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.