Letter from Michelle Obama

Every year students across the nation read the book "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown. In one particular chapter of the book, Stanley (who was flattened by a bulletin board) gets mailed to visit relatives in California after his parents realize mailing him would be cheaper than buying an airplane ticket. At the completion of the unit students mail a Flat Stanley of their own to a location in the United States. Our third grade students were excited with all the responses they received from various areas of the country.

This year a very lucky third grader recieved a response email from Michelle Obama after sending Flat Stanley to the White House. In Mrs. Obama's letter she mentioned taking Flat Stanley to visit their vegetable garden, to meet their dog Beau, and even into the Oval Office! All the students at Bon Air (and teachers!) were thrilled with the first lady's very personal return letter.

Ebook Apps for Android Tablets

Technology Academy primary grade students use a KUNO tablet for their daily lessons. One of the ways teachers integrate reading on the devices is by using eBooks during silent reading time or during work stations. Here is a kindergarten student using one of our favorite free eBook apps to learn about the animals in the sea.

Some of our favorite Android ebook apps are


iStorybooks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TabTale Books

Storybird

 

Storybird allows students and teachers to create digital stories with illustrations from professional artists. This webtool can spark imagination and creativity with students of many ages. It is also a great tool to integrate technology, writing, and reading
into one lesson.

Students as authors can focus on creating stories with complex sentences, descriptive vocabulary, logical order, and strong voice. Storybird provides the illustrations allowing the writier to focus more closely on their words and language used in their story. Upon completion, students have created something of their own with a sense of ownership and pride.

This website also allows students to become readers and critics of other student work. Storybird offers the opportunity for students to comment on other stories by browsing the online library. Students can provide positive feedback and offer ideas for improvement. This is a great way for students to discuss other author's work, make connections to their own lives, and comment about parts of the story they found interesting. Students can view stories published by other peers in their class or see stories from all over the country.

Storybird also has pricing plans to purchase downloads, paperbacks, and hardcover books of student stories starting $1.99.

Check out some students in Mrs. Fulk's third grade class creating their first digital Storybird story.

 

Examples of Book Covers

Community Day

 

The first grade classrooms hosted a Community Helpers Day. All of the classes welcomed many visitors who work in our community.  They were visited by a firefighter, a paramedic, a soldier, a doctor, a police officer and a nurse. The students were able to talk on the radio and tell what they wanted to be when they grew up.  They learned how to keep their hearts healthy. They listened to their heartbeat and learned how paramedics save people when their heart stops. The firefighter shared fire safety skills with the group. The soldier let them try on parts of his uniform and told about his service in Afghanistan.

Listening to stories

Trying on a firefighters helmet.

 

This student tried on the firefighters jacket.

Here one of the students in Mrs. Ralstin's class dressed up for the special day.

 

Listening to a heartbeat

 

 

 

Welcome Back and Superintendent Christmas Card Winner!

Welcome back from Winter Break. Everyone at Bon Air Elementary Tech Academy hopes you had a wonderful holiday season and New Year. We are anxious and ready to get 2013 started! Prior to Christmas Break one of our very own students, Jaylee Copeland, was selected as the superintendent’s Christmas Card winner. This card was professionally printed and was sent from Dr. Hauswald to school employees and other members of the community. Jaylee was presented a framed copy of her Christmas Card and additional paper copies to send out to her family and friends. Jaylee’s Christmas card included an illustrated reindeer flying over a grassy hilltop with green and red lights twinkling in the sky.

Congratualations Jaylee!!

Sandy Hook

The Bon Air Family sends our sympathies and prayers to the families and community of Newtown, Connecticut. Our students and staff will continue to keep those you lost in our hearts. Let the loved ones you lost be forever remembered.

Sign the National Sandy Hook Sympathy Card here. http://www.causes.com/actions/1715318

Bon Air Teachers attached angels with the names of the students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary that lost their lives so suddenly to 26 balloons. Each Bon Air Teacher released a balloon at 9:30 am Friday December 21st in the victims memory.

Tumblebooks

Tumblebooks is an online collection of animated, talking ebooks. The Tumblebook Library includes hundreds of many well-known authors and book titles that kids will enjoy. Tumblebooks also offers games, puzzles, videos, read alongs, and other activities. Students from K-5 will enjoy browsing this expansive collection of both fiction and nonfiction books, many of which are Accelerated Reader titles we have in our own Bon Air library. This would be a great resource for silent reading time or to use as a station in your classroom.

Tumblebooks is free through the Kokomo Public Library's electronic resources. Click the link below to be directed to the KHCPL site. Browse through the Catalogs section for Electronic Resources and select Tumblebook library.

Check out one of our third graders using Tumblebooks.