Learning in Progress

When we get back to school after Winter break, I'll be reviewing the Big 6 research process with 4& 5th graders and introducing it to 3rd. In the past, I've gone through a PowerPoint presentation and talked the kids through the process, but I really wanted to speed up that introduction.  To help with that, I made a PowToon video that keeps the intro to under 4 minutes.  Find the video [ here ]. I've also spent some time revising the Project Planner I use with the kids to provide them with some structure in considering the Big 6 steps.  The PowToon actually provides a demonstration for how to use the project planner.  You can find the planner [ here ].  I will likely the pause the video occasionally to add information and provide more of an explanation or to answer questions. When kids are actually doing their research, I have a standard set of graphic organizers for them to use that requires them to record all of the source information.  Thi...

I just recently introduced a new round of centers with my second graders.  I'm trying to use more technology with them, along with some basics that I picked up from some great sources.  We're using six centers.  Each student is assigned to a table, and tables rotate to a different center weekly.  I have each table letter attached to a clip, and move the clips weekly.  This way it's easy for the kids to see which center they'll be working with, and it's easy for me to keep track of things. Center Signs   For the first two weeks, I've only given the kids about 20 minutes in centers, and have reserved 25 minutes for a direct lesson.  I'm not entirely sure that the 20 minutes has been sufficient to tackle some of the bigger things we're doing, and may make some modifications. Links to center directions and websites that I used to help create the centers are all in brackets below. Computers For the [Computer Center] , students are practicing she...

Office 365 & Your Students Last week I talked about using Office 365, which is a suite of web-based Microsoft products, including email, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and SkyDrive’s cloud based storage con­nected through your school email.  The suite of products are also available to your students through their email accounts. In our district, ALL students (K-12) have access now to their email accounts and the Microsoft Web applications hosted there.  If you choose to use those services with primary stu­dents, it might be a good idea to share information with par­ents about it. Encouraging your students to create documents and store them in the “Cloud” provides many benefits for students .  Cloud based storage means no more broken or lost jump drives, no more searching through network folders and no more concern that students are saving to the “wrong” location and at risk of losing their work forever.  Additionally, encour­aging st...

Recently, the state of Kentucky launched Office 365 for both teachers and students.  Through our email accounts we have access to 25 gb of storage in SkyDrive Pro, and Microsoft web apps that will give teachers and students the ability to create basic document types from any device, as long as they have an Internet connection. Office 365—Creating and Managing Documents in the Cloud Since our Power Lunch over SkyDrive and Office 365 was cancelled, thanks to an awesome snow day, I thought I better spend some time going over what you can start doing right away with Office 365.  (Have no fear, for people who want to see this in action, I’ll reschedule for another time). Microsoft’s Office 365 is a subscription based service that we, the state of Kentucky, have access to through our email accounts.  It utilizes “Cloud” based storage, which means that as long as we have an Internet connection, and are logged in to our email accounts, we can access Microsoft pr...

These were tips I sent out on December 3 - focusing on science.  If you haven't had a chance to check out Seymour Simon's website, it's a must for science lovers. Spotlight on Seymour Simon If you want to get your students connected and excited about science, you should check out Seymour Simon. Seymour Simon has written over 250 science books for kids.   He has written on nearly every topic from Wolves, to Mars to Guts, and you’ll find many of his books right here in our library. In addition to his immense collection of science books, you’ll also find an incredible resource in his website, which you can find [ here ].   The website includes links to     a Science Dictionary, Science Riddles and Jokes, information about his many books, and a link to the Seymour Simon Science Blog which you can find [ here ].   The blog includes short articles about many different science related topics and could be a nice discussion starter in class. ...