Valentine's Day Fun

    This week the children used the iPads in a couple different ways.  They enjoyed making Valentine's Day cards for their parents.  Not only could they write a sweet message, but the children also recorded their voices and put in a picture of themselves.  The cards could be sent to the parents for a nice Valentine's Day surprise.  Closer to the end of the week, the children used the app Doodlecast.  Doodlecast is a lot like StoryKit.  The children can choose either a blank template, or a pre-made template with questions for the children to answer.  Some children wrote about what they like to do in the park while others wrote about their favorite foods.  One thing that Doodlecast does provide is the questions for children to answer.  This gives them a sort of story line to follow rather than trying to come up with something on their own.  Rachel Adamsky worked with the children on the beginning, middle, and end of their stories.  This is a great skill to begin to develop at such a young age.  It is amazing how fast the students pick up concepts.  The one problem with Doodlecast is that the voices record the entire time.  There is a pause button, but it does not record the drawing during the paused time; it just shows up.  The children tend to ramble when they do not have a known script or focus.  Unless reminded, children forget the beginning focus and what used to be their favorite food, turns into a story about playing outside that day.  Mrs. Frederick's class enjoyed Doodlecast, and we will continue working in this app throughout next week.  Another perk is that the Doodlecast saves into the "Photos" part of the iPad.  This allows the final product to be sent through e-mail or uploaded in the same way that regular pictures would be uploaded.  As we work with the students in Doodlecast this week, some of their finished products will be posted for viewing.