Fourth graders are learning about the states and also studying the midwest region specifically. Three classrooms planned trips and the other two focused on their states.
A placeholder showcasing the use of digital tools in the Solon Community School District
Monday, April 25, 2011
Take a trip with Google Maps
Fourth graders are learning about the states and also studying the midwest region specifically. Three classrooms planned trips and the other two focused on their states.
Visual Verse
Language Arts - Aaron Farnsworth
Here it is, finally, the creative project of a lifetime. Call me Zamboni/Call me Ishmael/Call me what you will---at some point, just make sure to call me poetry!-----it is in your veins, it is a part of you, it controls your every move and your daily thinking-We’re going to bring it to life!
You will take a poem and turn it into a cinematic production: a song, rap, mini-movie, dramatization, etc.—all done through a mini-film.
Your Undertaking:
2. Each person needs to find a poem for the group, one that could be turned into a video production.
1Pg. rationale 10 +____
‘Film’ Complete and on time 10 +____
Movie
Camera time-all participants 10 +____
Professionally Done 10 +____
Creative 10 +____
Title screen 5 +____
Credits screen 5 +____
Effectively Accents the Poem 10 +____
Six types of shots 10 +____
TOTAL +____/100
Dragon Dictate
With a purchasing grant funded by the Solon Community School District PTO, I was able to purchase a new computer program that allows me to better facilitate students’ writing. Dragon Dictate (once called MacSpeech Dictate) by Nuance offers the ability to speak text and commands as I am grading academic work such as essays. The traditional route of feedback is to sketch out comments that end up being very vague and to then use many abbreviations hinting at needed corrections without specific guidance. This technique, which can become very effective when paired with a student writing conference, is somewhat idealistic, but it often doesn’t offer the full benefits as individual time to meet with students is very limited. Dragon Dictate has opened the doors of teacher/writer communication by providing the ability to articulate a full sentence or lengthened idea about a section of the student writing without the cumbersome process and limitations of written comments. These ‘new age’ written comments allow the teacher to describe, to give voice, and to incite new direction in a student’s academic success. And if used effectively, it can also reduce the need for many writing conferences—ones that focus on deciphering the ‘assigned’ comments.
Although any new application of technology has a learning curve and the dedication to understanding and manipulating its components is time consuming, the possibilities here are remarkable. In the time it takes to traditionally grade and create written comments for an essay, DD users (such as myself and Mr. Erickson) have been able to generate twice the amount of quality feedback in the same amount of time. With continued use, mastery, and innovative nature, this program can persist in its effectiveness. For a sample of how this tool has been used in the classroom, please contact Aaron Farnsworth at: aafarnsworth@solon.k12.ia.us
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Comic strip characters make up math problems
A middle school math teacher asked students to use MakeBeliefComix to illustrate math problems. The best ones were used for the test.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
TimeToast
As a final project in my Stride for Freedom class I wanted kids to create a timeline of what they felt were the 20 most important events/topics we covered in the 9 week course.
Rather than have kids do the old fashioned poster board with markers, glue and scissors I took the advice of Mrs. Cannon and decided that a digital version might be of more interest and less mess to my kids.
Mrs. Cannon had recommended Dipity.com to me as she had used it in the past and thought it worked well. When I tried it I found it to be not as user friendly as I’d hoped so I tried another site called Timetoast.
It’s very easy to create specific points as well as time spans along a timeline. It also allows the user to add photos to each point as well. It updates in real time so losing progress is never an issue.
Viewing a finished product can be done in timeline format or text format. The timeline version is visually captivating and draws the eye to it as each event magnifies as your cursor draws near the points on the timeline. The text format however is much easier from a reading standpoint and more importantly for me a grading standpoint.
Having used it I’ve already thought up a number of different ways I could incorporate this to use as a teaching tool as well as other lessons for students to use it in other classes.
www.timetoast.com is the website. It’s free to sign up and all a person needs is an email address.
Here’s an example of one of my students projects.
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/128481
Todd Kopecky, High School Social Studies