This week I have been investigating alternatives to posters. What are some digital tools that students could use to demonstrate their understanding of a concept in a way that incorporates text, visual images and possibly has an audio component? Thinglink https://www.thinglink.com/ Students can create interactive images by adding video, text, other images, music etc. ThingLink examples: A menagerie of Google Chrome extensions (shown above, with quick descriptions) https://www.thinglink.com/scene/614171442354847745 This one may be used by a teacher to demonstrate what you can link to in ThingLink https://www.thinglink.com/scene/385215957930344448 A Chemistry example http://natashaambriz.edu.glogster.com/nitrogen-family Student representations of understanding of renaissance art (for SS)(you can see all levels of achievement represented here!)
Students can upload photos, images, and record their own voices! Samples of student work can be viewed on the main page Great for storytelling and report type work. Little Bird Tales examples (not just for elementary students!)
Big Huge Labs http://bighugelabs.com/ has MANY different ways students can manipulate images and text to demonstrate understanding. Some of my students’ favorites:
PicLits http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx
‘Inspired picture writing’ combines careful image selection with precise word choice (and provides a drag and drop option for students requiring that kind of scaffolding)
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For this post, I want to focus in on the theme of digital law and how I taught this in my grade 4 classroom. For several years, I had my students publish their work online using their blogs. In the beginning, we did not worry about citing sources when posting images to our blogs. Students would use Google to search for images and use those. It was much like they did when they used images from the internet in a document or presentation when they did not publish their work online. We soon started questioning if this was the right thing to do when we use the images online. As a class we started investigating the answer to that very question. Are you allowed to take images from a Google search and just use them? This question led to more questions of my students:
-What is copyright? -Is it different to use images online as opposed to images you use for other things? -How do you know if you have permission to use an image? -Where can we find images that we are allowed to use? -How do we cite images properly? -Does copyright apply to music we use in our work? -Where do we find music we are allowed to use? Over time my class and I have found some useful resources when it comes to using images and music in our work. I hope you find them useful! Copyright: 2Learn- copyright & teaching the basics Images: The Noun Project- a community building icons that anyone can understand Pixabay- Free images Compfight- A Flickr Search Tool 15 Best Sites for Open Source Images Photos For Class - The quick and safe way to find and cite images for class! Pics4Learning - Free photos for education 27 Superb Sites With Royalty Free Stock Images For Commercial Use Google Image Search Adds Usage Rights to Search Tools Research Tools in Google Docs- allows students to easily find and cite images in a Google Doc Music: Incompetech- royalty free music. Search by genre or feel. Soundation- online music studio with recording, effects, virtual instruments and over 700 free loops and sounds Audio Nautix – Online collection created by Jason Shaw. FMA- Free Music Archive. Search by genre. Jamendo- royalty free music downloads Are there any resources you and your students use? Let me know in the comment section below! By Tammy Tkachuk
Last month I had the opportunity to be part of an EdCamp held at the ERLC (Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium). While at the EdCamp, I attended a session about the Literacy Seed Kit. A week later, I was further exposed to the Literacy Seed Kit during the Balanced Literacy session for PHRD teachers that was held in Barrhead at ADLC. This amazing resource is a collection of books, picture books, novels, fiction and non-fiction, that engage learners and provide meaningful First Nations, Inuit, and Metis content in our classrooms. The other wonderful thing about this resource kit is that it comes with a set of lesson ideas for classroom teachers to use. The link below will take you to the website the Literacy Seed Kit. If you click on Literacy and you can see the books and lesson plans by clicking on the other tabs. LITERACY SEED KIT Some other resources that were mentioned during this same session were the Gabriel Dumont Institute and Scholastic Canada's Flip- Point of View Series. I'm including links to their websites as well. Gabriel Dumont Institute Flip- Point of View Books I also had a chance to talk to Solange Lalonde. She is amazing! Her is her blogspot (http://fnmied.blogspot.ca/ ). She told us about CBC’s 8th Fire, Education is Our Buffalo, Legacy of Hope Foundation, Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, University of Lethbridge FNMI Curriculum Collection, Code Talkers, The Keepers book Series for kids, Pearson’s Turtle Island Voices, and Cynthia Smith’s website (http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/cls/about_cyn.html ). All of these resources provide fantastic information for classroom teachers. I hope you have a chance to check them out. Are you familiar with the Student Interactives on the ReadWriteThink website (http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/ )? This is one of the most useful sites for teachers in Divs II and III for providing scaffolding and allowing students to demonstrate understanding of concepts in creative ways. There are 59 digital tools (called “Student Interactives”) available and the ways they can be used is almost limitless. Also available on the site are dozens of lesson plans using the Interactives, searchable by grade level. Many of the Interactives are also applicable to Divs I and IV.
Some of my favorites for student use (with descriptions from www.readwritethink.org) are: Flip Book http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/flipbook/ The Flip Book is designed to allow users to type and illustrate tabbed flip books up to ten pages long. Students and teachers can use the flip book for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating question and answer booklets. Students can choose from nine different layouts for the pages of their books. A blank flip book is available for demonstration and planning. Printing Press http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/ The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers. Teachers and students can choose from several templates to publish class newspapers, informational brochures, and flyers announcing class events. Text added to the templates can be modified using a simple WYSIWYG editor, which allows students to choose text features, such as font size and color. Compare and Contrast Map http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/compcontrast/map.html This interactive graphic organizer helps students develop an outline for one of three types of comparison essays: whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences, or point-to-point. A link in the introduction to the Comparison and Contrast Guide give students the chance to get definitions and look at examples before they begin working. The tool offers multiple ways to navigate information including a graphic on the right that allows students to move around the map without having to work in a linear fashion. The finished map can be saved, e-mailed, or printed. Persuasion Map http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/ The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate. Students begin by determining their goal or thesis. They then identify three reasons to support their argument, and three facts or examples to validate each reason. The map graphic in the upper right-hand corner allows students to move around the map, instead of having to work in a linear fashion. The finished map can be saved, e-mailed, or printed. Cube Creator http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/cube-30057.html Summarizing information is an important postreading and prewriting activity that helps students synthesize what they have learned. The interactive Cube Creator offers four options:
Letter Generator http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/letter_generator/ The Letter Generator tool is designed to help students learn to identify all the essential parts of a business or friendly letter, and then generate letters by typing information into letter templates. A sample letter is included, and students can learn about the parts of a letter by reading descriptions of each part. Once students have become familiar with letter formats, they are prompted to write their own letter. Students follow the steps and fill in specific fields in the template (for example, heading, salutation, closing, signature, and so on). They may even add a decorative border and postscript to the friendly letter. The finished letter can be saved, e-mailed, or printed. This useful tool provides step-by-step instructions for familiarizing users with the necessary elements of written correspondence, and can serve as an excellent practice method for composing and proofreading both formal and informal letters. Notetaker http://rwtinteractives.ncte.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=722 “This hierarchical outlining tool allows students to organize up to five levels of information for reading and writing activities. During or after reading, the Notetaker can be used to compile and organize reading notes, research, and related ideas. During the writing process, students can use the tool to organize their information and plan texts in the prewriting stage and to review and structure their ideas during writing and revision. Students can choose the format that the outline will use (e.g., bullets, Roman numerals, letters) as well as enter up to five levels of information.” Trading Card Creator http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/trading_cards_2/ The Trading Card tool gives students an alternative way to demonstrate their literacy knowledge and skill when writing about popular culture texts or real world examples. This interactive allows students to create their own trading card about a real or fictional person, place, object, event, or abstract concept. These cards are can be used with any type of book students are reading or subjects that they are studying, and make for an excellent prewriting exercise for students who are writing narrative stories and need to consider characters, setting, and plot. Specific prompts guide student through the various types of cards, expanding students' thinking from the basic information and description of the topic to making personal connections to the subject. The save capability gives students a way to work on a draft of their card and come back to it to rework and revise as necessary, and to save their finished product to share with friends and family. Images can be uploaded into the card to give the finished product a complete and polished look. Cards can be bundled into a single, small collection (8 card maximum) so that students have a way of sort and grouping similar topics in one file. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Have fun exploring the many other available tools. |
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AuthorsThis blog and resources website has been developed through the work of various AISI coaches in PHRD. The lead collaborative teachers for the 2015/2016 school year, Cheryl Frose, Christine Quong and Tammy Tkachuk will continue to update this site. If you have resources you would like to share or would like to contribute to the blog, please contact us. Archives
May 2016
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