Hello Everyone! This week has been a little hectic! I closed on my very first home yesterday and we moved in today, so here I am back at the apartment working on the Internet:) I wanted to give my last update on my Inquiry Plan, what I actually videotaped was me working with students who were making PowerPoint slides at the computers in my classroom. I had originally videotaped myself in the computer lab, but it was just too hard to hear anything that I was saying in that area. So I re-videotaped me in my classroom with four students. It went very well, we had worked very hard on researching Native Americans, and they were all working on different parts of different groups.
Each student had their research paper in front of them, and they used that information to create the title of their slide, and what information they added to the slide. I asked them to list the information in bullet form, and then they were allowed to add pictures and change the font, text, color, etc. One thing that I am taking away from this inquiry is that I think it really went smoothly when I first presented the information through technology using the Smartboard to watch a video on each group, so they were engaged in the video and they had background knowledge and interest when we read packets on each group. That is where they pulled the info from to list on their research paper. I have tried this before using other content area, where we just read and did worksheets and the engagement level in this project was far more exciting than any other project I have done before. The kids were all so thrilled to be able to make their own slide, and several students kept commenting on how fun it was to be doing it.
I think that technology is crucial in developing our students knowledge and competitive edge in the global world. If I had my way, I would have a wireless lab for just my classroom with a Smartboard! But, that is obviously not an option at this point! So I will keep on showing Unitedstreaming videos as I can, and checking out the traveling Smartboard as I can to keep my lessons engaging and meaningful to my students at all times. Technology really makes a difference and I would recommend to any other teachers to use as much as possible, I am really hoping I can create more lessons like this to bring technology use right into my students hands:)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Week 2 Inquiry
Wow! What a week it has been working on my inquiry! The kids have done a wonderful job researching different Native American groups. Each day we have worked on researching a different group, first by watching a United Streaming video, which we started last week, but this week, we have been breaking down the information into manageable organizers, for the students to be able to make the powerpoints. Everyone took a piece of paper and folded into fours, then drew a big circle on the paper. I drew a circle on the board for each Native American group, and on each part of the circle, we labeled the parts into what the Indians wore, hunted/ate, lived in, and played or did for entertainment.
After having students fill out the pie organizers for each Native American group, I wrote all the groups on a piece of paper, and the kids were able to draw a name out of a box. It worked out so nicely the way each table had a different group. Most everyone was happy about the group they would be doing further research on, however it seemed that Eastern Woodlands was a favorite! Yesterday, I made a research sheet where they logged all of their information about what specific part of the Indian group they will be making their powerpoint slides on. They all seem really excited to go into the computer lab and begin making the slides. I plan on having each group make a slideshow together, but depending on how well they behave, I might have them make the slides individually and save to a common folder and I will try to put them together somehow. They did spend some time looking up clip art to add to their slides, and I saved them to a folder show they can choose whichever one they want when they are ready to add all the fun stuff to their slides. It has been really great so far. I will keep you updated:) Hope you are all having a great inquiry!
After having students fill out the pie organizers for each Native American group, I wrote all the groups on a piece of paper, and the kids were able to draw a name out of a box. It worked out so nicely the way each table had a different group. Most everyone was happy about the group they would be doing further research on, however it seemed that Eastern Woodlands was a favorite! Yesterday, I made a research sheet where they logged all of their information about what specific part of the Indian group they will be making their powerpoint slides on. They all seem really excited to go into the computer lab and begin making the slides. I plan on having each group make a slideshow together, but depending on how well they behave, I might have them make the slides individually and save to a common folder and I will try to put them together somehow. They did spend some time looking up clip art to add to their slides, and I saved them to a folder show they can choose whichever one they want when they are ready to add all the fun stuff to their slides. It has been really great so far. I will keep you updated:) Hope you are all having a great inquiry!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Week 1 Inquiry
Well, this week went really well as far as introducing my Pilgrims and Native American Unit. I decided to investigate the Native American groups with my class first, and that is where we started. I also pulled a story from the second volume of our reading text called "The Great Ball Game", that is a Muskogee Tribe Folktale about a lacrosse type game between birds and animals. (By the way, I love teaching a thematic unit this way, I was a little concerned with the difficulty of the story since it would usually be taught in the spring, but I really front loaded the vocab and high frequency words to prepare them for the text). The animals won, and the penalty was that the birds must leave for half the year. That is how they explained bird migration. It is actually a great story, and we will continue with it next week.
I felt as though most of the students were engaged in the lesson, but there were one or two of the students that became antsy after about 20 minutes. This is usual behavior for a few individuals, but I put a lot of enthusiasm into this unit because it is my favorite, so most of the students were actively engaged, asking questions and answering others. I put enthusiasm into my teaching anyway, but I am very partial to Social Studies, so it makes it a little easier:)
We watched KET United Streaming videos on the first two tribes mentioned and their eyes were glued to the Smartboard! They were so engaged in the video, fascinated on how these groups of Indians lived their daily lives. I really felt that the technology was a powerful component to the information I was presenting. They were introduced to the Eastern Woodland Indians and the Great Plains Indians. Next week we will continue on with learning about the Southwest, California and Coastal groups. We have been watching PowerPoint presentations all year, and on Friday I took the kids into the computer lab and they played around with making their own slide shows, which will go into week 2 because the kids will eventually be making their own slides.
Next week the kids will be learning more about these Indian tribes and they will be broken into groups to research information for their slide show. I am planning on taping myself teaching in the computer lab when the kids make their slides; but we still have a lot of work to do this week first to prepare! I look forward to reading on how all of you are doing on your inquiry plans:)
I felt as though most of the students were engaged in the lesson, but there were one or two of the students that became antsy after about 20 minutes. This is usual behavior for a few individuals, but I put a lot of enthusiasm into this unit because it is my favorite, so most of the students were actively engaged, asking questions and answering others. I put enthusiasm into my teaching anyway, but I am very partial to Social Studies, so it makes it a little easier:)
We watched KET United Streaming videos on the first two tribes mentioned and their eyes were glued to the Smartboard! They were so engaged in the video, fascinated on how these groups of Indians lived their daily lives. I really felt that the technology was a powerful component to the information I was presenting. They were introduced to the Eastern Woodland Indians and the Great Plains Indians. Next week we will continue on with learning about the Southwest, California and Coastal groups. We have been watching PowerPoint presentations all year, and on Friday I took the kids into the computer lab and they played around with making their own slide shows, which will go into week 2 because the kids will eventually be making their own slides.
Next week the kids will be learning more about these Indian tribes and they will be broken into groups to research information for their slide show. I am planning on taping myself teaching in the computer lab when the kids make their slides; but we still have a lot of work to do this week first to prepare! I look forward to reading on how all of you are doing on your inquiry plans:)
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