Online Safety 4th Grade Presentations

In January, I was able to obtain a free trial to an Internet Safety interactive eBook from Rosen Publishing (I loved it and we will order it for next year). All three fourth grade classes read the book; in two of the classes, students  partnered up and took notes in a storyboard I created (thanks to Iowa librarian, Shannon McClintock-Miller, for the idea). Students were told that they would be creating presentations on online safety. They had to deduce what was most important from each section of the eBook, write it on their storyboard, and then find an image using the Virtual Library's Image Finder page to visually represent the idea.

I had Mr. Dugger/Ms. Soriento/Ms. Smythe's class create their presentations in Animoto. I created accounts for them and then let them fly. The computer lab was rocking with the sounds of excited kids having a blast while learning something that is so important in today's world. These kids also had the challenge of editing their text to fit the text limits in Animoto.

See the rest of their Animotos by going to Fourth Grade Student Work page.

Mrs. Taliercio's students created their presentations using our Herricks Google Apps accounts! Just as engaged as the other class, students mastered the art of creating collaborative slideshows in spite of browser and network glitches. Their presentations will be available shortly.

So, what exactly did all of these students accomplish? Here's a short list, drawn from the CCSS (ELA, Grade 4), AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, and ISTE Technology standards--

• Determining the main idea of a text; summarizing the text; using precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about a topic.
• Interpreting information from interactive elements on a web page (eBooks).
• Using digital tools to gather, organize, synthesize and ethically use.
• Collaborate and publish with peers in a digital environment. 

 

At Least I'm Enjoying the Ride

I love my library website; it's my child, one that I have nurtured through various incarnations for 13 years. However, I decided today that I need another virtual space to share the amazing things that happen on a day-to-day basis in my library. Wonderful things happen there - so, this is going to be the space that I give a shout-out to the incredible work done by my students as well as  talk about other cool stuff that goes on. I decided to name the blog Synthesize. I want this to be a space where I synthesize my own thoughts as well as show how my students have synthesized their learning. I find that both at work and at home that I am juggling so many things at once that I sometimes forget what I was just thinking about! I need a place like this blog to recall and reflect on the organized (and very often 'unorganized') chaos that encompasses a typical day at work. I hope you enjoy the ride with me!