Getting Your Students Started with iPads FREEBIE

The beginning of the year is quickly approaching, and I know many of us are lucky enough to have iPads in the classroom! 

At the beginning of the school year, I like to get my students acquainted with the iPads by doing short, and simple projects. 

One function of the iPad that my students use constantly throughout the day is the camera, so I want to make sure they understand how to use it (not that it's hard; but taking the time to make sure they're comfortable with it now will make my life much easier in the future.) So, I have them do the 'iPad Camera' project so they can "get to know" their camera. It's basically a checklist of steps to move through and includes taking pictures of their friends (and we have a big discussion about how it's always polite to ask someone permission before you take their photo), flipping the camera to take a picture of themselves, using the video function, deleting photos, and creating an album in Photos. These are all things that my students are going to need to know how to do later on, so this project is quick, easy, and fun for them! 



The second project I have the students complete is the 'All About My Friend' project. Students interview a friend, and then use Keynote to create a presentation to share with the class about their new friend. I want the kids to learn to use Keynote for future projects, AND this activity takes the place of the "Me Bags" I hated used to do. This project is pretty straight forward, but does take a little bit of time for new 2nd graders. I always have my students complete the outline first, since an outline always leads to a better quality final project. 



I also included some friendly reminders for this project:



It's always extremely frustrating fun to see the kids learn to navigate Keynote and learn about all of the things it can do. An important question I find myself asking is "How does this enhance your project and purpose?" In other words, do those 5 minute flames in conjunction with dog barking sounds at every single transition really help your purpose...???  

Feel free to download the projects HERE! I'd LOVE to hear how you get your students started on iPads! PLEASE please PlEaSe leave a comment with ideas!!! :) 
I need 'em!!!! 

23 comments

  1. This is so fun! Thank you for sharing. I'm adding it now to my first week of plans. :)

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  2. Thank you for these!! My kids are getting iPads in January and although we will be in the middle of the year. These projects will be great to do to get them used to using iPads! Thanks again for the freebies!
    A Tall Drink of Water

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  3. I wish I had iPads so bad. I am still going to remember all the little things I hear and see about iPads, because you never know when you could get some. Thanks for sharing.

    Jamie
    teachingtidbit.blogspot.com

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  4. ooo! I pinned this for later, hoping to have iPads in the classroom by Christmas! Fingers crossed :) Thanks for sharing!

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  5. These sound fun! Do you have any tips for how to get students acquainted with iPads when we have 6 for a class of 32?

    -Dani
    A Place to Thrive

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Dani! Students can always work in groups to complete projects, or they iPads can be used at a center where students rotate through! :)

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  6. I was so excited to be directed to this post today! I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my 6 ipads! I am now your latest follower and hope you blog about your ipad use often--I can't wait to dig in, and your freebies are SO WONDERFUL! I look forward to reading more!

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  7. Wow! I love it!! I am fortunate enough to have a 1:1 classroom this year with iPads. I have been racking my brain on lists of what I will need them to do first. I am quite impressed that your 2nd graders accomplished this task. I teach 5th and know that I will have various levels of students' abilities. To try and gage where they all are, I have started an inventory on technology to give the first day, very interactive. I am thinking of creating poster size questions/topics and having the students put a sticky note on the level of experience/expertise they have with that topic. I will definitely add this camera project to the list. When I come up with more, I will share them with you. I know so many people who keep saying, "I can't wait to see what you're going to do with the 1:1 classroom. It makes it exciting, but a bit scary since we are basically creating as we go!!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Susan

    LopezLandLearners

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    1. That's a great idea Susan! It's so important to understand where the students are at, especially when implanting technology! I love the idea of seeing how comfortable students are with the technology, too! Thanks for the suggestion! :)

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  8. Hi Sandy,

    Your ipad projects came at a great time for me. I too will have 1:1 ipads and now that my room is ready, I've been thinking about some introductory activities like yours. These are great. One idea that I'm working on is a grid for that traditional first day activity, "Find Someone Who..." . I will make the grid in google docs, share with the class, they will download as a pdf and put into the Explain Everything app. Once it's in the app, they can circulate the room and find someone who "saw Despicable Me 2" this summer & have that person sign that square on their ipad. Lots of good learning in this activity, plus fun circulating and talking about summer activities. Good luck!

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    1. Great idea! I love this Deb! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!

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  9. Loved loved your ideas!! I am always looking for back to school ideas when uisng mobile devices. I am a 1:1 ipad classroom so this will be perfect for the first week of school!!! Thx so much for sharing

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  10. I love this! Thanks for sharing.

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  11. You are so smart! I've already downloaded. My 4th graders would love this and what a great way to incorporate all those B2S activities while secretly teaching them to use tool they will need later. Haha... I love it!

    Amanda
    The Teaching Thief

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  12. Looove this, Sandy! What a great way to introduce students to iPads and Keynote! We are going to have an iPad cart in our building this year, so I can't wait to explore iPads more with my students. Thanks for sharing this as a freebie!

    Kate
    EduKate and Inspire

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  13. Sandy,

    Excellent post. I'm sharing this tomorrow at an iPad class. I'm always looking for great posts from teachers---so other teachers know exactly what can be done. I'm actually sharing this with Special Ed. Teachers, so they should be pretty pumped...plus they can get a freebie out of it too.

    This would go perfect with my Secrets of the iPad link up I just got going too: http://digitaldivideandconquer.blogspot.com/2013/08/secrets-of-ipad-link-up-story.html

    This is awesome
    Matt
    Digital: Divide & Conquer
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

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  15. Thank-you so much for sharing this. We don't have ipads in first grade yet, but our 5th grade buddies do and we have been looking for something they could do together.

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