All Michigan third graders need to learn about real-world public issues that involve Michigan communities. We also compare renewable and non-renewable resources in science. I decided to combine the two as I was cramming us much as I possibly could into their little brains before our school year was to come to an end. Surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the best lessons the kids experienced in my classroom.
We focused a lot of our non-fiction reading on wind energy and participated in many conversations about wind turbines. After the students realized that the windiest part of our state is in Lake Michigan, we talked about the pros and cons of building a "wind farm" in the Great Lakes. After recording sides and perspectives of many different types of citizens, the students needed to participate in a debate expressing the views of the opposing parties while thinking about the question, "Should we build a windfarm in Lake Michigan?". I could have assigned the students a side and had the students come up to a podium and argue away, but I wanted to be a bit more creative than that. I wanted them to be excited about their ideas and present them in a way that was interesting and meaningful to them. I decided to use the app I had heard such wonderful things about - "Go Animate".
With Go Animate, students can pick their own avatar(s), type in text and create a short video of characters talking to each other. We used the free version and I hope in the future my school district can think about purchasing the upgraded version. The kids were so excited to try it. When it was time to create I looked around the room and the engagement I saw was crazy. They loved the kid friendly avatars to choose from and especially enjoyed picking different voices with different accents. They were disappointed when it was time to stop and get ready for home at the end of the day!
Here are two examples that I quickly videoed with my iphone:
Friday, June 27, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Last day of school - THEY CHOSE TO WRITE!
Ahhhhh. Summer is here and now I have time to write. I can't wait to post all of the exciting 21st century learning experiences my 2013-2014 third graders did this year. There are so many - just finding the time to record my reflections has been challenging.
I want to start off my summer blogging by sharing what happened in my classroom the last day of school. School has been out for a week now and I just can not stop thinking about it! We had a lot of content to cram into the remaining weeks of school. Sometimes I felt like I was pushing these 8-9 year olds a little too far. I didn't want them leaving me without knowing what they were supposed to know! Anyways, we had been working on 2 different writing assignments. Most students were at the publishing stage of their realistic fiction stories and their Michigan city research projects. They were publishing online using google doc presentations and weebly websites.
So, on the last 1/2 day of school I had written the schedule on the board as usual. We started the morning off with watching the 4th graders and teachers duke it out in an exciting tug of war outside. Then when we came back inside, I jokingly said, "Ok writers. Let's take a vote. For the next hour we can work on finishing our writing assignments OR sign each others yearbooks." I totally expected for an overwhelming response to of course sign yearbooks. We were done with academics. I was tired and honestly I was not in the mood to work anymore! They voted to work on their writing assignments! When all the hands went up into the air to express their wishes to get out their Chromebooks to work on writing, my classroom parapro and I looked at each other in astonishment and started cracking up! I must be doing something right to have these kids WANT to work on the last day of school. I think.
So they did. They wrote their little hearts out and I am so impressed with their dedication and commitment. Love those kids. I'm going to miss them!
Here are some example realistic fiction stories and Michigan research project websites:
Student #13 Michigan City Research Project
Student #10 Michigan City Research Project
I want to start off my summer blogging by sharing what happened in my classroom the last day of school. School has been out for a week now and I just can not stop thinking about it! We had a lot of content to cram into the remaining weeks of school. Sometimes I felt like I was pushing these 8-9 year olds a little too far. I didn't want them leaving me without knowing what they were supposed to know! Anyways, we had been working on 2 different writing assignments. Most students were at the publishing stage of their realistic fiction stories and their Michigan city research projects. They were publishing online using google doc presentations and weebly websites.
So, on the last 1/2 day of school I had written the schedule on the board as usual. We started the morning off with watching the 4th graders and teachers duke it out in an exciting tug of war outside. Then when we came back inside, I jokingly said, "Ok writers. Let's take a vote. For the next hour we can work on finishing our writing assignments OR sign each others yearbooks." I totally expected for an overwhelming response to of course sign yearbooks. We were done with academics. I was tired and honestly I was not in the mood to work anymore! They voted to work on their writing assignments! When all the hands went up into the air to express their wishes to get out their Chromebooks to work on writing, my classroom parapro and I looked at each other in astonishment and started cracking up! I must be doing something right to have these kids WANT to work on the last day of school. I think.
So they did. They wrote their little hearts out and I am so impressed with their dedication and commitment. Love those kids. I'm going to miss them!
Here are some example realistic fiction stories and Michigan research project websites:
Student #13 Michigan City Research Project
Student #10 Michigan City Research Project
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