Podcasting in GarageBand

I thought it was awesome how these 6th graders from Columbia Elementary created a podcast using Garageband. Melissa and Erica created a podcast about historical people. They blended music with their voices and created a page to look at while viewers listened to their audio podcast. I did edit this podcast by taking out the "likes" and the "ums" but the main work was accomplished by these two 6th grade students. I think the podcast would have been polished if they did just a little more research with their facts. However, I thought this was a great start and that their teacher did a groovy job in letting the students actually create podcasts in her classroom. Bravo Melissa and Erica!

Quote: I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.

-- Chinese Proverb

Geometry Unit - Using the Internet

Jen, an EC (engaged classroom) teacher trainer from Columbia Elem., developed four Geometry Mini Lessons to help her students in 6th grade, learn about Geometry and to prepare them for end of year testing. The students were given web assignments that included directions, a web link, and computer skills that the student used for each assignment. I really liked how she organized the web assignments into 4 mini lessons, where each student had to complete their assignments in consecutive order. After the assignments were completed, the students have to take a UTIPS test on geometry, which is used as their assessment. I did obtain permission from her to post her assignments and also give you the web link to her UTIPS test, to help you see how she set up the questions that are used for the assessment. If you decide to use these assignments, please give credit where it is due! :) Kudos to Jen!!!!! This is an excellent way to use technology in the classroom.

Geometry Mini Assignments
Lesson #1
Lesson #2
Lesson #3
Lesson #4

Assessment
Geometry UTIP Questions

Science Podcasting at JPJ Middle School

I have had the opportunity to work with 9th graders in Mrs. Monson's science class at Joel P. Jensen Middle School. It has been so fun to work with her students. Mrs. Monson is an amazing science teacher. One of the projects we worked on with her 9th grade students was in GarageBand. She wrote a list with her students of the different labs they had done in class since the beginning of the year. She paired the students and they had to choose a lab that they enjoyed and write a script about their favorite lab experience. The students then created a script and recorded it in garageband. Their recordings actually outlined the Scientific Method. Here are a couple of 9th grade student audio podcasts that were created about their lab experiences.

Everlasting Gobstopper (6th period)
Time: One minute 20 seconds



Rockets (6th period)
Time: 51 seconds




Rocket Time (6th period)
Time: One minute 2 seconds



Osmosis (7th period)
Time: 1 minute 45 seconds

Diffusion Lab (7th Period)
Time 1 minute




Quote: Self-control is knowing you can, but deciding you won't.

Comic Life

As I have worked with teachers in the Elementary and Secondary schools these past couple of months, students are creating awesome projects using the program called Comic Life. Comic Life is relatively easy to use and students who are even in the 3rd grade, can use this fun program. The following are examples of what students have completed in Jordan School District. The projects range from All About Me to a students assignment in Jr. High about predators and hosts. Kudos to these teachers who are doing such great work in their classrooms.

Examples of Completed Projects
These two projects were based on a reading unit called Esperanza Rising. I had gone into this 6th grade class and already had pictures for them in a file that they could use for this particular unit. The students created a cause and effect chart of the different situations that arose in the book. Thanks to Mrs. Reich's class for their great work!



These are some examples of students All About Me projects that were done in 3-6 grades. Students were directed to safe sites where pictures and clipart were collected.
I also came into the labs with two files of pictures, one for favorite books and one for favorite movie, for the students to work from while they were in comic life.



These were comic life projects completed for science.


Comic life can be used for an array of projects. Here is one that I typed as a reminder for a meeting that is coming up in February.


Quote: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-- Albert Einstein

GarageBand in the Classroom

I worked with a 6th grade class at Columbia in Garage Band. It has been so much fun! After giving the students background information about how recording music has changed in the music industry, why tracks are used in this software program, and allowing the students to explore in GarageBand, the students did a fun project using a Thanksgiving Poem. I gave each of the students a Five Little Turkeys. They read the poem and added a different vocal for the narrator and each of the turkeys that spoke, as they recorded their voices in GarageBand. Some of the students had time to add music to their poem. Here is a recording of one of the poems today.

Five Little Turkeys: (There is no way to upload an MP3 larger than 100 MB on my blog, so if you would like to hear an example, please email me and I will share it with you.)

Mrs. Buttars, the teacher, is having them draw a picture in KidPix, and then the individual pictures will be attached to their recordings. I also gave her a reader's theatre play called the Ugly Turkey. This is another great way for students to work in groups and record a play using sound effects, different vocals, and adding music. Any questions, please feel free to email me.

Quote: "Those who believe they can and those who believe they can't are both right."
-Henry Ford

Skype in Elementary

I had the opportunity to work with a G/T Specialist, Deanna Taylor, in our district. She is over the program Monster Math and agreed to teach about it to a 6th grade class via Skype. We did worry about technical difficulties, so she taught her lesson in the school, but from the computer lab. She skyped into the class through the teacher computer and taught about problem solving processes, showed a powerpoint in Skype, and then had the students work in groups on a Monster Math problem. The following are comments students made about using Skype as a Web 2.0 tool in the classroom.
(These students wrote comments with the understanding that they were the first class we taught using Skype.)
*I loved it. I am so glad you picked us to do it.
*I had fun doing math.
*I think using Skype is very cool!
*I thought it was kinda weird, but cool because it was just like she was in the room with us.
* I liked using Skype because it gives us an opportunity to connect with teachers in different places.
Thanks to Mrs. Buttars and her 6th grade in Columbia that let us work with them and thanks to Deanna for her wonderful job of teaching Monster Math and being willing to implement a Web 2.0 tool into her 21st Century Learning Classroom.

Completed Project by a 6th Grade Team!

Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds

I had the opportunity to train the Computer Lab Assistants on Friday, September 26th, and the topic of wordles came into discussion. This is the link: wordle.net Here is a wordle I made for our EC teachers.



There were a couple of tricks that came up during our discussion and I thought it would be a good idea to share on my blog. I did learn a couple of new things myself. First of all, if you need to go back to add words for the word cloud and you do not want to retype all of your words again in the word box, hit the refresh button and you will be taken to your word box to add words to it.
Second, you can print your wordle from the internet site or save it as a PDF. You can also do a screen shot and save your wordle as a jpeg. There was a word of caution to be careful when you have the kids on the homepage of the wordle. Different types of word clouds are posted on the main page, so it may be a good idea to already have the create a word cloud up so that students can begin typing as soon as they sit at their computer.

Quote:
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Alvin Toffler