Web Resource for English Language Arts: Podcasts

Hey Everyone!

I bet you are all looking forward to the end of the semester. It's almost here! Anyway, I have been looking around the internet for some online resources. I was finding it hard to find one that I really liked, but I finally came across one. This site is called The InklessTales Podcast Kids. The site if full of wonderful children's stories that are put on the internet in the form a podcast. Students can listen to the stories right on the website or they can download them onto ipods or mp3 players. This is a very cool website! This resource, in my opinion can be used with any of the primary, elementary, and middle years levels in English Language Arts and possibly some other subject areas. However, I have selected to use this web resource with Grade Two in English Language Arts. The activity that I am going talk about will meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

Listening

• Listen attentively for pleasure and information
• Listen attentively to others’ ideas and paraphrase information shared
• Respond appropriately to questions about what has been presented orally
• Make connections between own and others’ ideas and experiences
• Form sensory images

Speaking

• Contribute to shared language experiences (e.g., choral reading, drama, reader’s theatre, puppetry)
• Share ideas and information through group talk
• Read aloud informally and for an audience
• Generate and contribute ideas on particular topics

Writing

• Write patterned stories, original stories, learning logs, poetry, riddles, friendly letters, messages, and notes
• Write short informative reports and narratives when given help with organization
• Work through the stages of a writing process including pre-writing, drafting, beginning to revise, and sharing
• Arrange ideas and information to make sense

Reading

• Read aloud with fluency, accuracy, and expression

Each week for a month I am going to put the website The InklessTales Podcast for Kids up onto the data projector and have the Grade Two students select, as a class, one podcast story to listen to. The students will listen to the story and then we will have a class discussion about it. We will talk about what makes it a good story or a bad story, how the person telling story made it exciting or boring, and what could be done to make the story better. We will discuss what it takes to make a podcast story. At the end of the month the students will have listened to and dissected 4 different podcast stories. Then as a class we are going to come up with our own podcast story that will be put up on the classroom blog and the school website. In order to make a class story we are going to come up with a topic, make a story board, come up with a sequence of events and then write the story as a class, making sure that each child has at least one line to read from the story. We will then write out the story and revise it, then edit it and make it a good copy. The students will not only be making a podcast story, but they will be working through the writing process. Once the story is written out and ready to go, the class will record the story into a podcast and then be put up on the classroom blog and school website.

I believe that this activity will enhance learning because the students will be learning about the new technology of podcasting while learning about story telling and writing. They will be learning about what makes a good story and good story teller by listening to and dissecting 4 different podcast stories. The students will be working through the process of writing and telling a story. The students will develop their skills of the writing process. The students will also be able to work on skills of listening, reading, and speaking. By doing this as a class the students will gain confidence in their ability to write and tell stories.

I also believe that this project will be exciting for the students because they get to use technology, something that is a new form of learning. The students will be engaged and excited to learn.

The students will learn about collaboration and team work skills because they are going to work on creating just one story for the entire class. They will have to share their ideas and work together to come up with the best story possible.

By posting the podcast story on our classroom blog and school website the students will be able to share the story with family, friends, peers, and beyond. This will give the students a sense of ownership, responsibility, and pride.

I hope this resource and activity idea are helpful for you. Good luck!

Web Resource for Science: Space

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather and aren't stuck inside studying. I was looking around the web for some online resources and I came up with another great one. A Virtual Journey into the Universe is a wonderful website that takes you on a tour of our Solar System. There is a ton of information and pictures on each planet and the sun. Many of the pictures are 3-D and animated. They give you a really good idea of how the Solar System looks. There is great music that accompanies each area of the solar system and makes you feel like you are actually on a tour out in space. Very cool! There are many ways that this resource can be used and with many different ages, but I have selected to use this website with Grade Three students during a Science unit on the Solar System. The activity will meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

1. Describe the solar system
   
   1. Compare the sizes of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth.
   2. Name the planets .
   3. Describe some characteristics of each planet
      
   4. Locate the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in the sky or on sky charts.

The Grade Three students will be broken up into 9 groups of three or so for this activity. Each group is going to be given a planet or the sun to study. Once the groups know which planet or the sun they are studying they will go onto the A Virtual Journey into the Universe website and take the virtual tour of their planet or the sun. While they are taking the journey they are going to take notes in their own words of the facts they are learning. They must come up with at least 12 facts about their planet or the sun. Once they have completed taking the tour and writing down their 12 or more facts the groups will each create a large poster on poster board that contains 12 facts about their planet or the sun and detailed illustrations. Their illustrations must be colorful and their facts must displayed neatly and large enough to read. Once the posters are created the groups will share them with the rest of the class. Thus each group are now experts on their planet or the sun and they will teaching everyone else what they have learned. After the presentations the posters will be hung up in different areas around the room so all the students and others who come into the classroom can read about the different plants and the sun. Once it is time to take the posters down from the wall I will get them laminated and put them together as a large class book about the Solar System. This way the students can still read about the Solar System.

I believe that this activity and the use of the A Virtual Journey into the Universe web resource will enhance the learning of students because it gives the students a chance to explore and get a really good sense of what the Solar System is like. The pictures, animations, and music really give the impression of exploring the universe. This is something the students would not be able to experience by just reading a book. The activity also allows for the students to work on their group work and collaboration skills because they are working together in small groups becoming experts on a planet or the sun. They are then going to work together again in their groups to create a large poster on their planet or the sun. Each group is then teaching the rest of the class about what they have learned, thus collaborating with each other.

The students will be responsible for teaching each other and this gives them skills to speak in front of the class and convey information in a meaningful way. I believe that by having students do this they will gain a sense of pride over their work and realize that what they do really matters. This will give them a reason to learn, thus making the work and learning relevant to them. Also, by displaying their work around the room will give the students a sense of ownership over what they do. They will take more time to make sure their work is done well. Having the posters later turned into a book will show the students what they do can have lasting effects thus teaching them, again, that what they do matters.

I hope that this activity and website will be something that you can one day use with your own students. Have fun and good luck!

Web Resource for Social Studies: Our Community

Hello All!

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend. I have been searching around the web for some good resources to use in my classroom and I have found another great site that is all about Africa from children's point of view. This website is called Africa for Kids and it is a wonderful website in which kids from four different areas in Africa have taken photos to represent what their lives are like. There are also thumb piano songs (traditional instruments used in Africa), activities on making masks and some folktales. The website is done from a kid's point of view so it is a great way for other children to relate and connect with these kids. There are many ways in which this web resource can be used in the classroom, but I have selected to use the website with Grade Two students in Social Studies covering the topic of Our Community. The activity that I will describe will meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

Knowledge Objectives

Students will know that:

• people belong to groups like neighbourhoods and communities.
• communities have similarities and differences .

Skills/Abilities Objectives

Students will:

• identify the components of a local neighbourhood and community.

Attitudes/Values Objectives

Students will:

• appreciate the similarities and differences of communities.

Citizen Action Objectives

Students may:

• work cooperatively in group tasks.

Since Grade Two students are still quite young, I would put the Africa for Kids website up onto the data projector and as a class we would navigate through the website and discuss the different photographs the students have taken and what their lives are like in Africa. We would compare their lives to what our lives are like here in Canada. Then as a class we would brainstorm what we could take pictures of in order to share what our lives are like here in Canada with the rest of the world. Once the students have brainstormed many different possibilities we will select the best photographs to take. Then the students will be broken up into groups and each group will be responsible for taking a couple of different photographs and coming up with a short write up about each photograph to put on to our own website. Once the photos have been taken and the writes up written. I will create a website that shares what the life of a Grade Two student in like in Canada.

Using this website would enhance learning because it allows the students to see what life is like Africa for students of similar ages to them. This lets the students make real world connections to other children and it teaches them that life outside of Canada can be very different, but also similar. By seeing pictures that are up to date this really makes the learning experience relevant to the students and I believe they will learn more from seeing very detailed photos with explanations from other students than they would by just reading a book. I also believe that by having the students take photographs and come up with a write up of their own will have them really think about what their lives are like compared to the lives of other children. They will begin to really appreciate what they have and the educational experiences they receive. The students will also appreciate that other communities around the world are very different from ours, but that we are also very similar. I think that using this web resource and having the students do their own website would be an excellent learning experience for students and they would have a lot of fun along the way!

I hope that this resource and activity will be something you can use with your own students. Good luck and have fun!

Web Resource for Health: Going to the Hospital

Hello Everyone!

I was checking out the web again and I came across this fun site related to Health Education. The online resource is called Hospital Life. It is a website that is all about hospitals, medicine, sickness and all that goes along with it. This site has many different sections depending on which age group you are looking at. It has stuff for young kids, middle aged kids, and older kids. The site uses age appropriate language. It contains quizzes, games, real life stories, dictionaries, art work, etc. There are many ways in which this site can be used, but I would use this site with Grade Two students in Health. The activity that I would have the kids do would meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

Knowledge

Students will increase their knowledge of the human body

• understand some problems of physical health, one of which is HIV/AIDS*
  
• gradually incorporate the vocabulary related to the human body and to health into their speech and writing

Students will identify sources of support for healthy living

• recognize that family and friends are sources of support

• recognize that the job of health-care professionals is to prevent disease and injury and to care for those who are ill or hurt

Skills and Habits

Students will act on their knowledge about maintaining or improving their health

• establish daily habits for caring for their bodies in order to maintain or improve health and prevent illnesses, including HIV/AIDS*
  

Students will help members of their family, class, and community achieve physical, mental and social well-being

• develop their ability to communicate their knowledge about health to their friends, family and community

• learn to support those who are trying to maintain or improve their health
  

• explore and develop empathy for all persons

Attitudes and Values

Students will develop attitudes necessary for healthy living

• demonstrate respect for the needs of their body
  

• demonstrate compassion for people suffering from ill health, including people with HIV/AIDS*

Now how I would use this in my classroom with Grade Two students during Health would be if one or more of my students had to have an operation or visit the doctor for any number of reasons. In a class of students at least one student will have to go to the doctor or visit the hospital. It is just part of life. When this situation occurs I would put this website up on the data projector and as a class we would go through all of the stuff about visiting the doctor and hospital. I would have the students taking part in the interactive activities so they can learn about going to the hospital or doctor. They will then realize that it isn't really such a scary thing after all. Knowledge is power. The more you know, the less you fear. After the students have learned all about visiting the doctor and hospital they are going to create a class book of tips on how to stay calm and make your hospital stay or doctor's visit a pleasant one. The idea of this book will be for the students to read or for other people to read to help them through the scary thing of going to the doctor or hospital. Each student will be responsible for creating a page.

Using this website would enhance the learning of students because it is very interactive and kid friendly. The site uses a lot of kid friendly language that is easy for the students to understand. They will learn a lot about hospitals and doctors through cute, non-threatening characters and methods. All of the colors and designs will help those students who are visual learners. This website gives the students an experience that cannot be had with a book or even a video. This website will also benefit learning because it will spark numerous discussions. Students will be able to talk with each other and learn from their own experiences. This site also has many real-life stories which means the students can also learn from the experiences of other kids from different parts of the world. They can see that doctors and hospitals everywhere are places that help you when you are sick or hurt.

I recommend this website to you. I also hope that this lesson or activity is something that you can use. Have fun!

Web Resource for Mathematics: Multiplication

Hello Everyone!

I have found another great online web resource that kids can use both inside and outside the classroom. Spark Island contains different games on a variety of subject areas. There are a few games that students can play without registering. However, if a parent or teacher registers there are many more options available. I would use this resource with Grade Two children in the subject area of Mathematics. The activity that I would have them do would meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

Learning Objectives

N-63
recognize and solve a variety of problems involving multiplication

During our unit on multiplication I would have 5 different students each day come in and play the Submarine game during our opening routine. The 5 students who are allowed to go onto the computers in the morning will log onto the Spark Island website and begin playing the submarine game, which has the students steering a submarine while answering multiplication questions. Steering the submarine is a lot harder than it looks, so the students are challenged in both the mathematical sense and a spacial sense. The students will play the game for about 15 minutes in the morning, thus allowing them to practice their multiplication skills before we get into out math lesson.

This web resource will enhance the learning of students because they will be learning and practicing their multiplication skills without even knowing it. The game is a fun and interactive way for the students to work on math. The students can also work together on answering questions because they will be working side by side. This will allow more communication on math skills.

Another way this web resource will enhance learning is the fact that it "warms" the students brains up in the morning to do math. They work on multiplication skills first thing in the morning before actually beginning a lesson. This gets their minds thinking in terms of mathematical skills.
The students will not only be working on math, but they will be working on their spacial movement skills as well because the submarine in the game is quite tricky to maneuver.

This is a very neat website. I recommend that you register so you can have access to even more options and interactive, educational games. I hope this helps! Have fun!

Web Resource for English Language Arts: Poetry

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you are all not too busy as the semester is coming to an end. I have been yet again looking around the web for some great online resources and I have come across a wonderful website on poetry. This website is called Poetry4Kids.com. It contains many funny poems written by Kenn Nesbitt, books by Kenn Nesbitt, information about author visits, an events calender, poetry lessons for kids, poetry games, poetry podcasts, newsletters, links, poetry writing contests, surveys, rhyming dictionary, and discussion forums. This website can be used in many different ways, with a variety of ages, but I chose to use this website with a Grade 4 class in English Language Arts. The activity will meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

Listening

• Connect new ideas, information, and experiences to construct meaning
• Listen courteously and respond sensitively and thoughtfully to others
• Listen to and follow three and four-step oral directions
• Activate and build upon prior knowledge and experiences

Reading

• Read grade-appropriate texts orally and silently with increasing confidence, fluency, and accuracy
• Read a variety of texts for enjoyment and information
• Connect new information with prior knowledge to make sense of new ideas and experiences
• Begin to interpret figurative language
• Adjust reading rate according to purpose(s) for reading

Viewing

• Participate in a variety of guided and independent viewing experiences of poetry

Speaking

• Participate in a variety of shared language experiences (e.g., read-alouds, reader’s theatre)
• Share ideas, observations, and experiences in structured small and large group talk
• Prepare and present information on a specific topic using print and non-print aids to engage and inform a familiar audience
• Experiment with language and non-verbal elements (e.g., gesture) to achieve an effect for a particular purpose and audience

Writing

• Organize ideas in an appropriate sequence
• Write modeled poems
• Revise draft material by adding, deleting, and rearranging ideas
• Develop and demonstrate an understanding of written language conventions including:
  • spell correctly common words and use a strategy to learn to spell new words
• Write legibly using correct letter formation and consistent size and spacing

Representing

• Convey ideas using a variety of media
• Experiment with different ways of representing and communicating ideas

For this activity I would have the students go onto the Poetry4Kids.com website. I would have them go to the Funny Poems link and select their favourite poem. I will have the students read the poem to themselves a couple of times to really get the feel for it. They will then open up a word document and write a poem that follows the same format as the poem they selected. This poem must be about a different topic from the selected poem, but it must follow the same format. The students will work through the writing process with this poem. Once they have completed their poems they will post them on the class blog to share with parents, family, peers, and friends. They will also read their poems a loud to the class. This will ensure that the true expression and feeling comes through in their poems. The students will give feedback to each other by using the T.A.G. method. They can Tell something they liked, Ask a question or Give a suggestion.

Using this website will enhance the learning of students because they would be working on their navigating skills by finding a favourite poem from the website. Students will discover that they can find poetry outside of books. They will also be using these poems to create their own poems. These poems will be modeled poems. By putting their poems on the classroom blog the students would be reaching an audience that they would normally not reach. They will be able gain comments and feedback from many different people. This will help them become better and more fluent writers. It may even lead to a passion for poetry for some students. By using the T.A.G. method of feedback students will be able to get information that is given in a positive light. This information will help make their writing better and keep them engaged and excited about the process.

I hope this idea will be helpful to you! Good luck and enjoy!

Web Resource for Science - Endangered Spieces

Hey Everyone!

This website is probably not the most interactive website out there because it is just being revamped, but it is something that I am passionate about as I worked at the centre for 5 years so I thought I would share it with you and how I would use it in my classroom. It is the website for the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Centre in Moose Jaw. I would use this website in a Grade Three Science class during the Endangered Species unit. The activity would meet the following objectives from the Evergreen Curriculum:

2. Appreciate that animals can become endangered.
   2.1 Develop an operational definition of the term "endangered species."
   2.2 List some endangered and extinct animals.
   2.3 Examine some protective adaptations of animals.
   2.4 Investigate reasons why animals become endangered or extinct.
   2.5 Identify ways of protecting animals.

On this website there is a webcam that is placed in different areas depending on the time of year. In the spring time the webcam is placed inside the underground burrow of a mated pair of burrowing owls. This allows people to watch the eggs being laid, incubated, and hatched. You can also see the mother and father taking care of the young burrowing owls. So what I would with my class is to hook up this website to the data projector and follow the burrowing owl each day. They can see the progress and process of how owls raise their young. I would have the students come up with questions we can send to the centre and have them answered by a professional who works there. After watching the eggs hatch and the young being taken care of, I would then take the students on a field trip to the Burrowing Owl Centre so the students can see first hand the owls they are watching everyday. They will also take part in a student program offered at the centre. The students will then gain even more information on endangered species and what they can do to help.

By using this website the students would enhance their learning by gaining an interest in an Endangered Species. They would be hooked on following what the owls are doing each day. This would fit in with the endangered species unit found in the Grade Three Science curriculum. This will enhance learning because the students will be able to see the species in real time. It will be more relevant to the students. Actually taking a trip to the centre would also enhance learning because the students will see and touch a burrowing owl first hand. It will then become very relevant to them. I am sure that by doing this a few students will be affected and develop a passion for helping endangered species or animals in general. Since these are the people who will soon be making decisions that affect our world, it is important to help teach them to decide for themselves what is important and worth fighting for.

I hope this activity, website, and resource helps you at some point during your teaching careers!