Last spring, my Librarian colleague, Valerie Loughman, and I completed a project funded by a MassCUE Initiative Grant.

Background:

Third graders traditionally study famous people who have lived in Massachusetts (MA HSS Standard 3.7). Unfortunately, what should be a celebration of contributors to our state turns into mass confusion for this age level. Appropriate materials simply are not available for all these leaders.

Our solution:

Enlist the help of a 5th grade class to analyze the resources and create podcasts and flash (quick fact) cards that would serve as an accessible, multimedia, research experience for the 3rd graders. A newly, created Library Wiki and dedicated iPods served as the portal of learning.

The outcome:

Third graders were engaged with research materials that were appropriate for all learning styles and reading levels. In the end, these flexible materials helped yield a “green screen” sharing of knowledge. Third graders produced a mock CNN style interview.

What follows is our presentation that we shared at this fall’s MassCUE Conference. Please check it out to read more about our goals and see the specific equipment and software that we utilized.

Last post, I wrote about stop-action movies. This is a quick follow-up to share two movies that were completed with our May Challenge Crew.

The Snow Man

Chicken Little

These movies are very simple attempts at a “how-to” narrative and a retelling of a story. For both movies, we used IPEVO Point 2 View USB Document Cameras. With “The Snow Man”, we used a Logitech USB Headset for clear, sound quality. We were amazed at how easy and fun the movies were to make with the SAM Animation software. We are hoping to integrate this technology into fifth grade social studies, specifically European explorers, next year. Wish us luck!

It’s almost the end of the school year. Things are crazy, but at the same time, they can be a bit stale. Especially, after testing has come and gone, students often see that milestone as a sign to check out. Looking to continue to engage your students right down to the end? Give stop-action movies a try!

For the next few weeks, a handful of teachers and myself are exploring what SAM Animation has to offer. This software developed at Tufts University is very user-friendly. It comes as a demo or pay for a full download. The demo works well enough to capture images with your built-in or external cameras , and then add narration or audio. The movies can be exported as QuickTime or other file formats for various mobile devices and destinations. (Tip: in the demo version, to find these other options, use the File- Export Menu.)

Stop-action movies lend themselves beautifully to science topics due to the time lapse capabilities that allow a very slow process (such as plant growth) to be observed at a faster rate. However, science is not the only subject that can harness the power. Check out the many examples here. (And stay tuned for a future post that displays the teacher created examples that we are going to develop as a part of our May challenge.)

What I REALLY like:

SAM Animation was developed with the understanding that the technology should not get in the way of the content. The content should be front and center. (Read about how animation is good for the classroom in their white paper.)  It’s a true integration tool that is easy to use, and the concept of stop-action movies really makes students think. Students have to plan how they will break concepts and actions down in meaningful chunks to in turn build a coherent message that demonstrates understanding. Plus, it’s tactile, hands-on and fun!

Want to get started? Check out SAM Animation’s video tutorials here. Also, iCreate to Educate, a partner company, has great resources for teachers.

Your thoughts and experiences with animation and stop-action movies are welcome!

Many moons ago when I was a second grade teacher, I was involved in a grant that brought three computer projectors to my elementary school. Our focus was the traditional five paragraph essay and how projecting student work and our own mini-lessons was faster, more efficient and eye-catching to students. The tools, resources and technology have evolved so much in a decade; however, one thing has remained the same: having a clear view to learning opens up your world.

In my current district, stimulus funds allowed us to mount a dozen projectors this school year. Unfortunately, we have more than a dozen classrooms and specialist rooms. Therefore, we had to have a selection process. Over the years, I have seen many pieces of equipment collect dust because it was doled out to a targeted grade level or even building. Either support was not available to foster its integration into the teacher’s classroom curriculum, or there simply was no investment. (I recall many computers appearing in my second grade classroom, and no one ever showed me how to use them. That was a turning point for me. I wanted to learn and went down a new path with a Masters program. This is not the case for everyone.) Therefore, the principal and I decided to have teachers apply for projectors. We were looking for individuals who were going to figure out how to give their students that view on a daily basis.

Today, I met with the projector collaborative group. Installation took longer than the district anticipated, but many have had two months to “play”. Today we supported one another by sharing tips and tricks on screen resolution, brightness and signal loss as well as what unique ways the equipment is seamlessly helping students learn curriculum. I took this opportunity to introduce the teachers to Wallwisher as a way for us to share these fabulous integration ideas (and then in turn use this new tool with their students, hopefully). Please check them out here.

I’m hopeful that our enthusiasm will spread amongst teams and that a new application process will be funded and, most importantly, embraced.

On a side note: At the MassCUE 2010 Conference, Suzy Brooks shared this Wallwisher PDF from Passy World with her participants. Suzy’s presentation was a real inspiration on how to be “Technically Invisible”. This is what we aspire to with our new mounted projectors. Thanks, Suzy!

Normally, I like to highlight tech tools that are FREE. There are so many great services popping up on a daily basis during some weeks that we do not seem to have a shortage for integration into our studies. Honestly, it often is overwhelming… which one should we try now? The key is finding something that truly meets your need. With that in mind, this school year, we did something that we rarely do. We paid for a subscription to a tool: BrainPOP.

BrainPOP is a service that creates short, animated movies on, what seems like, every topic in science, social studies, English, math, technology, arts & music and health. An interactive quiz, suggested experiments/activities and a comic strip for each topic also is a part of the package.

What I like about BrainPOP: It has been created with kids in mind. The content is appropriate for upper elementary with just the right amount of silly humor to keep them engaged. Also, educators are a part of the creation process at BrainPOP, so a teacher can be reassured that the information is accurate. There is an academic standards search tool, too, making it easy to find what you need on a topic. Finally, knowing that the students are on a safe, academic website that they could navigate independently is a perk as well.

What is the appropriate setting for BrainPOP? That depends on the teacher, the students and your circumstances.

1. A teacher could introduce new units or concepts by showing the BrainPOP movies to a whole class using a classroom projector.
2. Students could use laptops to review concepts by watching the movies and taking quizzes.
3. Likewise, in a computer lab, students could access topics simultaneously and review at their own pace.
4. A one computer classroom could utilize BrainPOP as a center for students to rotate through to explore a topic.
5. Add a headphone splitter to desktops or laptops, and students could work as partners.

My school has opted for a school subscription, so we can access it anywhere in the building during the school day. This flexibility will allow teachers to be spontaneous and capitalize on those teachable moments, such as when a current event happens. Maybe, there’s a BrainPOP video topic that will help students understand?

One last thing that I’m impressed with are the teacher resources. BrainPOP Educators is a free membership with great ideas, tutorials and professional development opportunities. Even if you don’t have a subscription to BrainPOP, you can join. Of course, then you have to plan around finding free movies to try out all of the cool stuff.

I’m curious about how others are using BrainPOP, or if anyone has any suggestions or advice for us.

Thanks for reading!

Last week, I attended the MassCUE Conference where I had the honor of being a presenter on both days. One of my presentations was a sharing of our MassCUE Initiative 2010 Grant. As nerve wracking as it is to prepare and give a presentation, I always find them to be such a wonderful way to reflect on what I’ve learned when it comes to the integration of technology. When you write up a grant, you’re never really sure how your bright ideas are going to work out. I even wrote about VoiceThread in an earlier post, outlining some tips and an explanation of the project that we were undertaking.  I’d like to take this opportunity to share the results of our VoiceThread project via SlideShare (embedded below). You will see that we set up a classroom blog that served as the backbone for the project, giving the students easy access and so many opportunities to communicate their learning. As always, your thoughts are welcome!

I really like using Google Forms to make quizzes and surveys. It’s quick and easy (as I blogged about in an earlier post). However, there are no options to add media to your questions. Wouldn’t it be perfect to be able to have students watch a video clip built right into a quiz? Sort of like BrainPop except you make it yourself (and no Moby). Or how about having students use a picture embedded in a quiz to answer a question? So it’s been my quest to find an online, interactive quiz maker that can handle these features… what I found: MyStudiyo.

Here is a quiz I made at MyStudiyo. Please take a moment and test your knowledge about the continents (a typical U.S. primary/elementary school unit):

Here is what linked quiz looks like.

Making this quiz was almost painless. (I admit- I did refer to the FAQ a few times.) I had to sign up for a free account. Then, the site walked me through the steps and allowed me to preview along the way. For the perfectionists there are different designs to make things aesthetically pleasing. I really like that you are able to tailor feedback and responses in the quiz. As you saw, I made a multiple choice quiz, and there is the option to make a more open ended quiz called an “How X Are You?” However, I was a little disappointed with the size of the graphics when the quiz runs. The small size does makes it challenging for a student to use, for example, a map to answer a question. As far as collecting data on a particular student’s performance, the site does collect statistics the number of people who have taken your quiz, what questions have been answered correctly and incorrectly; however, unless someone is a registered user or submits their name, there is no identifier. I also question privacy and the ability to turn off the other quizzes and ads that appear at the end. I think further exploration or suggestion from users of MyStudiyo are needed. Anyway, I’m tossing this out there as a possible tool for those who are looking to create interactive quizzes.

As always, your comments are welcome!

Looking to increase students’ vocabularies? Or make learning about parts of speech more engaging? PicLits is a web site that lives up to its slogan: ‘Inspired Picture Writing’.

You choose a photograph from the site’s gallery. Based on the picture selected, the site supplies a word bank  of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs and a category called universal that incorporates pronouns as well as punctuation . Then you simply drag-n-drop the words onto the picture to make lists, phrases, sentences, etc. (The site’s creator says he was inspired by the refrigerator magnetic poetry that was popular a few years ago.) There also is the option to freestyle instead of using the word bank. You simply type in what you want. Have a little writer’s block? To the right of the freestyle section, a few ideas or keywords are provided to get you going.

I discovered this site from reading Ann Carnevale’s blog post. She had a great suggestion of taking screen shots of the completed pictures, so that the images with the words could be inserted into other work and projects. This suggestion is a good one especially if you would like to use the site without creating an account. The benefits of having an account are that you can save your work, make future edits and get code for embedding. You have to decide if those features are necessary for you and your students.

When I first visited PicLits, I immediately thought it would be great for ELL students or any student who needs vocabulary work. Furthermore, the word bank and suggestions are scaffolds that many students need. I especially like how the site uses interactive pop-ups to suggest adding capital letters or different forms of the word.

The pictures are perfect backdrops for poetry writing. See my example below.

Overall, PicLits looks good for instilling good, old fashioned, creativity!

On Tuesday mornings, there have been a small group of girls in the hallway next to the computer lab. I haven’t been sure what they are doing, but they seem to be very engaged in their activity. One day on my way to a meeting, I decided to be nosey and ask them. They showed me that they had scripts and were planning a Readers’ Theatre for their class. I asked them if they only did live performances and would they consider making a movie for the class? Immediately, the twinkle of excitement could be seen in their eyes. Recently, their classroom teacher had recorded each student’s weather forecasts with a digital camcorder, and I had assisted in turning them into QuickTime videos to be inserted into their weather PowerPoints. This was a great science presentation experience; however, this time I wanted to put the tools in their hands directly. I suggested that they use Photo Booth, a built-in piece of software on our Macs.

Photo Booth can take snap shots, but if your machine is running OS 10.5 or higher, it has video recording capabilities. All someone has to do is select video in the program, push the record button and perform. It’s that easy. (If editing is desired, the footage can go to iMovie. If a sound track or sound effects are wanted, put the footage in GarageBand.) This version of Photo Booth also has the ability to drag and drop backgrounds to set the scene.

So I’m acting as consultant to the Readers’ Theatre group. I have suggested that they divide their play into scenes or acts. Next, choose an image or design a background (in a program like KidPix to be screenshoted) that represents each scene or act and drag/drop each image/design to the background slots of Photo Booth. They then will record each scene/act separately. When they are done with that, they either can show them to their class via a projector by running each separate file (They will play as QuickTime movies.), or I will teach them how to to pull the clips into iMovie and add transitions before they show it to their class. It all depends on them, and the time they have. I am always willing to make something into a multimedia extravaganza, but then at this age level, I tend to need to take over, and it can become more about the tool versus the content that the girls were trying to share with their peers.

What I like about Photo Booth is its simplicity and ease of use by students. And that’s the key.

Next month, I also am going to be working with some 4th graders using Photo Booth. They are going to make animal masks, add a habitat background in Photo Booth and record themselves in character giving a top ten list about why they are the best animal based on what they have researched. An interesting way to do the traditional animal report!

The source of my inspiration for using Photo Booth? Suzanne’s blog from my blogging alliance! Check out the super, simple video on her post. My PLN rocks!

Sample added 4/28/10… technically not a Tuesday! But this is what this post got in motion! 3rd graders will pretend to interview a president. I used Keynote to make the background in Photo Booth. Thanks again, Suzanne!

Movie 4

This month, I’m very excited to start working with VoiceThread with students. VoiceThread (VT) is a medium that works like an interactive scrapbook. A creator uploads pictures and can add written, verbal or video comments. A VT can be shared with others who also may leave comments. Moreover, there is a doodle tool that lets a commenter draw directly on the image in the VT. This feature is superb for highlighting and accenting key points. You know how most sites have made instructional videos? The makers of VT do a wonderful job of using their own tool to explain and demonstrate how to do things in VT. Check out how to make one here… it’s very fast!

Previously, I have used it in a professional development course that I co-taught. Essentially, I snapped lots of candids of the class learning how to podcast using GarageBand. I then uploaded the pictures as a VoiceThread. Next, we asked the teachers to visit our VT and leave comments reflecting on their experience. It was a great summarizer of podcasting as well as an authentic use of VoiceThread.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a classroom collaborator until now. A third grade teacher and I co-wrote a MassCUE Initiative 2010 Grant that will allow her social studies students to act as detectives. They will analyze primary source documents, specifically portraits, from the American Revolution. Students also will create their own document (using a drawing program, such as KidPix) to challenge others to analyze the picture clues. We have chosen to use VoiceThread as our tool because of its easy to use voice recording and doodle tool features. These components will allow students of all abilities in this inclusion classroom to share their knowledge. The grant has allotted us the opportunity of purchasing a one year subscription so that her students may have individual accounts in an educational setting of VoiceThread as well as give us additional storage space for all of our images.

However, this is not a tool that a teacher needs to spend money to use. A teacher can sign up for a free account and use the “identity” feature. The teacher can make enough identities for an entire class. This is ideal if the teacher logs into the account and wants to have students interact with a VT as a class, but wants each student’s contribution identifiable. The drawback is that the students are logged into the teacher’s account, making all work created by the teacher accessible with the potential of being deleted accidentally. Another option is for students to have their own accounts since an email only is required to sign up. This option probably is best for older, more independent students since the teacher will not be able to manage and monitor the student’s work. VT does a nice job of discussing pros and cons with its education manuals. (BTW- Just like Glogster, there is a non-educational setting as well.)

There are tons of resources at the site as well. There is a VoiceThread ning. Also, this slideshare presentation has some great examples. A member of my professional development course and math resource facilitator at my school has given me permission to share her Finding Equal Groups VT. (Thanks, Katie!)

What inspirational work have you done or would like to do with VoiceThread?