For this assignment I chose to do my Podcast on types of clouds. This lesson is designed for fourth grade students to learn about different types of clouds, at what elevation they are typically found, and what weather conditions are associated with that type. Also through the use of my photostory, students are able to see the appearances of all the types of clouds they are learning about.
The main Grade Level Content Expectation (GLCE) that is applied in this lesson is:
E.ST.04.11: Identify common objects in the sky, such as the sun and the moon.
Podcasts, when used correctly, could be great academic tools in the classroom. Not only could the teacher record all of his or her lessons taught for a day for students to later go back and listen to as study tools, but also it makes the lesson more exciting to the students. In addition to this, if there were some students who were unable to be in class on a certain day, they would be able to listen to the podcast so they are still able to learn the material that was covered in class on that day. I think that podcasts are especially helpful for audio learners because they are able to clearly hear the information that they are supposed to learn. On the other hand, when coupled with a photostory (as we did for this assignment), both the audio and the audiovisual learners are able to benefit because they are able to both SEE and HEAR the information.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tech Integration Plan
The unit that I have decided to design for fourth grade is on plants. The technologies that I have decided to incorporate into the lesson are: Blogs, Google Maps, Digital Story, and a Website.
I have chosen to use blogs because I think that they are very useful ways of communicating information informally though students, parents, and the teacher. By setting up a blog for this unit, I (as the teacher) will be able to post things that are going to be available for parents to view so that they understand what we have been doing in the class and what their student has been learning. In addition, there will be an area for the parents to leave private questions and comments for me so that we are working together to further the student’s learning. Finally, the students will use the blog to review the most important concepts we have learned about in class and they are also going to be obligated to post on the blog to publish what they have been learning.
I have chosen to use Google Maps because after we learn the basic life cycle of a plant and other basic information about the existence about plants, we will shift our focus toward looking at what plants are found in each area of the world. For example, some plant life that exists in Africa does not belong here in the United States. In order for students to better understand what plants grow in certain places and why they do, I will have the students work with Google Maps to learn about the adaptations of certain plants to survive in a specific area.
I have chosen to use Digital Story as one of the main student projects for this unit. After we finish the Google Maps activity and the students have learned an abundance of knowledge about various plant species, I will have the students work either in groups of independently to create a digital story. If the students work individually, they can pick 3 different countries and focus on the main types of plants that are native to that place. If the students choose to work in groups, I will have them pick 8-10 plants to do their digital story on. For both tasks, there will be certain criteria that will have to be included in each digital story presentation.
I have chosen to use a website for learning and as a review/study tool for my students. I will post all of the information that we are learning about in class as soon as it has been taught. I will also include links on our website that the students can visit for extra learning as well as practice tests where they can review the most important information. The website will be the primary source outside of class that will prepare them for the assessment at the end of the unit.
The main goal of this unit is for students to understand the life cycle of a plant and why certain plants grow in certain parts of the world. For the blog, I hope that the students will be able to post their comments and questions for their peers in myself so that they maximize their learning. I plan to emphasize with my students that there are no stupid questions and that if they do not understand something, they should post about it because it is likely that someone else has that same question. Not only is this going to benefit the students that are more outgoing and ask questions in class, but it will especially help those students who are not likely to ask questions in class. An online environment often projects a sense of safety and the students who are more timid to ask may feel more comfortable typing it on the blog.
By using Google Maps, my hope is that the lesson becomes more realistic to my students. If the students are able to see the actual location of the country we are talking about as opposed to the location of other countries and landmarks (such as the equator) it will hopefully assist in their understanding of why some plants are found in certain areas. In addition, not only will this help with the understanding of where certain plants are found, but also it will help the students improve their geographical skills and understanding of climate in each country.
By using Digital Story, I hope to improve student’s motivation for learning about the unit topic. Digital story is a newer, fun type of technology that will hopefully spark students’ learning interest because it is unique from other things that they have done in previous classes. I plan to tell the students prior to starting the unit that they will be creating a digital story about plants around the world so that they will have that mindset going into the unit. Digital story will promote the students doing research in order to find information for their story, which will also cause them to learn more. As previously stated the students will have the option to work individually or in groups, but the work load will be reflective of how many students are working on one story.
For the webpage, my hope is that the students will use it as a study tool and to maximize their learning for the assessment that they will be taking at the end of the unit. As previously stated, I will be posting notes to everything we talk about in class each day after it has been taught. In addition, I will post diagrams and illustrations for the students to print off at home to study with and also put up links to certain websites that will assist in their learning. By doing this, not are the students more easily able to access the information without worrying about forgetting it at school, but parents are also able to utilize all the resources to help their student study.
I hope to teach this unit on plants in approximately 2 weeks (possibly 3).
The timeline for the unit includes:
Day 1: Introduction to plants, characteristics, etc.- post notes on website and have students post and comment on blog
Days 2-5: Learning about the life cycle of a plant and plant cells- post notes on website and have students post and comment on blog
Days 6-8: Researching plants around the world through Google Maps- have students post and comment on blog
Days 9-13: Researching the internet for their digital story and posting on the blog about their findings- have students post on website and blog
Days 14-?: Creating a digital story and presenting to the class on presentation day- upload students’ digital stories to website
Final Day: Assessment
The unit I have planned to do is for fourth grade students on plants. Prior to the unit beginning I am going to set up a blog and a website for the students of my class to utilize. First, the students will be learning in class about what a plant is, what are its characteristics (including plant cells), and also the life cycle of a plant. As soon as the school day ends on a day we have addressed plants, I will post all the information we covered on our class websites along with some pdf files of certain diagrams and/or illustrations that may assist in student’s learning. In addition to me posting information, my students are going to be obligated to post on our blog each night about something that they learned about plants in class that day. They will also need to comment on someone else’s blog post as well each day. After the students have learned all about the characteristics of plants and have constructed a couple in-class diagrams to assist in their learning, I will spend a day teaching them how to use Google Maps and how we are going to use it to research plants in other countries. Over the following few days we will research many countries as a class and figure out why some of those plants grow in some countries but not others. Once they are comfortable using Google Maps, I will give them 2 days to research plants of other countries either as a group or individually for their digital story. During all of these days of learning the students will be expected to continue blogging and commenting on our class blog. After their research is completed, I will have the students construct a digital story either individually or as a group with certain requirements to include. My goal here is that they begin to make connections as to why some plants are found in some countries and not in others. Once everyone has finished their digital stories I will post them on the website and we will watch them as a class. Following this presentation day I will give students the opportunity to use the website to study all the information we learned in order to prepare for the assessment on our last day of the unit.
I have chosen to use blogs because I think that they are very useful ways of communicating information informally though students, parents, and the teacher. By setting up a blog for this unit, I (as the teacher) will be able to post things that are going to be available for parents to view so that they understand what we have been doing in the class and what their student has been learning. In addition, there will be an area for the parents to leave private questions and comments for me so that we are working together to further the student’s learning. Finally, the students will use the blog to review the most important concepts we have learned about in class and they are also going to be obligated to post on the blog to publish what they have been learning.
I have chosen to use Google Maps because after we learn the basic life cycle of a plant and other basic information about the existence about plants, we will shift our focus toward looking at what plants are found in each area of the world. For example, some plant life that exists in Africa does not belong here in the United States. In order for students to better understand what plants grow in certain places and why they do, I will have the students work with Google Maps to learn about the adaptations of certain plants to survive in a specific area.
I have chosen to use Digital Story as one of the main student projects for this unit. After we finish the Google Maps activity and the students have learned an abundance of knowledge about various plant species, I will have the students work either in groups of independently to create a digital story. If the students work individually, they can pick 3 different countries and focus on the main types of plants that are native to that place. If the students choose to work in groups, I will have them pick 8-10 plants to do their digital story on. For both tasks, there will be certain criteria that will have to be included in each digital story presentation.
I have chosen to use a website for learning and as a review/study tool for my students. I will post all of the information that we are learning about in class as soon as it has been taught. I will also include links on our website that the students can visit for extra learning as well as practice tests where they can review the most important information. The website will be the primary source outside of class that will prepare them for the assessment at the end of the unit.
The main goal of this unit is for students to understand the life cycle of a plant and why certain plants grow in certain parts of the world. For the blog, I hope that the students will be able to post their comments and questions for their peers in myself so that they maximize their learning. I plan to emphasize with my students that there are no stupid questions and that if they do not understand something, they should post about it because it is likely that someone else has that same question. Not only is this going to benefit the students that are more outgoing and ask questions in class, but it will especially help those students who are not likely to ask questions in class. An online environment often projects a sense of safety and the students who are more timid to ask may feel more comfortable typing it on the blog.
By using Google Maps, my hope is that the lesson becomes more realistic to my students. If the students are able to see the actual location of the country we are talking about as opposed to the location of other countries and landmarks (such as the equator) it will hopefully assist in their understanding of why some plants are found in certain areas. In addition, not only will this help with the understanding of where certain plants are found, but also it will help the students improve their geographical skills and understanding of climate in each country.
By using Digital Story, I hope to improve student’s motivation for learning about the unit topic. Digital story is a newer, fun type of technology that will hopefully spark students’ learning interest because it is unique from other things that they have done in previous classes. I plan to tell the students prior to starting the unit that they will be creating a digital story about plants around the world so that they will have that mindset going into the unit. Digital story will promote the students doing research in order to find information for their story, which will also cause them to learn more. As previously stated the students will have the option to work individually or in groups, but the work load will be reflective of how many students are working on one story.
For the webpage, my hope is that the students will use it as a study tool and to maximize their learning for the assessment that they will be taking at the end of the unit. As previously stated, I will be posting notes to everything we talk about in class each day after it has been taught. In addition, I will post diagrams and illustrations for the students to print off at home to study with and also put up links to certain websites that will assist in their learning. By doing this, not are the students more easily able to access the information without worrying about forgetting it at school, but parents are also able to utilize all the resources to help their student study.
I hope to teach this unit on plants in approximately 2 weeks (possibly 3).
The timeline for the unit includes:
Day 1: Introduction to plants, characteristics, etc.- post notes on website and have students post and comment on blog
Days 2-5: Learning about the life cycle of a plant and plant cells- post notes on website and have students post and comment on blog
Days 6-8: Researching plants around the world through Google Maps- have students post and comment on blog
Days 9-13: Researching the internet for their digital story and posting on the blog about their findings- have students post on website and blog
Days 14-?: Creating a digital story and presenting to the class on presentation day- upload students’ digital stories to website
Final Day: Assessment
The unit I have planned to do is for fourth grade students on plants. Prior to the unit beginning I am going to set up a blog and a website for the students of my class to utilize. First, the students will be learning in class about what a plant is, what are its characteristics (including plant cells), and also the life cycle of a plant. As soon as the school day ends on a day we have addressed plants, I will post all the information we covered on our class websites along with some pdf files of certain diagrams and/or illustrations that may assist in student’s learning. In addition to me posting information, my students are going to be obligated to post on our blog each night about something that they learned about plants in class that day. They will also need to comment on someone else’s blog post as well each day. After the students have learned all about the characteristics of plants and have constructed a couple in-class diagrams to assist in their learning, I will spend a day teaching them how to use Google Maps and how we are going to use it to research plants in other countries. Over the following few days we will research many countries as a class and figure out why some of those plants grow in some countries but not others. Once they are comfortable using Google Maps, I will give them 2 days to research plants of other countries either as a group or individually for their digital story. During all of these days of learning the students will be expected to continue blogging and commenting on our class blog. After their research is completed, I will have the students construct a digital story either individually or as a group with certain requirements to include. My goal here is that they begin to make connections as to why some plants are found in some countries and not in others. Once everyone has finished their digital stories I will post them on the website and we will watch them as a class. Following this presentation day I will give students the opportunity to use the website to study all the information we learned in order to prepare for the assessment on our last day of the unit.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Properly Citing Images
Photo Attribution
Original Image: "IMG_8929"
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2813390628_1a9411044c_m_d.jpg
By: Monica's Dad
Released under an Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Prior to doing this assignment I would have definitely told her what I normally do when I need an image, which is what I know now to be very wrong. Normally, I just simply go to Google Images, copy the picture, and paste it where I need it to go. Even though this sometimes gives some little bit of credit to the author, it may break some citation rules depending on the image's copyright.
After doing this assignment I am now much more confident that I am able to help this person in the correct way. I would recommend that the student uses the FlickrCC tool that I used for my image in order to assure that the image is the original. I would them have her use the correct citation style that was outlined for us in the video for the image of Spartan Stadium displayed on our class assignment page. She would have to include the original name of the image, the image link from FlickrCC, the author, the license type, and the link to the license. She would then need to embed the image and the links to the websites and then include the image itself with a link attached to it to see the image in the place where it was originally found (FlickrCC). I will then explain that even though this process is very tedious and time consuming, it gives the credit to the author of the image that they rightfully deserve.
Original Image: "IMG_8929"
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2813390628_1a9411044c_m_d.jpg
By: Monica's Dad
Released under an Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Prior to doing this assignment I would have definitely told her what I normally do when I need an image, which is what I know now to be very wrong. Normally, I just simply go to Google Images, copy the picture, and paste it where I need it to go. Even though this sometimes gives some little bit of credit to the author, it may break some citation rules depending on the image's copyright.
After doing this assignment I am now much more confident that I am able to help this person in the correct way. I would recommend that the student uses the FlickrCC tool that I used for my image in order to assure that the image is the original. I would them have her use the correct citation style that was outlined for us in the video for the image of Spartan Stadium displayed on our class assignment page. She would have to include the original name of the image, the image link from FlickrCC, the author, the license type, and the link to the license. She would then need to embed the image and the links to the websites and then include the image itself with a link attached to it to see the image in the place where it was originally found (FlickrCC). I will then explain that even though this process is very tedious and time consuming, it gives the credit to the author of the image that they rightfully deserve.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Teaching Clouds Through Digital Story!
For my digital story, I chose to teach a short lesson on the 4 main types of clouds found in the troposphere. I think that this lesson would be most suitable for fourth or fifth grade students when they are first learning about weather. I have had one previous experience with creating a digital story, but it was with the program Windows Photo Story. I was excited to learn and use a different type of technology for this project. My experience overall was really good, but I have to say I do prefer using Photo Story over Voice Thread only because I had some difficulty figuring out how to change the identities for the voice recording and can see my students having the same problems. I definitely enjoyed creating the digital story and will use it in my classroom someday.
There are many reasons why digital story could be such a beneficial tool in the classroom. One reason is because I feel that it could be used for all age and grade levels. There are many small adjustments that can be made for younger students to use this technology more easily, as well as many options that a teacher can use to challenge older students. For example, for younger students, I could have them learn and teach each other about communities by giving them the images to use and having the voice recording be more of a question-and-answer style. Also, the presentation could be very short. For the older students who are more comfortable with exploring new technologies, I will have them research for their own pictures and information, as well as create their own script and maybe even require them to add music or other sounds to their presentation. Either way, I think this technology is going to benefit all learners. For the audio-visual and body-kinesthetic learners especially, this tool will allow them to create a learning tool for themselves where they can see visual representations and also hear about the topic. I think that this technology would be most successful in group work. Since there is typically a lot of stress and anxiety caused over having to stand up in front of the class for group presentations, I think that it would be new and refreshing to have the groups to create digital stories instead to share with the class. Besides, I feel that these digital stories would be more attention-getting for the other students watching than regular presentations. For younger students, it would be good for them to start learning how to use technologies that they will use the rest of their lives, and for older students this tool would be useful because then the teacher could just post the digital story online for all the students to access for studying. I am definitely very comfortable now with using the digital story tool and look forward to using it effectively in my future classroom.
Friday, February 20, 2009
View Larger Map
My map is meant to be used in a fourth grade classroom to teach about Michigan history and famous historical sites in our state. I think that this map will be very useful because it will allow my students to use visual aids to actually see the location and an actual photograph of the places they are learning about. By having this Michigan history lesson more interactive, it will most likely motivate students to participate more in the learning about their own state. In addition to just seeing the places, this map will help the students to learn more about distances between cities in Michigan and also to have a better idea of directions to which certain areas are located. On the first or second day of our Michigan history lesson, I will have my students go to the computer lab and pull up this map and click on the different areas that I have flagged so that they can learn more about the site. In addition to just searching the map I created, depending on the age of the students I will teach the older students how to navigate around Google maps and then have them add flags to other areas in Michigan that we had learned about. By doing this, my hope is that the students get a more personal learning experience and that this hands-on activity will help them to have a better appreciation for the site and its significance.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Using my del.icio.us
The unit I designed for this week's assignment revolves around the Solar System and Earth for a fifth grade classroom. When looking at the Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE's) for fifth grade, I noticed that the majority of content for fifth grade Earth Science was related to this topic. Also, I can remember very vividly when I learned this unit in fifth grade, so I thought it would be suitable to do for this project. I hope it is as enjoyable for my students as it was for me a fifth grader. I planned this unit for 5 days (Monday-Friday), but in reality I would spend at least another week on this unit extending it to talking about solar and lunar eclipses, the seasons, and then going into weather, which would cover the remainder of the Earth Science GLCE's.
There were 2 GLCE's that applied directly to my unit and they were:
E.ST.05.11- Design a model that describes the position and relationship of the planets and other objects (comets and asteroids) around the sun.
E.ST.05.21- Describe the motion of planets and moons in terms of rotation on axis and orbits due to gravity.
I was also able to use a variety of technological resources for my students in this unit. The METS that applied directly to my unit were:
1. By the end of fifth grade, each student will be able to use Web search engines and built-in search functions of other various resources to locate information.
2. By the end of fifth grade, each student will be able to use a variety of technology tools and applications to promote creativity.
The students will be doing these things when we use Google Earth to see 3-D images of the solar system and of the Earth's rotation and revolution, as well as when I have the students visit the tagged websites to play interactive games to learn more about the positioning and movement of the solar system components.
For this project I used the tag Solar System and Earth so that my resources could be pulled up quickly. The first day of the unit (Monday) will be very introductory. I want to see what the students know about the solar system, such as how many planets there are (8, not 9 anymore), the names of the planets, the order of the planets, etc. For this day, I plan to have all the students at a computer exploring the Our Solar System website because it is very informational about basic topics for learning the composition of the solar system. My favorite part about this site is how many large, clear pictures there are so that the students can see many images of each planet. At the end of the day, I will have the students play an interactive game from the website about identifying the planets and the order in which they are positioned.
Day 2 of the unit (Tuesday) will go a little bit more into depth about the planets. We will start to focus on the actual surface of each planet, the distances between each one, how far they are from the sun, if they can support life, etc. The site used on this day will be the NASA website, Solar System Exploration. On the site, the students will examine each planet individually and their most prominent characteristics. After researching on the website, I will have the students go back to their desk and construct an illustration of one specific planet of their choosing. I will let them know that I will be grading according to how well they depict the unique characteristics of their planet.
Day 3 of the unit (Wednesday), we will start to talking more specifically about the Earth. This day the students will be utilizing the National Geographic website called Our Solar System and the main focus will be the students understanding how the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees and rotating on its axis while revolving around the sun. This website is great for this day because it is VERY interactive and includes videos, maps, diagrams, and music, which I will be sure to direct the students to. There is a game at the bottom of this website that is especially for Elementary students to learn about the Earth's movement as well as the rest of the planets, so I will have the students perform this task before the day is over.
Day 4 of the unit (Thursday) is going to continue with a focus on the Earth. We will begin the lesson with a Bill Nye video on the Earth and Planets. As a young student, I always enjoyed these videos and I specifically remember watching this moving and having the information actually "stick" with me, so I hope it can do the same for some of my students. The video clip is very good because Bill Nye acts out what the Earth is doing when it moves and also WHY night/day and seasons are different depending on the position of the Earth. Even though some of this information may be a little over their heads, I do think it is important to touch on it as an introductory talk because this topic is covered more in-depth in the sixth grade GLCE's. After the video, we will construct our own human model of the solar system using the students in the class and then at the end of the lesson I will have students draw what we made with appropriate arrows indicating movement of the planets.
The final day of the unit (Friday) is going to be the most "fun" because I am going to introduce the students to Google Earth, which is a fairly new technology that has just amazed me. Using this tool, students could actually use satellite to see their own home in real-life, but we are going to use the tool to mostly view and talk about the solar system. I am going to first teach the students how to navigate through the program and how to use its different features. Then, as a final assessment project, I am going to have them create the solar system using all the information they have learned (distances, characteristics of planets, etc.). My hope is that even though I am testing the students' knowledge, they are enjoying themselves with this new, cool technology at the same time.
There were 2 GLCE's that applied directly to my unit and they were:
E.ST.05.11- Design a model that describes the position and relationship of the planets and other objects (comets and asteroids) around the sun.
E.ST.05.21- Describe the motion of planets and moons in terms of rotation on axis and orbits due to gravity.
I was also able to use a variety of technological resources for my students in this unit. The METS that applied directly to my unit were:
1. By the end of fifth grade, each student will be able to use Web search engines and built-in search functions of other various resources to locate information.
2. By the end of fifth grade, each student will be able to use a variety of technology tools and applications to promote creativity.
The students will be doing these things when we use Google Earth to see 3-D images of the solar system and of the Earth's rotation and revolution, as well as when I have the students visit the tagged websites to play interactive games to learn more about the positioning and movement of the solar system components.
For this project I used the tag Solar System and Earth so that my resources could be pulled up quickly. The first day of the unit (Monday) will be very introductory. I want to see what the students know about the solar system, such as how many planets there are (8, not 9 anymore), the names of the planets, the order of the planets, etc. For this day, I plan to have all the students at a computer exploring the Our Solar System website because it is very informational about basic topics for learning the composition of the solar system. My favorite part about this site is how many large, clear pictures there are so that the students can see many images of each planet. At the end of the day, I will have the students play an interactive game from the website about identifying the planets and the order in which they are positioned.
Day 2 of the unit (Tuesday) will go a little bit more into depth about the planets. We will start to focus on the actual surface of each planet, the distances between each one, how far they are from the sun, if they can support life, etc. The site used on this day will be the NASA website, Solar System Exploration. On the site, the students will examine each planet individually and their most prominent characteristics. After researching on the website, I will have the students go back to their desk and construct an illustration of one specific planet of their choosing. I will let them know that I will be grading according to how well they depict the unique characteristics of their planet.
Day 3 of the unit (Wednesday), we will start to talking more specifically about the Earth. This day the students will be utilizing the National Geographic website called Our Solar System and the main focus will be the students understanding how the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees and rotating on its axis while revolving around the sun. This website is great for this day because it is VERY interactive and includes videos, maps, diagrams, and music, which I will be sure to direct the students to. There is a game at the bottom of this website that is especially for Elementary students to learn about the Earth's movement as well as the rest of the planets, so I will have the students perform this task before the day is over.
Day 4 of the unit (Thursday) is going to continue with a focus on the Earth. We will begin the lesson with a Bill Nye video on the Earth and Planets. As a young student, I always enjoyed these videos and I specifically remember watching this moving and having the information actually "stick" with me, so I hope it can do the same for some of my students. The video clip is very good because Bill Nye acts out what the Earth is doing when it moves and also WHY night/day and seasons are different depending on the position of the Earth. Even though some of this information may be a little over their heads, I do think it is important to touch on it as an introductory talk because this topic is covered more in-depth in the sixth grade GLCE's. After the video, we will construct our own human model of the solar system using the students in the class and then at the end of the lesson I will have students draw what we made with appropriate arrows indicating movement of the planets.
The final day of the unit (Friday) is going to be the most "fun" because I am going to introduce the students to Google Earth, which is a fairly new technology that has just amazed me. Using this tool, students could actually use satellite to see their own home in real-life, but we are going to use the tool to mostly view and talk about the solar system. I am going to first teach the students how to navigate through the program and how to use its different features. Then, as a final assessment project, I am going to have them create the solar system using all the information they have learned (distances, characteristics of planets, etc.). My hope is that even though I am testing the students' knowledge, they are enjoying themselves with this new, cool technology at the same time.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
RSS Feeds for Teaching Spanish (Gallery Option #1)
With today's world constantly changing, it is not uncommon to hear many individuals speaking languages other than English in the United States. Due to the large amount of southern immigrants, there has been a large influence from the Spanish language in our country. In large public places, such as grocery stores and movie theaters, it is very common to see signs printed in both English and Spanish, and now even elementary schools are feeling the stress for Americans to know Spanish. Many elementary schools are starting Spanish immersion programs where the school-day is taught half in English and half in Spanish with the goal to create bilingual students. In addition to having my Education degree, I have also earned a degree in Spanish, so I hope to someday work in one of these immersion classrooms. I think that using technology in these classrooms to teach young children Spanish is crucial to their success, so I have researched and made a list of helpful links for parents to visit to assist them in making their child bilingual. Check the links out here!
Each of the links provides a different type of teaching technique to the parents to use with their children. On the Teaching and Learning Spanish blog, the online chat and learning tool, Twitter, is promoted because it includes many interactive activities that focuses on a few simple tasks each session. In addition, it provides different activities for the different types of learners. For audio-visual learners, the blog includes interactive games that the learners can play each time they sit down and these games also include lessons on how to write in Spanish. Finally, this blog is complete with learning goals for parents to use with their children, vocabulary flashcards, and links to lesson extensions so that students' learning is well-rounded with lessons about all Spanish-speaking cultures.
In the blog Free Technology for Teachers, the focus is more for the classroom instructors and their students. The blog is complete with different Spanish learning lesson plans for various ages and grade levels. This blog is different than many of the others that I researched because it focuses more on teaching of Spanish-speaking cultures. There is a large focus on geography of these countries, as well as their history and how they evolved as a Spanish-speaking nation. This blog is very beneficial for teachers like myself because it includes downloaded games, posters, manipulatives, and other materials for classroom use.
The next blog, Spanish Lesson Plans for Children, is aimed at both parents and teachers for ideas of teaching Spanish to younger children. What makes this blog so interesting is that it focuses on the religious aspect of the language. It teaches religious vocabulary, as well as descriptions of the different religious practices in Spanish-speaking countries. It is complete with songs and their lyrics that you can see and hear, as well as explanations for important vocabulary that is used in the songs that could possibly cause confusion. Another unique aspect of this blog is that it teaches techniques for typing in Spanish. It teaches the learner how to type words with accents and also how to use shortcuts for faster typing. One final part of the blog that I found interesting is that it includes an entire section on teaching slang words in Spanish. This is helpful because it teaches the learners many aspects of the language they may not hear in everyday conversation.
The Bilingual Fun blog was created by a Spanish Elementary teacher and was made for teachers and parents of Spanish learners. This website is set up by themes for each month. For example, the October post is all about ways to teach about Halloween in Spanish, as well as the Mexican equivalent, El Dia de Los Muertos. Each theme has a different vocabulary set, as well as pictures of how to run the activities in the home or classroom. This is one of my favorite blogs because it also includes support information for parents and suggestions about how to create a supportive bilingial home environment. Finally, the teacher made a list of short activities that parents can do at home that can make a huge improvement in their child's success in learning Spanish.
Homeschool Spanish Support was created by a homeschool mother who has successfully taught Spanish to her young children. This blog is different than the others because it is basically set up like an online-version of a class. Each post is a new 30-minute lesson to teach to children and it is enough for 1 years' teaching. Even though this blog does not have additional lesson plans or many other links to interactive websites, I did find it to be helpful because it goes very in-depth about each lesson. The strength of this link is the instruction on pronunciation. For each word or slang phrase that it teaches, it also includes the phonology of how to say the word like a native speaker. It also has a button you can click to hear the pronunciation. The blog also includes how to conjugate verbs and an explanation of WHY sentences in Spanish are structured as they are, and finally includes current events that are going on in Spanish-speaking nations.
The final blog, Speak Spanish Everyday, is the most appealing to the eye. It was created by a non-native Spanish speaker from Texas who has created the blog with different themes that would be very applicable in the United States. For example, the most recent post was about the Superbowl. It included vocabulary that may be associated with the event, learning numbers to say the score of the game, and also lesson plans that revolve around the Superbowl in Spanish. The blog prior to that one had to do with the Presidential Inauguration and important vocabulary and explanations related to that historical event. I absolutely love this blog because it it uses things that are very real and applicable to everyday life for Americans. In my opinion, this website would spark a lot of interest in the minds of young Spanish learners in the US because it seems fun, exciting, and very interactive.
I chose this option for the Gallery Project because I am going to be in a Spanish immersion classroom for my teaching internship next year and I think that it is extremely important to do whatever you can as a teacher to advance your students. By using the newest forms of technology, the learning of these students could be maximized. By having immediate access to online support through RSS feeds, students are able to see a much wider range of Spanish lessons than in the traditional classroom teaching. Students are able to use RSS feeds to further their learning because they can complete interactive activities on their own time that assist in their learning. In addition to this, they are able to see what other students are learning about the language in other states and countries so that they feel that there is more of a purpose behind learning the language. I think RSS feeds are also an important form of professional development for teachers because it allows us to get ideas from our colleagues. In my opinion, if a teacher teaches in the same format year after year, that teacher is not truly benefitting her students. By seeing what is successful in other teachers' classrooms and incorporating those things into ours, students are able to learn much more efficiently. Finally, RSS feeds are essential tools for communicating with parents. Years ago, it was not possible for students' learning in the classroom to be extended to the home environment, but now in the world of rapidly-growing technology, parents can have access to the same materials a teacher uses in the classroom. By learning at school and at home, the students will learn the language much quicker and also their learning will be much more meaningful because it is enforced in all aspects of their lives.
Each of the links provides a different type of teaching technique to the parents to use with their children. On the Teaching and Learning Spanish blog, the online chat and learning tool, Twitter, is promoted because it includes many interactive activities that focuses on a few simple tasks each session. In addition, it provides different activities for the different types of learners. For audio-visual learners, the blog includes interactive games that the learners can play each time they sit down and these games also include lessons on how to write in Spanish. Finally, this blog is complete with learning goals for parents to use with their children, vocabulary flashcards, and links to lesson extensions so that students' learning is well-rounded with lessons about all Spanish-speaking cultures.
In the blog Free Technology for Teachers, the focus is more for the classroom instructors and their students. The blog is complete with different Spanish learning lesson plans for various ages and grade levels. This blog is different than many of the others that I researched because it focuses more on teaching of Spanish-speaking cultures. There is a large focus on geography of these countries, as well as their history and how they evolved as a Spanish-speaking nation. This blog is very beneficial for teachers like myself because it includes downloaded games, posters, manipulatives, and other materials for classroom use.
The next blog, Spanish Lesson Plans for Children, is aimed at both parents and teachers for ideas of teaching Spanish to younger children. What makes this blog so interesting is that it focuses on the religious aspect of the language. It teaches religious vocabulary, as well as descriptions of the different religious practices in Spanish-speaking countries. It is complete with songs and their lyrics that you can see and hear, as well as explanations for important vocabulary that is used in the songs that could possibly cause confusion. Another unique aspect of this blog is that it teaches techniques for typing in Spanish. It teaches the learner how to type words with accents and also how to use shortcuts for faster typing. One final part of the blog that I found interesting is that it includes an entire section on teaching slang words in Spanish. This is helpful because it teaches the learners many aspects of the language they may not hear in everyday conversation.
The Bilingual Fun blog was created by a Spanish Elementary teacher and was made for teachers and parents of Spanish learners. This website is set up by themes for each month. For example, the October post is all about ways to teach about Halloween in Spanish, as well as the Mexican equivalent, El Dia de Los Muertos. Each theme has a different vocabulary set, as well as pictures of how to run the activities in the home or classroom. This is one of my favorite blogs because it also includes support information for parents and suggestions about how to create a supportive bilingial home environment. Finally, the teacher made a list of short activities that parents can do at home that can make a huge improvement in their child's success in learning Spanish.
Homeschool Spanish Support was created by a homeschool mother who has successfully taught Spanish to her young children. This blog is different than the others because it is basically set up like an online-version of a class. Each post is a new 30-minute lesson to teach to children and it is enough for 1 years' teaching. Even though this blog does not have additional lesson plans or many other links to interactive websites, I did find it to be helpful because it goes very in-depth about each lesson. The strength of this link is the instruction on pronunciation. For each word or slang phrase that it teaches, it also includes the phonology of how to say the word like a native speaker. It also has a button you can click to hear the pronunciation. The blog also includes how to conjugate verbs and an explanation of WHY sentences in Spanish are structured as they are, and finally includes current events that are going on in Spanish-speaking nations.
The final blog, Speak Spanish Everyday, is the most appealing to the eye. It was created by a non-native Spanish speaker from Texas who has created the blog with different themes that would be very applicable in the United States. For example, the most recent post was about the Superbowl. It included vocabulary that may be associated with the event, learning numbers to say the score of the game, and also lesson plans that revolve around the Superbowl in Spanish. The blog prior to that one had to do with the Presidential Inauguration and important vocabulary and explanations related to that historical event. I absolutely love this blog because it it uses things that are very real and applicable to everyday life for Americans. In my opinion, this website would spark a lot of interest in the minds of young Spanish learners in the US because it seems fun, exciting, and very interactive.
I chose this option for the Gallery Project because I am going to be in a Spanish immersion classroom for my teaching internship next year and I think that it is extremely important to do whatever you can as a teacher to advance your students. By using the newest forms of technology, the learning of these students could be maximized. By having immediate access to online support through RSS feeds, students are able to see a much wider range of Spanish lessons than in the traditional classroom teaching. Students are able to use RSS feeds to further their learning because they can complete interactive activities on their own time that assist in their learning. In addition to this, they are able to see what other students are learning about the language in other states and countries so that they feel that there is more of a purpose behind learning the language. I think RSS feeds are also an important form of professional development for teachers because it allows us to get ideas from our colleagues. In my opinion, if a teacher teaches in the same format year after year, that teacher is not truly benefitting her students. By seeing what is successful in other teachers' classrooms and incorporating those things into ours, students are able to learn much more efficiently. Finally, RSS feeds are essential tools for communicating with parents. Years ago, it was not possible for students' learning in the classroom to be extended to the home environment, but now in the world of rapidly-growing technology, parents can have access to the same materials a teacher uses in the classroom. By learning at school and at home, the students will learn the language much quicker and also their learning will be much more meaningful because it is enforced in all aspects of their lives.
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