How do I...?

Words Their Way Using Google Docs

Wait, what? I can do that?! Yes! And, it's SO easy. I have differentiated my groups but saying the sentences over and over is annoying, tiring and time consuming. The link below is an example of how I provide this to my students. 
Step 1: Make a google doc and give clear directions. 
Step 2: Record your sentences using http://vocaroo.com/ - It's free and so easy. I say my sentences three times in case students struggle to hear. This also gives them a chance to listen to it again and again! Once recorded it gives you the link to the recording. 
Step 3: Use CTRL + K (it's a shortcut to paste a link). Title your link. 
Step 4: Repeat, repeat until all sentences are recorded.
Step 5: I put a table at the bottom with the sort title. I put the sort in white so it is hidden from the student view and doesn't give any hints. The intention is for this to help with finding the recordings next year.  **If anyone can think of another way to do this, leave a comment!
Step 6: SHARE this document to your students google drive - Make sure you share as "VIEW ONLY". If your students aren't on Drive yet, bookmark this to their bookmarks bar. Just copy and paste the view only link into your browser and then add it to their bar. 

Google Sites

You can do some pretty cool things with Google Sites. It can be kind of confusing at times and takes a bit to get the hang of it.  I've figured out how to customize many things on our page but it requires using other programs such as Google Drawings and canva.com. 

Things I've Learned:

Canva- 
  • When creating a new picture in canva, set your own pixels.  Many of the premade templates are WAY too big for Google Sites. For my header, I used 700 x 300 pixels. 
  • When adding images to your picture in canva, some most of their pictures cost money, especially when you use the search bar to find them.  I had better luck with:
    • looking through every picture (so time consuming)
      • Pros- you can change the color of these photos and they do have a TON!
      • Their fonts are awesome! They have tons of layouts and colors
    • using google search to find a photo I like, then uploading the photo to canva.
      • pros- there are tons of pictures
      • cons- you cannot change the color of the photos
      • You have to download the picture before you upload it to canva
Google Drawings
  • Google drawings is super cool.  Its like powerpoint on steroids and you only have one page. I've always used power point to create pictures and layouts but Google Drawings is WAY better!
  • When you make a google drawing, you can insert pictures from your downloads.  You have to download the picture then use the INSERT tab to insert an image. 
  • You can add text boxes to your drawing and change the colors, font, etc.
  • My favorite part is that you can embed a hyperlink into the picture. Click on the picture then click the link button.  A box will pop and you can either type or copy/ paste the url into the box. 
  • When you put a google drawing onto your google site, make sure you have configured the settings on the drawing correctly.  You have to set it to public- anyone can view. If you don't do this, the Google Drawing doesn't show up at all! (Ask me how I know ;) 
  • Pros: When you edit your Google Drawing, it automatically updates it in the Google Site!

Well it took a while to configure everything. I clicked on about every box I could have in Google Sites and when I had trouble I used Google Search to help me. 

Check out my new site!
https://sites.google.com/a/brooksidecharteranddayschool.com/fabulous-first-grade/

Remember it is still a work in progress but let me know what you think!

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