes even interacting with real history! In this way kids can travel with the characters in a fully immersive, interactive, three-dimensional environment.

To get started, go to the Google Lit Trips website to see which books are available. There is a section for K-5 literature as well as a separate one for middle grades and one for high school. When you find a book that you would like to use, look on the upper right corner of the page for a link in the format "Download titleofyourbook.kmz". Click on this link and the Google Lit Trip file will automatically download. You must have Google Earth installed on your computer in order to view this file. If you don't already have Google Earth installed on your computer, you may download it for free by clicking here.

Once you download the file, open it by double-clicking. Google Earth opens and immediately puts your Google Lit Trip on the surface of the globe! You can start exploring the character's journey by clicking on the place marks as the globe spins and starts you on your journey.

To learn more about using Google Lit Trips, click here for instructions, or watch the tutorial video below:

Tech Tool of the Week: YouTube Teachers

2012-10-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Do you use video in your classroom? Would you like to try, but need a source of high quality educational videos? If so, this week's featured technology tool is just for you! YouTube Teachers is a section of YouTube designed for K-12 teachers to find and use the latest and greatest educational videos on YouTube.

Who is behind YouTube Teachers? A team of teachers around the country reviews YouTube videos and creates playlists specific to subject and grade level. There are over 300 playlists currently available on YouTube Teachers. These playlists are broken down by curriculum topics and age level. Even better, the videos are aligned with Common Core standards!

The teachers behind YouTube Teachers try to collect three types of videos for their playlists: hook videos (can be used to build questions at the start of the day), content videos, and further knowledge videos (which get kids to ask deeper questions and bridge to the real world).

To start finding great videos to use in your class, visit YouTube Teachers and click on the "Classroom Videos" tab. On the left you will see a list of subject areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Teaching). Click on a subject area, then search by age level (elementary, middle, or high school). You will find a list of topics, each of which is linked to a playlist of videos.

The best part about YouTube Teachers is that the team behind the site is focused on keeping the playlists small (about 10-15 videos) and choosing short videos. What this means for you is that you can "spend less time searching and more time teaching!"

Check out YouTube's great answer to the question: why use YouTube in the classroom? Go to YouTube Teachers and click on the "Why YouTube" tab. Or check out the brief video below!

Tech Tool of the Week: Reflection

2012-10-24T15:41:00.003-07:00

This week's highlighted technology tool is an app called Reflection. Reflection allows you to wirelessly mirror your iPad or iPhone to your Mac or PC. This could be a great tool to use in class! Imagine that you'd like to show your students something on your iPad or iPhone. Once your computer is connected to your touchscreen monitor or projector, and the projector is turned on, open the Reflection app on your computer. Then connect your iPad/iPhone to the computer using AirPlay. Now everything you do on your iPad or iPhone will be displayed on the projector!

One nice feature of Reflection is that it allows a teacher to freely walk around the room with iPad in hand. No more standing next to the wall hooked up to a projector cable! Reflection creates a wireless AirPlay connection from the iPad to the projector.

Another possible use of Reflection is to have students share their iPad screens, demonstrations, presentations, artwork, music, etc. Students can connect their iPad to your computer via AirPlay right from their seats! (Please note that this only works with iPad 2 and 3, so the Lower School iPads are not compatible with Reflection. For Lower School teachers who are interested in using Reflection with student iPads, please email IT Requests to reserve the Middle School iPads.)

If you are interested in trying Reflection, you can download a trial version that will allow you to try the app for ten minutes. If you decide you would like a copy of this software for your computer, just contact IT and we will purchase a license for you.

Below is a short video that contains a demo of the Reflection app:

Tech Tool of the Week: Google Drive for iPad/iPhone

2012-10-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

In light of our recent tech training on Google Drive, this is the perfect time to build upon your skills by trying out Google Drive on your phone or tablet! Google Drive is available not only through the web or on your desktop, but also as an app for your iPad, iPhone, or Android. Recently Google released an updated version of Google Drive for mobile devices that has some handy new features. Here are some of the things you can do on Google Drive for your iPhone or iPad:

Access all the files that you add to Google Drive on your computer
Share a file (such as a document, photo, etc.) with others
Read the most up-to-date version of your documents
Create and edit new documents
Format text in your documents (change color, font, size, etc.)
Create new Google Drive folders and move files into folders

Google Drive on iPhone

Upload files (like photos and videos) from your iPhone/iPad directly into Google Drive

Best of all, any changes you make while working in Google Drive on your phone or tablet will be automatically synchronized, so you will see all of those changes the next time you access Google Drive on your computer!

Google Drive for iPhone/iPad/Android is great for working on the go. You can even make files available offline so you can view them when you're in a place with no Internet access (like on a plane). It's perfect for jotting down notes in meetings, too. Give it a try! Stop by the IT office for help installing and setting up Google Drive on your tablet or smartphone, and come to Tech Tuesdays for help getting started using Google Drive on your phone or tablet.

Google Drive on iPad

Tech Tool of the Week: Popplet

2012-09-28T16:40:00.003-07:00

This week's featured technology tool is an iPad app called Popplet, a great tool for organizing ideas and thoughts. In Popplet, users can create large text boxes called "popples". Once a popple is added, it is easy to insert text, drawings, or photos. Resize, add, and move popples with simple, touch-friendly gestures. Once you are finished, export your diagram to a JPG or PDF file. A great app for unleashing creativity!

Popplet can fit into almost any aspect of a lesson. Here are some of the ways you could use Popplet in your classroom:

Brainstorming
Map concepts
Create timelines
Presentations
Plan projects using diagrams
Record thoughts: journals, notes, lists
Assist with remembering new facts and figures

Michael Hsu and Cheryl Teng recently demonstrated a creative application of Popplet in their classrooms: 5th grade students created Popplets in which they drew a face and then surrounded the face with descriptive sentences. The objective of the lesson was to practice writing Chinese poetry while incorporating moral education (concern for others). Check out the photos below!

5th Grader Soong Ming H. works on his Popplet

Hsu Laoshi helps his students with their Popplet project

Sample of a student's work

Tech Tool of the Week: Motion Math Apps

2012-09-20T15:06:00.002-07:00

Looking for a fun way to give your students extra practice with newly learned math skills? How about trying an iPad math game? This week's highlighted tech tool is a group of math games for iPad by a company called Motion Math. So far Motion Math has released five different math games appropriate for a wide range of ages, ranging from PreK through middle school. Several of these apps were CAIS student favorites in computer class last year!

Consider borrowing the iPad cart and having your students spend some time practicing their math skills using one of the Motion Math apps. Stop by a Tech Tuesday to get some hands-on time with the iPads and try out these games yourself!

Here is a description of the Motion Math games:

1. Hungry Fish (PK - 8th): Practice mental addition and subtraction. Includes a game for adding/subtracting negative numbers (appropriate for middle schoolers and up). A highly addictive, well-designed game that is a student favorite!

2. Hungry Guppy (PK - 1st): A great app for early number learning. Similar to Hungry Fish, but geared for younger kids (especially age 3 - 4). Students build basic number sense and addition skills.

3. Motion Math (3rd - 8th): Helps students perceive and estimate fractions in multiple forms (including decimals and percents). Move fractions to their correct place on the number line. A very fun app!

4. Zoom (1st - 8th): Master place value by placing numbers on a number line. Starts at basic numbers and moves into negatives and decimals.

5. Wings (1st - 6th): Improve mental multiplication and estimation skills. Students must direct their flying bird to pass over the larger of two numbers, represented in various ways: rows of dots, clusters of dots, groups of dots, a grid, a labeled grid, and symbols (e.g. 2 x 3).

Not only have CAIS students played Motion Math apps in the past, but they have also contributed to the development of some of these apps! The Motion Math team visited CAIS twice last year and once this fall to test their apps with our students. Last spring, 1st - 4th graders helped test "Motion Math: Wings" before it was publicly released. Motion Math returned to CAIS in early September to test their latest app with our 6th graders. This new game focuses on estimation skills and adds a competitive element: it is designed to be played in pairs or small groups. Stay tuned for news on its release!

Motion Math co-founder Jacob Klein works with CAIS student Arthur S. (then a member of the 1st Grade Green class) in May 2012.

CAIS 6th graders Henry P. and Harrison H. test the latest Motion Math app in technology class, September 2012.

Tech Tool of the Week: SpellingCity

2012-09-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Exciting news in the 6th grade! This year students will learn spelling and vocabulary through a fantastic program called SpellingCity. I've heard teachers rave about this website at conferences, so I was thrilled to learn that our very own Mr. Sproull is trying this program with his students this year! Even better, SpellingCity has a new iPad app to accompany its website, so our 6th graders can use the app on their iPads (provided through the new, 6th grade 1:1 iPad pilot program).

On SpellingCity, teachers can choose ready-made lists of words or create their own custom lists. There is a wide variety of word lists to choose from, ranging from comprehensive grade level lists (levels PK through 12th grade) to lists of words specific to certain topics (like science or math vocabulary). Students can practice spelling these words and study their definitions. To help students learn the proper pronunciation of the words on their practice lists, SpellingCity provides clear, spoken recordings of every word. Students can study spelling, make flashcards, play games, and take tests to check their progress.

The new SpellingCity iPad app!

One feature of SpellingCity that Jake particularly likes is that kids can take as many games and quizzes as they want and can progress at their own pace. In his class, the requirement is to pass at least one test per week, which amounts to about 20 words. His students are to spend at least two days per week for 20 minutes at a time practicing spelling/vocabulary on SpellingCity.

As an added benefit, parents can log on to monitor their child's progress! Best of all, SpellingCity is free for basic membership. Premium membership gives kids access to additional learning activities, allows students to have individual log-ins, and enables teachers to track their students' progress. At an affordable price of $1.95 per student, it is worth the upgrade for Mr. Sproull's 6th grade class!

To learn more about SpellingCity, take a moment to watch these two short (1-minute) videos that provide a quick introduction to SpellingCity. The first is geared toward Teachers and Parents, and the second shows students how to use the site.

Want to learn more? Check out SpellingCity's Teacher Resources section or look through their Training Videos. Or, as always, you can ask me for help...and be sure to ask Jake how it's going with his 6th graders!

Tech Tool of the Week: VoiceThread

2012-08-31T12:33:00.002-07:00

VoiceThread is a terrific tool for digital storytelling that is available both on the web and on the iPad. Students can upload photos or documents and record audio or video commentary. In addition, they can invite others to record and add their own commentary. Using simple tools, students can quickly create multimedia presentations. Ideas for ways students could use VoiceThread include:

Create virtual tours
Report on books they've read
Comment on historically significant photographs
Debate a topic

Two things make VoiceThread unique as a digital storytelling tool. First, VoiceThread makes it easy to add audio commentary to images and documents. Second, VoiceThread allows users to add multiple commentaries to a single artifact.

To learn how to use VoiceThread, you can watch this tutorial video.

To see examples of how VoiceThread can be used in a classroom setting, take a look at VoiceThread's library of articles about successful VoiceThread projects. In particular, here is an example of an immigration project on Ellis Island from a 5th grade class.