Saturday, June 28, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Thing 13
The best thing about working with the new iPads has been all the different ways I can see working them in to the daily curriculum. I can already see lots of existing lessons and projects that can be tweaked just a little bit to include the iPads. I think this will be exciting for the students and will make a lot of tasks easier, such as online research. They also make connecting students to the curriculum easier, enabling us to include students' original photographs, artwork, and voice in the work that they do. I'm a bit frustrated by the difficulty in integrating the iPads into our existing network, and the trouble (especially at the elementary level) with getting work off them, but I'm sure we will be able to work out some of these kinks as the year goes on.
The apps that I am most excited about working with are some of the creation software, like iMovie and Garage Band. Students will really be able to show their creativity in their projects. This is an area that has always been a struggle, especially when working with our GT students, but I think the iPads will make incorporating individual creativity much easier. I was not aware of the iWork suite, and am excited that students will have such a familiar platform for recording information and completing assignments on the iPads.
I didn't really have a big "aha" moment about one part of the training. As we went through the various modules, I kept coming up with more and more ways to integrate the iPads into the daily work that is already going on in my library and in our school. I really think that they will get a lot of use and will quickly become indispensable. I'm sure we will want more than 20 to work with very soon.
The apps that I am most excited about working with are some of the creation software, like iMovie and Garage Band. Students will really be able to show their creativity in their projects. This is an area that has always been a struggle, especially when working with our GT students, but I think the iPads will make incorporating individual creativity much easier. I was not aware of the iWork suite, and am excited that students will have such a familiar platform for recording information and completing assignments on the iPads.
I didn't really have a big "aha" moment about one part of the training. As we went through the various modules, I kept coming up with more and more ways to integrate the iPads into the daily work that is already going on in my library and in our school. I really think that they will get a lot of use and will quickly become indispensable. I'm sure we will want more than 20 to work with very soon.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Thing 11
Kindergarten- "All About" Books
ELA K10B-C: retell important facts and details and investigate how authors organize information in informational text; 15: write expository text to communicate information; 20A-B: locate and record information, use pictures along with writing to document research
Science K10: understand that organisms have structures and processes that help them survive in their environment, sort animals into groups based on physical characteristics, identify parts of animals
TechApps K-2 1B:create original products; 2A: use communication tools to collaborate and publish with peers; 3B: use research skills to build knowledge about a topic
All of the above are with adult assistance.
Objective: As a class, students will choose an animal of interest, gather and record information about their animal's habitat and features, organize the information into categories, and publish a class book about their animal.
Materials and resources:
Evaluation: because this is a kindergarten lesson, formal grades are not given. Students will be evaluated through teacher observations of class discussions and group work, as well as individual conferences with students. The captioned illustration students produce at the end of the project can be evaluated using the kinder expository text rubric available on the Alief Curriculum and Instruction ELA website.
ELA K10B-C: retell important facts and details and investigate how authors organize information in informational text; 15: write expository text to communicate information; 20A-B: locate and record information, use pictures along with writing to document research
Science K10: understand that organisms have structures and processes that help them survive in their environment, sort animals into groups based on physical characteristics, identify parts of animals
TechApps K-2 1B:create original products; 2A: use communication tools to collaborate and publish with peers; 3B: use research skills to build knowledge about a topic
All of the above are with adult assistance.
Objective: As a class, students will choose an animal of interest, gather and record information about their animal's habitat and features, organize the information into categories, and publish a class book about their animal.
Materials and resources:
- Class will use Padlet to record what they think they know about the animal, then will add new information learned and check confirmed information in different colors (one color per source) as they read expository text; whole and small group
- Class will read and gather information from print texts and from the PebbleGo database, as well as World Book Online if necessary; whole and small group
- When they have finished gathering information, students will move their Padlet notes around to organize the info into categories using a tree map format; whole group
- Each student will take a piece of the collected information to illustrate, either on paper or using a drawing app. Using iMovie, students will record their voices sharing the information while showing their illustration, compiling it into a class digital book or slide show, as well as a paper book. The digital book can be moved to the teacher's Google Drive or Edmodo account.
Evaluation: because this is a kindergarten lesson, formal grades are not given. Students will be evaluated through teacher observations of class discussions and group work, as well as individual conferences with students. The captioned illustration students produce at the end of the project can be evaluated using the kinder expository text rubric available on the Alief Curriculum and Instruction ELA website.
Thing 10
Part One:
I've seen the Cyberbee site before, and I like the kid-friendly format. I would like to create a "scavenger hunt" to use it with students, where they need to find certain information by exploring the different issues discussed on the page. The Purdue University site was new to me. It's a bit over the heads of elementary students but I think it would be great to use with teachers. I really liked the paraphrasing exercises, and would like to work with teachers to develop some similar exercises for an elementary audience. Before having students work on projects on the iPads, I want to develop some lessons on fair use, including when and how much they can borrow from the Internet for school work. I also want to make them familiar with the Creative Commons website, and how to find media that authors have granted permissions for students to use.
Part Two:
I liked how the teacher in the CSE video used a digital literacy topic to give students an opportunity to practice text evidence strategies. I know our teachers also consider using supporting evidence to be a central skill for their students. The teacher incorporated current media with which the students were familiar. It was clear that the lesson had a big impact on the students; the two girls who were able to make connections to events and choices from their own lives were evidence of that.
I could work with fourth (and maybe third) grade teachers to develop a similar lesson for elementary students using existing media from YouTube and the information from sources like the Cyberbee site. The lessons in the video seemed to start with an exploration of the vocabulary and concepts around fair use, and then a lesson where they have to use these concepts to evaluate someone's creation.
I've seen the Cyberbee site before, and I like the kid-friendly format. I would like to create a "scavenger hunt" to use it with students, where they need to find certain information by exploring the different issues discussed on the page. The Purdue University site was new to me. It's a bit over the heads of elementary students but I think it would be great to use with teachers. I really liked the paraphrasing exercises, and would like to work with teachers to develop some similar exercises for an elementary audience. Before having students work on projects on the iPads, I want to develop some lessons on fair use, including when and how much they can borrow from the Internet for school work. I also want to make them familiar with the Creative Commons website, and how to find media that authors have granted permissions for students to use.
Part Two:
I liked how the teacher in the CSE video used a digital literacy topic to give students an opportunity to practice text evidence strategies. I know our teachers also consider using supporting evidence to be a central skill for their students. The teacher incorporated current media with which the students were familiar. It was clear that the lesson had a big impact on the students; the two girls who were able to make connections to events and choices from their own lives were evidence of that.
I could work with fourth (and maybe third) grade teachers to develop a similar lesson for elementary students using existing media from YouTube and the information from sources like the Cyberbee site. The lessons in the video seemed to start with an exploration of the vocabulary and concepts around fair use, and then a lesson where they have to use these concepts to evaluate someone's creation.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Thing 9
I found a lot of good ideas on the Skype site. One that I want to try is setting up a literature circle with students from another school. I think this will be great for my GT kids. I also saw a number of collaboration projects that I want to share with teachers at my school. We are already using videoconferencing at our school quite a bit, and see a lot of student engagement when they get to connect with other students this way.
I would like to use Padlet with my kinder students when we do research. We usually create a circle map on chart paper where the students tell me what they already know and we write it on sticky notes. Then as we gather new information, confirm what they knew, and rule out misconceptions, we add things in different colors. We could do this on Padlet, and the teacher could also access it in the classroom to add information. For the older students, groups could use Padlet to compile the information that each student gathers into one location so that the group can use it for their final product. Using the iPads rather than pencil and paper for these types of collaborations makes them much more flexible.
I would like to use Padlet with my kinder students when we do research. We usually create a circle map on chart paper where the students tell me what they already know and we write it on sticky notes. Then as we gather new information, confirm what they knew, and rule out misconceptions, we add things in different colors. We could do this on Padlet, and the teacher could also access it in the classroom to add information. For the older students, groups could use Padlet to compile the information that each student gathers into one location so that the group can use it for their final product. Using the iPads rather than pencil and paper for these types of collaborations makes them much more flexible.
Thing 6 Activity 2
My screencast is a visual "tour" of book locations in my library. It isn't complete, but gives an idea of how I might use this app. I could post this on the library webpage for students to reference.
This would be a good app to use for student portfolios. Students could take pictures of their work and then add narration to give additional info and explain their choices. Groups could also use screen casting to culminate a unit, sharing what they learned about a topic.
One barrier is not being able to use video (or at least I can't figure out how). Another issue I noticed with some of the posted lessons is background noise when recording the audio. Students would need a quiet place to make their recording.
Thing 4
Okay, finally got this to work. Thank you Ashley for all your help.
Here is the original picture:
Here is the manipulated version from iPhoto:
I cropped it, manipulated the color balance, and used one of the Ink effects to created the brushstroke appearance. The process of using iPhoto was easy and I think would be fun for kids. I am very interested in the thinking skills behind having students choose and manipulate images from around them to illustrate their work.
The difficulties I had with the assignment had to do with getting the images off the iPad and actually uploading them into my blog. I'm hoping that using Edmodo will make this process easier, because using Google Drive on the iPad has been difficult for me, and our elementary students will not have accounts anyway.
I want to use this process with fourth grade students in creating book trailers. Choosing a limited number of images to represent the themes and important events in a book will help students with summarizing, understanding theme and symbolism, analyzing characters, and other higher level thinking skills our fourth graders need to move deeper in their reading.
Here is the original picture:
Here is the manipulated version from iPhoto:
The difficulties I had with the assignment had to do with getting the images off the iPad and actually uploading them into my blog. I'm hoping that using Edmodo will make this process easier, because using Google Drive on the iPad has been difficult for me, and our elementary students will not have accounts anyway.
I want to use this process with fourth grade students in creating book trailers. Choosing a limited number of images to represent the themes and important events in a book will help students with summarizing, understanding theme and symbolism, analyzing characters, and other higher level thinking skills our fourth graders need to move deeper in their reading.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Thing 8
Are the research tools mentioned in the class post available as apps on the district iPads? I do not see them on the iPad I have. I'm also wondering about other district databases, such as PebbleGo. I don't see any of them as separate apps. Or are we accessing these tools through the link to our campus library web page?
I think that the advantage of using all these research tools is the ability to customize and focus research for the project, class, or student as needed. Students don't spend as much time wading through useless or distracting results when using these tools. I have used Diigo and custom Google searches to create targeted searches for students for projects in the past, and want to show teachers how to do these. The Diigo article indicates that teachers can set up individual student accounts within a class, so we can then teach students to set up their own targeted searches and save them. I want to incorporate this into lessons about choosing and evaluating Internet research sources. Teachers could even use the lists students create here as the product where one of the objectives is identifying relevant and reliable sources (ELA TEKS).
I think that the advantage of using all these research tools is the ability to customize and focus research for the project, class, or student as needed. Students don't spend as much time wading through useless or distracting results when using these tools. I have used Diigo and custom Google searches to create targeted searches for students for projects in the past, and want to show teachers how to do these. The Diigo article indicates that teachers can set up individual student accounts within a class, so we can then teach students to set up their own targeted searches and save them. I want to incorporate this into lessons about choosing and evaluating Internet research sources. Teachers could even use the lists students create here as the product where one of the objectives is identifying relevant and reliable sources (ELA TEKS).
Thing 7
I was not able to view the video about using Garage Band, but the app seems like it will be fun to explore. I think students may enjoy trying to create their own music to use in their projects. I also see teachers using it to work on fluency with students, recording their oral reading. You could also record students' oral presentations and then link them to the visual displays they create (using a QR code or something like Aurasma) so that viewers can access the students' words while viewing their display. I tried exporting files to iMovie and it looks like you can also put them in Edmodo or Google Drive. I think this way of recording audio seems more flexible than the audio available in iMovie, so that's something I want to explore more.
Thing 6 Activity 1
I found some student made podcasts on Educreations that I want to use as part of a research unit with first grade classes. The students research polar animals in groups and produce a multimedia report about their findings. I want to use these podcasts as examples for the teachers when we are planning the unit, to show them another way for their students to demonstrate their learning. I also want to work with the teachers to develop rubrics for grading the student products, so we can use the podcasts as examples when we decide the criteria to use.
First example:
Second example:
First example:
Second example:
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Thing 5
I want to use digital storytelling with my 3rd and 4th graders to create book trailers for the Bluebonnet books. Students could work in pairs or trios and select a title they have read. Students would decide on elements of the story to retell and identify the story's theme. They can choose photos from Creative Commons, take their own pictures, and add their voices retelling story elements. I think when the students have to choose visuals to represent the theme and events in the story, they have to make more of an emotional connection to the text, and this deepens their understanding. I would love to be able to post these trailers on my library web page to "advertise" for these books.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Thing 3
Objective: First grade students will use Pages to create simple procedural texts
The class will be divided into small groups and each will be assigned an iPad. Students will take turns using the iPad to take pictures of group members participating in a class activity, for example planting seeds in Holmquist's garden. Following the planting activity, groups will use the visual report template in Pages to create their text. They will choose pictures to represent steps in the process to place in the template. Then students will collaborate to create text that tells the steps in the process to accompany their pictures. Using the camera and word processing app on the iPad makes it simple to bring the words and pictures together.
I'm a little bit less clear on getting the content off the iPad at the elementary level. Even when logged in to my eChalk account on the iPad, the only options given when I try to upload a file is taking a picture and uploading an existing picture. I'm not sure how to attach files from the iWork apps. I seem to have the same problem with Blogger and Kidblog. I was not able to log in to my school Google Drive account on the iPad. Maybe Edmodo will work for this, but my account hasn't been set up yet, so I'm not sure.
The class will be divided into small groups and each will be assigned an iPad. Students will take turns using the iPad to take pictures of group members participating in a class activity, for example planting seeds in Holmquist's garden. Following the planting activity, groups will use the visual report template in Pages to create their text. They will choose pictures to represent steps in the process to place in the template. Then students will collaborate to create text that tells the steps in the process to accompany their pictures. Using the camera and word processing app on the iPad makes it simple to bring the words and pictures together.
I'm a little bit less clear on getting the content off the iPad at the elementary level. Even when logged in to my eChalk account on the iPad, the only options given when I try to upload a file is taking a picture and uploading an existing picture. I'm not sure how to attach files from the iWork apps. I seem to have the same problem with Blogger and Kidblog. I was not able to log in to my school Google Drive account on the iPad. Maybe Edmodo will work for this, but my account hasn't been set up yet, so I'm not sure.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
2nd Thing
At this point I still need to do some more investigating before I decide which option is best for getting student work off our iPads. I am already using the free version of Kidblog with students, and have been very happy with it for posting and replying. I find it easy to use and the students are enthusiastic about it. I have already used the iPads with some of my students and our Kidblog classes. I'm not sure about attaching student work created elsewhere to the blog posts. I was noticing on the Kidblog site that you have to upgrade to a paid account to be able to connect Kidblog to GoogleDocs or Evernote. Is it going to be necessary for individual campuses to purchase these accounts?
In the past, I have applied for eChalk accounts and used them with students, but found them to be not very elementary friendly and not simple for the students to use. I know we have made several changes to the eChalk accounts since then, so perhaps I will try them again. We will need to decide which students to request accounts for, and wait until the school year starts to get those going. Last time I remember it took several weeks to get the accounts set up.
I signed up for an Edmodo account, but haven't started using this yet. My own children go to school in HISD and have used Edmodo for several years, so I think I would be interested in trying it out. The site told me that I need to get a particular code to link my account to the Alief one.
In the past, I have applied for eChalk accounts and used them with students, but found them to be not very elementary friendly and not simple for the students to use. I know we have made several changes to the eChalk accounts since then, so perhaps I will try them again. We will need to decide which students to request accounts for, and wait until the school year starts to get those going. Last time I remember it took several weeks to get the accounts set up.
I signed up for an Edmodo account, but haven't started using this yet. My own children go to school in HISD and have used Edmodo for several years, so I think I would be interested in trying it out. The site told me that I need to get a particular code to link my account to the Alief one.
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