#activity spot

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Send picture to students for annotation, drawing & more

You can create an activity on Frolyc to send pictures to student app. Students can view the picture, create annotations on it, can label it, can draw and write over it. With such an activity, you could

In Science, you could send diagrams to students for labeling.

In Engineering, you could send a machine for students to label the parts.

In Math, you could send photographs of worksheets that you already have, for them to work on.  

In ELA, ask them to label pictures using nouns and adjectives or write sentences describing the picture.

I am sure you can think of plenty more ideas!

Here are the mechanics of how to create such an activity:

1. In the authoring interface, choose “Drawing” activity type.

2. Click on the image and search for an image that you want to use. You can also upload one that you already have.

3. Write a question or prompt accompanying the picture.

4. Publish the activity to the catalog and preview it to see how it would appear in student view.

5. Here is an example of a student’s response for the example activity we just created.

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New Features In Activity Spot version 1.0 - Now in the App Store

We are excited to announce new feature updates to Activity Spot v1.0! 

1. Revealing Answers

Student: "What are the possible answers to this question? I can’t learn from this because its not telling me what I am doing wrong. Give me some instant feedback."

If your students are saying this, then we have addressed this. All activities with answer key now has an “animated reveal”! Students can see what the answers are, learn and improve.

2. Saving progress within an activity

Student: "Common Core wants me to go back & forth from text to questions. I need to be able to look at text or watch a video yet again before answering. Those PARCC & SBAC tests need me to do that. How do I use Activity Spot to prepare for those?"

Here is another student request that has been addressed. Students can now navigate back and forth between answering questions and reading text or watching video and then get back to answering. Activity Spot saves progress within an activity, saving student work as they navigate between the many activity pages. 

3. Partial Credit

Student: "What! I got a score of 0 because I missed one answer?!"

If your students felt this way, then this has been fixed as well. All activities including concept maps, sequencing & cause-effect organizers now have partial credit. Give your Ss that little motivation to reach perfect score in small steps.

4. Auto-save open ended answers

Student: "I typed my answer... I did. Not sure why you are not seeing it" 

It was frustrating to type an entire passage and lose it because you forgot to touch "Save". Now, with "auto-save" teachers instantly see Ss writing even if students forget to touch that "Save" button.

5. Power Vocabulary Using Clues In Word Search

This brand new feature was asked for by High school science teacher and technology coach Sweta Patel. She wanted to let her students learn and practice academic vocabulary alongside other contextual activities. This is also a powerful & super fun way to build academic vocabulary in any subject area. Click here to read details on this feature.

Update (or download) the latest version of Activity Spot from the App Store now to avail these super useful & productive features. 

Please leave a review for Activity Spot in the App Store. It helps other teachers understand the app better!

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Power & Infuse Academic Vocabulary Using Clues In Word Search

We are excited to present a new feature in Activity Spot's word search! 

You may now specify definitions, clues or hints to vocabulary words, giving students the challenge to not just find the words but to deduce the word before locating it on the grid. Use this feature to make vocabulary learning more fun and challenging.

Here are some activities we have put together to highlight this feature. Try these activities out and then create your very own. What you create can be aligned with your current lessons. Make it contextual and fun.

Be sure to update your version of Activity Spot to v1.0 to enable this feature.

4 examples of "academic vocabulary search"

Elementary School Geometry Vocabulary

  2. Elementary School Geography Vocabulary

  3. Middle School Gods Of Greek Mythology Vocabulary

4. High School Genetics Vocabulary

Here are the steps to create your own:

Login to Frolyc and access the authoring tool.

Create an activity and choose the "Word Search" activity type.

Select a grid size from the possible sizes (3x3, 5x5, 10x10, 12x12) depending on your grade level and length of vocab words.

Enter the words and clues to the words. 

Publish the activity & assign to students.

Have students work on it on Activity Spot version 1.0 and above.

Frolic!

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Interview with Teacher-Author Of Common Core aligned learning activities

Teaching is inherently a creative profession. Successful teachers create or find learning material to achieve student learning outcomes in relevant, engaging and inspiring ways. 

We interviewed a teacher-author Emily Kissner to understand why she creates activities on Frolyc for her students & how she uses them in her class.

  Visit Emily's blog for teaching ideas on expository text.

Why do you create activities for your students?

Emily: I love to see students learning and engaged, and I like to offer them choices in reading and writing. By creating activities, I can make sure that I am addressing student needs and even interests while aligning the content to the learning objectives I have for them and the standards I need to meet.

How do you use Frolyc & Activity Spot iPad app?

Emily: Frolyc allows me to publish my activities to iPad in real-time. So, I can tailor the activities according to my lesson schedules.

 I can gather together texts and videos on a topic and design questions and open-ended responses that guide students into higher level thinking. I can also give students who need more time with a concept the opportunity to revisit and review important ideas.

Q: How many iPads do you have & how do you use it?

Emily: I have 2 iPads...and kids usually use them in pairs. I use them during classroom transitions, independent reading time, arrival and departure. Now that it's become a routine, kids are asking to use it!

Q: How do students react to your activities?

Emily: They love it. Here is a specific example. We were discussing oceans in class & I had created an activity on oceans. The activity involved writing. Most kids need a lot of help when it comes to writing. One kid in my class wrote much more on the device than he ever does in class! I was just amazed at the depth of his response and how it verges on the poetic. Here is his response:

I have noticed that my students especially like it when I add things that we've already covered in class. For example, we watched the "Prepositions" video in class...students are choosing to access that activity and try it out again because they like the song so much!  

Q: What advice do you have for teachers starting to use Activity Spot?

Emily: Think of how Activity Spot can solve problems in your classroom. A student who is not engaged during independent reading time, a student who already knows a great deal of content, a student who did poorly on a recent assessment, a topic that kids were really excited about but that you just can't spend much time on.

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A teacher's blog on using Frolyc for student reflection

Miss. Brink and her students tested our student authoring feature towards the end of last school year. 

Read her post on how she got started: http://missbrink.blogspot.com/2014/04/learning-to-frolyc.html

and her post on how her students used the Activity Spot app in their Tinkering project:

http://missbrink.blogspot.com/2014/04/day-1-tinkering-and-frolycing.html

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A way to differentiate instruction on iPad(s)

Students have different needs and abilities. The more you differentiate and address a student's needs, the more engaged a student is in class. One way to do this is to setup student groups based on a certain criteria. E.g. group by reading level, group by quickness in grasping mathematical concepts, group by need for repetitive exercises etc. Once you have these groups, you can tailor and assign content that works well for each student group.

In this post, we show you how to you can achieve this using Frolyc website & Activity Spot iPad app.

Step 1: Setup student groups

Step 2: Create or search the activity catalog for content that addresses a differentiated criteria. 

If you look at the details of each activity, you will see that they differ only in the reading level.

Step 3: Assign each activity to specific student groups. Or, assign each activity to specific students. 

Your task is now done.

When your students enter their access code(s) on Activity Spot iPad app, they will only see the activities assigned to them.

That's it. Hope this mechanism comes of use to you as you try to engage every learner in your classroom.

Also click here to read a teacher's post on poetry activities for differentiated learning. 

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Teachers who create - Be Inspired & Inspire Others!

Frolyc is about empowering classroom teachers with tools to create lesson-based activities for their students. Our belief is that classroom teachers know their students the best, can differentiate and foster learning in ways that pre-made content cannot.

(Photo: Kyla Uribe's class using Activity Spot app. Thank you, Kyla, for sharing this!)

In this post, we put the spotlight on five awe-inspiring teachers who are actively creating activities for their students and have integrated Activity Spot iPad app into their daily teaching routines. 

Emily Kissner: 4th Grade teacher in PA

https://www.frolyc.com/author/7/

Sharla Wieting: 5th Grade teacher in TX

https://www.frolyc.com/author/122/

Melissa Vandermolen: Technology teacher & tutor in CA

https://www.frolyc.com/author/25/

Kyla Uribe: 1st Grade teacher in CO

https://www.frolyc.com/author/589/

Donna Miller: Librarian teacher in MA  

https://www.frolyc.com/author/66/

Click on the links below the teacher's info to view the activities they have created. Are you inspired? 

Yes, you can create activities too! Here is how you can get started:

1. Think of a topic you are teaching.

2. Think of a question on the topic that involves writing or drawing.

3. Create an activity by using this question as the basis. It is as simple as typing the question into a form.

4. Publish to student iPads and have your students interact

5. Experiment, explore and see what you can do with Frolyc's authoring tool.

Get started today!

 - Niru

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Poetry Activities for Differentiated Learning

    When my students and I explore poetry, I love to go back and forth between whole-class experiences and individualized learning. When we read poems as a whole class, all students can join in the conversation and learning. When students read on their own, they have a more personal experience.

    The Activity Spot app is a great way to structure individualized poetry experiences. Teachers can blend poems with questions, concept maps, and videos. These activities can be assigned to individual students, or become engaging partner and collaborative activities. 

    Here are ready-made poetry activities for Activity Spot. But don't stop with these! With Frolyc, you can create your own activities to publish to student iPads. You can publish the activity to share only with your own students, or with others.

Emily Dickinson

This grade 7 activity builds background knowledge about Emily Dickinson's life and her poetry. It's more of an invitation to reading poetry and may help some reluctant readers to see the value in Emily Dickinson's works.

Poetry: Comparing Texts

This grade 5 activity includes 3 texts about the northern cardinal.

Comparing Texts: Poetry and Informational Text

This grade 5 activity includes a classic poem and a new informational text. Questions focus on interpreting metaphors and comparing texts.

Understanding Similes

Written for students in grades 3-4, this activity introduces similes and has students read and interpret similes in isolation and in connected texts.

Speaker in Poetry

The speaker in a poem is the individual who seems to be saying the lines. In this activity for readers in grades 3-4, readers will learn how to use text clues to find the speaker in a poem, listen to a classic poem read aloud, and compare the speakers in two poems.

Speaker Attitude

What is the speaker's attitude in a poem? This follow-up to "Speaker in Poetry" for students in grades 3-4 helps readers to use text clues to identify the speaker's attitude.

Sound Devices in Poetry

Help readers in grades 4-5 understand the sound devices of rhyme scheme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. Students will see examples in poems and videos.

Poetry Assessment

Looking to see what students can do on their own? This poetry assessment for students in grades 4-5 includes three poems with questions related to figurative language, topics, and inferences. 

Robert Louis Stevenson

Written for readers in grade 8, this activity includes a biography of Robert Louis Stevenson, a video of one of his poems, and questions to help readers analyze the similarities between one of Stevenson's poems and essays.