Making Movies, More Than Just a Tool
Digital Book Trailers
Erin St. Onge's class has some pretty motivated students. In fact her grade 7/8 students were so motivated to work on Willow Award Book Trailers, that when given the task of creating trailers with either MovieMaker or iMovie, it provoked quite a discussion about production software. So rather than focus on the "right" or software, the students chose the tool that would work best for them. To further reiterate the enthusiasm these students had in bringing these books to life, they were not even daunted when they learned that they would have to learn how to cite all images and music correctly when making the trailers!
As the grade 7/8's learned, when it comes to digital projects, one can't just Google an image and paste it into a project. Part of being a Digital Citizen is correctly citing images and music, and even more importantly, checking the copyright to ensure that the sources were royalty-free and could be redistributed or remixed. If you need more information on Creative Commons, be sure to check out the page Copyright and Digitally Creating.
Check the link below to see some of the final projects.
As the grade 7/8's learned, when it comes to digital projects, one can't just Google an image and paste it into a project. Part of being a Digital Citizen is correctly citing images and music, and even more importantly, checking the copyright to ensure that the sources were royalty-free and could be redistributed or remixed. If you need more information on Creative Commons, be sure to check out the page Copyright and Digitally Creating.
Check the link below to see some of the final projects.
Bringing a Book to Life: The Geronimo Stilton Narrative Writing Project!
Presentation Resources by Jillian Laursen and Jodi Ursan
St. Michael Community School
Jillian Laursen and Jodi Ursan know the power of connecting students to literature and using digital tools to create and publish student stories. Check out their presentation on how they brought this project to life through multiple grade cooperative learning.
Homeroom App for Digital Portfolios and Sharing
Presentation Resources by Kristina Boutilier and Erin Hindle
There are so many tools available for sharing student learning. Teachers can spend countless hours and money on developing portfolios. Homeroom app is a tool that Kristina Boutilier and Erin Hindle found to be extremely easy to use for both students (and teachers!) and the best part... It's FREE!
As with any digital tool that involves publishing pictures of students or their work on-line, teachers need to provide parents further information in how the students' identity will be protected. Kristina and Erin have generously shared their parent permission form, if you are interested in downloading it for your own classroom.
Check out the link to check out the app, if you are interested in exploring it for your classroom. If you have further questions about this tool, be sure to contact these teachers!
As with any digital tool that involves publishing pictures of students or their work on-line, teachers need to provide parents further information in how the students' identity will be protected. Kristina and Erin have generously shared their parent permission form, if you are interested in downloading it for your own classroom.
Check out the link to check out the app, if you are interested in exploring it for your classroom. If you have further questions about this tool, be sure to contact these teachers!
Gamification of Learning - Tapping into What Drives Students
Resources and Information by Ryan Leblond
Ecole St. Mary
As teachers, we are always looking for ways to help students develop teambuilding skills, time management, self reliance and accountability. Over the years we've all explored strategies from Classroom Teams to Incentive Programs, like "Popcorn Parties". One of the tools, Ryan Leblond discovered to be extremely effective with his middle years class was an online incentive program called Class Craft. Class Craft allows teachers to transform learning into a team role-played adventure, that the students would play throughout the year.
With Class Craft, students can choose 1 of 3 characters, with it's objective, developing powers as they gain experience, as students complete learning or management tasks, they gain more experience or awards. For example, students may answer questions in class to gain experience points, or more adversely, lose points for not doing homework. Students work as part of a team. Additionally, by completing tasks or completing curricular related questions accurately, they may level up to get more powers or "transfer energy" to other members of team. The best part, teachers can customize tasks or penalties to suit their classroom expectations, give points for tasks related to what they are learning in class. To make the game run most effectively, Ryan recommends running the game in the background of his computer so that he can update regularly. To keep the students engaged, students can access the game via any device to answer questions or check their points in real time.
Probably sounds too good to be true? Well, that's not all... it's FREE! If teachers wish to give students additional option to "buy things" for their characters, it costs approximately $10/year.
Check out the link below, if you think your middle years students are ready for the adventure!
With Class Craft, students can choose 1 of 3 characters, with it's objective, developing powers as they gain experience, as students complete learning or management tasks, they gain more experience or awards. For example, students may answer questions in class to gain experience points, or more adversely, lose points for not doing homework. Students work as part of a team. Additionally, by completing tasks or completing curricular related questions accurately, they may level up to get more powers or "transfer energy" to other members of team. The best part, teachers can customize tasks or penalties to suit their classroom expectations, give points for tasks related to what they are learning in class. To make the game run most effectively, Ryan recommends running the game in the background of his computer so that he can update regularly. To keep the students engaged, students can access the game via any device to answer questions or check their points in real time.
Probably sounds too good to be true? Well, that's not all... it's FREE! If teachers wish to give students additional option to "buy things" for their characters, it costs approximately $10/year.
Check out the link below, if you think your middle years students are ready for the adventure!
