5th Grade Multicultural Literature Padlet

What: Students create digital posters that reflect their thinking about a multicultural book.
 
Materials: 

• Padlet account
• YouTube account
• PhotoBooth (Flip Horizontal)
• KidBlog account

Time: 2-3 lessons

Challenges: 

• Students should have direct instruction on how to embed Padlet in KidBlog.
• May  need to edit the height in the html code.

Tips: 

• Students will need to sign into Padlet with their @adachristian.org accounts.

Narrative:

This was a project initiated by Becky Witte and supported by the tech teacher.

3rd Grade Food Chain

What: Students will create Food Web from images collected from credible sources.
 
Materials: 

• Mel.org resources of food chain
• Assignment
• Google Draw
• KidBlog

Time: 2-3 lessons

Challenges: 

• Students need time to edit items in Google Draw.  
• Determine whether Google Research citations are sufficient or should a more formal citation be required.

Tips: 

• Create a premade Google Draw template with the arrows and text boxes for students to drag into their canvas, rather than having them insert them for the first time.

Narrative:

3rd Grade teachers and I decided to focus on food chains instead of food webs since food webs can be very complicated. Students had completed food chains on paper, but Google Draw is a good way for students to find images from various habitats.

4th Grade KidBlog posts and quality comments.

What: Students curate and post images and journey entries about Zoo Week.
 
Materials: 

• Google Drive folder of images
• Preview: resize and export photos
• KidBlog

Time: 2-3 lessons

Challenges: 

• Students need time to curate pictures.  
• Learning how to navigate among various programs from Google Drive to Preview to KidBlog can be a majority part of the lesson.

Tips: 

• Students should create folders on their desktop to collect the curated photos they download from the shared Google Drive folder of images.
• Students should create a rubric for evaluating the quality of comments written in response to blog posts. Students should be reminded that although KidBlog looks like social media, the purpose and audience are academic or school-related. 
• Students should tag their posts for future reference.

Narrative:

The 4th grade teachers and I decided to have the students become introduced to KidBlogs and the expectations for academic posting through a journal style post reflecting on their week at the zoo. Mrs. Rynders shared her photos in a Google Drive folder that we shared with students. 

We found that the quality comment lesson needs reinforcing. Students are familiar with posting social comments like, "Heeeey" but not more substantial comments that include the following:

• Tell what you liked
• Ask a Question
• Give advice

5th Grade Long Division Screencast

Draft of a screencast:
 

What: Students create screencast to explain how to do long division.
 
Materials: 

• Paintbrush
• Quicktime Player
• KidBlog
• YouTube: unlisted upload

Time: 2-3 lessons

Challenges: 

• Students need time and space to record the screencast.
• Students should check the accuracy of their calculations with inverse operation, companion screencast.  

Tips: 

• The handout for Long Division Screencast can be helpful for people who need less support and are ready to work more independently.
• Students should choose a long division problem that is not immediately solvable. They may or may not have a remainder and can explain the options of representing remainders.

Narrative:

Mr. Boersma and I were discussing possible ways to integrate technology and math. We also wanted a way to make the students' thinking visible. The screencasts allow students to demonstrate their learning but also check for understanding with peer reviews.

3rd Grade Map of the Journey of the Edmund Fitzgerald

What: Students create a Google Map that tracks the journey of the Edmund Fitzgerald from the intended journey to the shipwreck.
 
Materials: 

• Google Maps
• KidBlog

Time: 2-3 lessons

Challenges: 

• There are many new steps for students in logging into Google Accounts and embedding code into Kidblog. The lessons may take longer than expected.  

Tips: 

• The handout with screen captures is helpful.
• Use the book, The Edmund Fitzgerald: Song of the Bell by Kathy-Jo Wargin to introduce.
• Extra Credit: Connect the Start and end of the journey with a line, but will need to use multiple dots to connect across the lakes.

Narrative:

Mrs. Alphenaar suggested we connect Social Studies with technology through maps of the Great Lakes. She mentioned that the class would be learning about the Journey of the Edmund Fitzgerald. We came up with the idea to create a google map to track the potential journey and its shipwreck.

Global Read Aloud with 2nd Graders

We guessed your state!

What: Students connect with other classrooms through The Global Read-Aloud Project to share their responses to The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes.
 
Materials: 

• Skype
• Padlet
• Twitter
• Edmodo

Time: Ongoing for 2 months

Challenges: 

• Connecting with other classroom in real time can be tricky to schedule.  
• Some classes might be ahead of yours in the book so you may need to be careful about spoilers.
• Students need to be coached to respond to conversations with an acknowledgement rather than simply walking away from the camera.

Tips: 

• Students can prepare for Skype sessions by thinking of questions about the other classroom's location. Yes / No questions follow Mystery Skype rules.
• Students can respond to text with drawing or writing which can be posted to pallets or twitter.
• Make sure that students have permission to have their images shared with other schools.
• Stay current on the Edmodo teacher forum to connect with other classes.
• Create a central location to track contact info and scheduling of connections with other classes.
• Mystery YouTube with classrooms outside of your time zone.

Narrative:

Mrs. Boersma responded to an invitation to participate in a Global Read Aloud for The Year of Billy Miller since she reads this book any way with her students. At this point, I invited the other 2nd grade teachers if they wanted to connect with other classes around the country and world to discuss this book with other students. 

I began scheduling connections with other classes through the teacher forum on Edmodo. I created a blog to track our connections and keep us organized.

3rd Graders Create a Menu with Luscious Adjectives

Would you like fries with your tacos?

What: Students collaborate to compose items on a menu by using adjectives that describe the items in an appealing way. 
 
Materials: 

• Google accounts for all students with access to drive and presentations.
• A list of menu items with specific students assigned to each item.

Time: 2 lessons

Challenges: 

• All students will be in the same google presentation so explicit directions about how to edit within an individual text box is necessary.  

Tips: 

• Students should look for a cursor before deleting a word or letters so they avoid deleting text boxes.
• Create a template with individual text boxes for each student.
• Use the File > Revision History and Restore option if large chunks of text are deleted unwittingly.

Narrative:
Mrs. Witte, a 3rd grade teacher, wondered if students could create a menu online that would showcase their adjective writing skills. She wanted the students to be able to work collaboratively on one document. We had originally thought that a Google Doc might work, but it doesn't allow text boxes over an image. We opted for Google Slides or Presentation instead. There is a bit more room for editing images with text boxes. There is also the option to print as well.

Welcome to 3D-Dubs!

4th Graders create State Websites

Cristian shares his research on Florida.

What: Students research, sort and compose informational text about a state and share their data on a website.
 
Materials:

• Google accounts for all students with access to Sites

Time: 2 weeks

Challenges: 

• Bibliography may appear as a top level site since the subpages are alphabetical.

Tips: 

• Students can share their sites via a KidBlog account or simply by sharing the URL with their teachers.

Narrative:
The 4th grade teachers wanted a fresh way for students to publish their state research projects. They found the Google Sites to generate excitement for the students to share their findings about the state.

Examples:

• Florida
• Indiana
• Missouri

5th Graders produce a news program of current events

What: 5th graders research, film and edit international, national and local news stories.

Materials:

• Curated news sources for students
• Reporter's Notebook (google drive accounts)
• Camera (on laptop or other digital camera)
• iMovie or other film editing program
• Teacher YouTube account

Time: 2-3 weeks

Challenges: 

• iMovie takes a long time to load on student computers.
• Green Screen takes a bit of practice.
• Selecting and editing video clips requires practice.

Tips: 

• Prepare a list of news proposals in advance to get the conversation rolling.
• Share Channel One News channel to show students how to add specific images or video to support their story.

Narrative: KidBlog instructions

Welcome to life as a student reporter!

In the next few weeks, you will be researching, writing and filming a newscast of a current event. Your teachers and I have compiled a list of possible story ideas, but good reporters are always on the lookout for current events. Local events like the upcoming Walk-a-Thon at ACS might also be a great story idea.
ResearchAfter you have been assigned a story by your Editor-in-Chief, you will begin researching your story with credible sources. Here is a list of possible sources:

• Teaching Kids the News
• SIRS Current Events: Student Edition
• GALE: Student Edition
• InfoBits
• CNN Student News
• MLive: Michigan News
• CultureGrams

Writing
As you are researching, begin to sort your data into the 5 Ws: What, Who, When, Where and Why. Use this Reporter's Notebook to record your ideas before writing it into a final copy. Make a copy of this google doc, and save it with your name in a folder called Newscast. Then share it with your teacher and Ms. Frens.

You will read your final copy on air in a filmed version of your report so practice reading it aloud to hear how it sounds.

Filming
You will film your newscast with Ms. Frens against a green screen in which we will insert the image you chose for your story.
Reflections 
As I reflect back on this project, I would like to incorporate more reflection on the part of the students about how and why news stories are told. I would begin by asking them to consider the following, "What is the value of sharing current events? Who benefits from having this story told and who does not? How do I influence both groups in the way I tell this news story?"

2nd Graders create Google Slides of Alaskan Animals

Ben's Walrus Presentation

What: Students share their research on Alaskan animals through a slideshow that is a published version of their written work. Students type their words and select pre-approved images to add to their sites. They share "view only" with peers, but "editing rights" for their teacher and Ms. Frens.

Materials:

• Student handwritten drafts of student research on Alaskan animals
• Google accounts for all students
• Google slides prepared as a template, then shared "can edit" with each student.

Time: 2-3 days

Challenges: 

• Basic word processing skills like the @ symbol and returning to the next line are being introduced for the first time. Take the first lesson slow.

Tips: 

• The template has red letters, wherever students need to change the font color. The text boxes were tinted a light blue so students would know where they were when they first clicked in them (the default is transparent).
• Create a Citations slide for the students of sites they visited to collect data and images. Since this is second grade, we included a link to the websites only. We did not use MLA style citation guide.
• Create a second citations site for students to enter the title and author of their print resources.
• Share the students' slides with their names on them in a shared "View Only folder." Then share the individual student name with that students "Can Edit." 
• Have students type in the text before adding images to the slides. 

Narrative:
This is a culminating publication of the students' research and informational writing unit.

This is the template we created: 

5th Graders Investigate Global Book Project

Template for a page in the book, If You Learned Here.

What: If You Learned Here investigation

Materials:

• If You Learned Here
• If You Lived Here book
• KidBlog accounts

Time: 1-2 sessions

Challenges: 

• This was a global project that our school attempted to join too late. This meant that we were lurkers, rather than participants. Yet. the video sharing of the international schools interested the students.

Tips: 

• Review the 7 continents, including Oceania and the Central American / Caribbean countries.
• Have students open 2 tabs or 2 browsers with KidBlogs open in both. One tab for the directions and the other for their own post.

Narrative:This is the assignment posted in the 5th grade Kidblogs for the students to complete.

Inspired by If You Lived Here by Giles Laroche, a global connection project connected schools from around the world to collaborate on a book called, If You Learned Here. This project is almost finished so it is no longer accepting new participants. However, you have the opportunity to view the videos and descriptions from each school.

Your assignment is to post a blog which includes the following:

1) Click on the If You Learned Here link and choose a color cohort. Sort all the schools in that cohort into the continents where they are located.

Example: Red Cohort (Just 2 schools listed here, but list all of the schools for your post.)

Asia: American School of Bombay (India)

Europe: International School of Zug and Luzern (Switzerland)

2) Find videos and descriptions posted by at least 2 of the schools you chose in both the FlipGrid links and the Padlet links (grey buttons on the right). Then reflect on what is the same and different about how you would learn at that school compared to your experience at Ada Christian School. This should be at least 3-5 sentences and up to 3 paragraphs if you find enough information.

Example:

[Name of school / Location] Example: Worser Bay School, New Zealand

This school has posted lots of videos of students doing martial arts, dancing and theater inside and outside. There seems to be an emphasis on the arts and movement at this school. At ACS, we have PE, but we don’t have a theater arts program for elementary students. However, we have a wonderful music program in which we have performed musicals each year.

3. Complete the information you would put in this template about ACS, by posting the information to the prompts in a blog post:

If you learned here . . . 

Learning Materials:

Location: Fun fact about school / town / state . . .

Date: When did the school begin?

Fascinating Fact: 2-3 sentences about a school tradition, history or fascinating fact

5th Graders Map the weather in March

What: Students participate in global weather tracking with other schools.

Materials:

• Weather Underground or other weather site
• Google Maps
• Kidblog accounts
• Same Day in March book / video

Time: weekly for 1 month (March)

Challenges: 

• Students will log into Google Maps through their @adachristian.org accounts.

Tips: 

• Sign up for wikispaces to create a wiki first.
• Show students how to navigate Google Maps and embed a map they have created into a blog post.

Narrative:This is the assignment posted in the 5th grade Kidblogs for the students to complete over the course of 3 weeks.

We have joined schools around the world to participate in a global collaboration project called, Same Day in March. This is based on a book that you see in the video. We will be sharing the temperatures of our city on our wikispace. We will also be investigating other schools through this project as well as sharing a bit about where we live.

Log into Google with your username and password.

Here is your assignment:

1) Click on this Weather Chart.
*Make a copy of this with your name in the title.
*Share this file with jfrens@adachristian.org

2) Use Weather Underground for Ada, Michigan to find the temperatures for the past week. Add them to your table. Look up the freezing temperature in both Fahrenheit to Celsius and add this fact this to your table.

3) Click on the Same Day in March link.
*Think of questions you might want to ask the other students.
*Check out the Ada, Michigan page. Share ideas you have that could be added to the page.

4) Explore at least 3 other cities from different countries who will also be sharing their weather.

5) Go to Google Maps. Make sure you are logged into your google account. Create a map called, “Same Day in March, [your name]” Share this with Ms. Frens.

Drop a pin on the map in the locations of at least 3 of the schools.