Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Videos Galore! - Idea #3
During our library time, the librarian set up the SmartBoard (an incredible, interactive whiteboard...but it is expensive) to let my students watch a few videos about the brain and nervous system on Brain Pop. Your school may subscribe to this service. Some videos are free. Otherwise, you will need a description. The nice thing about this site is that all of the videos are "kid-friendly". Of course, the librarian and I preview the videos before we show them to evaluate their content.
Anyway, the students watched a video and then I had them take the quiz with me as a class. I "manned" the laptop to start the quiz. I had a student go up to the SmartBoard to select the answer. There were 10 questions and we received our score at the end. There were some pretty tough questions, but the kids got most to all of them correct. I was amazed! The video held their interest and the content was age appropriate. They wanted to do more. We did two more videos, and the results were the same.
When we got back to the classroom, I allowed them to explore some games via a digital hotsheet on the mobile lab (a cart of 30 laptops). Where do you think a lot of them went? BRAINPOP!!!
Anyway, the students watched a video and then I had them take the quiz with me as a class. I "manned" the laptop to start the quiz. I had a student go up to the SmartBoard to select the answer. There were 10 questions and we received our score at the end. There were some pretty tough questions, but the kids got most to all of them correct. I was amazed! The video held their interest and the content was age appropriate. They wanted to do more. We did two more videos, and the results were the same.
When we got back to the classroom, I allowed them to explore some games via a digital hotsheet on the mobile lab (a cart of 30 laptops). Where do you think a lot of them went? BRAINPOP!!!
Get Researching! - Idea #2
As our research on the brain continues, I tried to incorporate technology as much as possible, but also letting the students know that research comes from other places such as books and mgazines. A novel idea huh?
Another way to integrate technology for research is a newly discovered website I learned about from my grad school class called TrackStar. This is much like the digital hotsheet, but takes it to another level. I am going to use this in the upcoming year when I tackle brain research again. With this device, you can pick specific websites for your class and do numerous things with them through the "annotations". You can ask questions, create quizzes and worksheets, or make it simply for researching information. First, you set up the "track" with a description of what it is. Then, once you have all of your websites and annotations set (which, by the way, you do all on one page within the program), it is set up and reviewed by TrackStar for appropriate content. You wil be assigned a TrackStar number. This will be handy because when you want your students to view your track, they can simply type in the number in the search field to find it quickly. You can also search, using keywords, for other people's tracks! The work may already be done for you.
It is incredible! The best part...it's FREE!
Give it a try. Think about all the ways you could use it in your classroom.
Another way to integrate technology for research is a newly discovered website I learned about from my grad school class called TrackStar. This is much like the digital hotsheet, but takes it to another level. I am going to use this in the upcoming year when I tackle brain research again. With this device, you can pick specific websites for your class and do numerous things with them through the "annotations". You can ask questions, create quizzes and worksheets, or make it simply for researching information. First, you set up the "track" with a description of what it is. Then, once you have all of your websites and annotations set (which, by the way, you do all on one page within the program), it is set up and reviewed by TrackStar for appropriate content. You wil be assigned a TrackStar number. This will be handy because when you want your students to view your track, they can simply type in the number in the search field to find it quickly. You can also search, using keywords, for other people's tracks! The work may already be done for you.
It is incredible! The best part...it's FREE!
Give it a try. Think about all the ways you could use it in your classroom.
Focus the Brain! - Idea #1
This past year, I did an extensive research project with my 4th grade students. I had done research of course in my previous years of teaching with index cards and folders. That was a nightmare! I wanted another way to take on the sometimes daunting task of 4th grade research. So I collaborated with my school librarian and come up with some ideas.
I am a very organized person who needs things tidy and neat. So, what we came up with was perfect. The librarian and I created a digital, internet-linked hotsheet. Because of all of the "mess" that kids can get themselves into on the Internet, I knew this hotsheet would be great. The basis of the hotsheet was to give the students specific websites to go to for finding facts, viewing videos, and playing games. Because these sites were specifically linked on the hotsheet, there was little if no room for students to stumble on an inapprporiate site. All of the links on our digital hotsheet were personally screened and evaluated.
The kids loved the novelty of it. They had never used one prior to this. After the Brain Research project, I used hotsheets for other projects. They weren't a novelty anymore, but at least now they knew what a digital hotsheet was and how to use it. They LOVED it!
I am a very organized person who needs things tidy and neat. So, what we came up with was perfect. The librarian and I created a digital, internet-linked hotsheet. Because of all of the "mess" that kids can get themselves into on the Internet, I knew this hotsheet would be great. The basis of the hotsheet was to give the students specific websites to go to for finding facts, viewing videos, and playing games. Because these sites were specifically linked on the hotsheet, there was little if no room for students to stumble on an inapprporiate site. All of the links on our digital hotsheet were personally screened and evaluated.
The kids loved the novelty of it. They had never used one prior to this. After the Brain Research project, I used hotsheets for other projects. They weren't a novelty anymore, but at least now they knew what a digital hotsheet was and how to use it. They LOVED it!
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