Middle School students are working hard on their Math Wiki. (http://mjgds-math.wikispaces.com/) They are using a variety of tools to create tutorials (Garageband, SmartBoard Notebook, PowerPoint, Animoto).
Middle School students are working hard on their Math Wiki. (http://mjgds-math.wikispaces.com/) They are using a variety of tools to create tutorials (Garageband, SmartBoard Notebook, PowerPoint, Animoto).
Ana Maria Menezes has just published a 53 page free ebook titled 20 WEBTOOLS Applied to Teaching. In addition to some well-known services like Animoto, Ana Maria has included some lesser-known tools that could be particulary useful for ESL/ELL instruction. You can download the ebook from Issuu. I also recommend browsing through Ana Maria's blog, Life Feast, if you've never visited it. http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2010/06/20-webtools-applied-to-teaching.html
Preston Girls' Secondary College Reading Wiki to show and share with students and teachers how web 2.0 tools can inspire students to respond to set texts in a more creative way.
Making book trailers
Filming their own '60 second recap
Making animotos
Creating toondoos
Using Flickr to make a showbag
Developing a glog
Creating a Google Lit Trip
Making a Prezi
Creating VoiceThreads
and responding in Twitterature style
are just some examples of how students can creatively respond to a book.
Each link explains how the tools can be embedded into the curriculum and shows examples of how other people have used these sites to develop a book response. Some responses are better than others and it would be good to discuss with students beforehand what made certain examples better than others.
For some of the presentations, students may need a Flip camera (such as 60 second recap) however the rest of the presentations could use photos and images from the internet. A lesson on Creative Commons and Wikimedia before students are let loose would help them understand their responsibilities in terms of selecting appropriate images and music to use.
Once finished, students could show their presentations to each other and have them critique their work. Permissions allowing, presentations could also be uploaded to the school website or shown on parent information evenings or parent/teacher nights.
Challenge:
My challenge to you is to ask students to use one of these tools (can be in conjunction with a written response) in their next text response.
"Ten tried and tested internet tools for teachers
Over the past academic year, my students and I have been experimenting with the use of a number of web based applications (often known as Web 2.0 tools). My aim has been to enhance our schemes of work by providing our students with new and exciting learning opportunities."