Students and Technology

I am in the Bellevue School District, so the obligatory first piece of technology I talk about has to be the Smart Board. I don't know its full potential yet, but basically it is like a computer screen the size of a projector screen. In addition you can write on it in different colors with these cool pen things. The teacher has used it so far to model how to do a math worksheet, show videos and show a picture slide show. I have put it to great use as well by playing hang man on it with some kids. The room also has about 6 computers that the kids can use as well, although I've only seen them on it once since I've been there, and that was during choice time so they were just playing games. At home some of the students have ipods, and use the telephone and computers. I haven't been able to gauge their technological prowess too much though, but I am betting I will as the quarter progresses.

How Students Learn

Hao and I are in a third grade classroom in the Bellevue School District, and so far its been great. For literacy our students are learning and practicing literacy skills in many different ways. One way the students are engaging with literacy is through a teacher read aloud. The teacher has been reading a chapter book to the students for a few weeks, and after they hear a section each day they are prompted to answer questions related to what they heard, they sometimes develop these questions and other times are given them by the teacher. Also the students create some sort of book report about a book they have been reading about every month or so. The teacher is really creative with these reports and allowed for an integration of art and literacy. One example was that the student were able to fill in what looked like a large piece of film strip with both text and pictures relating to their story. The students seem to really enjoy these projects which range from poetry to non-fiction projects. Also the students are given independent reading time each day, and the classroom library has an abundance of books to choose from. These are some of the literacy activities that I have witnessed so far, and it seems that the students are given a variety of ways to learn and practice their literacy work.

Fun Lesson Plan

Creating a Wall Story

In this lesson, students create a wall story as a means of retelling a story. After hearing a picture book read aloud, students sketch their favorite part of the story. The pictures are shared with and sequenced by the class. Gaps in the storyline are identified and filled by groups of students. The entire story is then posted on a wall, in pictures, for use in a variety of later learning center activities, such as sequencing sentence strips, story mapping, performing reader’s theater and/or creating a written retelling of the story.

Title of Site: Arts Edge, Creating a Wall Story
Who Created the Site: ARTSEDGE, Education Department John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC
When it was Created: not given
URL: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2286/
Purpose and Target Audience of Site: This is a particular lesson plan from a site with many lesson plans you can choose from based on grade, subject and art subject.
How it could be used for teaching or learning: This lesson provides a way to look at stories through the use of illustration. Students will become more familiar with important story elements such as character, setting, and plot. Additionally, they will have to work together once they have created their illustrations to put them in sequential order, which will aid in their comprehension. The Wall Story, once complete, can be used for a variety of independent literacy building activities as well such as: sequencing sentence strips from the story using the wall story as a guide, learning vocabulary by tacking vocab cards to relevant pictures on the wall (bonus for ELL students), and having the students orally retell the story to each other.
Things to be considered: nothing I can think of
Found Through: DLC Search

"M" Elementary

I really enjoyed my time at "M" Elementary, although it was definitely different than "P". The first half of the week I was in a first grade classroom, and the second half I was in fifth grade. The first graders were so cute! Each morning they would gather in a circle on the floor and greet each other. The first morning I was there they greeted each other using Hola and then on Wednesday it was Happy "Valentime's" Day. I thought this was a really nice way to begin the morning and make sure that everyone was acknowledged and felt included in the classroom. While I was there the students primarily worked on Math and Literacy although each morning they had a meteorologist report and record the weather which was part of their science lesson. In math they were working on creating a survey question, survey their class and then representing their information in a chart that included pictures, words, and numbers. They had some great questions such as "Would you rather have the chicken pox or the stomach flu?" and "Would you rather have a super brain or super strength?" As far as literacy went they had a literacy jobs each day that could include silent reading, reading with a partner or working on other tasks such as spelling. They also had writing workshop during which they would work on stories and drawings that were in various stages of the writing process. I had so much fun with the first graders, they were great.

The second half I was in the fifth grade, which was totally different. I don't think it helped that it was Valentine's day and they were about to start the party when I got there. The party consisted of a rousing game of pin the heart on the sad man, can you guess whose lips, and a bubble blowing contest. The next day was a little less crazy though. They were doing a cool project about the American colonists where they read from a book called The History of US, as well as primary source diaries of both colonists, indentured servants, and a Native American. As they were reading these they had to adopt a certain identity and then write a journal about their experiences from that particular point of view. They were interesting to read since the students had adopted some of the old vocab. of the time, and seemed to have really understood the experiences that different people would have had.

In Class

I don't know what to write about...