Using Photo Captions January 20, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Web 2.0, Websites.add a comment
I came across this really cool application over at BigHugeLabs.com that allows you to add captions to your photos. I told you it was cool! I had snapped this photo of our duck, Leo, enjoying a cold snowy swim following a recent snow storm, and thought this would be a perfect lesson to reinforce and encourage creative writing with the 4th grade students. The idea was inspired by a fabulous Google Docs activity I learned about over at Twitter called PLN Snow in Six Words. Using the laptops we will have each student create a thought bubble describing what they believe Leo is thinking as he embarks on his winter swim. To expand on this idea we will then have students take their own winter pictures and add captions.
The SMARTBoard will be used to demonstrate how to use the application- it’s perfect when instructing the students while they use the laptops. I will also create a Notebook lesson importing all of the pictures to reinforce writing skills and to allow students to share. ENJOY!
Presidential Activities January 18, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, General, history/social studies.1 comment so far
Last week I had the pleasure of spending time with the 5th grade Social Studies students as we learned about U.S. Presidents, Presidential Inaugurations, President-Elect Obama, etc. I created a SMART Notebook lesson (attempted to post it here, with no luck) about the President-Elect’s journey to the White House. We also visited the PBS site President for A Day.
One interesting side note, in all three classes not one student could tell me who the Vice President-Elect was, but 80% knew that Senator McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate was Sarah Palin. HMMMMMM, and who says that the press/media doesn’t influence us. OK, back to the original post.
We spoke about the Boston teacher who quit his job to walk across the country collecting comments from Americans about their hopes and dreams for the future of America. He will deliver his book to the President. We discussed how one person, or a group of people, can make a difference. From that, emerged an open discussion about how the students could voice their hopes and expectations to the new President. Since we knew that President-Elect Obama enjoys reading and had learned that he had written two books, they decided to create a book to send to the President. I gave them a few options of how we could achieve this goal and they decided to use MakeBelifsComix.com to create cartoons expressing their ideas (I had used this website last week at a different school to describe landmarks). And so this would not be just any book, it would be a book of comics, expressing issues they want the President to address. We would put each comic strip in a book, design a cover, etc. and send it to President Obama.
The students were very excited and motivated and spoke about some very important and relevant issues that will face the new President such as lowering taxes, saving the environment, ending starvation, ending the wars, etc. I was very impressed not only with the actual comic strips, but with the insights they demonstrated. Here are some links to a few of the comics created by these amazing students: Hopes for the Future, Hopes for Change with President Obama, To Bring Home the Troops, Recycling.
So this weekend I am creating the “Comics for President Obama” book! Each student will add his/her signature to their comic, a cover page will be chosen, I will then bring the book to Staples to have it professionally bound, before sending off to the White House! Onward to the Inauguration. ENJOY!
PicLits January 13, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Web 2.0, Websites.2 comments
Yesterday I partnered with a 3rd grade teacher to use the laptops and expose the students to the awesome PicLits website. Each and every time I work with a different classroom I continue to be amazed at both the computer skills and the enthusiasm to use the laptops that these elementary students exhibit. I go home each and every day with a smile on my face, and in my heart!
PicLits is very user/student friendly and our students quickly learned the functions and created some amazing, funny and even thought provoking PicLits. Last night I created a SMART Notebook lesson including all of the PicLits and today each student will be presenting their PicLit to their classmates.
If you would like to see their work here are some links: The Owl, The Lion, The Frog, Dog in the Sand and The Chicken. As you will see our students chose to use the freestyle option, which is a great feature for the younger students who might be a little intimidated by not only the “big words”, but also the “dragging and dropping” feature. ENJOY!
Just wanted to share January 10, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, SMART Board, Websites.3 comments
I had a marvelous day yesterday using our new laptops and MakeBeliefsComix.com with a 4th grade class. They have been studying famous US landmarks and as a final project the teacher wanted the students to identify their favorite landmark and tell why (giving information about the landmark). Typically she would have them write a short essay so I suggested that we try something different by having them write a comic strip instead. The expectations would be the same, they would just have the opportunity to share their knowledge using a different tool. After a quick “how to” lesson on the basics of using MakeBeliefsComix.com the students were eager, ready and very willing to get started! The enthusiasm was over the top!! It was one of those wonderful teaching moments! The outcome was fantastic- the comics were creative and informative and met all of the criteria that writing an essay would have accomplished. Here are two examples- the pictures are linked to the actual comics in case you can’t read them.
I was just so impressed with the way the students changed the emotions of the cartoon characters, creatively integrated the information, quickly learned how to use the tool, worked cooperatively to help each other and how much they enjoyed the activity. As one students said to me, “Miss, this is way cool! It’s not even like I’m in school”.
The next step is for me to create a SMART Notebook lesson with each of the comics so the students can present their finished product to the class. I also will be incorporating Google Earth so we also can “travel” to each landmark. All in all it was a wonderful lesson using a marvelous and FREE website. It’s a great tool for encouraging skills in the area of computer literacy and improve language and reading skills and strengthen creative writing skills. ENJOY!
Inauguration Sites January 8, 2009
Posted by anne marie in Websites, history/social studies.Tags: Inauguration
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On January 20th President Elect Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. I have received requests from several teachers regarding Inaugural websites that help support this :history in the making” moment. So here are some of the sites that I have found to particularly worthwhile. ENJOY!
As I mentioned in my previous post, HotChalk is offering 25 free video clips about past inaugurations including the very first inauguration of President Washington. These video clips are from NBC News, PBS, The History Channel and more.
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies- a comprehensive resource of Inaugural information including a historical perspective complete with a slide show. In addition there also is a very nice section about this year’s theme “A New Birth of Freedom“.
Scholastic has a wonderful interactive timeline beginning with President Washington’s Inauguration and ending with President Bush’s 2nd Inauguration in 2005. Other interactive Presidential activities can be found at Scholastic’s Democracy at Work page.
PBS Online News Hour- a page with the history of Inaugurations. This site also has links (to the right side) that will display the text of Inaugural Poems written by Maya Angelous and Robert Frost. Also provided is an interactive multiple choice Inaugural quiz that offers two versions, novice and expert.
EL Civics fro ESL Students- a nice overview of the history of Inaugurations. There is a five question quiz at the bottom of the page.
Washington Post Inauguration Central- update information regarding the 2009 events. The Washington Post also offers a slideshow of the History of Inaugural Balls.
The NY Times- an article about the role and history of Poets in Inaugural ceremonies. The article offers several links to information regarding the three Inaugural Poets and the woman who will have the honor of being the fourth, Elizabeth Alexander.
About.com Washington DC- gives an extensive guide to the 2009 Inaugural Events.
Inauguration SMART Notebook lesson-created by Franes Newsom-Lang Office of Instructional Technology, Queens, NY. A SMART Notebook lesson designed for students K-6. I found this lesson posted on SMARTBoard Revoltion Ning.
US Presidential Inaugural Addresses January 7, 2009
Posted by anne marie in Uncategorized.add a comment
With the 2009 US Presidential Inauguration only days away HotChalk is offering 25 top-quality video clips free of charge for integration into your lessons throughout the month of January. ENJOY!
Ninja Text Generator January 7, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, Websites.Tags: text generator
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I had not visited Fodey.com in a awhile and was pleasantly surprised to see that in addition to their Wizard Word Generator they now have a Ninja Word Generator- YEAH!
My students were always motivated to spell/write if they could use these fun tools so I wanted to share the update. Fodey.com also has other tools to engage and motivate students to write. Definitely worth the time to check it all out. ENJOY!
Literactive January 6, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, SMART Board, Websites.Tags: Literactive
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The ELA Coach at one of the elementary schools had asked me for some poetry sites to help support a 1st grade teacher, so tonight, the search began! I was pleasantly surprised when I came across Literactive. This awesome site not only has some great interactive poetry lessons for grades PreK-2, but also provides other interactive reading materials. In their words, ”carefully levelled guided readers, comprehensive phonic activities and a wealth of supplemental reading material which gradually develop a child’s reading skills in a sequential and enjoyable manner”. They also offer down loadable worksheets and an ESL (Spanish) version for all of the guided readers. All of the interactive activities work extremely well with the SMARTBoard- they are AWESOME! If you are a Pre-K- 2nd grade teacher or a Special Education teacher teaching/introducing basic reading skills, it is well worth taking the time to investigate every inch of this site. Almost forgot- you can access all of the activities without registering (it’s free), but if you want to download lessons you will need to register. ENJOY!
Happy 2009! January 1, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: Happy New Year
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Wishing all of you a year filled with good health, happines and dreams that come true! HAPPY 2009!
