Solar System Glogster Project

I am not particularly crafty and I do not have a great eye for putting things together visually. I cannot draw, and I’ve never been into the whole scrapbooking phenomenon. I know what I like when I see it, but cannot always put it all together so that it is visually satisfying for me.  Glogster verified that even digitally, I don’t quite have a knack for the visual presentation☹ That being said, I think that what I did put together will still be an exciting opener, and will add a twist to our 6th grade solar system research lesson later this school year.



The 6th grade Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering and English Language Arts Learning Standards addressed in this unit include:

• Science Learning Standard 10-- Compare and contrast properties and conditions of objects in the solar system (i.e., sun, planets, and moons) to those on Earth (i.e., gravitational force, distance from the sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions).

• ELA Learning Standard19.16-- Write brief research reports with clear focus and supporting detail.

• ELA Learning Standard 24.3-- Apply steps for obtaining information from a variety of sources, organizing information, documenting sources, and presenting research in individual and group projects: use an expanded range of print and non-print sources; locate specific information within resources by using indexes, tables of contents, electronic search key words; organize and present research

Because Glogster does not work very effectively through our building’s wireless system, my plan is to reserve the computer lab for science class for 5 consecutive days.  Our first day would be a whole group presentation and individual exploration of the Solar System Glog that I designed as an overview.  My students will access the Glog through their class assignments on Discovery Education (also available through this link: Solar System Project) so that they will already be logged in and the animations will open on one click.  After pointing out some of the features of this Glog, and modeling how to access the audio, video, and hyperlinks, I would point out that at the bottom of the Glogster there is a link back to the assignment.  Because I want the students to take some time exploring the wonder of Glogster, I am going to ask them to avoid going to the assignment page for at least 20 minutes and just enjoy the brief animations and video segments.

After approximately 20 minutes we will go to the assignment link together.  That way I can answer questions and help students weed through a large list of resources for which individually they will probably only need about two or three. Any time left in that first day will be for students to continue exploring the Glog and to choose their topic. 

By the next day they need to have chosen a topic and decided to do either a Glog or a poster to present their research.  While I want to encourage students to use Glogster, I know that some students will be more comfortable using a traditional poster to show what they learn from their research.  Also, because some students will access Glogster from home, I want students who are just as enthused about the research and presentation of their chosen topic, but who do not have internet access from home to have another option.

Sample Note-Taking Guide

The second day in the computer lab will allow students to view the associated videos and to use the Custom Google Search to do their research on their chosen topics. To guide their research for their solar system object/topic, I will give them a note-taking sheet to help them gather up the “must-have” information. 


The third and fourth days in the lab will be for students to construct their individual Glogs or posters.  They can compose text, and locate images or any other media they might feel inspired to utilize.

The fifth day will be presentation day. Students will publish their Glogs, or hang up their posters for a museum walk. Students will have a note-taking chart as they view the work of their peers, and we will all discuss which planet we would like to visit, and why, based on the persuasive elements used in the Glog or poster.

I think that once students become familiar with Glogster, it becomes another medium for students to show what they know and also to express themselves creatively.  In the same way that I would be horrified if I were required to share my knowledge about strategies for co-teaching by singing a song, many of my students are horrified that they have to show their understanding of a subject by writing an essay, or by drawing a picture, or by orally presenting.  Trust me--you would be miserable if you had to listen to me singing my knowledge, and I am often disappointed by the products that my students are required to produce. I have to remember that they are often not working in their best medium.  In addition to introducing and providing practice with new tools that we can add to the project menu, it is important for me to continue to offer students choices.

Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework, June 2001, pp. 73 & 88.
Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, October 2006 p.33.

Student Perspectives--Creativity in the Classroom

This week I interviewed two high school freshmen regarding the role of creativity in the classroom, what they value in their current learning environments, and what they would change in terms of digital media and technology.

After listening to the Robinson TED Talk, I was really expecting to hear many complaints, and that school is boring and does not inspire creativity.  Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the two girls rattle off a multitude of opportunities for creativity that have been shared in their school experience this year. Both girls said that they had had opportunities for creative expression in ELA, World Civilizations, Foreign Language class, and even in Physics (though they felt that there were fewer opportunities there). They both felt like they had not had any creative experiences in math class this year and rarely in the years prior.  They remembered tessellation projects in 5th and 8th grade. I inquired if they had ever been assigned to design their own math problems, and they both said that they could not recall a time.

Some of the assignments that they described that called for creativity on their part included creating a report card for early European leaders, writing a short story that included elements of irony and symbolism based on a famous painting, composing and illustrating a political cartoon regarding the French Revolution, designing a travel brochure for an island vacation using French vocabulary, and selecting and organizing a CD soundtrack for Of Mice and Men using current music. In physics, most recently they were assigned to design insulation for an egg drop experiment.

The student felt that their opportunities for creativity had increased this year in large part because of the requirement to take electives.  One student was taking band as an elective all year, the other student had taken Theater Arts for first term and was taking Electronic Music for this second term.

When asked what they value about their current education, they both agreed that they preferred classes that encouraged talking and working with people as opposed to classes where the teacher is doing most of the talking, and they’re actually told to be quiet.

The students both would like to have more access to technology at school, but described one problem for access as there being so many elective classes that need the computer labs, that teachers can not get time in the labs for traditional academic classes.

Regarding using social media for learning, one student knows of a group of seniors who have set up a study group Facebook page for one particular class in order to share notes, and have discussions.  They know another student who has a blog where he reviews movies.

Ideally, they said it would be great if every student had their own laptop, and that it would be nice if social networking sites could be accessed from the common areas of the school, like in the cafeteria and library.   They also both agreed that it would be more realistic for students to take notes on a computer since they rarely pull out their notebooks away from school—but are on the computer regularly after school hours.

Do Schools Kill Creativity? and 1 Digital Media Tool I Use to Encourage Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk titled, Do Schools Kill Creativity? was thought provoking and very entertaining, but I disagree with the notion that schools kill creativity. The idea of SCHOOLS, meaning all schools, KILLING, meaning extinguish to never have life again, CREATIVITY meaning, all types of creativity, is an extreme concept most likely titled thus to gain viewers.

Robinson never actually says that schools kill creativity, but rather says that, “all kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty ruthlessly.”  I agree that we do NOT provide a venue for certain talents to be displayed.  Robinson also explains that, “we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it.”  This occurs largely because of the value placed on certain subjects over others.  In describing the “hierarchy of subjects,” Robinson says, that “At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts.”  He also explains that there is more value placed on art and music than drama and dance.  I agree with this too. 

When is the talented moto-cross rider supposed to share his talents or develop her skills?  What about the potential video game developer, or stand-up comic?  Have we given them a platform from which to catapult their creativity, or are we telling them to turn off their phone, or sit down and be quiet?  I find it interesting that even in this talk about educating kids out of their creative potential, that the only creativity acknowledged by name and example are the traditional academics and arts.

For many reasons, including a lack of resources, when teachers decide to incorporate creativity into a lesson, it almost always involves drawing.  My students cringe.  They’re smart, so they know that they cannot draw, or even shade, the way their peers can.  In fact, drawing occurs daily or weekly in classes.  So, my students are mortified daily or  weekly.  Illustrate your story or this new concept; draw a symbol to represent your vocabulary, etc.  I also regularly see role-plays and readers’ theater incorporated into language arts and social studies classes.  Rarely are students given the option of creating a rap around a concept, or putting ideas to music, and I have yet to see a teacher assign students to choreograph an interpretive dance representing the solar system, or to compose a montage of dances to represent the various European countries or cultures that settled the 13 colonies.

What about the young person who cannot draw, act, carry a tune, or move to a beat?  Perhaps their talent is solving mathematical equations, or designing controlled experiments, or playwriting, or discovering economic or political trends. Then school would not have killed their creativity, but in fact may have exposed their distinct talent.  Sir Ken Robinson defines creativity “as the process of having original ideas that have value.”  My students do have original ideas everyday, and part of my job is to help them see the value of those original ideas.

One digital media tool that I use to encourage creativity in the classroom for my students who have trouble with all of those drawing activities is ToonDoo.  Students can use the tools to write original text, draw original artwork, or they can use any of the provided artwork or upload photos or clipart from other approved sources.  My students can use the tool for quick vocabulary activities, and also from home for longer assigned visual media projects.  For example, after learning about an ancient civilization, students are asked to create a ten-square Facts and Illustrations project focusing on the 10 Cultural Universals.  Students also report out on their independent reading books once each month.  This months report was a storyboard presentation. ToonDoo was easily used for this project from home and then presented at school by students who chose to use it. ToonDoo can also be used for social skills training.  Kids create cartoons around social situations and share them during small group.

While music is not often assigned as an option, (mostly because it is very challenging to find a quiet space to record and any space for the kids to practice) students have used garage band and flip video cameras to record their music or create a music video.  We also had a few students take on a seafloor spreading Claymation project, which was very time consuming but the process was worthwhile for the students who partcipated.  For the most part, teachers are willing to let kids try anything that is safe, free,  and truly connects to the curriculum that we have been challenged to teach.  So if a student asks to modify an assigned project by creating a product using a different format, the teachers that I work with are agreeable.


Another way to encourage creativity is to bring talent together.  I am not particularly crafty, but I have great ideas!  So, I am always telling my students what I believe they are good at, and ask them to identify someone that has a talent they need to execute a task. A storyteller paired with an illustrator, a musician paired with a poet/lyricist, someone with an eye for fashion with someone who can actually sew, can each maximize the value of their original ideas by collaborating.

Reflection on Media-Infused Presentations

5 Key Events of the Revolutionary War
EDIM 508 Project 1

The media-infused presentation that I designed using PREZI focuses on 5 key events from the Revolutionary War.

http://prezi.com/wvrtoy9f3utf/copy-of-key-battles-of-the-revolutionary-war/

In a 5-week unit, students learn about the major battles of the American Revolution beginning with the Battle of Bunker Hill through the surrender at Yorktown. Students learn about the advantages and disadvantages experienced by the British and the American colonists and how the colonists were able to defeat the British to gain independence.

The content Learning Goals include:

1. Students will list and describe the results of major battles and events of the Revolution, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker (Breed’s) Hill, the Battle of Saratoga, Valley Forge, and the Battle of Yorktown.

2. Students will explain how the Americans won the war.

Skill based Learning Goals include:

1.  Students will use a map to interpret the sequence of events during a battle.

2. Students will sequence the events of the American Revolution on a timeline.

Gardner explains the 4 essential steps to achieving a disciplined mind.  The steps require that  “truly important topics or concepts” be identified, that a “significant amount of time” be spent on the topic or concept, that the topic be approached in a “number of ways,” and that there are “ample opportunities” for students to “perform their understandings under a variety of conditions” (Gardner, 2007, pp. 32-35).

The Massachusetts Department of Education has identified this as an important topic for 5th graders to learn in Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework for Grade 5 Learning Standard 5.17. 

Our district social studies teachers and curriculum coordinator have determined that approximately 5 weeks should be spent on the topic.

While we do have some common learning activities, overall the teacher is responsible for creating and presenting activities to help students understand the topic.  It is my intention to use the Prezi that I created as a topic presentation tool.  I am hoping that the audio and visual elements will engage the learners and help them better connect with this topic from history.

All 5th graders participate in a summative Common Assessment in addition to mapping and timeline projects.   I am also planning to use this Prezi as a review toward the end of the unit to prepare students for the 5th grade American Revolution Common Assessment.

Gardner also suggests that, “various forms of intelligence gravitate toward different forms of synthesis ” (Gardner, 2007, pp. 66). This may mean that in order for students to take all of the pieces of information, including the people and their individual stories, the time frame, the geography, the strategies, and the outcomes, and then put them together into a meaningful context that could then be applied to other patterns of history or could be re-written into a novel of historical fiction will most likely require us to present models of different forms of synthesis to our students.  A media-infused presentation, like the Prezi I developed which has several reenactments of key events from the Revolutionary War, music, and images can help me to provide examples of various forms of synthesis.

Gardner, Howard. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Massachusetts history and social science curriculum framework, August, 2003. p. 31.

The Synthesizing Mind

Gardner states,  “that the most ambitious form of synthesis occurs in interdisciplinary work” (Gardner, 2007, p. 53).   He says that for work to be considered  “genuinely interdisciplinary” it needs to have a “proper combination of at least two disciplines” (Gardner, 2007, p.53). 

I am not certain that this was the “proper combination” but the project we took on as part of our Social Studies and Language Arts unit on Greece did seem to produce a high level of engagement, students did collaborate and share their individual expertise, and the end result for each group did seem to bring new understanding.

Students read about Ancient Greece in their textbooks and on a ThinkQuest website. Then they broke down how the 10 Cultural Universals are represented in that early civilization. As part of their study regarding the ancient Greeks’ attitude toward the unknown, students read myths and viewed videos of myths from Discovery Education Streaming. 

After discussing the Greek Pantheon and completing character study activities for the Gods and Goddesses, students were strategically grouped to compose their own myths from Mount Olympus Middle School.  They designed a storyboard with penciled illustrations and text notes. After each group was satisfied with the story line of their myth, they used the digital cameras from the library to recreate their pencil drawings as a still shot photograph of the group members posed to depict each scene.

The students uploaded each photo to www.storyjumper.com , and added their text notes to the opposite page. The groups continued to work together to discuss, argue, revise, and ultimately improve their myths from notes to complete sentences, to pages and finally to published stories.  The links to the myths on StoryJumper were shared in the team’s weekly newsletter so that the other groups and parents could read and view the product of each collaboration.

Combining their background knowledge of Greece from social studies research and their understanding of myth and character from language arts with their skills of technology, storytelling, and basic writing mechanics, students were able to collaborate to learn and create something new.

It was interesting and refreshing to see how capable the students were at conveying their understanding of the Greek perception of the Gods’ and Goddesses’ personalities, their understanding of myths as a genre, and their deeper understanding of how the ancient Greeks viewed nature, mortality, and immortality. 

The purest representation of synthesis in this exercise came from the students’ collective ability to join the story of an ancient civilization and connect it to their own modern day myth.  One student, who regularly contributes “What ifs?” to the class discussion, made me smile when she said,  “What if a class 4,000 years from now finds our myth, and thinks that we really believed all this?!”

An example of one of the original myths from Mt. Olympus Middle School can be found at the following link: Persephone and Hades

Gardner, Howard. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Digital Media

As a special education teacher, I am responsible for supporting students in all four subject areas in the inclusion setting, and also for providing direct instruction in what is called a Learning Skills/Academic Support class.  The LS/AS time is small group time that allows for me to work on individual skill development with a specific student as well as to pre- and re-teach content information for one or more students. Pre-teaching provides background knowledge and experience, so that my students can feel confident to take risks and participate with their peers in their general classroom activities.

In the 6th grade science classroom we are currently working on a unit about the Changes in Earth’s Surface.  We have recently studied concepts of Pangaea, continental drift, seafloor spreading and other topics related to the theory of plate tectonics. Our newest topic will be Earthquakes and Volcanoes.  The Discovery Education digital asset that I am planning to use to preview this topic with my small group is Science Desk-Earthquakes and Science Desk-Volcanoes available at the following link: 

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=60FE45E3-9393-463F-9CAA-DB9EE0241947
 

I can set up the projector with my computer to share the tool with the small group of students.  Because the Science Desk has many different buttons for accessing animations, videos, spoken vocabulary, and even a shared reading selection, many students can go to the computer to choose and share the next element of the Desk to explore. 

The Desk topics appeal to visual learners by using short, colorful, animated videos, and real-life videos to explain the causes and effects of earthquakes and volcanoes.  By presenting the Science Desk tool in the small group we have the ability to stop and talk about the scientific vocabulary that can confound some of my students who have language-based learning disabilities.  The vocabulary is paired with audio for correct pronunciation and also with a picture.  We can also discuss any topical misconceptions, and most importantly pause to hear the connections that my social learners inevitably generate.  There is also an interactive earthquake simulation that models the destruction that lower and higher intensity earthquakes can cause.  The students determine and adjust the intensity on the simulated Richter scale. There is also a volcano simulation that models what occurs under Earth’s surface and inside the volcano to cause an eruption.  

An additional benefit to the Discovery Education Science Desk tool is that I can share it with one of my student’s who has a heart condition.  She has been sick and unable to come to school.  We have been sending her books, and worksheet assignments to work on when she is able.  This would be an interesting and more interactive way for her to engage with the topic. 

While the outward effects of earthquakes and volcanoes are more comprehensible for my 11 year-olds, the causes of these phenomena seem somewhat mystical and abstract.  They struggle to get their brains around ideas that they cannot see and hold.  If seeing is believing for my young students, then the Earthquake and Volcano Science Desk tools may provide the visuals and virtual manipulatives that will help them gain access to this topic.

iKnowthat.com. (2005). Science Lab:Earthquakes. Retrieved February 1, 2011 from Discovery Education streaming website: http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=60FE45E3-9393-463F-9CAA-DB9EE0241947.

iKnowthat.com. (2005). Science Lab:Volcanoes. Retrieved February 1, 2011 from Discovery Education streaming website: http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=a13003d0-3b8f-426a-96d6-f511b2a25cc5.