Sunday, August 2, 2015

News-o-Matic App and iPad Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Wondering if you are all ready to go back to school. I return back to school in about a week. I'm in the midst of planning and reviewing some long range plans. With each new year come some brand new procedures, materials, routines, and ideas. 

I thought I'd share about an app I’ve found that I will be using with the class this year. It's called News-o-matic Daily.



It’s a daily newspaper with 5 featured current events each day for kids. The articles and activities support the Common Core Standards. Children can interact with the features by responding to questions, creating drawings, watching videos, playing games, and more.

Each feature includes the article with a “Read to Me” option, a video clip, slide show, a highlighted fact, and “Act,” which is a related activity. The students can look at interactive maps that not only relate to the articles, but also integrate geography and math.

The children can even enter a newsroom and respond to the articles by writing to Russ, the Editor-in-Chief. They can write about their reactions to and feelings about the stories. Students can also create a drawing that illustrates the article.

Wacky Week is another feature. These are short, fun, “wacky” stories children read about that happened during the week.
News-o-Matic has school editions that allow you to tailor the readings to each student’s reading level. Home versions can be useful for homeschoolers or children who want to learn more about world events.  

I plan on using it whole class during the year. I think it will make a meaningful beginning of the day activity. My hope is that students will find that non-fiction reading is exciting and that reading the articles will extend their awareness of the world around them.

For those of you who may not have an iPad or would love to win another one for FREE, the iTeach First bloggers are having a HUGE giveaway. This is what one lucky winner will win:

iPad Air2, Case, Stylus pen, and iTunes card

Enter starting today, Sunday, August 2nd. You can enter thru Saturday, August 8th. Find out the details and enter to win HERE!

Good luck and happy back to school planning!

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