Mobile Summer Reading & Learning

Here are a few great resources with mobile
 learning apps for kids and families to explore during the summertime.

Image from: (CC) Geoff Peterson, www.geoffpeterson.com

• Best Apps for Kids (Common Sense Media Reviews)
• Best of Children's Book iPad Apps 2010
• BestKidsApps.com (iPhone, Android, iPad)
• Best Games for Kids for iPhone, iPad, & iPod Touch
• Book App Downloads: iTunes
• Free Apps for Kids: Digital Storytelling & Literacy Tools
• Fun Ed. Apps (See 'Categories' for Age Groups)
• iTunes U
• Mobile Children's Books
• ReadMeStories: 'A New Talking Book Every Day'
• SLJ: Favorite Apps.

Articles: Smart Rules of Thumb for Children's App Use
             Importance of Summer Reading (Big Universe)
***Cross-posted to SUMMER READING @ ROE Library page

Summer Reading: Feed Your Brain!

Click for full-page view.

Summer Reading: Feed Your Brain!
Summer months give kids an important opportunity to read for complete enjoyment and to discover new books. Also, research demonstrates that children who don't read during the summer can lose up to three months of reading progress. Students will bring home a Summer Reading ‘Millionaire Club’ Ticket & Flier this week. On the back, they can record books that are read over vacation. In August, be sure to return the completed signed ticket to the ROE Library. Each student will receive a special bookmark to recognize their efforts. There will also be a prize drawing from all the completed signed tickets!

Keep kids reading all summer by visiting the ROE LIBRARY online to explore a range of helpful reading resources, including a selection of summer reading lists. Access to and recommendations for online children’s e-books can be found there too. Learn more about other great local reading incentive programs, including…

• HISD Millionaire Club Readers: Read & log 10 books & earn a special bookmark of your choice in September at the ROE Library.
• Barnes & Noble: Earn a free book when you read any 8 books.
• Borders: Read 10 books get 1 free.
• Houston Public Library: Read 10 Books—get 1 free book! Read 20 Books—get 1 free book & voucher for a free ticket to a Houston Astros game & a coupon for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
• H.E.B: Read 10 Books and mail in for a T-Shirt,
• Half Price Books: Read 600 minutes and earn a $5 Back-to-School Bucks reward.

Happy Summer Reading!

New Books @ROE Library!

These beautiful new books have been generously donated to the River Oaks Elementary Library by Brett Merfish, in honor of her parents, Sherry and Gerald Merfish. She is an alumnae of River Oaks Elementary's Class of 1992!

"River Oaks Elementary gave our daughter Brett a wonderful foundation and contributed greatly to her lifelong love of learning. Gerald and I are very touched by her generosity and strong desire to give back to an institution which was meaningful in her life. I hope the students enjoy these wonderful additions to the library and that they too will be infused with a love of reading!" said Sherry Merfish.

New to our collection are books on a range of subjects and genres -- biographies, non-fiction books on life science topics, Texas fairy tales, poetry, mythology, and both realistic and fantasy fiction. Our ROE students look forward reading and learning from each one of them!

Technology & Learning Meet the Future

ROE students in Mr. Vialard's and Ms. Eastman's elective classes had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Viramontes, Houston I.S.D. Chief Technology Information Officer. Mr. Viramontes held a thought-provoking discussion with them about the evolution of technologies and the possibilities we might encounter as learners in the future. When asked about their career aspirations, students' responses ranged from U.S. Marine, pediatrician, marine photographer, video game designer, geologist, Olympic skiier, physicist, writer, engineer, and equinologist, to name just a few. Mr. Viramontes pointed out that technologies are critical to performing in these careers both now and in the future. He talked about how new ideas and developments grow out of problems or needs we have, and that kids like them are the key to the innovations that are happening with technology. 

Our conversation also focused on 'device learning.' Information technology is now held in our hands like never before. Our portable touch screens allow us to be able to study and learn wherever we are with convenience, speed, and mobility. Students have flexible opportunities to learn because of convergence of technologies in single handheld devices--e-books, cameras, games, voice/video recording, music, cameras, GPS systems--all tools we find together on our phones and tablets! 

Mr. Viramontes also discussed future learning through 3-D experiences. We considered the potential of holographics, personal-area networks (PAN) and wearable technologies too. Through satellite and holographic technology we will be able to project people, places and things into our learning spaces and also be able to manipulate and walk around these streaming images. New dimensions in technology will also involve more of our senses, including even smell! 

We thank him for sharing his expertise and facilitating this exchange of ideas! Thanks also to Mr. Vialard for connecting us together for this visit and for his iPad snapshot posted above! Here are:

•  9 Gadgets Cell Phones Made Obsolete (21st Century Fluency Project) & 5 Gadgets that Will Be Dead in 5 Years (GadgetBox). 
• A brief look at the Evolution of Classroom Technology  (Edudemic) & 8 Ways Technology is Improving Education (Mashable). 
• Try this app called LeafSnap which can identify tree species and help you contribute to science at the same time! 

Finding Copyright Friendly Images

A Tale of Two Fish, a set by yiibu on Flickr.

Adding images to your projects helps to communicate your ideas. Create some of your own from an array of tools -- draw and scan, take photos, use online tools or a Paint program (like Sketchfu) to make your own original designs for images and diagrams. Sometimes you'll need to borrow things from other creators too. This can be tricky because of copyright restrictions. Any creative work you find online is fully copyrighted unless stated otherwise.

Analyzing the Tale of Two Fish photo story has helped 4th and 5th graders understand the difference between strict copyright protection with 'All rights reserved,' and 'Some rights reserved' Creative Commons licenses. CC licenses have developed as a part of the worldwide trend of sharing creative work online, and have made it possible for us to find and use images without making copyright violations.

What search tools lead to copyright friendly images?

Nettrekker Image Search

World Book Advanced Image Search

(Citations already included with each image)

In Flickr, select 'Search Creative Commons Content'

Under Usage Rights, select 'Labeled for Reuse'
& Under SafeSearch, select 'Strict Filtering'

Nettrekker and World Book Online are excellent image search options. Pics4Learning is another copyright friendly image library with permission granted to teachers and students for use. Citations are included with each image too. FlickrCC and Google Images-Advanced Search are powerful image search engines, but students must narrow searches with strict filtering and select 'Images Labeled for Reuse.'

How should you cite images?
Of course, it is important to give credit to the original creators of the images you use. Most licenses include a requirement of 'Attribution,' which means you must credit and link back to the original author. 4th and 5th graders are finding that an online citation maker like Bibme or OSLIS Citation Maker can help to build correct source citations. These tools provide templates for all kinds of source types, including images, books, and websites. Simply fill in the required source information, and the citation is created and formatted for you. Then you can copy and paste the citation information as you build your list of sources.

Numerous  links to additional copyright-friendly image search tools are located on the ROE Library site. 

Further Reading: 

• Creative Commons: Spectrum of Rights
• 50 Stunning Images From Flickr Under Creative Commons
• Understand Creative Commons in 180 Seconds (view clip outside HISD network)
• FlickrCC bluemountains.net

Questions

'Once you have learned how to ask relevant and appropriate questions, you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning
what you want or need to know.'

--Neil Postman

'If we hope to see inventive thought infused with critical judgment, questions and questioning must become a priority of schooling and must gain recognition as a supremely important technology.'

-- Questioning as Technology by Jamie Mackenzie

Questions can move students beyond the surface-level of any kind of learning. Kids are full of curiosity, but they can learn to develop questions that lead them to dig down and reach for deeper thinking and knowledge building. Questions not only jump-start this process, but also fuel motivation to learn too. Essential to knowing how to learn in the 21^st century is this ability!

Students can learn to distinguish between different kinds of questions. What makes some questions easier and some harder to answer? Sorting and creating categories for questions is helpful to get kids thinking this way. Which of our questions are open-ended and which are closed?  Which will be quick  to answer and which will be more challenging? Why? What other categories of questions can we make? QAR (question-answer-relationship) is yet another way to analyze questions and strategically search for answers.

2nd graders collaboratively brainstormed questions about the cycle of
the moon as part of their Unit of Inquiry about cycles in the natural world
for 'How the World Works.' Then they analyzed, categorized, and
color-coded them as thick or thin questions. 3rd graders did the same
as part of their study of complex societies on the topic of the Inca
of South America for 'Where We Are in Time & Place.'
 (Question Cube template)

'Thick and thin'  is one way for students to categorize questions. 'Thick' questions demand deep thinking and making connections among new ideas. 'Thin' questions are important though too! Kids can't ask or answer those high-level questions without exploring some basic knowledge and comprehension questions about  Form and Function first. These lead to those 'thick' high-level questions later. 

As kids become aware of patterns and categories of questions, they begin to understand the kinds of questions they can ask in order to accomplish the thinking they need to do. As a result, they become better equipped to seek answers too. As researchers--students seek specific information that allows them to explore a particular topic. All information they find filters through their questions. Without the anchor of questions to guide them, they quickly become lost and overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of information.

Interesting Reading:

The Question Mark: A an educational journal devoted to questions, questioning, strategic reading and quality teachingBeyond Cut & Paste: Engage Students with Questions of Import (fno.org)The Power of Questions: Angela MaiersCuriosity: M. Ross on Classroom Habitudes by Angela Maiers

Instructional resources:

• ReadWriteThink: Questioning: A Strategy for Guided Reading
• Into The Book: Questioning Video Clips
• Questioning Ideas to Use in the Classroom
• Reading Partnership Thick Question Form 
• Questioning Anchor Charts 

Blooming Questions on Storybird

IIM: A Framework for K-5 Research

Using IIM: A Framework for Research Skill Development

Our school was honored to host two groups of visitors during the past week. We presented our instructional programs to a delegation of school principals from the Haidian District of Beijing, China. 

Later in the week, we shared our implementation of IIM (Independent Investigation Method) with a large group of colleagues from several Houston I.S.D. schools. Embedded above are the presentation slides detailing IIM research.

Read this page in Chinese, Spanish, or another language of choice by selecting from the Google Translate options on the top left corner!