Get your students writing for 60 seconds with oneword.com

More and more one can see how amazing it could be if all the students in a class have tablets. Imagine having just one or two minutes each day to get the students writing! This website http://oneword.com is designed for just that. All you have to do is:

• You’ll see one word at the top of the following screen.
• You have sixty seconds to write about it.
• Click go and the page will load with the cursor in place.
• Don’t think. Just write.

Advantages of daily writing practise:

• This could get students into the habit of just writing and thinking out of the box.
• By writing every day, the students gain fluency while getting a chance to practice important punctuation, spelling, and style skills in context
• The students will soon start writing more fluently.

Present class projects as e-books using Microsoft PowerPoint

The task

Every term I set one of my classes a task of creating a eBook project in one of their subjects in line with the class curriculum and presenting the project as an online eBook using PowerPoint. This is because I want all of them to have practice in creating eBooks because eBooks are a great way to present online information. eBooks can be viewed online via a link. They can also be displayed on blogs either by embedding the PowerPoint or by creating a link to it. Here are the steps for this project. 

Step 1: Choose your topic

You could create a project on any topic you like. In my case I chose a Grade 7 life skills curriculum project the students had to research and write a summary of one of the following diseases: which they would then present to the rest of the class full stop The diseases are: tuberculosis, pneumonia, malaria, measles, Hepatitis B, Influenza, Yellow Fever, Diphtheria, Small Pox or Black Death. I usually try to get two students working on one topic so that they can get together for brainstorms and planning but still come up with their own individual project.

Step 2: Create the content for the eBook
Give the students a rubric to guide them. This could include the type of pages/slides that they should use in their projects. In our case the pages/slides were as follows
1. Title page
2. Table of contents
3. Definition of the word disease.
4. A general overview of the disease they have chosen
5. The incidence of the disease, including a map
6. Causes of the disease
7. Signs and symptoms of the disease
8. Diagnosis
9. Treatment options
10. Strategies for living with the disease
11. Prevention of the disease
12. Additional interesting information
13. Bibliography

In each section the students need to find information, videos and images that are free to use; and create links to articles to back up their findings. They could collect the information via Microsoft Word before selecting from it for their final PowerPoint eBook. Here is the link to the rubric http://bit.ly/2OLBUGE 

Step 3: Create a PowerPoint template for the contents
We used PowerPoint for several reasons.
You can add video and sound to the final product via Office Mix.
You can embed the Power`poiYou can save the final product as a PDF.nt in a blog or website.
It is easy to manipulate images within the PowerPoint, and overlay images and text.
Each slide can also contain a section or page of information in the final eBook to add to the book feel of the final presentation.
The slides can be linked together for ease of use.

This is how you create the template:
Open PowerPoint and choose your layout. Decide how you would like the eBook to look.
Go to the Design Menu, Click on ‘Slide Size’ on the right and make your choices. We selected the portrait slide orientation and changed the slide size to Custom 7.5 X 10 inch (my computer works in inches!). This part is optional to the size you would like to choose.\
Point and choose your layout. Decide how you would like the eBook to look. We wanted the project to look like an eBook.

Here is a link to a presentation showing how to set

Step 4: Add the cover image
In this section we learn about Creative Commons images and Public Domain images versus ‘any’ images. The best way to add an image is to save it on your computer and then use the snipping tool to get the portrait orientation. Insert the cover image by clicking on the ‘Picture’ option in the ‘Insert’ menu, and select the cover image where you saved it on your computer.

The learners then overlay the cover image with their names and the title of the e-book. This feature is one of the plus points for using PowerPoint for making eBooks.

Here is an example of a cover page:

Step 5: Insert page numbers (slide numbers)

Start the numbering system now. Go to Insert/Slide numbers and make your choices as shown below. Select Slide number, Footer, Don’t show on the slide and Apply to All

Step 6: Create a Table of Contents page
This allows the reader to go anywhere in the presentation. Once you have created all your slides you will link each heading in the Table of Contents to a slide heading.

Step 7: Create the eBook
The learners use the content they have recorded in Microsoft Word to create the content for their PowerPoint. They ensure that the font and font sizes are uniform throughout the eBook.

Step 8: Insert your bibliography as you go along
I like the learners to draw a line at the bottom of each slide so that they can put links to the pages where they found their information even though the information has been synthesised into their own words. They also create the Bibliography for the last slide with the relevant links.

We didn’t learn a particular format for citing a bibliography in this project – that will come later. I simply asked them to give an explanation and a link. In the next project we will write the Bibliography in the format below as found in A Sample Elementary Bibliography Style Sheet found at http://bit.ly/2gOJxPe

                                  
This is how we did the Bibliography for this project. It appeared on the last slide.

Step 9: Link the slides to the Table of Contents

Once your e-book has been written link your slides to the Table of Contents. The way to do this is:
a) Highlight the line of text in the Table of Contents you want to hyperlink
b) Go to Insert/Hyperlink
c) Select ‘Place in this document’
d) Chose the slide heading from the selection that appears
e) Click on OK

You’ll notice that all the hyperlinked lines of the eBook are now automatically underlined showing that they are active.

How to download free Android Apps as .APK files using the APK downloader

During our tablet training for teachers in Limpopo and Gauteng last year we needed to easily share free apps with the teachers in a way that the apps wouldn't take up a lot of space on their tablets. This post highlights a great way to share free apps without having to download them again. You download apps from the Google Play store as APK files. This is a manual process.

What is an APK file?
APK stands for Android Package Kit and is the file format that Android uses to distribute and install apps. It contains all the elements that an app needs to install correctly on your device. It doesn't install the app on your device unless you ask it to. The main thing to note about APK files is that you need to be sure they are legitimate and not files from malicious developers that have somehow added their ransomware to the Play store.

How do you download an app as an APK file?All you do is download the apps from Google Play on to an SD card using a special downloader called APK downloader (http://apk-dl.com/), You store them on the SD card as APK files. When they need to be used, you. install them from the SD card on to your Android device.
Here is the process explained more fullyLet's look at this step-by-step.

Step 1: Use your PC for this process and not the Android tablet in this case.

Step 2: Search for the apps you like using the Google Play Store

Step 3. Open APK downloader from http://apk-dl.com/

Step 4: Find the app you are looking for
Search the Google Play store and find the app you want to download to your SD card. In this case for Kidoko Free the URL is http://bit.ly/2IHYFNZ

Step 5: Type this URL into the APK downloader page and press GO.

Step 6: Find the download button

It will take you to a page with plenty of details and where you can download the file.

Watch the file download

Add this file to your folder of Android apps on your computer and then transfer these to your SD card. Whenever the app is to be used click on it in the SD card and install it.

This was a great way to share the relevant apps for each training quickly and effectively on the teachers' Android tablets when needed.

Free reading sites to use on World Read Aloud Day – or anytime!

1 Feb, is World Read Aloud Day. Exciting reading activities are taking place all over the world. People all around the globe are reading aloud together and sharing stories on this day, to promote literacy as a human right that belongs to all people. It is important to celebrate days like these that put reading in focus. However, reading aloud to children should take place every day! In my previous blog post, Reading aloud to children - is it important? I wrote about what some of the research studies show about the importance of reading aloud to children.

Taken from the Nalibai site

Activities we will see happening on Read Aloud Day
Here are a few examples:

1. Some people create their own special one-on-one read aloud moment at school or at home. The Litworld website gives a read aloud guide that shows how to read to children effectively.
2. Many teachers connect virtually with authors, classrooms, and more for a special read aloud session using Skype.
3. Some classes around the globe read to each other via Skype.
4. Many websites such as KidLitTV have some read aloud sessions where children can watch people reading awesome children’s books.

Our World Read Aloud Day celebration in Grade 3
I am the computer teacher at my school, and my Grade 3 class celebrated World Read Aloud Day in the computer lab. In this post I want to tell you about some of the things we did on WRAD and show you some of the reading sites we visited.  

1. World Read Aloud Day with Nalibalihttps://nalibali.org/
Here in South Africa, Nal'ibali (isiXhosa for “here's the story”), a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign to spark children's potential through storytelling and reading, always does something great for World Read Aloud Day. Every year on World Read Aloud Day, Nalibali commissions a brand-new story and translates it into all 11 official SA languages. This year's story is "Where are you?" written by Ann Walton. It can be downloaded from their website free of charge.  Nalibali encourages adults and caregivers across the country, to join them in reading it aloud to children on WRAD (World Reading Aloud Day) They have called this the #WRADChallenge2019. 

We downloaded the story and read it together, aloud, in our computer lesson. 

After that the class visited a number of websites to see what they were about, and then they selected and read a story from one of the following sites, aloud. but softly!

2. The African Storybook website
https://www.africanstorybook.org/
This is a wonderful local website that has a huge amount of Grade R-4 beautifully illustrated Creative Commons picture storybooks that one can read, translate, change etc. I have done numerous activities using this website. The stories are in many different African languages - one simply has to choose English. The storybooks can be read online or offline, or downloaded from the website and printed. All the storybooks are available for free. The website is also available as an app that one can download. 

3. Storyweaver website

https://storyweaver.org.in/
This is a wonderful website from India that has a huge amount of Creative Commons beautifully illustrated stories. It works on similar lines to the African Storybook website in that the storybooks can be read online or offline, or downloaded from the website and printed. All the storybooks are available for free. They also focus on Indian languages but all one has to do is type in English for a large variety of lovely stories. The website was awarded a substantial grant from Google which enabled it to expand its storybase to 11,154 stories in 136 languages.

Both of the above story websites make use of four levels in reading:

Level 1: Easy words, word repetition, less than 250 words
Level 2: Simple concepts, up to 600 words
Level 3: Longer sentences, up to 1500 words
Level 4: Longer, more nuanced stories, more than 1500 words

4. Storyline online

https://www.storylineonline.net/
This is a popular children's literacy website created by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which provides free storytelling videos and resources for parents and teachers to foster a love of reading in children. The stories are nearly all, if not all, in the form of videos.

5. Litworld
https://kidlit.tv/category/read-out-loud/ This is a site I haven't used much yet, but I plan to explore it. LitWorld is a nonprofit organization founded by literacy expert Pam Allyn in 2007. LitWorld works with a broad coalition of national and international partners to ensure that young people worldwide can experience the joy and transformation of reading, writing, and storytelling.  They have an interesting approach in that their year-round, child-centered programming is designed to develop each of the 7 Strengths which LitWorld sees as inherent in every child. LitWorld’s 7 Strengths are: Belonging, Kindness, Curiosity, Friendship, Confidence, Courage, and Hope.

Studies show that one of the most important things we can do for our children, at home and at school, is to read aloud to them. The benefits are enormous when this becomes an ongoing practice. Why not make reading aloud to your class a daily habit? 

Using PowerPoint creatively to teach an activity on adjectives and descriptive writing to a Grade 3 class

Mrs Truett's Third Grade

Earlier this term, whilst researching on the Internet, I cam across two posts on adjectives that fascinated me. The first was a post in a Grade 3 blog (Mrs Truter's Third Grade) showing two photos of an activity on Adjectives https://bit.ly/2NfO6EZ (see the photo on the right). The second post was a video on the use of adjectives in descriptive writing found at hhttps://bit.ly/3qN0hXo This gave me the idea of doing something similar to both of these posts with a Grade 3 class and including technology (see photos below).  The students enjoyed the activity so much that I decided to write a blog post about it.

Lesson idea
The Grade 3 students find at least 20 positive adjectives relating to themselves. They present these creatively using PowerPoint where the skills of font choice, font size and colour are emphasised, They discover how adjectives used in writing make writing come alive and write a descriptive paragraph about themselves using as many of the adjectives as they can.   

Step 1: Create a template for the students to use
I figured this could be created on two A4-size pieces of paper joined together with a piece cut out for the head. I created the template idea for the students to copy in PowerPoint.

Download the adjectives template as a PDF

Step 2: Explore adjectives with the class and how they can be used in descriptive writing
The next step was to talk about the importance of adjectives in writing.  We revised the meaning of adjectives. I read the class a very plain paragraph that had no descriptive words and asked them to draw a quick picture using a drawing programme they were familiar with (in this case Paint). All the pictures were different. Then I read the same paragraph but this time with lovely descriptive adjectives and asked them to draw the picture. This time the pictures were very similar because the adjectives had led a much clearer image being imagined.

Step 3: Brainstorm positive adjectives that can be used to describe other students in the class.  
We now had a brainstorming session on adjectives that could describe others in the class. The instruction was that the class should use only positive words but that no names should be mentioned.  As the students called out words I typed them out and displayed them on the screen via the data projector. These were left on the screen as prompts for words during the remainder of the activity. 

Step 4: The students think of 20 adjectives to describe themselves and fill them in on the provided template
Since the school I volunteer at uses Windows computers we used PowerPoint for this lesson. However Keynote on an iPad or a Google Presentation on an Android tablet would have done the trick as well. 

Step 5: The templates are completed and printed
As far as technology skills are concerned this was a good way of working creatively with font types, font size, colour and font position. As far as using adjectives is concerned the students enjoyed thinking of positive words about themselves. 

Step 6: Print the templates, cut out the head space, glue the two pages together and draw hair using regular crayons
Here is a photo of some of the final results of this activity. 

Step 7: Create a description of oneself using the selected adjectives
In the next lesson this part of the lesson would be tackled. The students will use the adjectives to write a descriptive piece about themselves. 

Reading aloud to children - how important is it?

World Read Aloud Day is coming up on 1 Feb 2019. Exciting reading activities will take place all over the world. People all around the globe will read aloud together and share stories on that day to encourage teachers and parents alike to read to the children in their care.

Let’s think about the importance of reading aloud to children. Is it important? In this post I plan to put reading aloud in perspective and take a look at what some of the studies on reading aloud show. 

1. Reading to young children gives them a headstart in life

Studies show that one of the most important things we can do for our children is to read aloud to them when they are young. A study conducted in a partnership arrangement between the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, uncovered some interesting information. http://bit.ly/2UDCFVN. The key finding was that frequency of reading to children at a young age has a direct causal effect on their schooling outcomes regardless of their family background and home environment. The study shows that there is an important role for parents in the development and educational performance of their children. Parental reading to children increases the child’s reading and other cognitive skills at least up to the age of 10–11. This is an early-life intervention that seems to be beneficial for the rest of their lives.

Taken from Unsplash

2. Children need 1000 hours of being read to before preschool

This fits in with what I heard about reading before preschool at a reading conference not too long ago. The Dean of Education from Rhodes university quoted a study that showed that If we can develop independent readers by Grade 3, we can almost predict academic success at school. However to become independent readers by Grade 3, he said, children need to have received 1000 hours of being read to before entering preschool.

Just hearing the written word helps them develop their vocabulary, strengthens their memory, and nurtures their imagination. Children who are surrounded by print and immersed in great and well-told stories are more curious, confident, and motivated to learn. Stories help our kids develop empathy for others, curiosity about the world we live in, and they stimulates critical thinking.

Our goal must be for our children to start reading for enjoyment, meaning and understanding on their own. If we can get the children in our care interested in reading for enjoyment, we are setting them up for success. Reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational performance. 

Taken from Unsplash

3. Research shows the importance of parents reading with children – even after children can read on their own

A study ‘Interactive reading opportunities beyond the early years: What educators need to consider’ by Margaret Kristin Merga found in the Australian Journal of Education, was highlighted in an article by the author. http://bit.ly/2Uv9hkj She found that “hared reading experiences are highly beneficial for young people. Benefits of shared reading include facilitating enriched language exposure, fostering the development of listening skills, spelling, reading comprehension and vocabulary, and establishing essential foundational literacy skills. They are also valued as a shared social opportunity between parents and their children to foster positive attitudes toward reading. When we read aloud to children it is also beneficial for their cognitive development, with parent-child reading activating brain areas related to narrative comprehension and mental imagery. 

4. The Benefits of Reading to Your Unborn Baby

I was curious to see if there was any research on reading to babies in the womb and was surprised to see that there is a lot! Science indicates that reading to baby in the womb helps develop early language learning. 

A study at the University of Oregon found when pregnant mothers were given a recording that included a made-up word to play near the end of pregnancy, the babies were able to recognize the word and its variations after they were born. They could discern this by neural signals emitted by the babies that showed they recognized the pitch and vowel changes in the fake word. The babies who heard the recording most frequently displayed the strongest response, suggesting that infant language learning begins in utero. The researcher says, “Our findings indicate that prenatal experiences have a remarkable influence on the brain’s auditory discrimination accuracy, which may support, for example, language acquisition during infancy. “ A website ‘Womb to World: Reading and Talking with Babies’ highlights some of the research done on reading aloud to babies in the womb http://bit.ly/2Uw0IWv.

A great article on the Baby Centre website called ‘Reading to your baby’ http://bit.ly/2UrxEiK suggests that it’s never too early to start reading to baby. Babies recognize their mother's voice in the womb, so why not make reading aloud a habit while you're still pregnant? Another article ‘Womb to World: Reading and Talking with Babies’ http://bit.ly/2Uw0IWv gives some very practial tips on how to get started. Joining the local library is a great way to start. 

Statistics from local websites

The PUKU website in South Africa gives some interesting global literacy statistics about reading. https://www.puku.co.za/en/south-africa-celebrates-world-read-aloud-day/ Here are two examples:

• Reading aloud to children every day puts them almost a year ahead of children who do not receive daily read-aloud reading, regardless of parental income, education level or cultural background. (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research)

• If all children in low-income countries left school literate, 171 million people could move out of poverty. (World Literacy Foundation)

The Times Live in an article ‘80% of Grade 4s can't read, literacy survey reveals’ quoted that ‘Almost four in five Grade 4 pupils fall below the lowest internationally recognised level of reading literacy‚ and South Africa is last out of 50 countries in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls 2016).’ http://bit.ly/2S27BC7

There’s no doubt about it – reading improves the mind. It has a multitude of benefits to us as humans. We need to start early in the home to ensure academic success at home. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” As parents and teachers let’s join in on the fun on World Read Alud Day on 1 Feb 2019.