Book Report Alternatives, Take II

Continuing with the book report alternatives series, this blog post will focus once again on a small change you can make with your current literature strategies.  In guided reading, reflection journals have been a very effective tool to build comprehension, make text connections, and respond personally to text.  Adding technology to the reflection journal in the form of student blogs can greatly enhance student understanding.

It works exactly like reflection journals, only students will record their journaling in the form of a blog.  This adds "wow" factor to the individual student and provides a wider audience for students, therefore, typically resulting in better quality work.  Additionally, it allows other students in the class to comment on the reflection, add their own perspective, ask questions, or further discuss events. 

It is important to remember that student comments are a critical piece to the enhancement of the learning.  If students add new information or ask questions in their comments, the learning cycle continues.  If students become critical editors or cheerleaders to a job well done, the learning stops.  This article from eSchool News explains it best.

Blogmeister is a favorite blog site of mine.  It allows teachers to not only create their own blog page, but one for each of their students.  Student email accounts are not needed for this site, but if your school is not registered, you will need to obtain a school passcode from the site administrator.  (Joplin teachers, see Klista Lawyer-Reynolds for this code)  All student articles and comments can be set up so that the teacher monitors whatever is published.

Using blogs as reflective journals is meeting both the "Communicating" and "Collaborating" of the 4C's.  It is assumed that critical thinking will also be utilized, therefore, meeting three of the four C's.  What a great way to encourage reflection and technology in literacy!

Technology Integrated Vocabulary

How do you teach vocabulary with technology?  That's a question frequently posed by teachers.  First, we need to look at how vocabulary should be taught in the 21st century.  Gone are the days when teachers handed a list of vocabulary terms and a dictionary to their students.  Vocabulary in the 21st century focuses on making meaning rather than memorizing. 

However you might be developing vocabulary in your classroom, whether teaching specific terms related to content specific curriculum or recognizing and expanding on vocabulary in literature, Marzano suggests including non-linguistic representations as well as defining the word in the students' own words.  One way to both utilize these suggested strategies with content area vocabulary and incorporate technology is to use a graphics program, like Inspiration or Kidspiration.  Students can use both written text and visual images from the image bank to create a graphic representation of the word. Finished products can be exported as .jpg files and inserted into a website, wiki, or blog so that all students have access to the definitions and their pictorial representation.  For an example, see what these third graders have created using Kidspiration and a wiki.

In addition to this strategy, there are many websites that can enhance vocabulary development.  Visual Thesaurus is a great site that creates a web of color coded synonyms and antonyms that can be collapsed and expanded for teaching purposes. 


Tagxedo and Wordle are two sites that work similarly.  They are word clouds students can use to collect and display chosen words from literature.  The sites randomize typed words and enlarge those that are used more frequently.  To include the visual representation that Marzano suggests, colors and fonts can be changed to represent the meaning of the words, and in Tagxedo, various shapes of the clouds can be chosen for deeper meaning.  In addition, both sites can be used in writing practices to identify overused words.

These small changes made to your existing practices to incorporate 21st Century Skills and 21st Century Literacy can make a big difference in the retention and comprehension of your students. 

Book Report Alternatives, Take I

Critical thinking skills and creativity are two key elements of a 21st Century learning environment as outlined by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  Also defined as a key element is Information, Media, and Technology Skills.  This blog series is dedicated to taking the traditional reading assignments, such as book reports, group discussions, and demonstrating comprehension to the 21st century.
Book Report Alternatives Take I:
Of the sites and ideas highlighted in this series, Shelfari is probably the most similar to the traditional book report.  On this site, students can create a virtual bookshelf that displays all the books they are reading, have read, or would like to read.  They can rate books, summarize them, create tags, and leave a personal message about the book.  A student's profile is considered complete when they add facts to their books and join discussion groups.  In the discussion groups, students can ask questions about their book or other classmates' books, respond to prompts, summarize their story, or even give their own feelings and perspectives.

When considering Grappling's Technology Spectrum, this site could be utilized for lessons at the adapting or transforming level.  Adapting lessons simply allow students to do what they've always done with pencil and paper using technology instead.  Transforming lessons, on the other hand, utilize critical thinking skills, expand the learning throughout multiple disciplines, and can even take the learning outside of the classroom walls. 

If students collaborate with other classrooms in Shelfari, using groups created and monitored by the teacher, the possibilities are endless.  Other students from a range of geographical regions can add input and perspective to literature studies, making connections for the collaborating class.  This is something that cannot be done without the technology.

Shelfari takes a little bit of preparation in the beginning.  Accounts are free, but email addresses are needed for the students.  Free email accounts can be created using sites like Gaggle or ePals. Both sites also offer collaborative features, so students can not only obtain an email address for Shelfari, but can collaborate with other students and classes using the built in features of the email services.

The 4 C's, identified by The Partnership for 21st Century Learning, includes critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. By participating in authentic discussions such as those described and collaborating with other students and classrooms, students are engaged in all aspects of a 21st Century Learning environment. 

Make Your Presentations Move!

So maybe you're studying photosynthesis and you'd like the students to create something that demonstrates the growth of plants under the perfect conditions of water, sunlight, and temperature.

Maybe you're a primary teacher and your students are working on a transportation unit.  As the kids put the finishing touches on their projects, here's a few tips to really make their presentations both interactive and exciting.

Check the video tutorial below to find out how:

Fun SMART Notebook Trick

Here's a video tutorial of a fun SMART Notebook trick to try in your class using a spotlight to find text hidden from view.

This trick takes the place of the "screen shade" in SMART Notebook.  It's always good to mix things up to keep engagement at the highest levels.  This is just another tool for the toolbelt!

Lots of fun ways this could be used in the classroom!  What ways can you think of?

Using Technology for Guided Reading

In Guided Reading activities, students are involved in a variety of reading strategies while the teacher provides support to small groups.  There are many engaging ways technology can be used in these lessons to stretch and enhance student thinking.

Student Led Discussions
Skype 
Students can discuss topics and ask questions with other classrooms using Skype, a free application that allows users to call others.  Students can see each other through the web cam and communicate in real time, asking questions and discussing readings.

Chat
Using various chat features, students can discuss and question readings.  Try Typewith.me to chat and create writing and Gaggle chat so students can meet in virtual rooms to discuss teacher given prompts and topics.

Reflections
When students use journals to reflect, they are putting their ideas, questions, and thoughts in a paper form of a response log.  Blogs are the electronic version of this same idea.  By allowing students to reflect in the form of a blog, they will not only verbalize their ideas, but publish them for the world to see, which typically increases effort.  Additionally, by publishing public reflections, other students reading the same book can comment with their own ideas, which can develop into a discussion, mimicking the dialogue students would have if they were meeting face to face.
Blogmeister is a good site that is free and safe for kids.  Teachers can set up an account and provide kids with their very own page, which can demonstrate growth over time.

Questioning and Notes
As students read, comprehension can be increased by writing notes and questions on post-its or stickies.  These are then saved until students have the opportunity to either discuss their reading in small group format or make the connections themselves through further reading.  The same practice can be carried out virtually by using either a wiki or virtual sticky notes.  By storing the notes and questions in a public forum, students benefit not only themselves, but also the other students in the class.  Other students can answer the questions and make comments on the notes; therefore, accelerating the timeliness of feedback and the ability to make connections.

There are many good wikis that are free for teachers, including PBWorks and Wikispaces.  The same is true for virtual sticky notes.  Check here for several links to free, virtual stickies.

Post Its, Anyone?

Save the environment and your school's budget by using these sites in lieu of sticky notes:

Wallwisher

Postica

Spaaze

Lino

These are great resources to use for brainstorming, collaborating, questioning, and note-taking.