Colonial VoiceThread
My third graders have been learning about Colonial America these past 2 months. This year the technology/library teacher, Lane Young, and I decided to collaborate and create a VoiceThread. First the students were each assigned an event on our colonial timeline. Next, each student found facts using books in our library collection and Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Each student then created a reflection or personal connection to what they learned. Mr. Young helped them select images for their slides using Google Images. Next, they used Audacity to record the facts and reflections. They also had to draw self-portraits that we scanned in so we could identify each student’s slide and comment.
This has been an amazing project. It has touched on many important skills such as researching, writing, recording, selecting appropriate articles and images, and using the online library catalog. I have especially enjoyed the opportunity to work with a specials area teacher.
So, here it is for the world to see. Please comment on the slides and if you are a teacher, have your students comment as well.
3rd Grade Colonial and Revolutionary War Project
Thank you to Lane Young for creating with me, Vinnie Vrotny for leading me to the k12 Online Conference which led me to VoiceThread, and David Green my co-teacher for encouraging and supporting me with this project.
Classroom 2.0, Colonial America, Teaching, VoiceThread, collaboration, curriculum, education, elementary, social studies | Comment (0)My Contribution for the Auction
Below is an explanation of the presentation I was asked to create for our annual school auction. Here is a link to the actual screencast video or you can read below and click on the links to screenshots to get the jist of it.
Earlier this week, Vinnie Vrotny, my friend and colleague asked me to send him a lesson that I created using my TabletPC and the smart cart projector on my floor. He explained that he wanted to use it to show at our school auction in order to share how Lower School teachers are using newer technology. At first I was very nervous about this idea, but I have decided to jump straight into this with both feet by using a new technology tool called Jing to share this with the parent community.
First I must go back in time to an earlier post . . .
Their homework assignment sheet looked like this . . . and this. Just a normal Microsoft Word document
Then I imported the text from the document into Microsoft Journal. This is an application on the TabletPC that allows you to write using a stylus. SinceI never have and never will be a great typist, I have enjoyed using this program for writing and projecting brainstorming sessions (like when we voted on names for the class gerbil) and for teaching cursive.
By importing the text into Journal I could model what I expected the 3rd graders to write. We watched a scene from the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When the short scene was over, the kids recalled what was said, what the characters did as they spoke, and how they felt throughout the scene.
When they brought their homework back the next day, I first let them share what they wrote if they wanted to. The kids were very eager and as they shared I mentally selected “good candidates” for writing out the scene with all of the parts in one paragraph.
Here was a scene that a student shared from the movie The Parent Trap. We began our class rewrite with some of the dialogue she wrote down. Next we chose a sentence that explained the setting of the scene. Then came more dialogue and we inserted some action for the character, Hallie. The class decided to put in some of what Annie, Hallie’s twin, was feeling. Then we concluded the paragraph with Annie’s final statement and some more action.
What we ended up with was a paragraph that would give a reader a clear picture of what is going on in the scene.
The 3rd graders used this and other lessons to help them write their fiction stories which were presented at our annual “Hot Chocolate House.”
Parents and alumni, thank you for supporting the teachers and students by coming out the the “Green B. Lounge!”
Teaching, Uncategorized, blogging, curriculum, education, elementary, fiction writing, jing, screencast, tablet pc, teaching writing | Comment (0)Observing Like Writer
Happy New Year!
On Monday I told my 3rd graders, “You have shown us that you are really great writers by all your work on personal narratives this fall. We think you are ready for fiction writing.”
Their answer??? “YAY!!!” (That is one really cool thing about 3rd graders, they love new challenges. Older kids do not get nearly as excited about things like multiplication, cursive, homework, and spelling tests.)
Now I will be implementing the new writing curriculum that I created during my summer curriculum grant. One of the reasons I started this blog was to connect with other teachers globally to discover how others tackle creative writing with their students (for more read my post “Growing and Trying New Things”). Although I have not been able to share ideas in the way I had visioned, I am excited to use this blog as a way to reflect on how this experiment turns out.
The first part of this unit is called “Observing Like a Writer,” which is a chapter title of the book I read this summer called Writing the Whole Story by Karen Jorgensen. (For a more complete look at the curriculum as it evolves check out the wikispace I have created with all my notes. I would love feedback!) We have just begun to study dialogue. The kids need to be taught that characters talk to show action, intention, and emotion. Here is their first homework assignment:
Listen to two people talking (either live or on T.V.) for a few minutes. Watch what they do with their hands, face, and body. Notice whether they listen to each other, talk over each other, or hesitate before they speak. What do they say? What do they do as they speak? What do you think they are feeling during this conversation?
I am looking forward to what they come up with.
Teaching, curriculum, education, elementary, fiction writing, teaching writing | Comments (3)