Magazine Reviews

Check out the magazine reviews that we created! Students each read their own Time for Kids magazine and then reported back on the cover story in the way of an essay. They then presented their new-found knowledge as a magazine review, sharing non-fiction text features and highlights from the article! Watch our videos and then be sure to leave students comments back here on the blog!

Magazine Reviews

Article

Found this interesting and informative article! Enjoy!

Schools Across the Country Bring iPads to the Classroom

Year Book Take II

So the yearbook cover ended up only being created on laptops. While it was decided that the iPads would definitely work, since it is a contest we needed to have a level playing field. My students did some phenomenal work using wordart, inserting images, and the overall design. It was evident that some students may have a career in graphic design!

Year Book Cover

The fifth graders in our building have a tradition--a contest to design the cover of the year book. In years past, MS Word has been used. While I think that will continue to be successful, I am wondering if there is a way that my class can participate using the iPads instead. Maybe there is design app that will allow them to insert photos and edit fonts the same way that the word processing software does. I am interested to investigate before we attempt this project next week!

Stay tuned for samples of my students' designs!

Body Systems Brochures

It took approximately 2 weeks to complete the projects, but they are finally finished! Students worked in groups of four or five to deepen their knowledge of one of the six body systems that we had learned about during our Human Body Systems biology unit. Students used their knowledge from class to develop two questions about their body system. Then they used print text, as well as digital on the iPad, to research the answers to the questions, allowing them to access information from multiple sources. They used digital cameras to take photos of their own drawings and diagrams and photos from books which they later imported. Incorporated in this project were all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Various technology was used as well: laptops (MS Word), iPads and digital cameras.

Please check out two examples!

Brochure Examples

Literacy in Math

By the end of the day last Thursday, my students and I had had enough. ISATs (our state standardized test) are coming up next week and, since we generally do not assess with multiple choice tests, I wanted to give them the experience before the big exam.

They worked through the practice test independently on Wednesday, and I had planned on reviewing half of the test on Thursday and the other half Friday, reviewing any concepts that were unclear or that they disagreed on. We spent the entire hour Thursday on TWO questions. I had to come up with a solution. There was no way that we were going to continue in that fashion. No one would have wanted to be there.

Thursday night I was having a conversation with my 4-year-old, telling her about my day. When she asked if she could come to my school to help, I suggested that she record her ideas in a movie and then I could share her ideas with my students. That gave me the solution.

I put students in six teams. Each team was assigned a block of questions that they had to work through. They not only had to solve the problems, but they had to be able to explain all of their mathematical thinking. This incorporated listening, speaking, reading and writing in one activity. All group members were required to participate and understand how to solve. When students thought that the problem was thoroughly explained, they got to record themselves solving the problem. Many self-assessed when they played back their videos, discovering that they really hadn't explain all ideas clearly. They continued to discuss with their groups in order to figure out what they had missed. While some were able to record once and move on to the next problem, most had to revise and rerecord at least once.

During this time I was able to confer with students and support language and math skills simultaneously. Conversations that I had with students during these conferences have served as an assessment tool. Feedback from students has been also incredibly powerful. Some of my struggling math students are understanding concepts now that they had not understood before because they have had the opportunity to discuss with peers and ask questions. They feel empowered and confidence, participation and engagement have all increased significantly.

Please click on this link to view the videos and feel free to add comments to this post!

http://sqworl.com/wagz3g

How are we improving???

We have gone through the process of recording and self-assessing a few times now, but the question is How Are We Improving??? My students have been doing a phenomenal job completing their self-assessment activities although it still takes much longer than I had anticipated. Our 30 minute class period is barely enough time for some students to complete the process. My plan had been to use apps to reinforce goals immediately upon completing the process. We are running out of time though before most students can use apps. Since my goal was to have students use apps to practice skills, I have to find time for this. I already open up my classroom before school and during lunch for any students who need extra assistance or time for learning, but asking students to come in on their own time does not guarantee that it is going to happen. I am thinking that a few minutes at the end of each class period may work.

I am also trying to figure out a way for my students to communicate their goals with their homeroom teachers so they can also track progress and reinforce skills and strategies. At this point in time I am just going to have students turn in their goal sheets to their teachers for them to read and then get back.