This is my very first blog post! I wanted to share with you about my adventures in implementing one of my first iPad lessons based on the app PuppetPals HD.
In the past, in my level 2 classes, when students learned the preterite and imperfect tenses, I did a fairytale unit. Students wrote in groups and made a written fairytale book complete with colored pictures. This year, I wanted to do a fairytale but incorporate technology.
I found this great iPad app called PuppetPals HD which has a Fairytale theme that is free.
I structured the unit as follows:
Day 1: (20 minutes) Instructions to students. Students choose a partner and brainstorm with partner using the brainstorm sheet.
Day 2: (20-25 minutes) Students individually complete the freewrite on their own. Students use their brainstorm sheet to help them know where their story needs to go based on discussion with partner day before. Students get 20-25 minutes to silently write using the freewrite sheet. (I wanted students to not spend so much time just talking in English about what to write but actually starting to write in Spanish, also to help prevent the urge to write a story in English first and then try to translate (using translator) that super advanced story!).
Day 3: Last 25 minutes of class students get with partner and read each others' stories. They discuss what they liked of each others' story and combine elements. They write a roughdraft based on what they already wrote on a clean piece of paper over the weekend.
Day 4: (10 min) Handout rubric, discuss and be sure these elements are in story (40 min) Peer edit roughdraft. If pair does not have roughdraft today, the final project grade drops a letter grade. Homework: Make final copy in two days
Day 5: (20 min) Work on final copy, rehearse with partner so you know who says what. Homework: Make final copy by tomorrow
Day 6: (50 min) iPad Day: Students get the entire period to record stories. First, I quickly showed students the app under the document camera showing how you can:
1) move characters from the "backstage" in and out of the scenes when needed, change backgrounds
2) zoom view in out to show or not show stage
3) shrink or expand characters, double tap character to turn around
4) cannot re record a section but can pause - students may need to re record the entire show several times but video is just 3 minutes and they have the entire period to record a story they should already have written so it is reasonable and most of my kids got it done.
5) How to upload videos to YouTube. I got parents' permission first and assigned all groups a group # to be used when titling YouTube video. This helped it be more "real" to students - the world can see their fairytale!
While students are recording walk around and assign each pair a group number that they write on their rubric.
Day 9: Show published YouTube videos. At beginning of class, students staple the rubric with name/group number to front of final copy of fairytale and turn in. (I purposely skipped a few days from recording day to make project due as I gave a buffer to get the project turned in if someone was absent, or they didn't have time to finalize the movie in class. So day 7 and 8 we worked on other stuff in curriculum). I first showed under the document camera the vocab list the students had created, then showed the corresponding video.

A few things I would improve next year:

• Not show all the videos in one day...maybe show a few videos each day for a few days. It was hard attention span wise for them to watch 50 minutes worth of fairytale videos but they wanted everyone to see their video. 

• Do more prior practice working with fairytale vocabulary and grammar - several students still showed weakness in grammar. When I did this activity as a book, I worked at a different school so the curriculum was different and allowed me to build up the vocabulary more. I would like to try to incorporate these activities I did. See some worksheets I have used in past.
  

1. Cuento Vocabulary
2. Cuento Flashcards
3. Cuento Translations
4. Fairytale Vocab Quiz
5. Fairytale Pret-Imp Quiz
6. Faiytale Pret-Imp Test
7. Online Reading Fairytale Activity

• Have students read some authentic fairytales prior and analyze preterite or imperfect. Also, give students a series of pictures and have them put in order and write one or two Spanish sentences per picture on a whiteboard. 
• Online Fairytale: La Bella Durmiente
  

Instructions I wrote on board for students the day of iPad recording:
When you save your video, save as:
Period ________  Group _________
             #                        #
Export the video to the camera roll (within the app)
Go to the camera roll and click the arrow inside the box at top right
Upload to YouTube with title: Period _______ Group __________
You must include a description (don't use your name!), category: Education,  tag: Spanish - click Publish

If a child did not get parent permission to upload video to YouTube, you have the student still export it to the camera roll. Then you can plug the iPad into your computer using the cord and access the video that way and save to your computer.