Taking It to the Next Step Along With TPACK

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The reading teacher in me has been quiet and is ready to come back out ….

While reading is a great way to help a child grow in vocabulary and imagination, it is what you DO with what is read that really encourages and supports critical and creative thinking skills!

Technology can be used in many ways to support and encourage the many things that can be done with reading ....

Here are a few ideas of activities that can be used to support higher order thinking skills:Make a collage which might be found hanging in the bedroom of one of the characters and write a brief explanation of each item selected.

• Write diary entries that one of the characters might have written during the course of the story.
• Write a poem or a song that expresses one or more of the characters’ feelings.
• Create a piece of original artwork that interprets one of the themes in the book.
• Write and perform an original skit based on the book.
• Write letters that two of the characters might have written to one another about what was happening in their lives.
• Create an original board game based on the book.
• Write and record an original news broadcast about the events in the book.
• Draw a timeline of the book, complete with illustrations and commentaries about each event on the timeline.
• Create a cause-and-effect continuum of how and why the main character changes as a result of the events and situations that occur.

Did you notice the differentiation embedded in these activities? 

Children would be able to utilize their strengths to demonstrate their learning …

Choice could even be involved if you gave an assignment similar to this one:

• Choose a book (online or from the bookcase)
• Read the story
• Select and complete the activity that most appeals to you and/or best fits the story you read
• Explain why you chose the activity and how you completed it 

With the added explanation part, you are jumping into that metacognition area … asking children to really think about their thinking!

That is taking it to the next step!

You can look at the WSFCS TPACK Activity Guides to see possible technology tools that can be used for activities like this!

Click on a area and then you can find possible activities in the table along with suggested resources to use!

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What do you use for writing prompts?

Writing Prompts ...

What do you use for writing prompts?

Do you have a list of topics for you and/or your students?

Do you look around you for inspiration for your own writing?

When I taught a 4th grade Writing class, the first thing we did each day was write for 10 minutes in our journals .... notice I said OUR ... I did it too! I replaced the Writing Teacher who retired. She left me these small flip books full of writing prompts. I also had my own collection of books of writing prompts (I think those are still in the basement now). I would have a journal topic on the board for students to write about most days.  Most of my writing prompts either stated "write about ..." or asked a question for students to answer .... but they were basically just words.

At EdCamp NC this year, someone showed me a different option for writing prompts ... http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/

I just want to let you know that I could get totally distracted looking at all the ideas on this site, so be warned that might happen to you too!

At this site, you will find some of the daily writing prompts one teacher uses in his class. All the ones I have seen have an image element to them. Some have a variety of questions, some have choices for the writer, some provide topics for compare/contrast ... and there are even categories of writing prompts!

Options:

• writing prompts about reading
• writing prompts about personhood
• writing prompts about education
• 28 tried and true writing prompts
• all of the writing prompts
• random writing prompt selector

The topic of these prompts are for older students ... but they can serve as inspiration for adults and younger students too!

Think about the journal topics and blog post possibilities ...

Here are a few of the ones I found interesting:

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As lovely as ....

Similes ....
How do you teach similies?
What resources do you use?


One evening recently on twitter, this message came to me:


I am currently working with 4 grade and trying to come up with a lesson on similes. Any suggestions??


Since this request came from a future elementary educator, I wanted to find some things to share with her. I began searching through my blog posts, my diigo bookmarks, and some former lessons to see what I could find. That was when it hit me that I talk about twitter being a great place to find resources and ideas, so maybe I should look too!


I sent out a tweet asking for advice and suggestions to share (it is nice to have a PLN to share with and pull from).


Here are a few of the ideas and resources that were shared with me:

• Snowflake Bently Activity and Idea Webpage which contains a book mark, an art project, information on the illustrator, directions to make a book, and lots of great links
• Picture book recommendation: My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks (This book is full of similes about the family of the main character) 
• A great idea for a Color poem on this blog that coul be redone using similes: ThePolkaDotOwl: Poems Anyone? (other great stuff on the rest of the blog too)
• Someone also shared some powerpoints they have used as an introduction in the past: Similes and Metaphors
• Laurie posted this as a comment on an earlier blog post: "I used familiar movie characters like Shrek and Fiona and Donkey and Puss in Boots. I had the kids go over adjectives that were nice to describe a person. Then we talked about how to stretch that into similes. Shrek is as green as the grass in June from Shrek is green. And so on."
• Similes and Metaphors in Pop Culture   (Thanks John Downs)
  Mr. Wasko presents examples of similes and metaphors in pop culture- from Kanye to The Wizard of Oz.

And while I was looking for ideas for teaching similies, I came across this great collection of ideas for teaching figurative language using a Valentine's Day theme on ReadWriteThink!


Do you have any ideas to share about ways you teach similes?


Do you have any resources to suggest?


Thanks in advance

image source

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Read ... Write ... Think ...

My daughter is in Kindergarten. She amazes me each day with the words that she says (and uses correctly). I know that her verbal vocabulary is much greater than the words she can read and write. She also has a very active imagination (hmmm ... wonder where that comes from?).

After talking with her teacher, it is clear that she has a good understanding of letter knowledge. She can the identify letters and tell you what sound that letter makes individually. It is when you put the letters together to make words that is causing a bit of trouble right now. We need to work on her ability to put those sounds together. She also really enjoys the way words are spelled. She will "read" a string of letters to me to find out what word they spell.

So I have been looking for some ways to work with her. Since my job is in Instructional Technology, it would make sense for me to look for some technology options (I also have a background in Reading Education).

The other day I came across some information on Thinkfinity about Puzzle Me Words from ReadWriteThink:

Puzzle Me Words is an exciting new interactive from ReadWriteThink.  Students in grades K-1 learn about language by combining letters to form words based on the pictures that they see.  A talking school bus named Scootie reads the words aloud and further reinforces letter sounds for young learners. With each new round that is completed, students earn a new puzzle piece toward their prize puzzle: a coloring sheet they can print, color and display proudly at home or in school.  Try it with students today!

Although I thought that description was interesting, the way that I saw and heard my daughter interact with this activity made it so much better. I think it would be great to use with students in a classroom.

ReadWriteThink is more than just a website; it's a community of educators working to improve literacy learning for every student. ReadWriteThink is sponsored by IRA (International Reading Association) and NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English).

I wonder how Puzzle Me Word and many other resources from ReadWriteThink would be on an Interactive White Board (IWB) in a classroom for a small group of students as a center activity?

image source

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How do You Celebrate Writing?

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is celebrating the National Day on Writing on October 20th. According to their site, the first National Day of Writing was first on held October 20, 2009 and since then more than 30,000 pieces of writing, including poems, videos, essays, letters, audio recordings, blog entries, artwork, email and text messages, and short stories, have been submitted.


Why celebrate writing?

1. People in every walk of life, in every kind of work, and at every age write more than ever before for personal, professional, and civic purposes.
2. They write through text messages and IMs, they use video cameras and cell phones, and, yes, even traditional pen and paper
3. The social nature of writing invites people in every walk of life, in every kind of work, and at every age to make meaning through composing.

If you would like to celebrate writing on the official National Day on Writing (or any other day), here are some good resources:

• Resources on Writing from NCTE
• Tips for Writers from NCTE
• Why I Write Testimonials
• National Gallery of Writing

image source

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Is a Tall Tale really tall?

Recently a Wonder-of-the-Day from Wonderopolis really got me thinking (but I guess that is what it is supposed to do): Why do they call it a "Tall Tale"?

Focusing on reading genres, like Tall Tales, was something I really enjoyed when I was in the classroom. We would do genre studies where we would explore many examples of a certain genre type and then talk about the similarities and characteristics we found. I also liked to introduce a variety of vocabulary words that could be associated with the genre. Wonderopolis has done a great job of pulling all those thing together! I could have used their help several years ago when I was trying to do all that. :)

I did a search on ReadWriteThink to find resources on Tall Tales:

• A lesson plan: Thundering Tall Tales: Using Read-Aloud as a Springboard to Writing
• A tall tales booklist
• A writing rubric for students to provide evidence that the stories they have written contain elements important in a tall tale
• A sequencing activity: Did Paul Bunyan gouge out the Grand Canyon before or after he dug the Great Lakes? Students create a life-sized timeline showing the sequence of events in this tall tale.
• A podcast: Gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and the characters in these four tall tales have plenty of unusual gifts to keep you reading all winter. Listen in to hear about them and to meet Ingrid Law, the author of Savvy and Scumble.

I also searched for Tall Tales resources on ArtsEdge:

• Tall Tales Today: Where have all the heroes gone?
• Exploring American Tall Tales: What can our tall tales tell us about the American spirit?

*Wonderopolis, ReadWriteThink, and ArtsEdge are all Thinkfinity Content Partners!!

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/65172294@N00/4285640113

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So you want to be a better writer ....

On Monday nights on Twitter, a group of 4th grade teachers meet, talk, and share resources using the hashtag #4thchat. I found this chat by accident a few weeks ago and wrote a blog post about the night they shared Math resources. Last night's chat was about Social Media in the Classroom. The 4th grade chat has a wiki where they post the resources shared during the chat, the chat archives, and many of resources relevant to 4th grade. They even have their own logo for the #4thchat! :)

When I was a 4th grade teacher, I primarily taught Narrative Writing (for two years, I taught 3 writing classes each day). I decided to look through the archives to see if I could find anything about writing since I really like that type of resource. I found an archive of a whole chat devoted to just that topic. I picked a few resources to share but would strongly encourage you to go look at the whole archive since you never know what you might find (even if you don't teach 4th grade).

• Steven W. Anderson and I do a weekly podcast on Instructional Technology, so the mention of a narrative writing podcast caught my attention. That blog post from Maureen Devlin (@lookforsun) outlines the steps involved in the process, share the numerous benefits, and even provides some examples. Maybe I need to find a 4th grade class to try this with next year ....
• Another resource called 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing was also shared:The ideas shared in this resources are great as standalone strategies and also work well when paired together:

The National Writing Project's 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing offers successful strategies contributed by experienced writing project teachers. Since NWP does not promote a single approach to teaching writing, readers will benefit from a variety of eclectic, classroom-tested techniques.

• Finding the presentation called "Writing for Real" from Angela Maiers was a definite plus. Angela Maiers is an independent consultant from Des Moines, IA. She shares so many great ideas both on her website and in her presentation (I have been lucky to attend one of her presentations before).

Writing For Real Reading Recovery Conference

View more presentations from Angela Maiers

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Do you need to teach Reading? Writing? Thinking?

The ReadWriteThink website is a great place for teachers to find resources and ideas. ReadWriteThink is partners with the International Reading Association (IRA), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Thinkfinity. ReadWriteThink offers Classroom Resources, Professional Development, as well as Parent and Afterschool Resources. There are a number of Student Interactives available to support learning. This morning on twitter, I saw a tweet about one of those Student Interactives called FlipBook.

Here is the overview describing FlipBook:
The Flip Book is designed to allow users to type and illustrate tabbed flip books up to ten pages long. Students and teachers can use the flip book for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating question and answer booklets. Students can choose from nine different layouts for the pages of their books (shown left). A blank flip book is available for demonstration and planning.

I think FlipBook is a neat idea and I enjoy looking at the sample book, but I found myself wondering: What are some ways teachers and students could use a resource like FlipBook?
I continued looking at the page where I found the overview and was pleased to find lessons for various grade levels that use this interactive.

Here are a few of the lessons that caught my attention:

• Shared Poetry Reading: Teaching Print Concepts, Rhyme, and Vocabulary (grades k-2)



• Using Children’s Natural Curiosity to Lead to Descriptive Writing (grades k-2)
  


• Question and Answer Books--From Genre Study to Report Writing (grades 3-5)



• Characters in Because of Winn-Dixie: Making Lists of Ten (grades 3-5)
  


• A “Cay”ribbean Island Study (grades 4-7)



• When I Was Young In...A Literature to Language Experience (grades 6-8)



• Swish! Pow! Whack! Teaching Onomatopoeia Through Sports Poetry (grades 6-8)



• Students as Creators: Exploring Multimedia (grades 6-8)



• Blogtopia: Blogging about Your Own Utopia (grades 9-12)
  

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/35240403@N02/3857853340/

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Writing and Wordles ....

I wrote on reflection responding to some questions on Teacher Leadership, then I copied and pasting that whole reflection in Wordle to create a word cloud image. From this word cloud, I can clearly tell the terms knowledge, technology, team, teacher, learning, and classroom were prevalent in my reflection. If you wrote a reflection on teacher leadership, what do you think that Wordle would look like? If students created word clouds using something they have written, what information could that tell you?

I have written about Wordle and various word cloud creators before, but I thought I would share some of the highlights again.

http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dhn2vcv5_157dpbsg9c5

Here are some other great resources related to word clouds and Wordle:

• Ways to Use Wordle in Your Classroom
• Using Wordle for Comparision (example uses innauguration speeches)
• Word Cloud Resources, Tips, and Tools (provides some options for making word clouds besides Wordle
• More than Wordles
• Tips, Tricks, and Resources for Word Clouds including an idea and directions for putting wordle image over another picture

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Big Universe

"Instill the love of reading, writing, and learning."

I think that statement pretty much sums up what I think education should do for students. Those were my goals as a classroom teacher, and finding that statement as the heading on a website made me like the site before really even looking at it!
Big Universe is a place to "read, share, and create books online" that uses the above statement on its homepage. I have enjoyed reading and sharing some ideas from there on twitter (@biguniverse). Since I enjoy many of the ideas they tweet, I decided to go look at their site. There is information there for parents and educators, as well as an informative video. The reading teacher in me started thinking of some ideas, but then I wondered about the quality of the stories. so I decided to try them out. My 4 year old daughter crawled up in my lap while I was looking at the computer(21 inch widescreen monitor), so I thought I would read some stories with her. We started off looking at the FREE member-created books. My little one enjoyed naming the animals in the The Wild ABC's by Reaghen West. She wanted to read more. I started thinking about how reading and even creating alphabet books like that could be used as a great project at school for younger students learning the alphabet but also a project for older students to see what they had learned at the end of a unit.
My little girl did not want to stop, so we looked for more. This time we looked at one of the Premium Publisher Books (not free, but there is a free trial): What Really Happened to Humpty? My little one loved all the characters that she recognized, and I liked the more complicated mystery story line that would interest older elementary school students. The illustrations for this story looked nice. I liked the way you could "turn the pages" with the click of a mouse to make it even more like a book. I kept thinking how nice it would be to use a story like that on an Interactive White Board. The teacher could "write" on the story to emphasize and teach certain skills. Students could circle the parts of the story/pictures that helped them predict what would happen next. The story would be large enough for all to see.
I let my little one choose one more story. She wanted a pirate story, so I decided to try out the search box (keyword, category, reading level, age, subject, genre). When I typed in pirate, there were three choices. She chose The Pirates? The Princess (those are her two favorite things right now). This was another Premium Publisher Book, but this one had a read aloud option with it. My daughter and I were both impressed with the read aloud since the characters had different voices, there were some songs, and the words in the story changed color as they were read aloud.
Both the parent and the teacher in me really like this site, the quality of the stories, and all the other things it has to offer involving both reading and creation of the stories (there's over 7,000 images available). Even though I am a big fan of FREE things, I could see myself paying for this.

image from http://www.biguniverse.com/

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