Our Final ProductOverview
I had the privilege of listening to Dean Shareski about the Classroom of the Future. When he talked about "literacy" in the 21st Century, he had us collaboratively complete a six word story about the state of Iowa. This activity was applicable to the classroom and led to a Six Word Story collaborative project between three schools, and seven teachers.
Set Up
I began by setting up a Google Classroom that all the students could join. I also added each teacher as a co-teacher to this Classroom. You can see the project lesson plan for a quick snapshot of the layout.
Part 1: Six Word Story Introduction
The first phase of this project was to introduce students to the concept of a six word story. We showed them a Google Slideshow. We completed an "I do," "We do," "You do," process when introducing the six word stories. The "You do" part utilized a Padlet for Font, Image Choice and Word Choice. This allowed all students to practice identifying how different elements of a story can impact the meaning for the reader. Furthermore, it allowed students to see everyone's ideas so it wasn't just their classmates. Below is a screenshot from Part 1 on Google Classroom.
Part 2: Practicing Word Choice, Font type, size and color
After students had started to develop an understanding of six word stories, we wanted to provide them with an opportunity to identify words that they felt connected with a chosen picture. In addition, we wanted them to practice changing the font type, color and size in a way they felt brought the story to life. To accomplish this, a single Google Slideshow for Word Choice was used for all students to practice. Moreover, a single Google Slideshow for Font allowed students to not only practice, but also view student examples from all who were participating in this collaborative project.
Part 3 and 4: Web your Words
The next step in this process was to get students to start brainstorming words. They had the choice to write about the season of winter or what they planned to do over winter break. We used a PDF web for them to start brainstorming words. This was beneficial for some students. However, many students were able to come up with their six words without needing to web a variety of words.
Part 5 and 6: Creating Stories and Leaving Comments
The last phase of this project was for students to create their own six word story. We used a single Google Slideshow that all students had editing privileges to construct their stories. They got to select the image they felt brought their story to life. Furthermore, they got to play with the font size, type, color and location to enrich the impact of their story.
After students had the chance to build their stories, their final task was to leave comments on other stories. The goal was to have students leaving feedback about the element of the story they felt had the most impact on a reader and why they felt that way. Conclusion
I feel very fortunate to work in a district with so many amazing teachers that are willing to take on a collaborative project the week prior to winter break. We had never done this project before, but we were willing to take a risk. Besides, how could students refuse to write only six words?
We were truly blown away by the amazing creations that students came up with. They had a blast being able to create and share with others around the district. I am looking forward to making this an annual project and hope to grow it in the future. Share
0 Comments
It is that time of year again. Most of us will stuff ourselves with turkey, ham and many other traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Maybe even finish off with a fluffy heap of whip cream with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie. Regardless of your Thanksgiving tradition, it is also a time to reflect on what we are thankful for in our lives. This is a project that I wanted my students to complete using Storyboard That.
Google Doc Template
We began this project by brainstorming the things we are thankful for in our lives. We used the template that is pictured below. Feel free to use it yourself. It is available by clicking here.
The students had the choice to fill in as many boxes as they liked. However, the minimum was four. In addition to providing the list of things, I wanted them to reflect on why they were truly thankful for the "things" in their life. It is easy to spew out the standard "things": friends, family, food, etc. By requiring them to provide the "why" students got to think a little more critically about their list.
Storyboard That
With Storyboard That, I am able to create an assignment for my students (I upgraded to a premium account). By creating the assignment, all the directions and examples automatically show up for those enrolled in my class.
Once the assignment was created, I could choose which classes to assign it to. In addition, I could add an example for them to see how to set up their storyboard. I also had the option to make my example a "template" so all they had to do was copy the template to begin creating. However, since students had the choice for how many "things" they were thankful for, I wanted to have them create their storyboard from scratch so they could customize how many boxes they wanted.
When they began to create their storyboard, they had to customize the cell so it had a title on the top and a description on the bottom. Furthermore, they had to select "Spider Map" for the layout of their storyboard.
After selecting the correct cell structure and layout of the storyboard, students were able to copy their "things" and descriptions from their Google Template. As you can see above, it was entirely up to the students to pick pictures they felt best represented their "things."
When students finished their storyboards, they were able to save it. A nice feature of Storyboard That is students can select which assignment to associate the storyboard with when saving. When my students saved their storyboards, they selected the "I am thankful for..." assignment. I am able to quickly see all the storyboards that are associated with this assignment. Changes
Thinking about this assignment, I feel like I could take this to the next level by harnessing the power of the Internet. It is easy to block out the world and focus on our little bubble that we live in everyday. I would love for my students to connect with other students around the world. Specifically, students that completed a similar project. This would provide an opportunity for my students to pop their "little bubble" and see thankfulness through a global lens. I would be curious if this could potentially inspire my students to research why some other areas of the world may be thankful for items we take for granted here in our current setting. Lastly, I wonder if this could potentially lead to my students taking on a project to provide some of those thankful "things" around the world that my students take for granted everyday. For example, if a class from around the world was thankful for water because of not having adequate clean water, would it inspire my students to attempt to solve that issue since water is in abundance in our "little bubble."
Connect
Are you a school that would like to share things you are thankful for in your lives? Do you want to create a connection to help pop our "little bubble" so we can broaden our understanding of what "things" we take for granted that are so precious to others? We would love to connect and learn together about being thankful.
Share This:The Template For a recent writing project, we had 5th graders complete a "Choose Your Owen Adventure" story using Google Forms. We chose to use Google Forms for a couple reasons. 1) We are a GAFE district which means each student has his/her own Google Account. 2) Google Forms provides a simple structure for adding text, images, pages and linking between pages based on answers. To get the project started, I created a story map (flow chart) to assist with getting ideas on paper. In addition, this story map provided specifics for which page each question/answer should link to during their story. When I created this story map, I allowed for two different levels of difficulty. Both of these options are provided in the example below which you can download and use as you would like. Feel free to tweak it and make it your own. Beginner Format To use the beginner format, you will need pages 1 and 2 from the story map template listed above. This format provides a total of 15 pages in your Google Form. Below is an example of how you could lay out the papers in the beginner format to visually assist with the flow from one level of your story to the next. Challenge Format You will still need page 1 of the story map template. However, you will add in pages 3, 4 and 5 as well. The challenge format ends up with a total of 31 pages in your Google Form. Below is an example of how you could lay out the papers in the challenge format to visually assist with the flow from one level of your story to the next. Our 5th Grade Results The 5th grade students used the beginner format to complete their Choose Your Own Adventure stories. We broke this into four different sessions. Session 1: A completed story was demonstrated for students to see the final product. The beginner story map was provided to students. They began mapping out their story. Session 2: A Google Form was introduced to students. Adding pages was demonstrated after creating a new form. Students could finish their story map and move onto creating a Google Form. Their main goal was to create a Google Form that had 15 pages. We labeled pages 2 through 15 as follows: page 2, page 3, page 4, etc. Session 3: Students were introduced to adding multiple choice questions to each page of their form. In addition, they were shown how to link to specific pages based on answers. Students spent time during this session, adding their text from their story map to the correct page in their Google Form. We had students link to the correct pages as they created their multiple choice question for each page. **Some students benefited from adding their questions to all pages first. After finishing all pages, they went back and linked. They were frustrated with creating questions and linking at the same time. Allowing them to type their questions and then go back and link alleviated that frustration. Session 4: We introduced students to adding images to each of their pages in their story. In addition, we modeled how to view their live form, copy their live form's URL and submit it to me via a Google Form that I had created. Students spent this session adding images and then submitting their final story's link to me. 5th Grade Choose Your Own Adventure Website To conclude this project, I took all the links that were submitted to me and added them to a Google Site. We originally talked about turning each Choose Your Own Adventure story into a QR Code and allowing students to scan and try out each other's stories. In the end, we went with a Google Site that students could navigate at school or home and try out each of their classmate's stories.
Choose Your Own Adventure Google Site We recently completed a research project with all three fifth grade classes at my school. During this project, students got to pick a landmark to research. After picking a landmark, they used a template to begin filling out information. The template was laid out in a specific grid to match a Pic Monkey Collage we used later in this process. Once students had recorded all their information in the grid, they were then required to find an image for each cell in the grid that best represented the information in that cell. Students used Pic Monkey to create a collage of their images they had found for each cell in their grid. This picture collage was uploaded into Thinglink to begin adding "tags" to their collage. Each photo of their collage had a "tag" added to it with the corresponding information from the cell on their grid template. After all the "tags" had been added, students then copied their Thinglink URL, opened up a shared map, searched for their landmark and added their landmark to the Google Map. They were then able to add their Thinglink URL to their landmark location. To conclude, each student was recorded giving his/her speech about their landmark. This speech was uploaded to YouTube. The URL for their YouTube speech was copied by students and added on the Google Map to their landmark. The final result was a single Google Map with a landmark represented for each student's research. Each landmark had a Thinglink URL and a YouTube URL. Below are more detailed steps of the process for this project. Landmarks We used this website for students to choose their landmarks. Students started by exploring the list of 100 landmarks. They chose their top five landmarks. We then went one by one and had students select a landmark. We did this so we would not have duplicates of the same landmark. They were allowed to search the internet to answer the questions on the Landmark Research Template. They did use TripAdvisor to determine the landmark's rating as well as the average price of activities to do at the landmark. Pic Monkey I created a Symbaloo Mix for students to use when searching for images that they had rights to use in their project. However, we still had some students that didn't filter Google or Bing results based on license. When they published their ThingLink, it would not display because of using copyrighted images. It was a good lesson for students to see why we stressed using pictures that they had permission to use. 1) After pictures were found, students went to PicMonkey. They clicked on collage to build their collage. 2) After adding the images from their computers, they had to change the layout of the collage. To do this, they had to click the layout icon like the picture below. 3) After selecting the layout option, they clicked "cards," changed the layout to 6 x 8 and then chose the last option to the right like the image below. *This layout was chosen because it matched out Landmark Research template that students had used to record their information. This was set up this way to assist with easily adding "tags" during the Thinglink step. 4) After changing to the correct layout, they just had to drag and drop their images into the correct cell of the grid. Once done adding images, they clicked save at the top. 5) After clicking save, they are given the option to rename their image and specify the save location. We saved all our images to Google Drive during this project. Thinglink Prior to this project, I had purchased a license to Thinglink. It was $35, but provided some nice features for using it with 75ish 5th graders. 1) The first thing students did after logging into their account was click create. 2) Next students had to click the big blue button to be able to select their pic collage they had made using PicMonkey. 3) After their image was loaded, they were able to rename their Thinglink image and begin adding tags. 4) When adding a tag, they had the option to put in a URL or they could simply type in text that would be visible when the tag was hovered over by the mouse. We had students type in text. The text was the information they had recorded from their Landmark Research template. 5) After adding all their tags, students were able to save their Thinglink image by clicking the green save button. 6) After saving their Thinglink image, they were able to click the share button. This provided them with multiple options for sharing. We chose to have students copy the URL to add to our shared Google Map. Google Maps Prior to students adding their links to a shared Google Map, I had to set up some of the basics of the map. 1) I first had to go to maps.google.com and click in the search bar. Make sure you are signed into Google which should give you the option for "my maps." After clicking my maps, you should have the option to "create" a new map. 2) At this point you can rename your map as well as your first layer. 3) After renaming the map and layer, click the three dots on the newly renamed "layer" and choose to "open the data table. 4) After opening the data table, you need to add a couple new columns. You can click the drop down arrow and choose to insert a column before or after. 5) We added a Thinglink and YouTube column. We deleted the description column. 6) After adding the columns, you should be able to see the columns you will have being displayed in your "data table." 7) Once you have the data table all set up, you can share the map so your students can begin adding their landmark research. To do this, click the share button. 8) We set the link so that anyone who had the link could edit. The link that was provided was then shared with students. We shared it in Google Classroom so it was easy to access the map. After the map was finished, we went back in and set the sharing options to "view" only instead of editing. That made it so we could share the map with the world and not worry about someone being able to edit the map. 9) After sharing the map with students, they can click in the search bar at the top and search for their landmark. After their landmark is located, they can click on the green icon. This will allow them to click "add to map." 10) Once their landmark is added to the map, they will have the option to click a pencil on their landmark. This will allow them to edit the Thinglink and You Tube fields. Students can add in their links for both Thinglink and YouTube. Once done adding those URLs, they can click save. Their landmark is now added to the map. Changes This project was rushed a little faster than we would have liked. One of the 5th grade classes was piloting some Chromebooks so we had to finish this project before the Chromebooks went away. Looking back on this project, we would have liked to have students cite their sources and add a bibliography to either their Thinglink or their landmark on the Google Map. In addition, more time spent on finding images that students were allowed to use would have reinforced copyright laws. Lastly, after doing this project, we talked about doing some green screen movie making for their speeches. Having an image of their landmark as the background as they were doing their speech would have made their speech come to life even more. Share This: I recently attended the Iowa 1:1 conference #i11i in Des Moines. I attended a session presented by Leslie Pralle Keehn and Erin Olson. Their session was titled Out My Window #omw1314. This presentation was a great hands on workshop where participants got to apply what was being discussed. Upon returning to my classroom the next day, we had a writing assignment that would allow my first graders the chance to practice adding descriptions to their writing. The original plan was to work on adding descriptions to student created make believe characters. My class has been piloting a class set of LearnPad tablets. It just so happened to be a beautiful day outside. We decided to scrap the original plan of make believe characters and apply the Out My Window project to our lesson. Why not create a project where students were able to write about a personal connection while still practicing adding descriptions. Students took their tablets outside and snapped a picture of their favorite piece of recess equipment. Once everyone had an image, we returned to the class to begin our descriptive writing. My students used the Aviary photo editing app on their LearnPads to annotate over the top of their image. Typically we spend the week brainstorming, drafting, editing, and revising before publishing a final piece. Along the way there are lots of students that need support and pushed to complete the assignment. I was amazed at what my first graders were able to do with this project. The only guidance I gave them was to add descriptions about the following: 1) What you do on your image, 2) What you hear, and 3) How it makes you feel. Students were totally engaged throughout this process and not one student needed assistance with brainstorming what to write. I am always blown away with the power of a PLN. I attended a great session with two tech leaders that I had talked with more on Twitter than in person. I was able to take their ideas and apply it to my own classroom. Providing my students with a task that provided a personal connection alleviated a lot of the struggles typically experienced with early writers. Below are some of the final results that my students were able to produce in a short amount of time. Their final products were published to their blogs. A great reminder how important it is to given student choices and provide authentic opportunities to apply common core skills. Share This: **If you are unfamiliar with this project, check out my first post introducing my pilot project with LearnPads and comparing them to iPads. My first graders have been working on writing dialogue. This can be a tricky task for any grade level. Figuring out where to put quotation marks, commas, periods, questions marks can be a nightmare. In an attempt to make this more relative to their lives as well as integrate our tablets, we utilized a couple apps to create short videos showcasing dialogue. I will outline the process for both the LearnPad and iPad below, as well as add a video explanation at the end of this post. In a nutshell, students used a paper template to record a question they would ask mom or dad as well as their mom or dad's response. After having their paper script, they used the Tellagami app to create their avatars and record their paper scripts. After creating their two Tellagami videos, they used a video editing app to mash both video clips together. Their merged video clips were then posted to their blogs to showcase their understanding of dialogue when writing. LearnPad: Dialogue Writing Steps Students began by writing out their scripts using a paper template. You can see it below and download it for yourself here. After completing their paper script, they opened up the Tellagami App. This app allows you to create an avatar. After you have created your avatar you are able to record up to a 30 second message which your avatar will speak when all done. After recording a message for both of their characters (themselves and mom or dad), they opened up the Movie Studio Video Maker app to merge both of their video clips into one final movie. Once they had both video clips merged into one movie, they then opened up Edublogs to post their video and share their understanding with dialogue. Below is a sample that a student created. **Within the video editing app, you can trim your videos. We could have trimmed the Tellagami brand at the end of each video. However, with this being our first experience with the video editing app, we chose to keep the steps simple. iPad: Dialogue Writing Steps The steps on the iPad would be identical up until video editing. Students would have started with their paper scripts. Once their paper scripts were done, they would then open the Tellagami app, customize their avatars, record their message and save to the camera roll. When they got to the video editing, they would open up the Perfect Video app. Once opened, they would create a new project. Once in their new project, they would be able to add in their two video clips. After they had merged their video clips into one movie file and exported it to their camera roll, they would then open up their Kidblog app. Once in the Kidblog app, they would create a new post, add their movie file from the camera roll and publish their post to share their understanding of dialogue. Video Comparison of processShare This: I have been using Kidblog the last three years. Their iPad app makes posting and commenting seamless for my first graders. Each one of my first graders has his/her very own blog to share and document learning throughout the school year. It has been my goal to use the iPad as a creative tool. We have been talking about using "is" or "are" in sentences. Students have made the connection that "is" goes with a singular subject while "are" belongs with plural subjects. To create a short assessment and add some fun, we used our iPads and Kidblog to practice our understanding of using "is" and "are" in sentences. Below I explain how we went about this process. It was actually pretty simple and I was very pleased with the results. During our next week of school, students will be commenting on the "is or are" posts with their guesses. is or are assessment I was very pleased with the quality of sentences that my students submitted. This provided a quick assessment for who understands and who does not. The next phase will be students commenting their guesses. This will provide another layer of assessment. The best part is that the students had fun with this. They got to create their own sentences and will get to comment on their friends' posts. One Note I have my blog set up so that any new post and/or comment needs moderated before appearing. When my students begin commenting their guesses, none will show up until I approve them. This is nice because students will not be able to see what others guessed. They will have to decode the sentences on their own and apply what they have been taught. Share This: Getting back into the groove after winter break can sometimes be a challenge. My first graders are always eager to share all about their presents and trips from break. I learned about a new app called Chatter Pix Kids from Richard Byrne. This app looks like a simple way for students to share their adventures from winter break. I plan to have my students record a short talking picture about their winter break. After they have created their talking pictures, I will have students save them to the camera roll which will allow them to be uploaded to Dropbox. I will then take all the talking pictures and combine them into one video. This final video will be added to the class blog so that all the students/parents can access to learn about winter break adventures. Screen shot directions From the main screen, students are able to select "take photo." When adding a photo, students can snap a picture or access the camera roll to import previously taken pictures. After the image is imported/taken, students will draw a line where the mouth should move to talk. Then hit record to begin the recording. A timer will be displayed when recording to show how much time is left. After the recording has been made, students can then add filters, stickers, a frame and text before exporting their final project. The last step would be saving it to your local "gallery" which is stored within the app on your iPad. You can also choose to save it to your camera roll for easily exporting it to other sites, social networks or even emailing it. Below is a walk through of the app in action. My first graders have been working on animal research this week. We had previously worked on animal research in small groups. This time around we went to individual animal research. Students got to pick their own animals and record all their information about their chosen animal. To accomplish this, we used Google Docs, Britannica School Elementary (available through our AEA), Symbaloo and Kidblog. Google Doc Set up We are not a GAFE school. I used my personal Google Account to set up the documents that each student would be working on for their research. I began by creating a new Document for each student. I saved it as their name. After creating the document, I had to make the document "shared." I changed the privileges to anyone who had the link could edit the document. By allowing anyone with the link to edit, there was no log on necessary by my students to add content. After you have changed the permissions, you can then copy the link. Anyone who has that link will be able to edit since you just changed the permissions. *This link will be important to add to Symbaloo. Below is a visual of what I added to each document. The students then added the rest of the content. I provided them with the template to assist with organizing their text as they found information. Symbaloo Set up We already use Symabloo for all of our links. This is a simple way for students to quickly access everything we use on the web. Below is a screen shot of the Symbaloo page. Each student had one icon that when clicked would open their Google Doc. Below are the steps I used to add each icon to our Symbaloo page. This process would be repeated for each student. Since I have 23 first graders, I had to add a total of 23 individual icons that would provide a shortcut to get to their Google Doc. Britannica Below is a screen shot of what the Britannica page looked like for my kids. They chose the mammals link to choose their animal and find facts for their animal research. After clicking on mammals, students got to find an animal. Once an animal was found, they would then click on that animal's name. Once on the chosen animal, they could try their best to read the information. There is an option to have the text read aloud. Many students took advantage of this option to gather the facts about their animal. Kidblog After students finished their animal research, I was able to embed the Google Doc within their Kidblog. I did this part as it took some changes to the Google Doc to allow for embedding on their Kidblog. Below is an example of an embedded animal research project. One big challenge with my first graders is when they have to write. Some of my students do great at sounding out words and trying their best. Some of my students shut down when writing because they do not like spelling words wrong. In addition, due to some missing letter sounds and identification skills, sounding out can still be a huge challenge. We have tried two different apps to assist in this process. Moreover, we have two different scenarios for implementing these apps. Scenario 1--only one teacher With only one teacher in the classroom, sometimes it is difficult to assist students in editing their writing. This is where they can use the Google Search App or the Dragon Dictation app. When we are writing our sloppy copies, students are to underline words they are not sure how to spell. When they move onto editing, they can use either app to say the underlined word. Google Search and/or Dragon Dictation will turn their dictated word into text. Scenario 2--Reluctant writers For those students that are lacking some letter ID and sound skills, we use the Dragon Dictation app. Students are able to dictate a sentence at a time. The app will then change their dictation into text. *This may take some practice. Speaking slowly and close to the microphone helps with the accuracy in which the dictation is converted to text. |
Andrew FenstermakerInstructional Technology Coordinator | Innovation Coach | Google Certified Innovator | Presenter | Blogger | Adjunct @UiowaEducation | Owner @kids_f_i_r_s_t |