Weekly Tech-y News May 14-18
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Posts
Bunny Collages in PicCollage EDU
Let your students create these clever bunny collages as a way to publish a writing project, and become familiar with tools in PicCollage EDU . To create this, have students use the web search tool to search for grass, bunnies, chocolates, etc. They can double tap the grass picture to set as the background of their collage. Remind them to add "png" to the end of the image search to find images with transparent backgrounds. They can use the FREE Easter-themed stickers in PicCollage EDU, the doodle tool, and the text tool to add additional details and words to their collages. When finished, have students save to Seesaw to share!
Directed Drawing - Tech It Up!
Use this adorable FREE directed drawing activity from First and Kinder Blue Skies and let students draw digitally using an app like Doodle Buddy or PicCollage EDU. Then, they can add to Seesaw and use the text tools to write a poem, tell a story or add a reflection. Super cute and simple St. Patrick's Day idea! CLICK HERE for a bunny directed drawing that you can use for Easter!
Gingerbread Men in PicCollage Kids
This was such a fun, simple way to introduce students (and teachers!) to PicCollage Kids , and the concept of setting an image as a background and having students complete a project. You could either send students an image (via Seesaw or AirDrop), or let them use the web search tool in PicCollage to find a blank gingerbread man template. I like the idea of using Seesaw Activities to distribute the image to students, plus give them directions. Teachers can give students audio AND visual directions on how to complete the task in PicCollage, then upload to Seesaw under Activities & it will be organized if you tag a skill or folder. I also like that when using Activities, I get the grid view where I can see which students have completed the task, and which I'm still waiting on. Here's what you'll see: Here's what they see: To access this Seesaw activity and add to your own library, click here. Once the image is on the iPads, students open PicCollage Kids and set the g...
Thankful Cornucopias in PicCollage!
Let your students make a cornucopia of thankfulness using the apps PicCollage or PicCollage Kids ! Students will add the cornucopia image to PicCollage and set as the background of their collage. Then, they'll use the web search tools, drawing, text and stickers to add things they are thankful for. This is a fun activity to personalize and share what they are grateful for. Click the image below to grab a copy to share with your students! This idea was inspired by the amazing Erintegration ! This also works great in Seesaw activities! Check out how I added directions to make this an independent project for students.
Create Student Avatars Using PicCollage Kids
In Mrs. Podoll's 2nd grade we used Erintegration's awesome idea for creating student avatars using the app PicCollage Kids . Allowing students to customize their avatars for use in Seesaw and other programs that require a profile picture gives them ownership of their journal, as well as helps protect student privacy. Plus, this was a really fun activity for learning how to use PicCollage Kids and encouraging student creativity. Read this post on the PicCollage Educators blog to find out how to make them. Continue reading to see some more amazing examples from Mrs. Podoll's class! Love the creativity shown! How to Change Seesaw Icons: When students were finished, they uploaded their completed collages to Seesaw. To make these the student icons in Seesaw, the teacher downloaded each image using the three dots, then in the Manage Students settings we were able to change each student's icon. Watch this quick video to see how:
Spooky Good Costume Collages!
Fall is such a busy and fun time of year, and I know my kindergartners were always super motivated to learn when I could somehow incorporate one of their favorite holidays - Halloween - into my lessons! They love the excitement of Halloween and it helps them to become engaged in so many learning activities. Using the app PicCollage Kids is a fantastic and easy way to let your students illustrate their Halloween costumes and share with the class, and this simple activity could be tied to many different concepts in your classroom. To make the collages, have students open PicCollage and use the photo tool to take a selfie. All you want in the collage is their face, so they should then double tap their selfie and carefully use the clip tool to trim around the image so they only have their face. Pinch and drag the image so it�s the right size and positioned above the middle of the collage (they need lots of room to draw their costumes)! Next, have them use the doodle tool to draw thei...
Apple Clips + Pic Kids App Smash!
I discovered two awesome tools this summer that I am super excited about: 1) the Apple Clips app and 2) the doodle tool that�s now featured in the app Pic Kids . The ability to doodle, write or draw directly onto a collage opens up so many opportunities for our kids to learn and create using Pic Kids. The short Clips video below shares some ideas for integrating the doodle tool into teaching and learning. This quick video tutorial was made using the Apple Clips app, as well as collages made in Pic Kids, then saved to the camera roll of my iPad and uploaded into the Clips app. The ability to create a collage in Pic Kids, save it, then change something small or add a little detail (without having to start over from the beginning) makes it a perfect partner for creating in Clips or other video making tools. Your students could easily tell stories by creating illustrations in Pic Kids, then uploading and narrating using the Apple Clips app. This could also be a fun way for teachers to shar...
Last Weekly Tech-y Newsletter of the Year!
Click the image to download a PDF. Don't forget this fun end of the year Seesaw Go game! Print, hang around the room and let your kids reflect on the year using Seesaw tools. bit.ly/EOYSeesaw
Mother's Day PicCollage
We converted this fun Mother's Day idea into a digital project using the FREE app PicCollage Kids . The first graders loved making these fun keepsakes for mom, then sharing onto their Seesaw journals. Keep reading to find out how we did it! Students worked together to take photos of one another blowing kisses to mom, then double tapped the photo and used the clip tool to crop their photo. Students then positioned their cropped photo into the corner, and chose a solid color background for their collage by tapping + and opening the background options. To add their hearts, students used the web search tool and searched "heart png". Adding the png allows them to search for images with transparent backgrounds that look nicer in their pictures. I also gave the students options of using a fun trick I learned from Anita Goodwin . In the web search tool, they searched for scrapbook paper. Once they chose a few fun patterns, they added these to their collages and used the clip to...
