So many of our school libraries are designing fun and unique book displays to get students excited about reading. At this high school in Illinois, the whole English department got into it and decked out their entire hallway!
“When the students of Mundelein High School in Mundelein, Illinois returned to school from winter break there was something different about the hallways of the English department.
Six floor-to-ceiling vinyl prints of book covers had been installed while they were away in the hopes that it would encourage students to talk more about their reading life.”
In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration and encourage discovery and curiosity.
***NOTE: this app is scheduled to shut down on June 30th, 2019. However, it was included on the list of Best Apps 2018 so we wanted to share it with you anyway. Synth is the app that is the next step for this company. Synth provides “interactive podcasts in byte-size increments.”
“Recap is a free student video response and reflection app that gives teachers and parents insight into students’ learning and progress. Recap provides evidence of student thinking, improves formative assessment, and supports personalized learning.”
Platform: iOS, Android Grades: All Cost: FREE
Hear from this teacher who uses Recap in her ESL classroom as a way to encourage participation from quiet or shy students. Ed Tech Teacher has this post explaining how the app works well with Chromebooks and also offers some suggestions for classroom activities.
In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration and encourage discovery and curiosity.
The app Procreate is a powerful tool for the iPad that allows users to make really impressive digital artwork.
Procreate is an intuitive drawing, painting, and illustration application specifically designed for the iPad. It has hundreds of brushes, layering capabilities, multi-touch gestures, Apple Pencil support, and a time-lapse video export feature. Procreate, especially in combination with a stylus, allows you to create digital artwork that looks like it was created on paper or a canvas. This art can then be exported in multiple file types, including PSD (Adobe Photoshop) retaining all layer functionality.
Visit the Procreate website for extras like FAQs and a downloadable Artist’s Handbook.
Platform: iOS Cost: $9.99 Grades: High School – Adult
Common Sense Education has this review of the app and it includes feedback from teachers as well as suggestions for incorporating the app into simple classroom projects. Procreate is included in this article from Digital Debris of the top 3 apps for sketch notes and is described by the author as “the most powerful creative app I have ever used on a mobile device.” And the site Educator’s Technology gives some quick examples of the capabilities of Procreate in this article.
Check out this video to see what you can make with Procreate!
CMLE has set up a High School Reading Challenge for you to share with your high school students! On Goodreads, we have set up a challenge to read ten books (one for each month of the school year, and a bonus book). You can share this with your high school students, encouraging people to read for the fun of it or have a contest in your library to encourage the idea of competition. Feel free to give away little prizes for people who finish all ten, or giveaways for people who finish each of the ten categories!
One of your basic tasks is to promote reading, and the fun (or value) of reading books you enjoy. This is a chance for people to try out some books they will have fun reading, or books that they can try reading for their classes, or that will be useful to something they want to learn or to try.
In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration and encourage discovery and curiosity.
The app Science Journal is an easy-to-use app that helps students with their science experiments!
Turn your phone into a light, sound, and motion sensor. Measure these experimental variables with greater accuracy and create detailed data displays. Use photos and text to record observations within the app. Teachers can connect external sensors and search Science Journal’s website for possible experiments.
Platform: iOS, Android Grades: 5th + Cost: FREE
Science Buddies has this detailed article that shows all the different sensors available on the app and includes several informative videos. Check out this page of lesson plans for STEM classroom activities that incorporate the app. And check out this review of the app from School Library Journal!
Watch this video to see Science Journal in action:
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