The third graders have been working on creating something out of plastic.  To introduce this project, we watched the videos below while running a backchannel on TodaysMeet.

Driving Question: What product can your group create by re-using plastic to reduce plastic waste in the environment?

Students are placed in small groups and given a project planning sheet where they can sketch their idea and think through the supplies they will need. They determine what they will bring from home and what they need me to supply. As the groups work on their project, they document each step by taking a picture with the iPod Touch. When they have completed the project, they will use the StoryRobe app on the iPod Touch to create a video of the process. The videos will be uploaded to my TechNeckHowTo channel to share globally. Students are instructed to find the embed code of their video and post it to their blog.

Here is a list of other sites and videos containing ideas of how to re-use plastic:

http://www.stufftocraft.com/2009/05/recycled-soda-bottle-sprinkler.html

http://lifehacker.com/5841459/make-a-lunch-box-from-a-milk-jug

http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/cherry-blossom-art-from-a-recycled-soda-bottle/

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/make-plastic-beads-1002430/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i1W9Mi7jPM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aptZF-291kg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfBgCbLS8BA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX01nw4toRs

TEKS covered:

111.15(b)(3.14)(A)(B)(C)(D)

112.14(b)(1)(A)(B),

113.14(b)(18)(A)(B), (19)(A)(B)

126.3(b)(2)(A)(B)(C)(E), (3)(A)(B), (5)(A), (7)(A)(B)(C), (8)(A)(C),  11(A)(B),

As noted in the previous post, the fourth graders are researching famous people of Texas.  I have witnessed them struggle with attempting to read information from a website and summarize the most important parts.  Even when they have the help of their computer (we use macbooks in the lab) that can read the text to them through the use of text to speech, they still want to quit due to frustration before they get the job done.  Today I read about a search engine called InstaGrok from a post on Engage Their Minds and decided to give it a try.  I searched for what others might be saying about InstaGrok.  Click on the blog names below to read what other educators are saying:

Engage Their Minds

FreeTech4Teachers

Edudemic

Teachers For Tomorrow

Watch the video below to get a quick overview of InstaGrok.

I believe this will be such a useful tool for my students in the lab, I am placing a widget on the left of my blog so students can access it easily.

The fourth graders are beginning a project involving twenty historical figures required by the Social Studies TEKS.  The famous people include Cabeza de Vaca, Francisco Coronado, Martin de Leon, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Audie Murphy, John Tower, Lorenzo de Zavala, Joseph Glidden, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Anson Jones, Cleto Rodriquez, Barbara Jordan, Gail Borden, Patillo Higgins, Charles Goodnight, Lizzi Johnson, Richard King, and Jose Antonio Navarro.

To introduce the project, students will view the video of the power of one life (used with permission from the creator). They will then watch the following portions of It’s a Wonderful Life (4:11-11:38, 1:49:40-1:52:36, and 1:56:52 to the end) to understand the driving question of this project. A backchannel using TodaysMeet will capture students’ responses to the videos while allowing them to practice good digital citizenship and proper grammar and sentence structure.

Driving Question – What effect did the life of the historical figure have on Texas, and if applicable, on my own life?

Students will be placed in groups of three or four.  Each group will draw the name of one of the historical figures listed above.  The group will use guided research to find information to record on their data collection sheet.  Click on the graphic below to access the websites for research.

The students will produce a short essay describing their famous person and answering the driving question. Students will collaborate in their groups using Google Docs.  When the essay is complete, each student will create a talking avatar in Voki using the built in microphone feature of the Voki website to record themselves reading the essay.  Each student will embed their Voki in their blog.   The best Voki of each famous person will be selected and featured in a Moodle quiz over the twenty famous people.

TEKS Covered in this project:

Social Studies: 113.15(b)(2)(B)(E), (3)(C), (4)(B),(5)(B)(C), (17)(D), (20)(A)

ELA: 4.13(A)-(H), 4.15(A)(C)(F), 4.16(B), 4.17(A)-(D), 4.18(A)-(H), 4.19(A)-(I), 4.20(A)-(C), 4.21(A)-(F), 4.22(A)(B), 4.25(B)

Technology Applications: 126.A(b)(1)(A)(C), (2)(A)(C)(F), (3)(A)-(D), (4)(C)(D), (5)(A)-(G), (6)(B)(C)(D)(E)

Once again, Tuesday and Wednesday classes will not come to the computer lab due to the STAAR test.  The other three days students will have the opportunity to create their own story using the characters and support from my StoryMaker.  Fourth graders used this site last year to write their own story and print it out.  Students will also be able to use the time to complete their Voki project or work on their blog.

For the next few weeks, fifth graders will be working in pairs to create a video definition of a science term. There are 53 science terms to define.  Each team will randomly pick a term they are to define using Animoto, JellyCam, SAM animation, green screen video technology, or any other video software they deem appropriate.  When all the videos are complete, the definitions will be hosted in one place for all to access. Check out the videos below for a demonstration of SAM animation and JellyCam.

For additional resources, click on the Bundlenut picture below:

This is another one of those strange weeks in Technology where I will not see classes on Tuesday or Wednesday.  We are having benchmark STAAR tests in Math and Reading for 3rd and 4th graders on those days.  I have decided to allow the students to explore BrainPop on their own while in Technology.  I was fortunate enough to get a free limited subscription while at the TCEA Convention in Austin last month.  Click on the graphic to explore BrainPop, too.

This week the third graders had some QR Code fun with ClassTools QR Code Treasure Hunt.  I chose ten math questions from the 2010 3rd Grade Math TAKS test and went to ClassTools to create the treasure hunt.  The hunt was a cinch to create in ClassTools.  I printed off the codes and attached them to a yellow piece of construction paper and then taped or stapled them around the room.

I created answer documents for the students to place their answers on.  The documents were numbered to correspond to the number on the back of the iPod each team used.  I paired the students up (since I have a set of 12 iPod Touches.)  The first person I called on the team picked the iPod up from the holder and the second person on the team got the answer document.

I attached my iPad to the projector so I could show the students the QR Code reader app they would be using on the iPod.  The iPods and iPad were equipped with the i-nigma

Once the students were paired and equipped with their iPod and answer document, I sent them off to find the 10 codes while setting the timer for 20 minutes using the Timer+ app on the iPad.

When students scanned all the codes and answered the problems, or when time was called, students returned their answer documents to me.  I would not accept their documents from them until they had returned their pencils and iPod and thrown their trash away.  We worked all the problems together using the ShowMe app on my iPad.

I will have to say this was one of the most engaging activities I have done with my students.  Even though they were answering math problems (which is NOT the favorite subject of some of them), infusing the QR Code Treasure Hunt and completing the problems on the screen increased their interest!

Download

3rd Grade – This week the 3rd graders are going to participate in pairs in a QR Treasure Hunt created using ClassTools.  The treasure hunt involves math problems and can be found at http://goo.gl/g8Zsl.

4th Grade – Fourth graders will be working on their blogs this week.  They will change the title and subtitle, add a subscribe to widget so their parents can subscribe to their blog, create pages, and add links.  They can access tutorials

5th Grade – Fifth graders will be using Animoto to create Science vocabulary definitions.  Most of the Science terms were derived from this Quizlet site. They will work with a partner to create an Animoto for one Science term.  All the Animotos will then be compiled together on a Glogster poster for all to learn from.

Last week was one of those strange weeks in technology where I did not have classes every day.  Monday was a holiday for students at White Oak Intermediate School.  Wednesday and Thursday were days set aside for STAAR benchmarks for 4th grade Writing and 5th grade Math and Reading.  In addition to that, I had two groups in Technology on Tuesday and Friday at each class period.  That means I had double the number of students I normally have.  Students “paired up” with the person from the other class also assigned to their computer to compete in a President’s Day Challenge for prizes.  The full lesson plan can be found at http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp053.shtml

I printed out the matching worksheet and made one copy for each computer in the lab.  Then I created answer documents numbered 1-10 for the teams to record their answers.  Once they were paired and at their computer, they all began at the same time to match the interesting fact with the President.  They were instructed to write their computer number on the back of the paper.  They had to follow directions to put their workstation back in order (pencil put away, computer lid closed, chair pushed in) and return their answer document to me.  The team who returned first with all the right answers and no disqualifications from not following directions chose a prize from the treasure chest.  All the other teams who answered correctly with no disqualifications were placed in a drawing where I chose other teams at random to go to the treasure chest.  With the remaining time, we watched the BrainPop video on George Washington and took the quiz.  I drew numbers at random for students to answer the question.  They had one “phone a friend” where they could choose one friend to help them with the answer.  If they answered correctly, they went to the treasure chest.

When I visited the BrainPop booth at the TCEA Convention, I was able to get a limited-time free subscription in addition to getting my picture made with Mobley!  It sure did come in handy this week!

Today was Kindness Day at White Oak Intermediate School. The students have been in groups the past two weeks working on their projects to campaign for Kindness Day. The posters were hung, the buttons were passed out, the t-shirts were worn, the videos were created, the bracelets and bookmarks were distributed. Each student and teacher arrived at school with the same goal in mind: complete a full school day saying only kind words and looking for opportunities to do kind deeds. If nothing else, I believe students realized the goal is a lot easier to speak than to live. Being kind in every situation cost something. In most circumstances, it requires us to ignore our own selfish tendencies and think of the other person first. That is not always easy to do. If students were successful, I believe they also went home feeling really good about the day, because being kind makes us and them feel good. My hope is that good feeling will enable them to continue Kindness Day tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day… If everyone continues to pursue the same goal, White Oak Intermediate School will not need an Anti-Bullying Campaign! You can watch highlights of the day in the Animoto posted below.