Task 10 The End of the Journey

I was glad I watched the video on PLN’s. It convinced me that I should connect with others and learn about topics I’m interested in for the sake of my students. I need to be able to help them leverage learning networks and do it safely, ethically, and effectively.

I loved the online stopwatch and plan on using it for some time activities in class. http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

I made a Wordly Wise crossword puzzle at “Super Crossword Puzzle,” (one of the Discovery Education Classroom Resources). It was fun and easy, but not free, except for a free trial. I think my students would enjoy making the puzzles. http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/

There is a very complete lesson plan on science fiction at
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/DLA_intermediate_fiction_nonfiction/
There is another lesson plan on using quotation marks at
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/pen_unnaturalselection/

Task 9 Presentation Tools

There are several slideshare presentations on the topic of “Tips for a Happier Life” at
http://www.slideshare.net/ohteikbin/10-great-tips-and-humor-pics
that have pithy sayings and humorous graphics. I can see choosing individual slides from these for paragraph starters.
“Creating Games at School” has a slideshare presenting a number of games and game-like activities that students can both play and create to share. http://www.slideshare.net/Pepa99/creating-games-at-school
Students can create and share (for free) vocabulary word games such as http://www.wordduck.com/
They can work crossword puzzles and create their own at http://www.slideshare.net/Pepa99/creating-games-at-school
At http://classtools.net/education-games-php/quiz/ students can create their own Arcade Game quizzes.
There is a very understandable and greatly enhanced with graphics slideshare on “Traits of the Archetypal Hero” that will make a great introduction to The Adventures of Ulysses read by our sixth graders http://www.slideshare.net/chrismurban/hero-archetype
There was a lot of useful information on the slideshare “Writing Workshop.” Ironically, the script in which the information was typed ran words together, and it was very difficult to read. http://www.slideshare.net/smacksoud/writing-workshop-1698055
The slideshares on the suffix –ment http://www.slideshare.net/elkissn/using-the-suffix-ment and prefixes http://www.slideshare.net/elkissn/prefixes-1703414 are both worthwhile supplements to Wordly Wise study.
The practice and game like feature of the slideshare on irregular verbs makes it particularly appealing http://www.slideshare.net/AnnaK/irregular-verbs-group1
Three interesting overviews on dyslexia are http://www.slideshare.net/margaretur/dyslexiabex
http://www.slideshare.net/hileryjane/understanding-dyslexia-for-kids-1367690
http://www.slideshare.net/drseide/stealth-dyslexia-in-gifted-children-1565818

I explored the slideshares above and also viewed Sandy’s Wangari’s Trees of Peace, Museum Box on Egypt, Embedding Code, and 280 Slides tutorial.

I posted a slide share on parts of the sentence
http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?q=+Parts+of+the+Sentence&submit=post&searchfrom=header&x=29&y=7

Task 8 Glogster

I watched the video and explanation about Glogster and explored ways that teachers use Glogster in the classroom. Although I did not create a Glog at this time, I was very impressed with the interactive and multisensory aspects of these “posters.” I am planning on doing something during this school year quite similar to the Poetry Glog Project posted at http://2pointohteaching.blogspot.com/2009/01/glogster-in-classroom-and-light-sabres.html.
I also liked the Glog that a teacher created that had a collection of web sites the students could explore, organized by categories. I used Quiz Star (quizstar.com) to create a multiple choice quiz for a Wordly Wise lesson. There are quite a few word games that I think my students would enjoy at http://quizstar.com/popup/searchEntertainment.php?term=Word+Games
I tried using http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php to create a writing rubric, but I found the directions very confusing and frustrating. I used a table instead.

Task 7 Collaboration Tools

At Mixbook I checked out a project done by fifth graders “Chronicling Famous Americans.” I would like to adapt this idea for when we read our book length biographies and autobiographies. I would have each student create a page for his or her book, with pictures and a paragraph about the subject of the book read. We would share both classes’ Mixbooks with the other six grade classes. Tikatok could be used for a booklet of student created and illustrated poems. There seems to be a lot of help for those using this tool. Jen Farr says WallWisher is easy to create but that class accounts would be good to have. Sandy, when I tried to go to the test you created, I got the message,” The page you requested [404] was not found.” I had looked over the Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers before. I wish it was organized in a logical manner. Some of the recommended sites that I checked out were worthwhile. I liked Quizlet http://quizlet.com/ because students can both create and share flash cards. Flickriver (flickriver.com) had some very good pictures, but not all were appropriate for sixth graders Tweetscan (tweetscan.com) can be used as a “real time” concordance to support vocabulary development. Ediscio.com looks like a great flashcard tool, with learning statistics. I added a comment on the Whiteboard created for us. I definitely want to use Etherpad with my students this coming year. It would be a wonderful way to create collaborative poetry and stories.

Task 6 Digital Storytelling

I viewed the “Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling” posted on the University of Houston Web site and saw examples of a wide range of uses for digital storytelling, from the recounting of personal tales and historical events to lives in one’s own community and lives in all places in the universe. I learned that digital storytelling uses images, audio, and video clips from various sources. Some of our sixth grade language arts students have done writing project in the past relating to their own families living in Florida (relating to their summer reading book A Land Remembered).The You Tube video indicated how relatively simple it would be for our technologically savvy students to tell their digital stories using their own voices, images, and sounds. Most of our students have many personal pictures stored on both their laptops and phones. When I visited Animoto for Teachers, the “Be a Buddy Not a Bully” video seemed to be a good idea for the advisory groups to create similar meaningful “value” presentations. It was easy, and I had fun creating a Kerpoof picture with a sea background. I think my sixth graders would enjoy using Kerpoof to illustrate setting for poems and stories and to illustrate vocabulary and literary terms. I looked at the tutorial on photostory at http://www.windowsphotostory.com/Guides/Beginner/importing-and-arranging-pictures.aspx and think my sixth graders could work on group projects for literature using it.

Task 5 Online Writing

I checked out most of the writing tools you listed. I could use the “Historic Tale Construction Kit” at http://www.adgame-wonderland.de/type/bayeux.php for a creative writing assignment
for a Wordly Wise lesson. I am always looking for new ways for them to do these assignments.

I plan on using at least one of the comics writing tools. “Pixton” http://pixton.com/
seems to offer a lot of variety and flexibility, and it has a good tutorial. Both “Witty Comics” http://www.wittycomics.com/make-comic.php and “Make Believe Comix” http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/ do not appear to be as versatile but seem easy to use.

Although I probably would not use “Big Universe” http://www.biguniverse.com/ for the creation of stories with my students this coming year, I definitely want them to read some of the books for the 9-12 age group created by others. Many of these books are easily understood and are an accurate and excellent introduction to selections that we read. The one on Greece provides background for The Adventures of Ulyssehttp://www.biguniverse.com/readkidsbooks/read/74/dm
The book on Rome http://www.biguniverse.com/readkidsbooks/72/rome is a very good introduction to a short selection we read on Pompeii and also the novel The Secrets of Vesuvius.
The Solar System book http://www.biguniverse.com/readkidsbooks/348/the-solar-system and Outer Space http://www.biguniverse.com/readkidsbooks/read/345/dm are both informative review before reading a selection about our solar system “The Five Wanderers.” There is a comic book version of A Christmas Carol http://www.biguniverse.com/readkidsbooks/read/374/dm
that I think the seventh grade English teachers may want to use.

Task 4 Flicker for Fun

I viewed the tutorial and checked out Compfight. I also looked at Picture Sandbox, Big Huge Labs, Character Trading Generator, Pics4Learning, and Bubblr.

I plan to use http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/ for at least one creative writing assignment that I have my students do this coming year. They will create comic strips using photos from flicker.com. I do not think it will be difficult for them to use, will be fun, and they can be quite creative with what they produce.

I want my students to use Character Trading Cards Generator at http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/trading_cards/ instead of the traditional book report form when they read and report on book length biographies and autobiographies. It is an easy format to use. The student includes such things as a picture of the main character and his or her personality, information about setting, and the reader’s thoughts and feelings. Picture Sandbox http://picturesandbox.com/?d=ps and Compfight http://www.compfight.com/ would be good picture sources.


When my students write biographical poems at the beginning of the year, I plan to have them use
http://bighugelabs.com/deck.php They will upload a photo or other picture to represent themselves, create their biographical poems to accompany the pictures, and post them on the class blog for all to enjoy.