ETC Final Project

I enjoyed this project because I was able to use the material in my classroom. I love it when the learning I am involved in becomes relevant. Using the Web 2.0 tool Storybird, enhance the writing process for my students and got many involved. Many who normally would not want to write. Below is my lesson plan for this project!! There were a couple things that I had to change.. In the reflection, I originally said that they would fill out a sheet. They were so excited and we as a class got into this project that time got away from us as well as the weather. We had 2 snow days and were out of school so the sheets were not filled out. I used their reactions as their reflection and my own. Another area affected by their excitement and the weather was the ability to share our storybirds as a class. Not all of the students were able to complete their storybirds so we will not share these until next week!

                          Storybird: An Awesome Kindergarten Writing Project


Target Audience:  My class: 23 Kindergarten students and their families

2.     Materials needed: ELMO, Computers, Storybird link, paper, pencil, projector, screen

3.     Objectives:  The students will:

Review the writing process, sentence structure with the teacher.

Observe as the teacher models.

Create a list of topics to write about.

Choose a topic democratically to write about as a class.

Create or choose a picture that represents the topic.

Create two sentences about their picture.

Share their writing with the class.

Demonstrate their ability to create a page in the class book on   Storybird.

Develop skills to utilize the Storybird tool with the assistance of their families.

Describe their experience to the class.

Reflect on this experience and share whether or not they would like to do this again.

4.     Procedures:

Students will have a review of sentence structure.

Students will brainstorm topics to write a class book about.

Students will choose a topic for class book.

Students will draw or choose a picture from the class picture folder that represents the book topic.

Students will write about the picture they chose or created.

Students will share their writing with the class on the ELMO.

Students will go to the storybird site at home with their family.

Once they are in the assignment section, they will choose the class assignment, choose a picture on the storybird site and write about it.

Students will share their storybirds with the class.

Students will read the finished storybird together using the projector and computer in the classroom.

Students will reflect on their learning experience and share if they would  like to do this assignment again.

5.     Web 2.0 Tool:  Storybird

6.     Social Participation/Social Learning:

Students will be participating in a whole group writing lesson, independent writing and a collaboration activity creating a class book on Storybird.

7.     Making Connections:

Writing is an important tool in Kindergarten. This is when they are choosing pictures and writing about them. The writing process is beginning. Through a group writing lesson, teacher modeling, and journaling students are beginning to create literary pieces. Technology is beginning to be utilized. Through the combination of technology and the skills they are learning and using in class, students will create literary works to share and treasure. This will also increase their love for writing.

8.     Create/Produce:

As a group, the students will review the writing process and create a list of topics. Once a topic is chosen, students will create or choose a picture and write two sentences about it. These writing will be shared in class using the ELMO. Students will then access the Storybird website at home and complete the assignment on their class page. Once all students have completed their storybird page. The completed class book will be shared via the computer and projector.

9.     Reflection:

Upon completion of the Storybird activity, students will share their thoughts about their experience and tell the others whether or not they liked it and if they would like to do it again. They will also fill out a small reflection sheet created by the teacher.



My own personal reflection: This was one of the best writing projects, we have done all year. The students absolutely loved it. Even the students who normally do not like to write wrote stories and typed them on the computers. What I loved the most was the peer relations that occurred. When the lower students were on the computers the higher students helped them type their stories harmoniously.

I sent home a letter ahead of time to let the parents know we will be using this new website and how they can use it at home as well. Unfortunately, I did not get back much of a response. I am hoping that they would have discussed this at parent conferences but unfortunately due to inclement weather, they were cancelled!

Hello everyone

I just wanted to share a map I created with tagxedo (www.tagxedo.com) about my blog. I thought this was really cool. It just took your blog and made a map out of it. I chose the heart!!! Here it it!!!!

PE5_Storybird

Well, the saga continues with this new Web 2.0 tool. I left off on my last post with creating an assignment for my kids to complete a storybird. I chose cats because most of my students have or like cats.

To choose cats I went into the create assignment section, found some artwork, I chose Catalogue nd created a name for the assignment, We Love Cats! This is one of the pictures I chose for the Storybird.










Here is a page in progress for the assignment. I chose a picture from those that are in Catalogue. Clicked on the box on the left and added my text. I also added my name to the page!










Here is the sample project I began. This is the cover and the next screen shot is the first page. Unfortunately, this is all I got for this assignment because I hit the wrong button and published the storybird before it was done. I now know not to hit published but to hit the share button. This will help me with the directions for my students and families to use this tool successfully.

This is the first page of the project/assignment. But I did not get any farther because I  pushed the wrong button. Learning as I go, what an experience!

PE4_Storybird

I am very excited about this tool. It incorporates writing (a skill that kindergarten students are just beginning to develop), parental involvement, and technology. These are all areas that are new to kindergarteners and their families.

First I had to create an account and create a class.

Here are screen shots of creating an account and a class:

 

 Here is a screen shot of changing the students password from the one assigned by Storybird. I gave them all the same password to make it easy for me to access their accounts, if needed!

Here is a screen shot of the parent page: I have printed this page to send home to my families:

Here is a screen shot of choosing a picture from the artwork area to create an assignment.

 Here is a screen shot showing my assignment I created:

 Here is a screen shot with my assignment I created and my class list. This shows who has or has not been on the site and created a page in our book.

Here is a screen shot of how to create a page in Storybird:












Now, that I have learned how to create an account, set up a class, changed their passwords, created a parental involvement/informational folder, created a faux assignment for practice and created a faux page, I will now be concentrating on my RILS. My next blog post will be focused on my progress of that!

Have a great night!!!

BP7_Planbookedu.comcommercial

 Below is my commercial for planbookedu.com

BP6_Link to Sheri's Blog

Good Morning!!! I can not sleep for some reason, so I thought I would make another post!!! I know that in a few hours my little one will be up full of energy and I am going to be dragging!!! What else is new!!!

So, I viewed Sheri's blog and loved the tool she found: Photo Peach.

Follow this link to my comment on Sheri's blog!!

Here are two screen shots of her blog and  post on this awesome tool!!!

BP5_Link to Cheryl's Blog

Good Morning, Everyone!!!

I am looking forward to a day of football (My Patriots are on today, Yeah!!!!!!) and a long weekend (no school tomorrow!!!!!!) I have commented on Cheryl McGovern's blog regarding her IMovie for PE3.

Below is a  screen shot of her blog post  as well as the link to my comment on Cheryl's blog!

Follow this link to see my comment on Cheryl's Blog!!!

BP_4 Tikatok

Tikatok, what is that you ask? It is a wonderful site sponsored by Barnes and Noble where students become authors and their love of writing is enhanced. Parents are able to take part in their child's writing process. What better way to whet their appetite and peak their interest then having their work published. This site differentiates the writing assignments as well. For the younger students, it is a memory book, where they just plug in their info and add pictures. The pictures can be photos are their actual drawings. This will make a wonderful keepsake for parents and teachers!!!! For students ages 8 and up, it is called story sparks. They are given assistance- prompts to write their own story and then for the students who are ages 10 and up, they can write the book totally from scratch.

Teachers are able to create a class list, provide them with usernames and passwords, and give them the opportunity to shine!!! Students will be able to log in to their story from any computer. Both teachers and parents can view the child's work. Adults have the option to purchase the published book. What is nice is that this is done online, goes along with the writing standards from each grade level and it gives the students a reason and desire to write.

Setting it up is easy. Teachers just need to create an account. Once this is created then they can create a class roster.

Here is my class roster:

Once the class roster is created and the students have their login information, they can begin creating their books, teachers can send home the letter for parents (on the site, all they have to do is print it and send it home) and directions on how to use the website(these are also on the site to be printed and sent home.) Below are screen shots of the parent letter and directions.

Once the letter and directions are sent home, students can create their literary works of art!!! I have begun a book to show how easy it is. I began a memory book. This is what I will be having my Kindergarten class create during the next two weeks. We just wrote a class book and had it published through Student Treasures and they were very excited when the books came in. This will excite them even more because it will be their own book published!!!!

 Here are screen shots of my book so far!!!!!!

 This is the dedication page: see I added photos of my family!!!! They can add a photo of their family that they drew or a real photograph!!

This is the first page of the memory book: a spot is left for their own drawing!!!

Here is the digital proof that you can review before printing and publishing!

Here is a screen shot of the how it works page. A resource for parents and teachers!!!

Writing is an area that students need a lot of praise, concentration and hands on activities to be successful. This tool provides them with the opportunity to work on their computer skills, their literary skills, sentence formation, thought processes, and the writing process. They will end this experience with a wonderful keepsake as well as an awesome experience to remember! 

Teachers, what better way to get your students interest peaked and their desire to write grow. This tool provides you with all that you need to create a wonderful writing experience as well as a keepsake that the students and their families can treasure forever!!!

PE3_IMovie

Well, I finally finished the tutorial and my project. I certainly have learned a lot about IMovie. I have to admit that at the beginning I was not a fan of IMovie but now that I have viewed the tutorial, I am beginning to be a fan. We will see as time goes on.

I have learned how to transition, add music, add still photos and titles. This I have shown in my video: Emmy's First Trip to the Ocean. I uploaded it to viddler as well.

Here is the link to my finished project on viddler:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/cindylprice37/videos/17/


Here is my IMovie project chronicling my daughter's first trip to the ocean. This project was a learning experience. I added titles, music and still photos for the first time.  Transitions were a trouble spot for me. You will see that throughout the video! I also shared it using the Mobile Me Gallery. Another task I learned through the tutorials!!!

I uploaded my video to you tube because I was having difficulty embedding it for some reason. So I watched the Blogger tutorial for video uploading and saw that you can upload a video through youtube. So I uploaded my IMovie to youtube and then uploaded it onto my blog.

Here is a screen shot about sharing your projects through Mobile Me:

Here is my link to view it in my mobile me gallery:

http://gallery.me.com/lovesox37/100018

Here is my certificate showing that I completed the tutorial!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!

PE2_IMovie

As my training in IMovie progressed, I learned a plethora of information in such a short time. I learned how to add still pictures into IMovie and how to add background music. I also learned how to adjust the time the still pictures moved and the time for transitions. I am working on creating an IMovie about my daughter's first visit to the ocean. I am creating this as I go through the tutorial.

Here are screen shots of my project in progress and of the screen in the IMovie tutorial showing me how to add background music to my project.

PE1_IMovie

Well, I have been learning quite a bit through the Lynda.com tutorial of the IMovie program. I have to admit there is a lot of information to digest. 2 hours is not the true amount of time i takes for us to go through the tutorial and truly understand a third of what is going on. I was amazed at all of the aspects and all of the editing and creating one can do using IMovie. At first, I was dreading this because I was not a big fan of IMovie but this tutorial has made a believer out of me. As I began my tutorials, I learned:

How to mark my videos as favorites and rejects. Here is a screen shot from the tutorial showing me how to mark my video clips as favorites and rejects. This will make it easy when creating projects.

I also learned how to add transitions smoother and more professionally. here is a screen shot from the adding transition tutorial I viewed. Hopefully I will be able to do this by the time this program is over!!

BP2_PlanbookEdu.com

BP2_PlanbookEdu.com

The image above is this weeks lesson plans I have created using PlanboonEdu.com. 

I am so excited about this Web2.0 tool. This is a useful and time saving tool for all educators. PlanbookEdu.com provides educators with the opportunity to do their lesson plans online, share their plans with others, add documents and forms to their plan book on the days you will use them. Not only are we able to type and save our lesson plans but it has a feature that will allow you to add the common core standards you are teaching that day. No more having to stop and refer to the large document. This site has the common core standards linked. When editing the day, just type a keyword in the search box and the common core standard appears. Choose the appropriate one and save. It also provides us with an opportunity to post these lessons on our personal website. The set up of this tool allows educators to write their lesson plans, insert the common core standards, worksheets, newsletters, assessment items, homework, idea sheets and share with our colleagues in the same amount of time if not less then writing them in the traditional plan book. 

I have created a weeks worth of lesson plans including the common core standards I will be focusing on using this Web 2.0 tool. I added my weekly behavior sheet and weekly newsletter. Worksheets and idea sheets have been added to the days in which I will use them. Common core standards for each area have been added. I then shared my plans and this tool with my grade level. Literally it is having all materials except the manuals at your fingertips waiting to be printed and used!  

BP3_ IGoogleScreenShots

Here are the screen shots from my IGoogle page!

BP1_ Welcome to my blog

Happy 2011, everyone! I would like to welcome you to my blog. This is my first blogging experience and I hope that it is an enjoyable one for both you and myself. I will be posting items to keep you up to date on my journey through Fullsail and through life in general!

As this program progresses, I have learned so much regarding technology and have implemented it into my classroom. I have created videos, surveys and a website. Here is the URL for my website if you would like to check it out:

http://mrspriceskindergators.com


Life is such a journey filled with curves and many ups and downs. Right now, I am experiencing many ups, my two year old is healthy and such a joy, I love my job and my friends and family are supportive and understanding.

I teach kindergarten. I absolutely love it. Here is a sign of the times: I gave my kindergarteners a weekly spelling test. The word they were asked to spell was we. They all spelled it Wii.

One more little anecdote I would like to share: my two year old woke up yesterday with a cold. Her nose was stuffed up. She looked at me and told me her nose is not working and asked if I could fix it.

As my two year old says" Have an Awshum day!"