Final Project_ETC_Tina_Llopis

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PE_7_Game Classroom

This is another Game Classroom activity. Clara's Fraction Ice Cream Shop is one of the better ones I found.  This one would make 5th graders think about reducing improper fractions to mixed numbers. Once they get the idea of changing the fractions, they can begin to fill the customer's order. 

I would recommend watching the video instructions because it shows how to play the game.  The video doesn't have words, so the kids would have to really pay attention to it in order to understand how to fill the customer's order.  This activity would hold their attention for a while, though there aren't any "bells and whistles", the concepts are right on level for my fifth graders. I'm certain that I'd have to have a small group of learners who do not have the concept of reducing improper fractions to mixed numbers because they are just really being exposed to that this year for the first time. They are introduced to it in 4th grade, but this is more exposure than they've had as yet. I think this would be a great idea for an introduction to the concept as well as a review and a reteaching class.

Using games to teach concepts and ideas is not a new one.  The teachers have to review and play games before they introduce them to their students and decide which ones will be appropriate for the students. Right now, I have at least 5 students who would benefit from these games and activities that I've reviewed from GameClassroom.com
These could also be used as an independent review on a laptop or as a station during our center time. (Yes, 5th graders still have centers.) I use that time as more of a reteaching and review of skills time. It's a short and quiet time just before the end of the day. Students could rotate through each of the games that could be set up for them already.

As I think through the games and activities I've played trying to learn as much about them as possible, I've decided that kids could also make videos using what they've learned to teach other kids or to show what they've learned themselves using those activities.

There are some links on this web site that do not work any longer. Be sure to check out this site and play the games.  Even though it says K-6, I think most of the concepts are beginning and can be used with a whole-group type instruction up to the 4th grade.  The fifth and sixth graders would think these sites are a bit lame and they wouldn't hold their attention for very long.

This is another game on Game Classroom called  "Cows Context Clues."  At first this was interesting because the sentences asked questions that had answers that had to be inferred. It's also a good one for learning generalizations and conclusions. I think my lower students and my ELL students would be the ones to benefit from these types of questions and skills they require in order to move one cow from a pasture to another pasture.

If you miss the answer then you'll get another chance.  If you miss again, it registers in the "wrong" answer box. The right and wrong answers are totaled up as you go through the game.
If a player wants to play again then they will push the "Play again" button, but the same questions repeat and loop through the same order and sequence as before.
For a strong student, this may become tedious, but I think the lower level students and ELL students would benefit from these questions. For my ELL students, I could actually assess them as they are playing this game to see what they've learned.  I've noticed there are no scores kept under a student's name.
 In this game, the pictures are exactly what you see, cows on a blue pasture. Even though this site is a free one, I'm not sure I'd use this for anything other than a review for a whole class introduction.

PE_6-Game Classroom

I thought I'd try the learning games sites out because I know that gaming is one of the classes I'll be in soon.
One site that caught my attention is called Game Classroom. Since this is also a free site to use, I thought I'd like to try it out before I showed the students what is on this site.
It looked interesting because it has games and homework help listed on its site.

Catch the Fly would probably hold my student's attention better than some of the other games included in the math section. This is one of the skills we will be working on in math class next month. I think this would be a good game to play even to introduce the lesson. The lesson we have in our math book is boring and flat.  I usually look for alternative activities to introduce coordinates and grids. This can be used on the SmartBoard with small groups of students who are lost with graphing.
This site is a good review site in that kids can review these skills on the laptop, and when and if they miss one, it's quick to tell you because the frog "dies". The  game is fun for a while, but I can see how kids would lose interest in it after they figured out the grid.

It uses all parts of the grid and kept my interest.

I will keep this gaming site in mind to use with my kids, but I think I will continue looking for something that is a little more interesting, has more to it, and even makes more noise, if you can believe that. 

Batter Up!, another Game Classroom game, started out as an interesting game. You first design your uniform, then you tell the pitcher you are ready to play. This is a figurative language game. I can see my 13 boys getting excited about playing this game...for a while.

Once the pitcher pitches, you have so many seconds to make a decision about the type of figurative language it is displaying. In this example, "The snakes slithered silently in the grass." The choices usually include the correct answer but sometimes it includes, "None of the above."  as a choice. If the player doesn't answer within a few seconds or gives an incorrect answer, then a buzzer goes off and the chance for a homer is reduced to a triple play, and so on until a strike registers.

This game is fun for a while, but it becomes tedious when the questions are repeated and the crowd's cheers and noises are looped sounds. I began watching the crowd and noticed they resembled Lego people. The people walked up and down the stairs of the stands with one color of shirt/pants, but "sat down" with something else on entirely.
If I play this at school, I'll play with a small group of students on the SmartBoard who don't really have a grasp on recognizing figurative language phrases and sentences.This will become boring for the kids who have the concept already.

There are many more games on this site. The ones I previewed were OK. The skills they teach are necessary for and on the grade levels they say they are. I will keep posting about this site.

PE_5GoogleForms

Choose a theme to enhance your survey!

Make a survey that counts and looks great!

Look at the results in a graphic form!

....or view the survey results in a spreadsheet that you can share!

http://web.me.com/tina_llopis/Action_Research

Follow this link in my AR Project's Blog to my comments on Garage Band about Google forms.

PE_4GoogleDocs

Sharing folders with others will be helpful in my AR Project.

Please follow the link below to my AR site to hear my podcast about Google Docs and
my plans to use it in my AR Project. It's listed under the AR blog entries.

http://web.me.com/tina_llopis/Action_Research

BP_11_Pixton.com

One of the best things I learned to do with my videos was the Ken Burns.  Working with each of the photos to change them in some way was interesting. I liked to see the movements incorporated and how they progressed from one shot to the next. Another thing that was fun to do was adding transitions. A goal is to add text to the next movie. 
When the kids at school see this Web 2.0 site I found, I think that the kids will love what I've planned for them. We've been working on an ecology unit in science, and I think this will just fit the bill!

BP10_link to Matthew's blog

http://21staffdev.blogspot.com/2010/12/bp7-commercial.html#comment-form

BP_9-Link to Liz Fritz's blog

link to Liz's blog
http://lizfritz.edublogs.org/2010/12/07/bp8_google-for-educatorstools/#respond

BP_8_Prezi

Prezi.com touts that they can jazz up any presentation. It’s better than Powerpoint and their simpler slideshows.  True Powerpoint has good transitions, decent sound effects that are good for beginners, and provides beginners with simple-to-make presentations.

However, Prezi.com can change all that. 

They have a public option that is free. One only needs to register. They offer 100 MB available for their free usage option as well as student/teacher licenses available.

There are also other option levels one called Enjoy for $59.00 a year with 500 MB available.  The Pro option offers 2000 MB for $159/ year. There are other options, but the one for me is the free one with student/teacher licenses.

The student/teacher licenses also have two options that allow teachers and students to make their own presentations for free, and one with more options for $59.00 a year.

After registering, the user can view example prezis or watch tutorials.

After the tutorials, begin your own Prezi.  Double click on the screen to begin.  Click once on your text and there’s a “zebra” to delete, change, reposition, or resize text. The zebra 

is in the middle of your text.

There are other buttons that are standard, like undo, save, and exit. Another choice is to add photos from your saved pics. These also can be adjusted like the text using the zebra tool.

Videos can be added from YouTube.  These can also be resized and moved. One really interesting option is the path element in the bubble at the top of the page.  This is the order in which the objects will be shown.  Even when the presentation is being shown, I can manipulate the pictures, zoom in, change the object’s place on the screen, and move from slide to slide so easily by using the bubble at the top of the page. If I choose a particular path, then change my mind, I can drag the path I want changed out of the screen and it automatically renumbers the order!  Amazingly easy!

I had my kids at school make a Prezi about something they are learning. They were limited to 2 minutes of a Prezi each because they were so awed by this tool. They were eager to learn how to do this and watched eagerly at the example I made.  Talk about excited when I told them they were going to make their own Prezi! Wow!

One thing though, they took so long playing with the Prezi that they didn't all finish.

As a matter of fact, they made me promise that I would let them work on "that Prezi thing" on Monday.  

This is the one I worked on with the kids today to show an example, then I let each of them add a word or a picture they liked.  I had to delete about ten pictures because it was just too much.  They got the idea quickly and went right to work on their own Prezi.

PE3_iMovie

  PE3_iMovie

I had to re upload these videos because they didn't show the beginning frame like they were supposed to.

PE2_iMovie

  

PE1_iMovie

PE1_iMovie

            

Lynda Certificate

BP_7_Nextvista.org

BP_7_Nextvista.org

BP_6_ My comment to Jennifer Geiger's post

http://wittlesandwords.blogspot.com/2010/11/bp-2storybird.html

BP_5_Link to my comment on Carole Inman's blog

http://caroleinmancheckin.blogspot.com/2010/11/bp2-tikatok.html

Follow this link to Carole Inman's blog.

BP_2 NextVista.org

I am really impressed with Nextvista.org. 
This site works to make learning fun and engaging. There are several educational topics for all grades.  This library of teacher and student videos addresses learning strategies in many ways.  It encourages students and teachers to produce short videos to explain educational topics.  That's the key word here...SHORT! Most of the videos were less than 2 mins. long, some were about 5 mins. long. They were interesting and to the point. 
These can be used to generate writing topics, to initiate group discussions, and sharing knowledge in a safe way using the Internet.

BP_4 Eduslide

Eduslide.net allows anyone to create educational content and deliver it online without a charge.  This is certainly something teachers can use in the classroom.  It offers blogs, chats, wikis, and slideshows. There are also tutorials and educational lessons available. I would use this as a way for students to blog or chat about the books they've read.  I have many reluctant readers in my class.

BP_3Google Screen Shots

E

AR Project Screen Shot

FSO Screen Shot

BP1_Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog.  This is the first blog I've ever started. I've posted on other blogs before.

Great Book!

Our library media specialist just brought me this great book to read.... Blood on the River: James Town 1607. 
Wow! I'm surprised at the quality of work. It has kept me thinking about what may happen next. It has given little bits and pieces about this child's life as the story continues. This is one I'd recommend for small group instruction.