End of the Year Activities

It's May but school isn't over yet! I'm Sandy Cangelosi of Sweet Integrations. Testing is over and your students are so ready for the end of the year. I have some fun ideas to keep your students engaged and learning until the last day of school.

1. Internet Scavenger Hunt - Using Fact Monster, try some of these pre-made online scavenger hunts. After your students complete their grade-level hunt, they can create their own. This is a great way to learn interesting facts about countries, states, people, science, sports and more. They can use Word and create Hyperlinks to the location of the information. Students can trade scavenger hunts.

2. Math - Johnnie's Math Page has problems using higher level thinking skills. Students love these online strategy games. They don't even realize they are doing math! I also love Mastermind and Sudoku. These are so much fun to play at the end of the year.

3. Board Games - Choose a day at the end of the year for students to bring their favorite board games. Even though my girls are grown, we still enjoy playing Clue, Scrabble and Sorry. My granddaughter pulls the games out every time she comes over to visit.

4. Nature Scavenger Hunts - Give the student teams a list of items in nature that they need to find outside. You can even give the student teams a digital camera so they can take photos of their findings. I've even asked students to find letters in nature. They are given letters of the alphabet and they try to find the shapes.

5. Alpha Autobios - Using each letter of the alphabet, students write a word that describes something about themselves. Ex. A is for Arkansas - This is where my brother lives; C is for chihuahua - I have a chihuahua named Lola.

6. Categories - Play Categories on the computers. Use topics like fruits, vegetables, sports, states, 3 letter words, 4 letter words, etc. Give the students a specific time to type as many words as they can. The winner of the round can win a piece of candy or treat.

7. Musical Stories - Give each child a story starter on the computer or on a handout. Ex. My Plans for the Summer or My Favorite Vacation. Students will begin typing at their computer or desk. After a certain amount of time, students will change places and begin adding to the next person's story. After several rounds, send students back to their original story so they can write an ending to their story. Read these out load. Students will have a blast reading the stories. (Make sure to give instructions about language, violence, etc. I always tell my students, "No blood and guts allowed!")

8. Project Based Learning - The end of the year is the perfect time to implement Project Based Learning. While enjoying this fun unit, students are still learning life skills, math, technology and writing.

Our students visit Amy's Ice Cream which is in our neighborhood. Amy's started in Austin and has become an Austin icon.

9. Fantasy Vacation - Some students will not have the opportunity to go on a vacation, so why don't you give them an opportunity to plan a Fantasy Vacation! Give your students a budget to plan a vacation to a country or state. Students will plan air travel, hotel costs, site-seeing (cultural experiences), and research these places of interest.

Or, have your students plan a StayCation. My friend Amanda of Primary Gal has this fun unit in which students plan a budget for four days of activities (day trips) close to home. You can also check out her blog post about end of the year projects.

10. End of the Year Collage - Use the app PicCollage to create a collage of events, favorites activities, friends, subjects, etc. Teachers, if you have extra digital pictures of class events, add them to the camera rolls. Students can add text, online pictures, photos, video and stickers. Choose your own layout for your Photo Yearbook.

Encourage your students to continue learning throughout the summer. I've provided some elementary websites that are fun and great for review. Just click on the image below to download. And, enjoy free computer awards for the end of the year.

Click on the image to download your free product.

Click on the image for your free awards.

Top 10 Favorite Apps for the Classroom

I love learning about new apps that can be used in the classroom for student learning and for productivity. I'm always reading blog posts about the creative ways teachers are using different apps in their classroom.

I'm Sandy Cangelosi with Sweet Integrations. I'm a former instructional technology specialist in Austin, Texas. Today, I'm going to share some of my favorite apps and resources so you can easily find the perfect apps for your classroom. Some of the listed apps are ones I recommend my buyers to use in my products. Most of these apps can be used in a variety of ways.

These are my Top 10 Apps:

1. Popplet Lite - This app can be used in brainstorming or as a graphic organizer in researching a subject or person. Students can add text, images, draw and change the color of their text. The finished products can be exported as a PDF or JPG. If you have a budget for purchasing apps, I highly recommend Tools 4 students. It offers 25 different graphic organizer templates and only costs $.99. I love it!

2. Story Creator - Students of all ages can create beautiful stories with this app. It supports photos and videos, voice and drawings. Your students can create personal stories or use this for research presentations.

3. Poll Everywhere - When you need to take a quick poll or survey in your class, use Poll Everywhere or Poll Daddy. You can add multiple choice questions, true/false and open-ended questions. What a perfect way to review for quizzes! You can even display results in other presentation formats. You do need to create accounts to participate.

4. Easy Chart - This is an easy and engaging way to teach graphing. Students can create a chart from their data which then translates to a bar graph, line graph and pie chart. It is so easy to use. The results can be emailed or saved to the photo album. You can change colors, too.

5. NeoReader - This is a must-have on any iPad. NeoReader is a basic QR Code Reader and there are other QR Code apps that are just as good. It's very simple and easy to use. My other favorite is QR Code Reader and Scanner. I use QR codes with many of my products for linking to websites, YouTube videos, answers to problems or questions, and images. I also like to use QR codes on choice boards at centers. 

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle: Slideshow and Activities

6. Pic Collage - This has to be one of my favorite apps. I can always find ways to implement it into different activities and units. I've used PicCollage at the beginning of the year for students to introduce themselves and I just put it in my Black History unit in researching Ruby Bridges. Students can add their own pictures from the photo album and search within the PicCollage app. All you do is add text, cute stickers and format the background. You can purchase more stickers to add to your collage. It is so professional looking!

Black History Month: Famous African Americans Interactive Notebook

7. Caption Distraction - This app is similar to Comic Touch. Comic Touch is no longer available and was the free version of Comic Life. I created a sample below about Martin Luther King, Jr.. I should have made the picture larger so there wouldn't have been as much black space. I love the way you can change the effects of the image and add so many different speech bubbles.

Black History Month Bundle

8. Snapguide - When writing "how-to's" and step-by-step directions, Snapguide is a fun app to use. Students can take pictures, import them into Snapguide, then type the directions or instructions. I used it in an activity for making hot chocolate. Fun!

9. Animoto - This app is also an online resource. Animoto is excellent in highlighting student work. You just email the link to parents. They are always impressed. Visit the Techie Teacher's blog to see how she used Animoto to showcase her student products. Her students used Comic Life for their Native American projects.

10. Resources - Take a look at my "I Love iPads" Pinterest Board. I'm always adding new ideas and apps for the iPad.

And, visit my blog for "APPetizers". I've listed different sites for iPad resources, apps and outstanding tech bloggers. As a member of Texas Computer Association, I receive updates on apps that are free for a limited time and new educational apps. I choose one app each week to highlight on Facebook.

December Family Memories - Spirit of Christmas

When I was young, I truly believed in Santa. Our family would always stay at my grandmother's because we lived in another city in Louisiana. When I went to bed on Christmas Eve, I always had this special feeling that I couldn't explain. I loved the excitement and knowing that Santa was flying up in the air delivering toys to every child. (At least I thought he was.) And, there's no way my parents could pack my new bicycle without my knowing it. I still get that same feeling every year when my granddaughter stays at our home for Christmas. So, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa!

My granddaughter Harper

Gathering Friends

My father worked for the telephone company and had access to two wonderful movies with beautifully detailed puppets. We would call our neighbors and friends to come over during the holidays to watch the movies. We served Christmas cookies and all gathered in our living room. You could hear a pin drop when we watched The Night Before Christmas and Oh, Holy Night. I learned the poem by heart and still recite it to my granddaughter. We tried to get access to the movies years back but were unable to locate them. So, we just read the book every Christmas Eve. And, I purchase Harper a different Christmas book each year.

Learning from a Family Tradition

When I was in high school, I was the typical self-centered teenager who was only interested in what I was receiving for Christmas. I didn't understand the true meaning of Christmas. On Christmas Eve, our parents would let my brother and me pick out one gift to open. One year, I knew I was getting a new ring, so I wanted to make sure I choose it to open. Instead, I chose a gift from our neighbor which was in a small box like a ring. I was so upset when I opened that gift and not my ring. I felt so badly for acting so selfish, that I went to her house to personally thank her for the Avon sachet. Believe it or not, I still have the container to remind me about the true meaning of Christmas. Today, my family chooses a needy family from our church Christmas tree so they will have a Merry Christmas.

Have a wonderful holiday,Sandy

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