Transport theme

Transport is one of those themes that many teachers feel is overdone and has become quite boring, but a theme in your class is what you make of it and what fun we had over the last two weeks doing our transport theme. The kids absolutely loved it and worked like superstars!

If you are looking for a great theme board idea, why not paint your own none like Teacher Vicky did

with hers.

The kids had so much fun filling the board up with different modes of transport.

 We also painted up a big robot, and the kids then had to go and look for objects that were the same colours as the different light signals on the robot.

The kids loved making mosaic robots (probably because they could make a mess and not get into trouble) they had to tear coloured paper and then stick it into the correct circle. For this all you need to do is download our template at the end of this post and let your class do the rest. (Click here for the template)

 We then made aeroplanes out of toilet roll holders, these are so simple to make (click here for the tutorial).

 

To end off our first week in class we went on an outing to Kidz Traffic Land in Balfour Park Shopping centre. This was an absolute treat for the kids! They were all issued with their own drivers' licenses and had to obey the rules of the road (including watching the working robots) - such wonderful experiential learning took place. There were quite a few accidents and 'fines' issued but the kids loved every minute of it. Inspector Pana, who is the owner, was an absolute star with the kids and very patiently explained the rules of the road. (Go have a look at their website here http://www.kidztrafficland.co.za/)

 And to end off our fun filled two weeks, the kids brought in their projects! These ranged from aeroplanes, to boats, to trains. It looks like both kids and moms and dads had a lot of fun with these projects and we have some wonderful results! The kids then had to do a presentation on their project to the rest of the school, they told us how they made them and who helped them.

Bugs and Buttons is free!!

So Bugs and Buttons 2 is free... I am not sure how long this app is free for, but do yourself a favour and go have a look! It is usually $2.99 which is roughly around R33.
The graphics on it are incredible and it is a lot of fun, particularly for the little ones who are learning matching and sorting skills! Older children will also have fun with this app, and it's really great for developing hand eye coordination.

My only complaint with it is that it has an alphabet section which may confuse your kids as they use the letter names for the alphabet sequence. Barring this, I found the app to be a lot of fun and quite varied - your kids shouldn't get too bored too quickly with this app!

It includes 18 different games, which get harder as you play - really great as it keeps up with your child's pace and allows them to see where they are going wrong! Among these games your child can learn counting, sorting, pinching, balance, works on developing memory skills, shapes, visual perceptive skills, parts of the body and so much more! The games are fun and the bugs that come onto your screen every now and then are super cute!! And as I mentioned earlier, the game may get harder, but it never becomes too difficult for your child to complete a level.Because of the letter sounds, I will give this app 4 out of 5 stars! But, go and have a look at this awesome app and see what you think..

Apps and other stuff...

So we have decided to expand a little on our blog. It will no longer be me on my own, we will now have teacher Lianne joining and we'll be looking at more than just apps! This is a very exciting branch out for us as both Teacher Vicky and Teacher Lianne will be posting in "Two Proudly South African Teachers". We will still be looking at and reviewing apps! Don't forget about our code drops for some really great apps - so follow us! We are both South African teachers who have a soft spot and a deep passion for working with children with special needs. We each have areas that we tend to specialize in and often find ourselves bouncing ideas off each other.. We would therefore like to put this blog out to ALL educators, not just those in South Africa but worldwide and not just special needs, but remedial and mainstream educators. For the most part, we want to keep as many of our resources free, and will try only post links to free resources (we only get teaching salaries after all so we like to keep things free)! We would also like to ask you what you would like to see on a blog? What themes have you done that there is not much information on, or not enough resources? How do you make your resources? As well as your best classroom management strategies. So send through your comments and tell us what you want and we will do our best to post ideas, inspirations, resources and photos of our own inventions! We will be posting about our Halloween fun day soon so look out for it!

A good letter sound app and some indoor fun

The last week has been quite a fun week in class, but today I had to deal with some behaviour issues! Having dealt with all of this we decided to have some fun in the class again. And so started the mildly chaotic game of balloon tennis!
All you need is a few balloons, some paper plates and some rulers. Get the kids to decorate their paper plates - you could even turn this into a sensory activity and get them to use finger paints (also great for fine-motor)! Grab the rulers and tape them to the back of the paper plates - and you have some racquets! Now all you need are the balloons. Try and have enough balloons for each child (if your kids are old enough, get them to do some oral motor exercises by blowing up the balloons), blow them up and now you have balls! So you're ready to start, throw the balloons around and get them to hit the balloons. This is such a great activity for eye-hand coordination, as well as building that shoulder stability and strength that is so incredibly important for handwriting and fine motor dexterity!
Needless to say, the behaviour has improved from everyone! We all had a great time, and when we sat down to do some literacy work, the focus was incredible!!
So what literacy work did we successfully cover today? Well, it includes a free app!!

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Little Matchups ABC is really great! It has an option to change the settings, so you can switch off the letter names, and it will only use the letter sounds - which for us South African Teachers is really fantastic! It teaches the child to identify the capital letter and the small letter. The voice over announces each sound as you touch it, you then have to match the small letter to it's capital. It's a fun app with some interesting sounds to motivate the child, and when an incorrect answer is put in, it gives a wrong answer sound and moves the letter away from where the child has incorrectly placed it! I have given this app 3 stars, as it is free, there are no in-app purchases, however it is rather simple and will probably have a very short lifespan in your classroom! Added to this, it does not provide you with any data about how the child has done so you need to be watching to see what they get right or wrong!

Sandbox

Are you looking for an app to use in your classroom that will restrict your students use of the internet? Perhaps you only want them to use certain sites? Or keep them off Facebook? Go and have a look at Sandbox by Float Media.
It's a little complicated to use, but may save you some grey hairs in the future.
This app is usually $2.99, but is currently free for a limited time so go quickly!!

Play is your child's job!!!

Proudly South African Resources

The app rubric is still under construction, but coming along nicely! Remember, you can make your own one to assess apps! And, don't forget about google!! There are plenty of app rubrics out there!

In the mean time, I thought we could do with a list of resources. (To clarify, Ryan, the boyfriend, thought of this one!).
There are so many resources available to teachers as well as parents, but yet not many of them are South African! There are a few that I have come across, and which I have found quite useful.

The first one to look at is e-classroom.This site has a wealth of free worksheets, all aligned with the CAPS curriculum, not only are worksheets available but plenty of lesson plans and ideas for all grades, right from grade R to grade 12! Everything is organised in it's respective grade or theme and you can also search for specific items. Natalie Wood, the founder of e-classroom, has put together a selection of beautifully designed worksheets which are really great to reinforce concepts you are teaching. For me, as a teacher (and parents, you can also use this site to help clarify tricky concepts) this is definitely one of my "go to" sites!

Another site to look at is; sahomeschoolmum. She has some amazing items on South Africa, such as a money poster! Go have a look! These are all free and you can print them in your own time! There are also maths and literacy resources as well as activities you can do with your child.

The last one that I stumbled upon is edchatsa, while this site has less resources it has forums and regular discussion evenings. As I have only just discovered this site, I am still learning about it myself but it does look to be very promising!

Of course there are many many resources available on the internet now, and all you really need to do is be an avid pinterester! As a teacher this is by far one of my favourite resources to utilize when I am stuck, not only for worksheets, but for activities that are concrete enough for my kids to pick up!
For me, one of the most important parts of teaching, is having fun with your students. So find activities that are fun, release your inner child, and they will have fun and unknowingly learn!