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!