Monday, 15 April 2013

Apps for Computer Science

As part of the proposed new draft primary curriculum for ICT, there is a significant emphasis on computer science. Below I've included a selection of apps which can be used in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The apps included range from basic skills in coding a Beebot to more advanced skills in coding games and simulations in apps such as Hopscotch and Codea.

I've also included some other useful 'ICT' apps, which can be used to develop pupil's typing skills and Spreadsheet skills.

Coding/Programming

Beebot: FREE

 The app makes use of Bee-Bot's keypad functionality and enables children to improve their skills in directional language and programming through sequences of forwards, backwards, left and right 90 degree turns. The app has been developed with 12 levels encouraging progression. Each level is timed and the faster it is completed the more stars you get!


Daisy the Dinosaur: FREE


Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy the Dinosaur! This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app's challenges. After playing Daisy, kids can choose to download a kit to program their own computer game.


Cato's Hike: A Programming & Logic Odyssey

Cato stepped through and discovered that this world unlike his own didn't follow the same rules. Every time he tried to take a step or an action he'd find himself stuck in place. Stuck that is until he finally discovered the rules in this universe: by writing a program for himself he would be able to overcome all obstacles and learn something new along the way!https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/catos-hike-programming-logic/id574335479?mt=8&uo=4


Sketch Nation: FREE


Creating a game is super simple: Just draw the in game objects, play around with the customization options and before you can say "Sketch Nation Studio," you will be enjoying your own self-created game!



CargoBot: FREE

 Cargo-Bot is a puzzle game where you teach a robot how to move crates. Sounds simple, right? Try it out!
Beautiful retina graphics. Fiendish puzzles. A game about programming, programmed entirely on iPad. Record your solutions and share them on YouTube. Learn more about how it was made by searching for Codea on the App Store.


Move the Turtle: £1.99

Move The Turtle is an educational application for iPhone and iPad that teaches children the basics of creating computer programs, using intuitive graphic commands.
Do you remember the Logo programming language? A friendly Turtle will introduce your child step by step to the basic concepts of programming in a colourful graphic environment. Who knows, maybe your child will be the next outstanding programmer!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/move-turtle.-programming-for/id509013878?mt=8&uo=4

Codea: £6.99

Codea lets you create games and simulations — or just about any visual idea you have. Turn your thoughts into interactive creations that make use of iPad features like Multi-Touch and the accelerometer. Codea is designed to let you touch your code. Want to change a number? Just tap and drag it. How about a color, or an image? Tapping will bring up visual editors that let you choose exactly what you want.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/codea/id439571171?mt=8&uo=4

Hopscotch: FREE

Hopscotch allows kids to create their own games and animations. Kids can unleash their creativity with this beautiful, easy-to-use visual programming language. Inspired by MIT's Scratch, the Hopscotch programming language works by dragging and dropping method blocks into scripts. When you're done with a script, simply press the play button to see your code in action! 


Scratch: £0.69

This Scratch Maze app contains a number of video tutorials which will guide you through creating your own maze game in the popular programming environment Scratch.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/scratch-maze/id511957922?mt=8&uo=4




A.L.E.X: FREE

A.L.E.X. is a fun puzzle game and a great way to train your brain. A.L.E.X. helps you think and plan logically as you program your robot A.L.E.X. with a sequence of commands to get through each level from start to finish.
I named A.L.E.X. after my nephew, and created a game I would want him to play. The lower levels of the games are suitable for children as young as six and the game is enjoyable for adults too!

Teachers

Introduction to Computer Programming: £1.99

If you want to learn computer programming, this is the place to start! Kevin and Bryan teach in a funny and exciting conversational style with visual explanations as they go. On occasion, they may actually tell a bad joke, sing poorly or include a ridiculous pop culture reference! But if that's ok, you will be rewarded with learning some very dry material, in a fun and exciting series of training videos.


Other Useful 'ICT' Apps

Typing

Typing Class: £1.49


Typing Class is a one touch solution to practice and improve your typing skills while you play.

Yes…This is the right app to get your typing speed and accuracy. Typing Class helps to learn fast typing with fun and makes you more productive. This terrific application comprises of games to learn typing, with loads of letters and words that challenge you to type and finish the game play.




Monster Typer: FREE



Alien monsters have invaded your world! It is up to you and your trusty sidesick to save the world by getting rid of these menacing monsters. Wipe them off the planet with a keyboard by typing the text found on the monsters, their one and only weakness. Type away quickly before they stop you in your tracks!


Bee Typing: FREE


Bee Typing offers an intuitive and innovative way to learn and practice their spelling skills. 

Parents can create different levels to suit different learning needs, or join in to play and have fun with their kids.





Ghost Typing: £2.99

Learning to master the keyboard of an iPad is made easier, with Ghost Type from demografix. An iPad typing tutor created with education in mind.






Spreadsheets

Numbers: £6.99

Numbers is the most innovative spreadsheet app ever designed for a mobile device. Built from the ground up for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, it lets you make compelling spreadsheets in minutes — with tables, charts, photos, and graphics — using just your fingers. Choose from over 250 easy-to-use functions. Enter data and explore results with sliders, steppers, pop-ups, and intelligent keyboards.




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Sunday, 7 April 2013

Tiny Tap: Progress for All Including SEN Pupils


Tiny Tap: Using the iPad to enhance learning opportunities
and progress for all pupils including those with Special Educational Needs


Introduction:
Tiny Tap is a free app produced by Tiny Tap Ltd. It is an excellent app for creating personal games and activities for children using the iPad. It allows anyone from toddlers to their grandparents to play and create simple educational games, simply by using their own photos and recording questions. Tiny Tap makes playing and learning engaging and personal! It’s free and resources made using it can be shared to multiple devices and with the wider community of Tiny Tap users. Activities can be completely personalised and pupil or teacher led.

The basic function of the app is that by adding spoken questions to a photograph and highlighting the answer, touch-screen games can be quickly and effortlessly produced and linked to any subject imaginable. Books, games, interactive stories, photo albums and classroom activities are just some of the ways this app can be used to make an impact in the classroom.
Early Years:
The app can be used to develop vocabulary, naming and labelling skills. Examples include recognising colours, animals, items of clothing, letters, and numbers, in fact absolutely anything. A photo or screen capture image can be imported into the app easily and questions added, such as “Where is the pink car?” or “Point to the number three.” Pupils can then complete the task and a score is given at the end allowing simple assessment to take place.
The app is so easy to use that very young children can easily create their own games and quizzes, linked to any topic at all. All they have to do is ask their own questions, highlight the answers and share their game with someone else. This, in turn, promotes speaking and listening opportunities, turn-taking and social development as well as the concept that using technology can be an interactive experience.

Pupils with Special Educational Needs:
Tiny Tap can really support the delivery of individual learning programmes and
IEPs ( Individual Education Plans).The focus can be set to meet an individual target and can be used to give pupils practice and to assess progress has been made before moving on to further learning. For example, a child who has needs to understand prepositions could be presented with a Tiny Tap game which contains a picture of everyday items and the questions could be based around their understanding of prepositions for example “What is under the chair?” This can be applied quickly and easily to a countless number of objectives and would very quickly lead to a large bank of interactive and engaging activities which are pitched at the precise level a pupil’s learning and are able to demonstrate progress. The app allows personalised learning resources to be used quickly, easily, regularly and in a fun and engaging way.
The Tiny Tap is also very powerful when teaching and practising sequencing skills. Pictures can be presented out of order based on a familiar story, an event or activity or a regular routine. The concept of ordering and sequencing can be practised and assessed in a range of contexts. Once more, the impact on learning when pupils have the opportunity to create their own activities to present to others is very powerful.
Other worthwhile uses with pupils who have Special Educational Needs include identification of emotions, fine-motor co-ordination and responding to increasingly complex instructions, for instance increasing the word-level of tasks in the game such as “Where is the small grey dog?” rather than “Where is the dog?” The potential for personalised perfectly matched engaging relevant learning activities for pupils with Special Educational Needs is exciting and absolutely huge.

Literacy: Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation
The name Tiny Tap may be misleading as the power of the app as a learning tool goes much further than Key Stage 1. As a spelling tool it can provide children valuable practice with games based around spelling errors. A list of spelling choices could be shown and the question could be “Which is the correct spelling?” or “Which word is spelt wrong?” Again, the app allows a score to be given so pupils can assess their own progress and teachers can keep track too, the app could be used to give spelling tests in this way.
To develop skills in the conventions of grammar sentences can be presented as part of the game with questions relating to word classification, “Which word is an adverb?” or “Where is the Proper Noun?” It all allows opportunities for practice, assessment and collaborative work. The pupils are able to create their own challenges for each other and the app enables effective, focused peer tutoring to take place.

Maths: Answer and Create questions
Once the idea of using the app to create interactive activities with assessment features the potential is limitless. In maths children can answer basic calculation questions which can be pitched at any level. One activity which has been effective is to have a picture of a 100 square and ask pupils to add and subtract different amounts. For example “Start at 50, add 17, subtract 20 ….”   Children can, of course create their own games and in doing so also gain maths practice through ensuring their answers are correct.

Further opportunities to make effective use of Tiny Tap
The app can be used to support anyone learning new vocabulary, in any language. Simply by using pictures of familiar places and people it can help pupils who speak English as and additional language, to gain confidence and understanding. The most effective use as a learning tool is when pupils record their own questions. It can be used to support the teaching and learning of Modern Foreign Languages, Scientific vocabulary and Geographical features. Literally….ANYTHING. In effect this app shows a way in which technology can easily be used to teach, assess, and provide valuable learning opportunities in any subject and context and at any level of learning.
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Sunday, 17 February 2013

Sharing a pupil blog with parents


Context: This blog describes and gives examples of how the use of blogging in school was shared with parents.

Our classes actually started blogging before the summer holidays when they were introduced to the class blog space www.year6scps.posterous.com They posted work to the blog “live” during a moving up transition day and were also introduced to their own learning wall, which would act as a paper based “blog” in the classroom. The blog posting was done by pupils using one shared iPad to photograph, crop and post work. Throughout the summer the children collected postcards, souvenirs, cinema tickets etc to display on their learning wall display was photographed with pupil iPods and posted to each child’s personal blog space.

Home Page of the Year 6 Blog
The class blog began to evolve quickly and it became clear that we needed to communicate the role, purpose and function of the blog to parents as questions were being asked about what the blog was and what it was for. We had always aimed to use the blog as a tool to make the walls of the classroom transparent and to allow a constantly updating account of exactly what was being achieved in class and communicating this to the parents/carers was crucial. We decided to arrange a “blogshow” and to invite parents/carers to experience a demonstration and explanation of the blog and why it mattered so much.

Along with much of our work, this also allowed the pupils to work independently and to produce spoken content alongside multimedia presentations, all of which would be presented to a real audience at the blogshow. The pupils selected different elements and aspects of the class blog and prepared their own presentations. These include iMovies, Garage Band Songs, Keynote presentations and art work. In addition, the children prepared the spoken part of their presentation using cue cards and rehearsals in front of peers (who were ready to give honest feedback).

The blog had quickly evolved to meet the needs of the class. As well as each pupil having their own space there were spaces for a weekly song choice, reading book management ( with google docs), Guest Marker feedback along with specific areas for science and maths. These are some elements of the blog the children chose to give presentations on:

What is a blog?


E-safety and blogging





Using the learning wall

Standards of work

How to post work

Using QR codes

Guest marker

Using the iPods


Every pupil spoke confidently about how blogging fitted in with their learning. The audio/visual content was displayed directly from the blog, showing the audience exactly how to navigate the content of the blog. The event was very well attended by parents/carers and feedback indicated strongly that the blogshow explained clearly to the parents how blogging was being used to enhance learning. The number of regular parent comments on the blog has been high and the feedback has been valuable to the children. The blogshow demonstrated that a pupil blog is a work in progress, a tool to generate feedback and suggestions for improvement. It is the feedback that has made the blog so powerful in its impact on learning.
Parents/carers attending the Year 6 'Blogshow' 



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Friday, 8 February 2013

Enhancing Topic Work (World War 2) Across the Curriculum Using iPods & iPads


In this post I've selected some examples of work that the pupils have produced in the World War 2 topic using their iPods and iPads to demonstrate and enhance their learning. It also includes the apps the pupils used and a brief description of the lesson. Any digital work the pupils created on their iPods was saved to their individual blog space http://6aclasswall.posterous.com. This meant any content the children had created on their iPods could be deleted once it had been posted to the blog, saving limited space on 8GB iPods. The pupils used a QR code in their World War 2 scrap books to link to their digital work on their blog space if this was appropriate.

Planning: Using iThought HD

The image below is an example of medium-term planning for part 1 of our topic work on World War 2. The app used to create this was iThought HD. 'Mind mapping enables you to visually organise your thoughts, ideas and information. Task lists, brainstorming, project planning, goal setting, concept mapping, course Notes/Revision, meeting Notes.' 







For each area of study in week 1: What I Know/What I Want To Know; The Rise of Adolf Hitler; War Is Declared, myself and Mr Williams looked at opportunities where the use of ICT (iPods) could enhance the learning and pupils understanding in these lessons. One of our focuses this year has been to give the pupils' work a real audience - for this particular week the pupils posted their completed work to a class blog (http://6aclasswall.posterous.com), direct from their iPods using the Posterous app. Pupils were asked comments on each others work and parents/carers were invited to leave comments. Other audiences for the children's work have included, guest markers, visitors to the Pupils Learning Walls, the local library and pupils in Year 5.
What I know/What I Want to Know

To introduce the first lesson of the topic myself and Mr Williams planned a lesson, which would inform us and the pupils their current level of understanding on the topic of World War 2 - 'What I Know/What I Want To Know.' By beginning the topic in this way it would immediately indicate any key misconceptions. In addition any areas the pupils showed a particular interest we could plan to incorporated into the topic and give the children an opportunity, once the they had the skills, to study an area of a topic independently.

The pupils were ask to scan a selection of QR Codes, using an app called Scan which linked to a selection of images about World War 2. To create the QR Codes the images were uploaded to a Flickr account, this was so that each picture had its own URL. The URL was copied into a QR creator app called QRafter, which created a QR code for that image.


Creating QR Codes in QRafter
Once the QR code had been scanned the pupils could then save the picture from Flickr to their camera roll and then edit it as required. From the camera roll the pupils uploaded the images into the Sonic Pics app. Sonic Pics turns your photographs into a narrative slideshow, very similar to Photostory that I've used in previous years with Year 6 (without the need for external microphones plugged into a PC). The pupils use Strip Designer to create a front page for their photo story and then simply recorded their voice over the selected photo, then moved onto the next picture. Below is an example of a pupil's work using the app Sonic Pics.




Strip Designer: The Rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party

For this task the pupils short video was shown 'The Rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party' to the pupils. The video was paused at key points to give the pupils the opportunity to make notes. The pupils were given the task of creating a timeline in the app Strip Designer that would sequence the key stages which led to the start of World War 2.
The Start of World War 2 using Strip Designer


Pages: Newspaper: War is Declared/Military and Civilian Deaths

For the two examples of work below the pupils used the Pages app. After drafting a newspaper on the day World War 2 was declared, the pupils used a blank canvas to create a newspaper front cover. This was an excellent opportunity for the pupils to become familiar with the features of Pages and a real chance for them to investigate the features of the app for themselves. It certainly tested the 3B4ME approach, but it was a great opportunity to identify experts in the room.


A screenshot of a pupil's newspaper created in Pages

Another way we have used the Pages app was to investigate military and civilian deaths during World War 2. In hindsight this was perhaps a task for the Numbers app, in which they could have used formulas to work out totals. Having said that though the pupils enjoyed investigating the statistics using the iPods calculator and producing the different graphs, adding colour, titles, axis etc that the Pages app generated from the table of result.

Table & Graph Created in Pages

Keynote - Biographies: Agent Zigzag

 As part of their studies in literacy the pupils investigated the life of Agent Zigzag (aka Eddie Chapman - a double agent in World War 2). The pupils watched a carefully edited documentary by the BBC; Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story, and made extensive notes. They were shown the basics of Keynotes and then asked to create a presentation to the rest of the class. Only showing the pupils the basics gave them scope to investigate some of the more advanced features of Keynote for themselves, which they loved to do, especially building in and out different effects to pictures, text and slides. The pupils took screenshots of their Keynote slides and then copied them into Pages. This was so that they could post their work to their blog space.
Screenshots of a Pupil's Slides created in Keynote

Silent Film - Biographies: Agent Zigzag

 The pupils used the Silent Film app on iPads to recreate the life of Agent Zigzag. They used the work they had done in Keynote and a writing task in Big Writing to help to structure the different aspects of their video. Below is an example of a group of pupils work.




Creative Book Builder - Biographies: Adolf Hitler & Winston Churchill

Other biographies the pupils have investigated were the lives of Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler. Half the class were given the role to create an iBook about the life of Winston Churchill and half were given the task to create an iBook about Adolf Hitler. Once the task was complete the pupils task was to share their expertise with the other half of the class who were studying the opposite biography. The pupils used the Creative Book Builder app to create their iBook.

The pupils were provided with a selection of QR Codes, which led them to appropriate mini-biography video of Adolf Hitler's and Winston Churchill's lives and appropriate websites. The pupils were asked to make extensive notes. QR Codes were chosen as opposed to allowing the pupils the search the internet for information for eSafety reasons. By using QR Codes the pupils could be directed to a particular areas of the internet to study independently.  Letting the pupils search the internet for facts about Adolf Hitler would had inevitably led to some inappropriate images or words, especially on Youtube. 

 The iBooks below are finished examples of pupils work, which can be downloaded as an ePub file. 

Click here to Download


iMovie (MacBook)/Pic Collage: World War 2 Tea Party

 Always one of the highlights of the school year is the annual 'World War 2 Tea Party', which is organised by Mrs Sellers. World war 2 veterans and evacuees are invited to the school to spend the afternoon being entertained by the pupils through songs and dance and have a 'cuppa' and a piece of cake. As part of the afternoon the pupils get chance to discuss with our guests their experiences and any artefacts during World War 2. A particular highlight this year was a veteran who was a Spitfire pilot, he brought memorabilia and taught the pupils how to fly an imaginary Spitfire. The days is always a very moving experience for everyone involved and often coincides with Remembrance Day. 

The pupils were in 4s or 5s and given one iPod per group to collect photos from the days events.

 To thank our guests for sharing their experiences, the pupils hand wrote thank you letters. They used a FREE app called Pic Collage to arrange their photos they'd collected from the afternoon into frames and attached these to their thank you letters. 

World War 2 Tea Party Pic Collage
Below is a iMovie created using photos the pupils took during the event. The video was produced with the help of the Digital Leaders in the school.



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Monday, 14 January 2013

Establishing Independent Learners using iPods Across the Curriculum

Context

Since I began teaching over seven ago I have always taught the Topic of World War 2. It's a subject I thoroughly enjoy teaching and always an area that the pupils show a real interest. The topic has developed from a stand alone 'History' topic loosely based on a scheme of work, to a topic which encompasses all areas of the curriculum - a creative curriculum.

With the introduction of 1:1 iPods in year 6 in September myself and my colleague Mr Williams began to plan a scheme of work for the World War 2 topic, looking in particular at how using technology could enhance an already engaging topic. Initially the aim was to build up the pupils ICT skills and confidence using the iPods and in particular the creative apps such as iMovie, Sonic Pics, Pages, Strip Designer, Creative Book Builder, Keynote etc (examples of pupils work using these apps can be found below). If we felt that using the iPods would enhance the learning process then we planned to use them. Ultimately, we wanted to develop the pupils skills on a variety of apps, so as the topic progressed the pupils would become as independent as possible and could then make informed decisions on which apps to use to aid and demonstrate their learning for a particular area of study.

3B4ME

To encourage the pupils to become independent learners in class we adopted an approach which is discussed in the excellent Lazy Teacher's Handbook by Jim Smith. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lazy-Teachers-Handbook-Independent/dp/1845902890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350249196&sr=8-1). The 3B4ME method encourages the pupils to find a solution independently, to any problems they encounter when they become stuck, without being spoon-fed the answer by the teacher. For example, after a short teacher demonstrated on iMovie, a child becomes stuck and doesn't know how to add a voice recording to one of their clips. Before they ask the teachers help they first had to spend some time trying to solve the problem themselves - the Brain. Next, they could tap the '?' in iMovie and see if the answer was there - the Book. If they were still unsure they could ask their partner or another child in the room - the Buddy. Often in the lessons 'experts' would be identified and the pupils could seek advice from them, if of course they'd gone through the previous steps. The first few weeks of using this method with the children was challenging because the pupils, if they became stuck always wanted the Boss (the teacher). Jim Smith's advice was to persevere, and persevere we did. By constantly reminding the pupils of 3B4ME rule (see poster below) and by asking them for evidence of the Brain, Book and Buddy phases before the Boss, the pupils began to realise that it was more effort on their part to ask the teacher for help! If there were occasions when there were no 'experts' in the room this just became a teaching point for the whole class.

Poster created using Phoster app


Using this approach, in the course of a few weeks we began to notice a shift in the dynamics of the classroom and the speed at which the pupils were learning. This accelerated learning had a huge impact across the curriculum, especially science, examples of which will be shared in a future blog post. As the pupils skills developed using the iPods and apps, and as they became more responsible for their own learning, we were no longer needed to spend as much time at the front of the class telling them about 'why food was rationed?' or 'why gas masks were issued, but never needed?' they had the independence and the skills on the iPods to find out the answers to these questions themselves and to demonstrate their learning by producing creative content with a range of apps.

The pupils work could then be posted to their own space on a blog (http://6aclasswall.posterous.com) using an app called Posterous. The pupils really wanted to impress their audience, therefore standards of work were high. The pupils audience included fellow pupils in their class, blogging schools (USA, Australia and Guernsey), teachers, parents and grandparents, all of whom have left comments on their work.


Part 2 will showcase some example of the pupils work that they’ve created on the iPods to demonstrate their learning in the topic of World War 2.


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Sunday, 25 November 2012

Strip Designer: 10 easy ways to get started with iPads/iPods in the primary classroom


Context: Many schools are starting their own iPad journey and often teachers ask for ideas about which apps to use and how to use them. As a good starting point, Strip Designer is easy to use, powerful and versatile. There are countless ways in which it could be used to promote learning and to add quality and variety to presentation of work. Once teachers have started using it, the practical ideas keep on coming. There is nothing here that couldn’t be achieved with pencil and paper but in terms of speed of productivity, ability to edit content and quality of presentation this app can really enhance pupil output in a lesson. Here are some examples of things we have tried.

1: Title Page

One of the most simple but effective uses of Strip Designer is to create title pages for work done in other apps. Children of all ages can easily add a picture to a simple one frame comic strip and then use the tools to add text boxes, speech bubbles, captions and effects. Amongst other things we have used this to produce titles for books made in Creative Book Builder, titles for Keynote presentations and title pages for classroom wall displays. The basic function of Strip Designer remains the same when applied to other uses in terms of combining pictures and comic style effects. Internet pictures can easily be added to the camera roll for inclusion in comic strips.
Title Page for a Controllable Vehicle Project
2: Sequence of instructions (How to...)

An annotated picture sequence of instructions has so many applications. In mathematics pupils complete a “How to...” comic strip when they have discovered a new technique or mastered a particular skill. This can be applied to any other area of learning where step-by-step text/picture combinations can be used for pupils to demonstrate their learning, or to help with new learning. Sequenced pictures are included in comic strips with as many frames as required along with explanatory speech bubbles and captions. This can work both ways as teachers can prepare instructions in comic strip format for pupils.
How to work out 9 times tables
3: Story board

The APP is perfect for planning movies, adverts and other film sequences. Pictures can be inserted indicating planned scenes and film sections and annotations through notes can provide further details and give depth to the plan. Scenes and ideas can be easily reordered and changed as plans take shape.
The Edward Jenner Story

4: Historical timeline

A visual account of a historical sequence of events can be presented in detail using Strip Designer. Dates and summaries of key events can be added allowing the reader to follow the historical developments in sequence. Children really relate to this format and the comic strip features allow the pictures to show what key historical characters may have been saying/thinking at particular points in history.
The Road to World War 2

5: Diary of a visit/event

The portability of the iPod allows pictures to be taken and editing to take place in any location. A school visit or sporting event can be photographed to give a pictorial presentation which can be used back at school for follow up writing activities, spoken presentations to an audience or display on a website/blog.
Guest Speakers at 'We Can Be Champions!'

 6: Report of a scientific investigation

If a child takes pictures of the various stages of a science experiment, Strip Designer is a useful APP to use to present them. If pupils are developing skills in explanation and reporting the language opportunities for time connectives “First I,..” “Next the,...” etc works very well in with the strong visual elements of the APP. Speaking and Listening progress is made when children use their comic strip style investigation record as a prompt when explaining their procedures and findings to others.


7: Vocabulary chart (MFL)

When learning Modern Foreign Languages, banks of vocabulary can be created by pupils easily with Strip Designer. In French dictionary lessons the pupils have selected themes such as sports/pets and copied images to the iPod’s camera roll before inserting them into comic strips. The children have added the correct English and French vocabulary and are building a collection of useful and relevant vocabulary.
Modern Foreign Languages - Pets
8: Planning prompt for writing
On way the APP can support writing, particularly for children with memory and sequencing difficulties, is that it can be used to prepare writing prompts for pupils in a visual format. Teaching assistants have worked with pupils talking through a plan for a story and recording the plan as a sequence of pictures in strip designer, either using internet images or drawings. These can easily be numbered and annotated allowing a child to write a carefully sequenced story with a visual plan.


Screenshots with caption, used as a writing prompt.
9: Weekly weather record

A weekly weather report can be compiled using Strip Designer. Each day a pupil needs to take a picture of the weather and add it to a comic strip. Notes can be easily added detailing temperature, wind speed, precipitation data etc. The completed comic strips can be used for data handling activities or could be a stimulus for report writing based on the weather.


10: Collecting opinions

Recently the children were preparing and planning to write a balanced argument on whether or not there should be a charge to visit art galleries. (This was part of our Guest Marker project and the marker was the curator of our local art gallery) In order to collect different points of view to include in their writing, the children asked each other (and staff members) what their initial thoughts were. Each person was photographed with the iPod using the Strip Designer APP, and the children summarised their views using speech bubbles.
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