Not a Box…

I took a book idea that my friend Sean Sweeney (Speech Techie) shared at the ASHA convention in November. He had many great ideas on pairing apps with literacy (books). Of course I added my own twists.

1. I chose the book Not a Box by Antoinette Portis.

2. I read it to some of my K-2nd grade students. We worked on making predictions, using our imaginations and thinking outside as well a inside of the box- I couldn’t resist. 

3. Then I added a twist by giving each student a sheet of paper that I had drawn a “box” on it.

4. They were asked to turn their box into something from their own imagination.

5. Per Sean’s suggested pairing we used the Toca Boca Robot Lab  and Moonbeeps-Gizmo apps once their creations were completed. This was a fun way to work on turn taking, compromising and requesting. The other app suggestion (from Sean)  is Doddle Buddy.

6. I displayed their creations along with the book and of course a cardboard “not a box” on the cabinets outside my room.

Here are the final results:

 

A rocketship, a spaceship, a house, a pool, another house, a treehouse boat

 

A house, a monstersaurus, a car, a zombie, a treehouse, a TV

Bonus: To add another twist I plan on gathering a plethora of different kinds and sizes of boxes to make creations that are not a box! Think of all the language skills we can build on in this activity- vocabulary, sequencing, requesting, comparing, contrasting, etc. Three apps I plan to use with this activity are :Adobe Voice, Go Sequencing and Making Sequences . I can take pictures of each step and create a sequencing activity within these apps.

What twists have you added to a book or app?

Cindy