My favorite example is Mrs. McCollough's 3rd grade class who were finishing a unit on planets with a solar system theme. Using the cooperative learning "jigsaw" approach, each child gathered facts on one planet with the expectation that they would share their learning with the class. (Students used eBooks from Trueflix for their fact finding!)

I created a Google Slideshow and shared it with students. Students with the same assigned planet came together to share their facts. They were given a single slide to add their facts and images. (Don't forget to teach students to give credit when using a photos.) Once students were done, I download the slideshow as a PDF. Finally, I uploaded the PDF to the Anyflip website and voila! - A collaboratively created eBook about Planets! Students can read their book to each other and the 3rd graders from other classes. Don't forget to send the eBook URL to parents as well!

Using a movie creation app is great for threading together images of learning over time. One of the favorite examples is Mrs. Johnson's first grade class. She asked students to take images of their mealworm as it moved through it's stages. Once the photos were taken, she had students put their images in the correct order into an iMovie. They added music, titles, and most importantly, narrated their iMovie. The finished product demonstrated their learning and gave them a product to share. Then, complete the cycle of learning by having students share via Seesaw, or add their movie to a class padlet. I had students upload their iMovie to their Google Drive so they could keep it and look back at it as they get older.

It may sound like an obvious suggestion, but don't forget to use eBooks for social studies and science research. (both light and deeper research) Most teachers have found their way to the variety of eBooks available for their students. Our school has several paid and free options for students use. MyOn (paid), Trueflix (paid), Epic (free), and Unite for Literacy (free) are all excellent options. Many teachers ask students to read these books for their daily reading time, but many aren't leveraging these books for research of a theme or topic. Digging through your science and social studies standards for the year, there is likely to be at least one area that is supported by the eBooks you have available. Plus, many eBooks have tools for highlighting and note taking. Epic for example, will sound out difficult words and give their definition. If there is only one good eBook on a particular topic, assign each student to a part of the book to explore and then jigsaw the learning for the benefit of the entire class.

Storybird is a free app that gives students a huge library of original digital art to select for their stories. This artwork not only serves as illustrations for their work, but also the spark for their creativity! One of my favorite features in Storybird is the teacher management. It allows teachers to create, manage and assess student writing as well as create assignments for classes. The teacher can make comments to students and moderate the comments from their classmates. I really love this feature. Students learn to consider their audience when they write. This little added social media feature is excellent practice for students learning how to use appropriate commenting.

In my last Smore newsletter, I shared a Chrome extension called Loom. It is perfect for student screencasting. I like this extension because it is easy to use and gives student an opportunity to add their voice to their work. Thanks to my two students who recorded these examples for me!

Flocabulary is a unique teaching tool known mostly for it's engaging and educational hip-hop videos and songs that help students learn standards based skills and content. This is especially helpful for our multisensory learners! For those of us old enough to remember, it is like an updated version of the 1970's School House Rock videos. Flocabulary is subscription based, but they have offered a few ways to have a part of their collection for free. For those with the free EPIC! subscription, there are a great many Flocabulary videos available. There are also a few (21) available on the YouTube Flocabulary channel.

Padlet, a free digital bulleting board that students can use to display information, video, and images. Just a few suggestions:

1. Students can record their textual evidence during close reading.

2. A wall of thank you notes from students to a class visitor of school helper. (send the

URL to the visitor)

3. A class backchannel for questions during a video or class reading assignment.

4. Require some evidence of learning from students as an "exit ticket" following a lesson.

5. Leave the google shortened URL up throughout the year as a suggestion box or classroom library wish list.

Begin with the artistically illustrated Caldecott Honor book entitled Balloons Over Broadway, The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet. In her book, Ms. Sweet shares the true story of Tony Sarg, the inventor of the huge balloons that we have come to expect each year in the parade! Students are fascinated to learn how Tony Sarg's work as a puppeteer helped him to slowly consider and come up with the idea of filling the balloons with helium!

I also shared with students two videos from the History Channel website that gave us insight into the history and process of preparing for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here is one of the videos...

I then challenged my students to design their own Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons based on our favorite library book. I lamented that often the balloons are based on movie and cartoon character, which is fine, but wouldn't also be fantastic if the balloons reflected popular children's books! Students accepted the challenge and had a blast coming up with their own balloons with the iPad app YouDoodle or PicCollage!

when I feature integration ideas for Thinglink & Stop Motion Studio!