Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

My principal and the assistant superintendent knocked on my classroom door yesterday to present a 

brand-spankin'-new iPad mini to me! 

Wow!!  

 

I received an email last week thanking me for participating in a district-wide health and wellness survey. Names were randomly chosen from over 700 participants and I was one of four who won! My mind was racing on how I could use this in my classroom! 

Well, now it's here and I need your suggestions on what apps would be the best to install for my Koala Kinder friends. So...What apps should I install and what makes them the best?
How about some suggestions for classroom use? I keep seeing the bar code activities on TeachersPayTeachers. They really intrigue me! Would the iPad mini be good for those?
How about stories? Do you know of some? HELP!!

   Send me your suggestions so I can get this new tech tool loaded up and going!!

Polar Animal Theme

    January brings the cold and the snow but it also brings an exciting new theme to the Koala class! The Koalas are going to be learning about Polar Animals and doing their own research project on their favorite Polar Animal.
     I just finished a cute "I Have, Who Has" Polar Animal card game with a set of Polar Animal picture and vocabulary cards. Click on the link below the picture to check it out on my TpT store.

Polar Animals~I Have, Who Has

     I have also been working on a power point slide show with simple facts and cute graphics for Polar Animals. I want to use this to get the Koalas excited about doing their research project on their favorite Polar Animal. I hope to have it ready very soon along with some research paper templates. In the mean time I want to share a book with you.
     One of my favorite books to read during this theme is 
"Where Snowflakes Fall" by Caire Freedman. The beautiful soft, powdery illustrations are by Tina Macnaughton. Every page gets a chorus of "awww's" because all of the pictures are just so cute!! 

You can find it on Amazon - click here!

What are your favorite books to read to get the kids interested in Polar Animals?