Beyond the First Draft - Digital Storytelling

      Digital Storytelling is a versatile piece of technology with many different applications to engage students in diverse learning experiences.  For elementary school students, digital storytelling could be used to address three specific writing needs:

1) Autobiography - I believe that one of the hardest things to write about is yourself.  When incorporating digital storytelling into student-created autobiographies, students have the opportunity to not only write autobiographical pieces but also to make their writing come alive with images and audio.  Students of any age (yes, even Kindergarten) could participate in digital storytelling.  It could even be as simple as having each student write and record their favorite thing about school, pairing it with student-taken photos of their classmates, and combining everything together for a touching back-to-school night presentation. 

2) Biography - Many students think that writing a biographical paper or creating a biographical paper immediately equals BORING.  With digital storytelling, any biographical assignment is enlivened and enriched.  When students are researching historical figures, they can include images of important documents, photographs, and, when possible, even videos of the people they are writing about.  I can imagine a grandparent project where students are asked to interview older relatives about what life was like when they were younger.  Paired with familiar family photos, nostalgic music, and audio clips of both generations' voices, a grandparent digital story would become a very touching family heirloom while also meeting standards of learning.

3) Fiction - When teachers ask elementary school students about stories that they know, some of the most popular answers are the stories that have been translated into movie format (think Disney).  While most of these fairytales originated in print, the images and songs create impressions with children because they expand on their already rich imaginations.  When students have their own opportunities to write creatively, they should also have the abilities to explore their creativity by adding images and music to the original words.  From adding student photography to student composed music, the possibilities are truly endless.

        Even though my suggested incorporations support language arts standards, digital storytelling may be used across the curriculum.  I look forward to creating my own digital stories and assisting my students with their creations. 

"It's Greek to Me!" - A Webquest

(image is a screen shot of the Webquest)

    

        Webquests can be an excellent resource used to encourage students to "dig deeper" with a topic.  When a well-crafted Webquest is used effectively, students are challenged and engaged in their learning.

        In a Webquest that I found about Ancient Greece to be used with elementary school students, I made multiple observations about the instructions, tasks, content, and overall visual appearance of the Webquest.          

        The instructions direct students to take on the authentic role of a "tour guide" while creating a "tour" presentation for visitors to Greece and Sparta.  In addition to the tour guide role, students would adopt sub-roles of individuals in Greek and Spartan societies with specific tour stops where the student would be expected to show expertise.  Students would work in a small group and are ultimately learning about not only their sub-role but all important aspects of Ancient Greece and Sparta.  Also, students have access to worksheets for their sub-roles which further guide their research.  Finally, students are expected to create posters for their tour stops using pre-approved graphics.  At the conclusion of the Webquest, students are to be evaluated using group and individual rubrics.  

        The Webquest content is comprised of the research divided into sub-role subheadings for organization and ease of access.  Most of the websites linked is simply text in paragraph forms about different topics related to Ancient Greece and Sparta.  There are few to no interactive or authentically engaging resources listed.  I found the content to be very basic and, somewhat, leaving something to be desired.  Finally, there were a few "broken" links leading to dead ends which could potentially ensnare students.  

         The visual appearance of the Webquest is very important in that it could encourage usability or deter interest in the content.  This Webquest appears to be a little dated with some formatting discrepancies, especially with the border interfering with the readability of the text.  The text looks to me to be well organized and quite consistent in formatting which helps with navigation.

            In conclusion, I like the authentic tasks for the students and I believe that the activity could be applied effectively.  However, the content is somewhat lackluster and the formatting is a little hard on the eyes.  My final grade for this Webquest is a C+.  I could see myself doing a Webquest like this one with my students but, no, I cannot say that this one would be my first choice.

See for yourself at Greece Webquest.  

        

Concept Mapping Words with Visuwords

(image created via screenshot of Visuwords mapping of "technology")

     My students in my fourth grade practicum class are always asking my cooperating teacher and I about the origins and meanings of the words we study.  Instead of answering with "I don't know" or directing students towards dictionaries and thesauri, we could use Visuwords to create interactive concept maps of new and familiar words.

     Using Visuwords is quite simple.  To create a concept map of a specific word, you or a student may enter it into the search engine or you have the option of mapping random word.  Visuwords uses different colors of bubbles and connector arrows to illustrate different meanings of words, contexts of words, and parts of speech.  For words that have a more wide array of defining or related terms, it is possible for the user to zoom in and out while toggling around the screen.  

    I could envision a teacher using Visuwords as an avenue for introducing new words and the depth of language.  By teaching students the origins and roots of words, they are better equipped to more easily independently define new words in their reading.  Learning roots and origins of words also makes students better spellers.  A teacher could also use Visuwords in extension activities.  In word study, students can use Visuwords to establish broader frames of reference for already familiar words or new words.  

    Visuwords can also be used to support a variety of different extension activities.  For example, a 3rd-5th grade teacher could have students create their own word maps in Kidspiration or a similar software modeled after a word map created in Visuwords.  In addition, 4th or 5th grade students could use a Visuwords map to introduce a term in a presentation or at the beginnings of new thematic units.  Learning about word roots and origins are usually characteristic of upper grades but I would be interested to hear ideas about using Visuwords in Kindergarten - 2nd grade.

    Visuwords is a helpful website for enhancing student knowledge about the currency of words used daily to ascribe meaning to every day life.  

    To see for yourself - navigate your browser to www.visuwords.com 

     

DIY Images for the Classroom

   

  
       Have you ever wanted to make your own custom images to use as teaching tools in your classroom?  Have your students ever asked you how they could use a graphic to enhance a presentation or related project?
         As long as I have used social media, I have seen unique images and graphics used to make a point on the internet and I have thought that these graphics were made by someone who has an advanced grasp of different image altering software.  After perusing an article on EducationWorld, I think that I may have stumbled upon some of the secrets to the internet.  The article is all about image generators that are available on the internet for completely free use.
       After testing out all of the four different image generators listed,  my personal favorite is the Image Chef.  Off of the top of my head, I can think of so many different uses for the Image Chef image generators in the classroom.
        First, I can envision myself using Image Chef to make eye-catching, interesting, and developmentally appropriate anchor charts and signs around my classroom.  Instead of using the pre-printed signs seen so frequently in so many classrooms, I could customize my own graphics to meet the needs of my classroom and save some money by printing them on my own.  In addition, I could use Image Chef to create images to add to different paper-based activities to create buzz, add pizzazz, and personalize these frequently mundane looking resources.  Custom graphics would make my printed assignments and resources stand out to students and other teachers.  Finally, when teaching an appropriate age range, I could refer my students to Image Chef, with my supervision and guidance,  to generate their own images to use in their own assignments.  I say with confidence that my very creative and talented fifth graders would absolutely love using Image Chef when working on different projects.
       The other free, internet-based image generators in the EducationWorld article could also be utilized in the classroom, however, I feel that Image Chef would be the most relevant to elementary aged students.  I am very excited to have learned about Image Chef through EducationWorld and I look forward to creating unique and personalized images to use in my own classroom.

My Longest Relationship - Google

My longest, and potentially most enriching, relationship has been with Google.

A friend of mine sent me an invitation to my Hotmail account to sign up for a Google account when I was 16 years old.  Six years and over 10,000 received e-mails later, I have been faithful to my original Google account while making several more.  I had a Google account before the days of Google+, GChat, Google Chrome, and Google Apps.

Google Apps made having a Google account an indispensable requirement for internet interactions.  Without having to purchase or install software, Google account holders have the abilities to to utilize a vast collection of programs and file storage that run best in a web browser.  The term "Google Apps" encompasses many different communication tools, productivity tools, and highly customizeable personal elements.  Personally, I cannot even begin to describe the benefits of Google documents alone.  Having the ability for multiple users to collaborate on and edit one document simultaneously that is saved forever in an external location is simply genius.  The multi-user functionality of Google Apps is not limited to text documents alone.  Many users find the group-share abilities quite useful in calendar, spreadsheet, and presentation formats. 

In a work environment, educational or not, Google Apps have many, many uses.  When student teaching, I saw that my placement school used Google Apps all of the time to make group communication more efficient.  Instead of sending around a sign-up sheet for professional development groups, forms were made to divide the groups on Google.  Google Apps facilitated group sharing in easy to use and efficient ways. 

Having a Google account means that you have access to many different tools for communication and productivity all in one place.  If you haven't already, I would highly encourage you to explore Google Apps and consider how you could benefit from everything that Google has to offer. 

Interested in learning more?  Check out 7 Things You Should Know about Google Apps!

(Image source)