Have you ever asked students to research a topic, or read a passage and find
them struggling to understand what they are reading? Do your students need assistance in defining terms or concepts they are reading? Are you looking for ways to help your students explore information and simplify the process for them? Today I have a couple resources that are designed to assist in students in information processing. The following tools I have found to be good resources that provide assistance for students engaging in textual materials. Read and Write - A Google Extension you are able to add through the Chrome Store that provides tools for many online resources. You open the page (webpage or Google Doc) and click the Read and Write Icon to access the tools. You are able to have Read and Write Read the passage to you. If you highlight the passage, it will read the selection. If not, it starts at the top of the page which isn't as user friendly on websites. I signed up for a teacher account and was given access to "Premium" features. Beyond having it read a passage, you can highlight words and click on the vocabulary tool and it will create a new page with descriptions of the word or words you highlighted. I worked with a teacher in a bilingual class to assist her students especially with the vocabulary tools. We asked the students to highlight in pink words that were unfamiliar to them. They could also highlight parts of speech using other colors. When you click the multi-color circle icon in Read and Write, it tracks the highlights you have made so you can get a list of what students selected and quickly assess their understanding of the passage or parts of speech. I am sure there are many other applications to this and I hope others will share how they use it. I made a quick screencast video showing how to access Read and Write and some of the basic functions mentioned above. Rewordify - This site allows users can copy and paste a passage into Rewordify and click Rewordify Text and the program analyzes the information and creates a simplified version- Example: Original: The list of known carcinogens now includes a chemical called ortho-toluidine, which is used to make rubber chemicals, pesticides and dyes. Recent research has linked the substance to bladder cancer in people. Rewordified version: The list of known (cancer-causing things) now includes a chemical called orthotoluidine, which is used to make rubber chemicals, bug-killing chemicals and dyes. Recent research has linked the substance to (urine storage sac) cancer in people. As you can see terms that could be difficult for students have been defined to assist in making the entire passage more understandable.
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Classtools.net is an amazing site created by History teacher Russel Tarr. There are simple tools like Random Name Selectors to more advanced like a Fakebook page, or fake tweets or fake text messages. The "Fake" tools could be used to create conversations between characters in a book or historical figures.
Random Name Selectors Ever find yourself selecting the same students when having class discussions, choosing groups, or assigning tasks? Well the three tools I have linked below all help with these issues. They are interactive and quick tools to help you select students for various activities. Additional Application: We want all students to participate and demonstrate their level of understanding. We also have a finite amount of time for discussions and instruction. A method I used is to put the main questions on the board and then use the Random Name selector to choose 3 students per question. I tell them these 3 students are responsible for answering the question. Student 1 responds and 2 and 3 add details to help pull it together to make a complete answer. If they have an incomplete response, then the rest of the class will be called upon. This gives the students lead time to think about their assigned question. This is just one method of pulling students into discussions that can be utilized. Random Name Wheel With this tool, you can edit the names on the wheel and save your finished product. It creates a unique URL that you should copy and paste into a Google Doc or Google Spreadsheet to have easy access. You could also add the URL to your bookmarks bar to be able to access right from Chrome without having to open a file. Random Name Picker This is a quick name selector that you could copy and paste your class list into and it will select a random student. This does not create a saved version of your list, unlike the wheel example above. You would have to enter names each time you wanted to use this. Random Name Selector - This version allows you to add your class list as the others, and like the first one allows you to save your updated class list with a url. You can also change the time the selector uses to choose the next name and determine if you want a choice removed during this session. It will not delete from the original list, but prevents repeat picks. Augmented Reality I have been talking to teachers recently about using Augmented Reality/QR codes with students. One conversation has been about having students create audiobooks and share with other students. We could record the student reading the book and then create a link to that recording that would connect to a QR code or other augmented reality program. This could be shared with other students who provide feedback, or younger students as listening centers. I have a few teachers interested in starting this project, and am excited for the results. If you are interested in this, please let me know. (Note- I was reminded to be careful of copyright issues when proceeding with this project-) I have included an example of using the technology for a parent teacher conference. The student drew a picture that became the QR trigger for the video she created talking about what she has learned in school so far. It was really cool hearing about her school year in her own words as we waited to meet with her teacher. Augmented Reality Example Another use that could connect the AR example to the book example is to have students create video or audio critiques of the books they have read. You could then use AR like Aurasma to connect to the book in the LMC and when students scan the book they could read a short review from their peers. Just remind students not to SPOIL the story in their reviews. Google ExpeditionsGoogle has created Virtual Reality experiences that help transport your students to new destinations or engage in activities they wouldn't be able to in your classroom. Check out Google Expeditions.
Connecting with the world We are ever increasing our access to technology, and with that our world is shrinking. Ever want to connect your classroom to the world beyond your building? Ever want to learn about far off places? Have you considered Virtual Field Trips, or Mystery Skype or using Google Hangouts? The link below has a great list of potential activities for connecting your classroom to the world. The author has written a book about using technology in the classroom, and I met him at a conference this summer. Global Connections This week's tech tips come from a conversation with Middle School Social Studies Teachers. When visiting their CLT we were discussing the study of cultures, geography and mapping activities. As a result we started to explore different ways to have students demonstrate their knowledge than what the teachers had been using previously. My intention is to provide a brief overview of tech infused lesson ideas to hopefully spark your interest and lead to more detailed conversations. Idea 1- Use Thinglink You could provide students a map in Google Draw and have them edit the map to locate key points of interest. They could create a key to indicate what the symbols mean. Next they could take this to Thinglink and add tags that connect to information such as descriptions, videos, or links to a Google Doc they created explaining the specific area of the map or topic. Here is an example of Russia I put together in a few minutes. Other Uses- Students can create an interactive display of information. If students create posters or brochures, this allows for a much more dynamic experience with the information presented. Students could create a Visual in Google Drawing layering images and text like they normally would and then add links in Thinglink to extend the sharing of information beyond a normal poster. Since the final product in Thinglink creates a shareable link, you could turn the products into QR codes and create a Gallery Walk for your students. Students could scan the QR codes and see the work of others, learning from each other and students wouldn't be creating products just for you. Idea 2- Google My Maps I attended a session at an Edcamp where a teacher created an Amazing Race activity using Google My Maps to have the participants get to know each other. There were tasks to be completed and the whole activity was centered around the maps he created. I took this idea and repurposed it to be used for creating maps. I have provided a pretty basic Amazing Race Example You are welcome to check it out and submit any text answer you want. This uses My Maps and Google Forms to create challenges for students to complete. Matt Miller shares ideas about how to use My Maps- 20 ideas and a tutorial video. Alternative uses - The map serves as a backdrop for delivery of information. You could create maps where the tags were locations in a story or book students were reading. Each tag provides information or asks students content questions. Science could choose locations where important scientific innovations took place.
The tasks that students are expected to complete could be anything that connects to your content. You could create a formative assessment or a student project used as a summative assessment. Scribble Maps This site allows you to use Google Maps to label a map like Google My Maps, but this one gives you some some additional tools. You can use the drawing tool to measure distances from one place to another. A teacher used it to measure their school building when studying perimeter and area. You can add a variety of labels to the map to help students demonstrate concepts - these include weather symbols to identify where weather patterns like tornados are likely to take place. This tool is the one I am least familiar with, but thought it was worth a mention. Augmented Reality I have been talking to teachers recently about using Augmented Reality/QR codes with students. One conversation has been about having students create audiobooks and share with other students. We could record the student reading the book and then create a link to that recording that would connect to a QR code or other augmented reality program. This could be shared with other students who provide feedback, or younger students as listening centers. I have a few teachers interested in starting this project, and am excited for the results. If you are interested in this, please let me know. (Note- I was reminded to be careful of copyright issues when proceeding with this project-) I have included an example of using the technology for a parent teacher conference. The student drew a picture that became the QR trigger for the video she created talking about what she has learned in school so far. It was really cool hearing about her school year in her own words as we waited to meet with her teacher. Augmented Reality Example Another use that could connect the AR example to the book example is to have students create video or audio critiques of the books they have read. You could then use AR like Aurasma to connect to the book in the LMC and when students scan the book they could read a short review from their peers. Just remind students not to SPOIL the story in their reviews. Connecting with the world We are ever increasing our access to technology, and with that our world is shrinking. Ever want to connect your classroom to the world beyond your building? Ever want to learn about far off places? Have you considered Virtual Field Trips, or Mystery Skype or using Google Hangouts? The link below has a great list of potential activities for connecting your classroom to the world. The author has written a book about using technology in the classroom, and I met him at a conference this summer. Global Connections Random Name Selectors Ever find yourself selecting the same students when having class discussions, choosing groups, or assigning tasks? Well the three tools I have linked below all help with these issues. They are interactive and quick tools to help you select students for various activities. Additional Application: We want all students to participate and demonstrate their level of understanding. We also have a finite amount of time for discussions and instruction. A method I used is to put the main questions on the board and then use the Random Name selector to choose 3 students per question. I tell them these 3 students are responsible for answering the question. Student 1 responds and 2 and 3 add details to help pull it together to make a complete answer. If they have an incomplete response, then the rest of the class will be called upon. This gives the students lead time to think about their assigned question. This is just one method of pulling students into discussions that can be utilized. Random Name Wheel With this tool, you can edit the names on the wheel and save your finished product. It creates a unique URL that you should copy and paste into a Google Doc or Google Spreadsheet to have easy access. You could also add the URL to your bookmarks bar to be able to access right from Chrome without having to open a file. Random Name Picker This is a quick name selector that you could copy and paste your class list into and it will select a random student. This does not create a saved version of your list, unlike the wheel example above. You would have to enter names each time you wanted to use this. Random Name Selector - This version allows you to add your class list as the others, and like the first one allows you to save your updated class list with a url. You can also change the time the selector uses to choose the next name and determine if you want a choice removed during this session. It will not delete from the original list, but prevents repeat picks. Google Draw- Google Drawing is a great way to create visuals for a multitude of applications. It allows you to pull images into the program using the Research tool (under the tools tab) and dragging and dropping the image. You can layer images, add text and shapes. There are a multitude of tools available via Google Draw. I wanted to share 2 things that have come up for me this week. Cropping and Saving. Cropping Images Google allows you to crop images you insert. Cropping is a function that I am sure most people have heard of, and is included in many products, including many camera phones. What I recently came across is the ability to crop an image into a shape. You click on the image- then the crop icon appears with a drop down arrow next to it. Click the arrow and you will see shapes appear. Choose a shape and you will change your image. See Below- Saving Google Draw images
I was asked about sharing/emailing images to the print center. The image that we were looking at wasn't able to be saved as a PDF which is the preferred method for the print center. We inserted the image into Google Drawings and then clicked File Download As and chose a PDF. This allows the image to be emailed to the print center. Yesterday I met with a math teacher who I have amazing conversations about teaching and learning. I shared with her a book I had recently read "Instant Relevance" where the author described how he found ways to create lessons from things the students were interested in, or were available to them. He used his lunch to teach about math and the students created new math problems or challenges. For a non-math person, it was a very interesting read because it went beyond math to connecting to student's interests.
This led to the sharing of Dan Meyer's work, at least some of it where he has created a spreadsheet of math activities that can get students thinking about math in the world around them. Here is the document. We looked at the Bucky Badger example - you can use control F to find it more easily. Take a look, or explore others. Well we watched the introductory video and I have to admit I am still curious as to what the answer is. I am intrigued by the process that goes into figuring out the solution and that there are multiple questions that need to be asked before students are able to begin solving the problem. I think this creates conversational learning and more thinking on the part of the students. At least I know I was thinking about what information I needed to know to solve the problem, and how would I be able to find that information? I want to share examples of learning opportunities and resources when I find them. I hope you can find use in some of the things I am sharing. BrainPOP is a tremendous resource that our district continues to provide for teachers and students. I first learned about this as my own children began using the resources. My oldest daughter would come home and ask me questions about a video she had watched on slavery, or government.
This summer I was able to attend a BrainPOP training. As part of that training, I was required to create two lesson plans. I will share them below. Before the training, I knew that BrainPOP offered a lot of video content that was well done. What I discovered through the training was the multitude of activities and resources that go along with those videos. BrainPOP has educational games! I was required to play games as part of the training, but found myself really engaged in a few of them. I tried the iCivics games about winning the Whitehouse and the budget simulation. I also found the Mission US games very well done. In those you role play and have to make decisions for your character. As you make the decisions, the game evolves based on your choices. BrainPOP also has a mapping tool to assist students and teachers with organizing ideas they are learning. You can insert images, texts and even videos into the mapping tool. I invite you to check out the BrainPOP resources and let me know if you are interested in learning more I can meet with you to further explore what BrainPOP has to offer. I included the lessons below. My intent with the lessons was to make connections between BrainPOP and current events that students could relate to. These are lessons created for the program and I haven't taught them yet. You can choose to use some or all of the activities listed. Lesson 1 - Immigration Lesson 2 - Presidential Election Writing is an important skill for students to develop. Writing doesn’t have to be reserved for Language Arts, we can introduce it into every subject area through brief writing activities. I used to use the writing prompt, “How does the story end, or what happens next” in my social studies classes, especially at a critical point in a video or historical story we were exploring. The exercise wasn’t about getting a historically correct response, but engaging their thinking in a short writing exercise. We have tools to assist in creating writing prompts with a little technological assistance. Discovery Education: Discovery education is much more than a video library. One of the many great features is the Builder Tools Section. Here you have the option to create assignments, Quizzes, Boards and Writing Prompts. You are able to create your own, or select a premade one and adjust it to fit your needs. What I like about the writing prompts I have explored is they provide a visual either an image or a video that connects to the writing task being assigned. When creating and assigning in Discovery Ed the students will be provided a window to record their responses. I don’t have classes in Discovery Ed so I can’t simulate that experience to show you examples. Google Forms or Google Docs: Google Forms allows you to add images and videos above questions to provide visual context for the question or writing prompt. Google Docs allows only adding images so to use a video you would have to use a hyperlink. I like to insert a video clip from youtube such as the battle of fort wagner in the movie Glory and have students write what they think happens next, which side wins and why. There are so many possibilities for using visuals as inspiration for your writing prompts. When would I use forms instead of Discovery ED- when the video or image I wanted to use isn’t available in Discovery ED. Additionally Google Forms has added Math Equations so you could insert charts, graphs, equations for students to solve. Youtube Videos- for those who have students under 13 there is still an option for you. You can use safeshare.tv Copy the URL the web address of the youtube video into Sharesafe.TV and this site will remove any of the extra content that we would normally see in Youtube. Copy and paste the new link into your form or doc and students can access the video. Example: Quantum Leap in safeshare.tv. A quick example of a writing prompt using the Quantum Leap Video. Difference between safeshare.tv and youtube - safeshare is a hyperlink, and the youtube video I am able to embed it into the form and students could watch it right in the form. Another video tool that might assist you is TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos This allows you to take a Youtube video and select just the section of the video you want to use. This can be very beneficial for directing students to just the aspect of the video that is most important for them to engage with. |
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