Students Use Social Media to Analyze Rhetorical Strategies in AP English Course

Social media has found a place in the classrooms of Chatham High School.  With the growth of social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google +, schools have been seeking out best-practice approaches to utilizing these platforms with students. Mrs. Heather Rocco, Supervisor of Language Arts, recognized the value social media can have in the classroom. She introduced Today’s Meet, a private micro-blogging platform, to her department. Ms. Falkner, a member of the English Department, was first to jump on board and integrate this tool in her classes. Recognizing the powerful impact that such tools have on instruction and the need to integrate them in a safe and effective way, Ms. Falkner worked with Mrs. Rocco to introduce this private micro-blogging tool in her classes.

The students in Ms. Falkner’s AP English Language class have been utilizing Today’s Meet to integrate Back Channeling in their classroom.  Back Channeling is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time, online,conversation alongside live spoken remarks. Today’s Meet is a free tool for developing  such a Back Channel. It allows teachers the opportunity to develop a private online forum for real-time discussions. Think of it as a private Twitter feed that is available to you and your students.  The service is free and does not require students to sign up or register to join the conversation.

Today’s Meet can be used in a variety of settings including presentations, workshops, movie viewing and class discussions. It encourages the room to use the live stream to make comments and ask questions . The feedback gathered can be used as a method to check for understanding, tailor your presentation, sharpen your points, and address audience needs. Ms. Falkner has been utilizing this tool to develop an active learning environment in her classroom. She is using Today’s Meet as a tool to teach the skill of analyzing rhetorical strategies.

Ms. Falkner discusses how she uses Today’s Meet below:

 

“My AP language students are very strong at identifying rhetorical strategies in a text, but they struggle to be able to articulate how a particular strategy functions or what effect it has in the text. In short, they struggle to analyze rhetorical strategies, but they can identify them with ease. In using Today's Meet while viewing a documentary, I'm attempting to separate out the two skills: students identify the strategies as they watch and note them in 140 characters, and then they work in small groups, after the film ends, to select a few of the strategies noted in the conversation and analyze how the strategies function and for what purpose(s)/to what effect(s). This division of "tasks" enables students to differentiate between what it means to identify and what it means to analyze.

The "backchannel" conversation also provides students a lens through which to view the film - they are watching each scene with the intention of identifying a strategy to "tweet" out to the class, so there's active viewing vs. passive viewing of the film text. The students are motivated to write thoughtful comments because they have an authentic audience of their peers (whose opinions are often far more valuable to them than that of their teacher!).

The activity requires that we teachers "let go" of our control of the lesson and turn the reigns over to the students to dictate the direction of the discussion following the film. With that said, I could always interject a "tweet" of my own if I felt that the students were missing a key rhetorical strategy in the film”

How have you used micro-blogging in your classroom? Please share your experiences by commenting on this posting.

Image Source:
Social Media Band Wagon: http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/media/social_media.html

Today's Meet: http://www.todaysmeet.com

Google Earth.. Not your typical classroom map!

Google Earth has been available as a free download for computers and mobile devices since 2005. The core feature set is a mapping of the earth using satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D Globe technology.

Google earth can be downloaded and installed for free. Click here to download.  Once opened you can start navigating the world.  Users can zoom in on a particular continent, country, state, city, landmark or house! You can fly around a location to view pertinent information foryour lesson. If you are discussing Mount Rushmore, why not fly to it on Google Earth and show it to your students. You can also pan the area as well as put the location of it compared to other locations in perspective for students.  

I would like to highlight some of the features available in Google Earth that would be valuable additions to the classroom.

Street Views

When you zoom into a city or landmark Google provides access to street level views. When in street view you can fly through the streets of a city or walk right up to a famous landmark. Do you want to show your students what the streets of Rome are like? Fly there on Google Earth and enter street view? Do you want a close-up of the Eiffel Tower? Street views are easy to use. This tutorial will help you get started. (Youtube access required to view the tutorial)

 

Layers

Once you navigate to a desired location there are numerous layers that can be activated. These include images, video clips, Wikipedia entries, roads, 3d buildings, geographic features, real-time weather and traffic, historical map overlays, roads, borders, water bodies and even U.S. Senators and Congressional Districts. The layers are accessed on the lower left side. Click the boxes to turn them on and off. You can learn more about the layers here.

 

Historical Imagery

Within the Google Earth Gallery and Layers are options to turn on and overlay historical maps onto Google Earth. The Rumsey Historical Maps collection is a great example of historical maps available in the layers that can be over-layed on Google Earth. There are also a number of historical maps available in the Google Earth Gallery. If you click on View—Historical Maps from the top toolbar you will be presented with a slider bar that allows you to view a particular area at a historical point in time. This is useful when viewing damage from a natural disaster or the effects of global warming.

 

Earth, Moon, Mars and Sky

Did you know that you can also view the Moon, Mars and the Solar System in the same way you fly around earth?  Open up Google Earth and click on VIEW—Explore and select the location you would like to visit .

 

Google Earth Tours

Google Earth allows users to place bookmarks at particular locations. When you apply a bookmark you are also provided with a bubble where you can add information about that location. That bubble may contain text, images, videos, hyperlinks or audio narration. A user may create an automated tour that will fly from bookmark to bookmark. When each location is reached the bubble will appear and the content may be viewed.

There are thousands of pre-made tours available in the Google Earth Gallery or online by simply searching for Google Earth Tours. Some sample student projects may include a tour of the battles of the civil war or the a guided tour of a novel. Google Lit Trips has some great literacy based tours available.

There are tours of states, countries, historical events, climbs of Mount Everest and much more. These can be engaging and informative classroom lessons. Students may create tours or teachers may create and share them.

 

Ruler, GPS and Flight Simulator

Under the tools menu in Google Earth you will find a ruler that can be used to measure exact distance between two location in miles or kilometers. There is also a full blown flight simulator!

 

Google Earth offers a variety of resources to make lessons interactive, engaging, informative and relevant. Why not take your students on a guided tour of the locations your are discussing. How about replacing a PowerPoint project with an option to create a Google Earth Tour. You can learn more about creating Google Earth Tours here. Visit my wiki page for more resources here.

 

 

Insert Your Own Flash Content in Smart Notebook Software

The smart notebook software is a powerful and feature rich addition to any classroom. The gallery is loaded with images, backgrounds, interactive content and flash-based lesson activities. Did you know that you can add most flash activities from the web directly into a smart notebook page? Here is how it works.

First, using Google Chrome, conduct a search for the topic you are looking to explore with students and add that to the search bar. Add the phrase  "filetype:swf" at the end of the search. This will limit the search to flash based activities that fit that search criteria.

Example: Search for   fractions filetype:swf

The search will return a list of sites with flash based activities for working with fractions. Select one of the sites and open it.

After you have the site  open click on the wrench on the top right side of the Chrome toolbar. In that menu select "save page as". Save the file as a  "Flash Movie".

Open up smart notebook and navigate to a page in the file that you want to insert the flash activity. On the top toolbar click on INSERT - FLASH FILE... and browse to the flash file you saved.

Viola... You now have an interactive flash file embedded into your smart notebook presentation!

Enjoy!

Remember what timelines used to be?

We all know the typical method of timeline creation in schools. "Draw a line, add some dates and document events in chronological order".  Students will typically use poster boards, markers and possibly cut out images. The students in Mr. Papa's grade 8 social studies class in our district are putting a new spin on the age old practice of timeline creation! They are utilizing a website called Capzles( www.capzles.com) . Capzles is a web 2.0 site built around a social networking framework. Users are provided with the ability to tell a story using pictures, video clips, audio tracks and text. Capzles refers to these items as "moments". The 'moments" are able to be placed together chronologically to develop an interactive timeline. The end result is what is referred to as a "Capzle".  

Capzles can be viewed online using a computer or on an Apple mobile device such as an Iphone or Ipad using their free app. Capzles replaces the age old practice of organizing timeline's on paper. It provides an interactive and engaging opportunity for students to organize content. Each multimedia file supplies an area for students to provide descriptions and further information. Information can be organized in a manner which delivers a truly interactive story.

Classroom Implementation

The ability to add audio provides an opportunity for students to put a voice to their presentation. This may be a useful feature in classrooms. By having students record their narration it eliminates the need to use valuable class time having students orally present their Capzles to the  entire class.

A teacher may want to provide an opportunity for peer review. Small groups of students may be supplied a rubric or questions to answer. They may be charged with reviewing a specific student made Capzle and then scoring the rubric or answering the questions. This type of peer review opportunity may spark a rich dialogue in your classrooms. It also does not require every student to have a computer to take part in this. Students may use their cell phone or ipod touch to view the capzles in the group using the free web app.

World Language classes may use Capzles to develop an intersciplinary project. Students may design a "moment" that represents a particular topic in science, social studies, current events or even mathematics. The audio narration my be recorded in the language the students are studying.

In language arts, students may design a Capzle that offers a review or insight into a novel, specific chapter or short story. The Capzle may also show the development of a character, events or story plot. Capzles may also be used to make a connection between a particular reading and events whether personal or current events in the world.

Although Capzles is free, it does require an email address to create an account. In Mr. Papa's class the students designed Capzles in groups. One member of each group used their email address to create the account.  The students were provided a rubric and a document that outlined the components that must be included in their Capzle.

Below are some links to some of our student work.

http://www.capzles.com/#/d67b149c-ed83-48f5-9ef1-9cf1ebbd5726/

http://www.capzles.com/#/21e9afe6-3280-4949-b27b-f00fe11b4f1d/

http://www.capzles.com/#/e67c3dd4-8feb-4177-9c2e-05c36fd09316/

 

 

Explore the Museums of the World - Google Art Project

I have been working in instructional technology for the past 10 years. During that time I have experienced the development of some amazing instructional tools. The Google Art Project goes directly to my "best of" list of innovative web-based tools!



The Google Art Project uses Google Earth street view technology to allow visitors to take virtual tours of the top museums in the world. Visitors can navigate the hallways, zoom in on art work to see the details of the brush strokes, view information about the artist, and build a personal art collection. There are so many great features to this site . I embedded a YouTube video that provides a short introduction to this site. It is well worth the three minutes it takes to view it. The video is from YouTube so if necessary you may to use a firewall override? (Jefferson Teachers please use your firewall login to bypass the filter)

Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThNZH5Q1yY

Interactive Math and Science Simulations

I recently came across the PhET website project that was developed by the University of Colorado. I have found it to be a really great resource for all grade levels. Here is a description of the site taken directly from their about page:

PhET provides fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena for free. We believe that our research-based approach- incorporating findings from prior research and our own testing- enables students to make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the physical world.

To help students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders and radio buttons. In order to further encourage quantitative exploration, the simulations also offer measurement instruments including rulers, stop-watches, voltmeters and thermometers. As the user manipulates these interactive tools, responses are immediately animated thus effectively illustrating cause-and-effect relationships as well as multiple linked representations (motion of the objects, graphs, number readouts, etc.)





The website contains simulations for math, earth science, chemistry, physics and biology.  They are organized by subject and grade level. They can be used on an interactive whiteboard, linked to a website or Moodle course , or as part of a lesson or classroom center. By providing resources of this type for our students we are providing them with multiple means of  representation of information. This is a key component of the UDL framework.

Students may become inspired by reviewing these simulations. Through the use of screencasting or digital storytelling they may decide to create their own visual representations of topics.

Enjoy!

Interactive Sites to Teach Grammar

I came across these two websites recently while working on an interactive curriculum portal for our Language Arts Department. Both sites contain interactive activities and games for teaching Grammar. 

Learn English was developed by the British Council. It is designed for ESL students, but the activities can be used in any elementary language arts classroom. There are a number of interactive activities that would present very well on a Smartboard. They can also be used in centers on classroom computers or on the Smartboard as well.

Road to Grammar Jr and Road to Grammar both contain a number of online quizzes, activities and games that can be used in an elementary classroom.

There are a number of websites on the web with interactive grammar games and activities.  I found these two to be a couple of the better ones I reviewed.  If there are others that you enjoy using with students please share them in the comments section.
Enjoy

Interactive and Collaborative Story Writing Smartboard Lessons

SMART and Scholastic have worked together to create a series of Smartboard lessons that teach students the process of story writing and analysis. There are a series of four lessons that cover:

1. Planning Stories

2.  Story Styles

3. Creating Characters

4. Re-inventing Stories

The lessons are designed for students in grades 2 or 3 but may be modified for other grade levels. Each lesson is fully interactive and includes a page turning audio story book. These are really great activities for teaching students not only the process of developing stories, but how to analyze the parts of the story. Some of the activities focus on the various reading strategies that pair well with the stories.

http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?feature=Scholastic10Q3

Enjoy!

16 Live Underwater Webcams of the Gulf Oil Spill

The following website  has 16 live underwater webcams of the Gulf Oil Spill.  It is very interesting to watch. This type of resource would be great to pull up on a smartboard as a discussion starter. It would also have a place in current events lessons.

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/bp-live-oil-spill-cam.html

Create music tracks and learn about copyright - Digital Story Resource

MYBYTES is an interactive website sponsored by Microsoft. It contains a free and easy to use Music mixer that allows for the creation of your own music track. The finished track can be downloaded as an MP3 to be used in a digital story. Completed tracks can also be shared on the site for others to listen to or re-mix. The creator of the track must determine the usage rights that her or she will assign to their work.

Click on the images to enlarge

The software is very easy to use.  In order to save and share your work you must create an account. An email address is not required for account creation. That makes it very student friendly. Students can select and mix together various instruments to create their own track. The music can be composed for a digital story project or podcast. By adjusting the instrument choices and tempo students can create a specific mood for their story.



Upon completion on the music track the student is presented with a number of publishing options. He or she must decide on the usage rights that will be applied to the work. This offers an opportunity for a discussion on copyright, digital content and file sharing. The site offers a full curriculum on these topics as well as interviews from subject experts.

The shared tracks can be downloaded or saved as a ring tone. If published for others to download, share or remix, the website will track the number of requests. This provides a very authentic experience for students to learn about file sharing and usage rights.

The use of student created music in digital stories simplifies the publishing options for student stories. We do not have to worry about the presence of copyright protected music.  Students enjoy the process of developing music to fit their stories. This adds a level of excitement as well as depth to the final product.

Enjoy!

Glogster as a Teaching Tool?

I have written about the website http://edu.glogster.com. It is a website that allows students to create digital posters. These posters may contain text, images, videos, and clip art. There are some really great examples available on my wiki page as well as on the Glogster site. You can read my previous post on Glogster here.

I  presented a lunch and learn workshop on Glogster at Briggs School a few weeks ago. Since then a couple of teachers in that school have really taken this new tool and ran with it. Jodie Sparling and Cecilia Hansen have started to use the Glogs they created as a teaching tool. They have done a great job at compiling instructional resources on each of the Glogs they have created. In the end, they are enjoying the process of putting these Glogs together. The level of engagement for the student's has increased and their is a positive impact regarding student learning in their classrooms.

I have listed a few links to the Glogs that they have created below.

Enjoy!

1. Grade 2 - Long Vowels - Jefferson Twp Teacher Ex:- http://jsparling.edu.glogster.com/long-vowels/


2. Grade 2 - Jefferson Twp - Teacher Ex. http://ceil.edu.glogster.com/frog-and-toad/


3. Grade 2 - Teacher Samples

• http://ceil.edu.glogster.com/blueberries-for-sal/


• http://ceil.edu.glogster.com/weather/


• http://ceil.edu.glogster.com/number-words/


• http://jsparling.edu.glogster.com/sentences/

Interactive Applets for High School Math

I came across the website the other day. It is called analyze math http://www.analyzemath.com/. I found it to be a great resource for creating interactive math lessons.  Here is a description from the website:

"The site includes several java applets to investigate Graphs of Functions, Equations, and Algebra. Topics explored are: equations of line, ellipse, circle, parabola, hyperbola, polynomials; graphs of quadratic, rational, hyperbolic, exponential and logarithmic functions; one-to-one and inverse functions and inverse trigonometric functions; systems of linear equations; determinants and Cramer's rule; inverse matrix and matrix multiplication; vectors, complex numbers, polar equations; absolute value function; slope of a line; angle in trigonometry, unit circle, solutions to trigonometric equations; graph shifting, stretching, compression and reflection. Applets used as Online Math Calculators and Solvers and Online Geometry Calculators and Solvers are also included"

The interactive applets can be found here:


http://www.analyzemath.com/math_software.html
I see a lot of uses for such a site. Here are some of my ideas:

1. The interactive applets can be used on an interactive whiteboard.
2. Teachers can create an interactive assignment on Moodle with links to the applet for practice, links to instructional videos and discussion forums.
3. Create an interactive assignment using Glogster. One section of the Glog could be practice using one of these applets.
4. Advertise the availability of this resource for students to use as a homework helper or study guide.

Enjoy

Smartboad - New Resource for Lessons

In my workshops I have referenced a number of places to find pre-made smart notebook lesson templates.  The site I most often reference is www.smarttech.com. This is the home page for the company SMART. There you can access notebook lessons organized by grade, subject, and/or CCCS.

Smart has introduced a new site that I have found to be an even better resource. It is called the Smart Exchange. On the Smart Exchange you can search for notebook lessons by subject, grade and topic. You can also upload lessons that you made to share with others.

What I like about the Smart Exchange is that you can preview the lessons directly in the browser without having to download anything. You can also view a rating scale to see how other teachers have rated the lesson.

This is a great place to get started with using the Smart Notebook Software. If you search for a lesson on a topic you will working with students on, you can download it and then make changes to it. This is the best way to get acquainted with the notebook software.

I also publish a lot of resources including lesson templates, interactive sites and tutorials on my wiki http://edunology.wikispaces.com. Once you are on the wiki please click on Interactive Whiteboards on the navigation menu.

Enjoy!

Interactive Timeline of the American Revolution

I came across this excellent resource posted on one my favorite blogs "free technology for teachers" .  It is an interactive site created by the American Revolution Center. Here is a description of the center straight from their about page:

The American Revolution Center will establish the first national museum to commemorate the entire story of the American Revolution and its enduring legacy. The museum will display its distinguished collection of objects, artifacts, and manuscripts from the American Revolution era and will offer programming, lectures, symposia, and interactive learning for teachers, students, and the general public.

The highlight of the site is the interactive timeline for the American Revolution.  You will see a highlight of significant dates. There are also artifacts as images. If you click on an artifact it will enlarge. In some cases there are links to video and or audio podcasts about the artifact or event.



This is an excellent site to pull up on an interactive whiteboard. You can use it to introduce the American Revolution or as a review. As I learned from Free Technology For Teachers the site also includes quizzes and lesson plans.

Project Ideas

• Students can select an event in the timeline.  They can record and audio podcast that explains the event in greater details.


• Students can find additional images for a particular event and create a digital story that documents the event.


• Students can develop a narrative that places them at the event. Speaking in the first person they can write about what an individual who was at the event experienced.  This can be created into a digital story as well.


• Using Google Earth students can create an interactive tour of these events. They can highlight battle grounds and points of interest. Each marked point can contain text, images, narration or links to additional content.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - Math

The National Libary of Virtual Manipulatives was created to supply teachers with interactive mathematics manipulatives. It is available free of charge on the web. Here is a description of their site taken from their about page:

"The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM) is an NSF supported project that began in 1999 to develop a library of uniquely interactive, web-based virtual manipulatives or concept tutorials, mostly in the form of Java applets, for mathematics instruction (K-12 emphasis). The project includes dissemination and extensive internal and external evaluation."



This site can be used on an interactive whiteboard. Links to individual activities can be incorporated into smart notebook lessons as well. Faculty members can provide links to individual activities on their website for students to access at home.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/

Enjoy!

Interactives to use on a Smartboard

Learner.org has developed a great website that hosts interactives for all content areas.  There are math, language, art, history and science interactives for grades K-12. Here’s an example about geometric shapes.  There are a lot of great interactives. One that I really liked is the Spelling Bee. 

Take a look at the home page. I would love to hear your feedback.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/

Enjoy

Curriculumbits.com Online Interactive ELearning Teaching Resources

>Curriculumbits.com Online Interactive ELearning Teaching Resources

Shared via AddThis

I came across this great site today for use with an interactive whiteboard. Rather then explain it in my own words I copied their narrative directly from their about page below. Enjoy!

Established in 2006, Curriculumbits.com offer free online access to a growing range of interactive multimedia elearning resources. The online resource library contains games, quizzes, animations and videos in a variety of subjects. Resources have been produced according to key stage 3 and 4 of the UK National Curriculum for students aged 11 to 16. All resources are produced by elearning multimedia specialists in collaboration with every day teaching staff as a direct solution to their classroom requirements.

HOW TO USE OUR RESOURCES
All of our resources are available to access online, completely free of charge in the library. Simply click the PLAY button.

You do not need to register your details to use our resources, although you can enjoy additional benefits if you decide to join us for free.

You are welcome to link to our resources from your school website, intranet, extranet, online curriculum or virtual learning environment (VLE) according to the terms of our license.

Use the bookmark button to save resources to your browser favourites or your preferred online service such as Del.icio.us, Facebook or mySpace. You can also use this button to email resources to your friends, colleagues or students.

From September 2008 Curriculumbits.com no longer offers the facility to download resources due to increased connectivity in classrooms which has reduced demand for offline services.

>Create Interactive Games for Review

>With the end of the year upon us I have noticed a lot of faculy members looking for creative opportunities to create review lessons. The website Classroom Games and More hosts a number of game templates. The templates are all made in PowerPoint. All you have to do is plug in your information and you are ready to go. These games will work well on a smartboard.



Enjoy!

>Interactive Websites and PowerPoint Presentations

>The following website was introduced to me by Sherry Brzostowski, White Rock School. The main site has a number of interactive websites that are categorized by subject. These are great sites to use on an interactive whiteboard, center activities, or as part of a larger project.

The content that I found even more interesting on this site after exploring further is the huge collection of PowerPoint presentations compiled for Language Arts k-12. There are PowerPoint presentations that can be downloaded for many of the topics covered in the language arts curriculum. The largest collection is for grades 3-5. In many cases you could use these presentations or modify them to fit your plans.

The presentations are free to use. If you do use them I would recommend citing the source and maybe sending them a note letting them know you found their resource helpful. I am sure they would like to hear that.

http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-la.html#Grades6-12

Enjoy!