POST #3: Share a resource

My 4th grade students are working on learning to play the recorder and have already learned about how instruments make their sounds. I thought it fitting for them to watch a video on the different aspects of sound and the science behind it. The URL for the video is: https://learn360.infobase.com/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=74413&tScript=0#
Below the video there is a link to resources and inside that link in another link to the PDF Sound Guide that goes along with the video. Out of this guide I've pulled the "You decide questions" as well as the fill in the blank questions that the students will fill out while watching the video to help organize their thoughts and remember what they've seen on the video. After viewing the video we'll discuss how this relates to the sounds they make on their recorders while playing, both the good and bad sounds. Especially the accidental squeaks they make when not playing accurately and the sound that comes from those on purpose squeaks. The ultimate learning target is to connect them to the science of sound that comes from playing their musical instruments.

I went to the AEA online website with my classroom teacher.  She had students look up how other people in our world celebrate Valentines Day.  So I went to Culture Grams and we gave each student a continent so they could just click on the continent then choose on of the countries in their continent. It was so easy, also on the side bar was that countries Holidays.  It was nice to see the kids excited, their note taking skills.  They were amazed about the world views on Valentines Day. I loved how absorbed the students were in their country.  They wanted to look at other customs too.  The information was up-to-date. They wrote their facts and had to present to their classmates. One student was so excited about finding food recipes too.  She wrote down the recipe!! Then the students did comparing facts with the customs of the United States.

 

I used the Learn360 site.  Originally I searched for correlation coefficient as the most current topic I am teaching in 8th grade Algebra I.  I found only one document that I didn’t think would be a good fit.  The next topic in Algebra I is solving systems of equations by graphing.  I found a useful video clip for solving a system of equations by graphing as a way to introduce the topic:

https://learn360.infobase.com/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=75579&tScript=0

I will present the video to the class and pause in multiple places to allow for discussion, opportunities for students to record key vocabulary, and connect graphs to equations.  This will be the first day of the unit of solving systems of linear equations.  My students struggle with graphing points and this is an excellent opportunity to review these skills in a new context.

My target audience is my 8th grade Algebra I students who are having varying levels of success with Algebra I.  I am excited to use Learn360 as an additional resource.  

My overall student outcome/objective is to show the purpose of our prior work… graphing, solving equations, writing equations in standard and slope-intercept form, and using these forms to graph equations.  The eventual goal is to solve a system of linear equations to predict approximate (x, y) coordinates.

I go to the Keystone Online Media Resources website and click on BookBlix. I use BookFLix with my Pre-K students (ages 4 and 5). I love BookFlix because there is a fiction and nonfiction book on a related topic. For example, if I am doing a lesson on insects, I can go to the menu and choose Animals and Nature and then find a book on Ants. The children are able to follow along as the words are highlighted on the screen as they are read. I like to be able to pause, especially during the non-fiction story so we can have a discussion about vocabulary words or other interactions about what the children already know about the topic or what they are learning. Sometimes I ask the students to watch for certain site words as the story is being read and the highlighted words show up.  We count how many times we see the word "the" for example. Since taking the class, I have discovered the puzzler feature and tried it with my class. There are usually a couple of different extension activities that we can do as a whole group. I also like the meet the author feature. My students find it interesting to get to know a little about the book's author.

As a substitute teacher, I do not have access at home to these resources because I have no user name and password to use. I have used these resources in a few classroom settings. In some elementary classes, I have used Learn 360 and Brittanica (http://chool.eb.com).
In addition at http://www.learn360.infobase.com/p.infobase.com/pViewVideo.aspx, that provided a site for U.S. Government course resources. The use of these videos helped augment the handouts and lecture given.
I have also used Khan Academy resources for math and science courses.  I found those resources at https://www.Khanacademy.org/about.

I was excited to hear about TrueFlix while learning about all the resources that AEA Online has to offer. It can be a great tool to enhance science and social studies concepts. We are studying matter in my 6th grade science class right now. I would like to use “The Elements” to engage my students. I went to TrueFlix on the left side of the AEA Online homepage. It took me to the sign in page and then I browsed some great categories until I found something that would be useful for me at this time. Here’s the direct link-
http://sdm-tfx.digital.scholastic.com/p/node-44545/10538827?authCtx=U.610798691
 
I plan to let them work through this independently with the laptops that we have in the classroom. They will watch the video and read the book. They will then have the option to explore more (links to different Scholastic GO Articles) or look at project ideas. Once they have learned about the elements, they will take the 10 question quiz to check for understanding. There is also a word match that I think they will like.

I would go to the Iowa AEA online website and click on the Students tab and locate the TeachingBooks.net sign in page https://www.teachingbooks.net/signin.cgi.  From this page I would search the 4th grade and look for the book "Esperanza Rising".  I have read this book to my class for the past few years and they love it!  I would love to add resources, videos, trailers, etc., to the experience for my class.

My students and I would explore the resources together and I would definitely print out the QR flyer for students so they can easily go to the resources.  My class already loves to use the QR format for many different activities throughout our curriculum.  Students would also be able to view many different books at their grade level.  An activity that we have been doing for the past few years is having the students create a book trailer after they have read the book and make a QR code that takes other students to their trailer.  I can see students getting great inspiration for their own book trailers by looking at examples on TeachingBooks.net.

In our current curriculum our 4th graders learn about the different states and we have used CultureGrams as a wonderful resource for their State reports.  The students used the information they found on this website to help them make a State Float representing their state and then we had a state parade around the school and students loved it!  

If you have not done so already, take some time to navigate the different databases from Iowa AEA Online.  For this forum post, you will need to locate a resource that you found that you will use with students in your class.
In your post (200-400 words), you need to share the resource.  To do so, you either need the direct link to the resource (the URL) that you paste within your post, or you will need to give a description of how you go to the resource (e.g. I used "such-and-such" as my keyword and I selected the first picture of...).
Then, introduce to us the resource that you have chosen.  Explain who the target audience is, how you will incorporate it into your class, and what the overall student outcome/objective is that this resource helps deliver.

I chose the SIRS Issues Researcher.  I chose this as the resource because I want to start using the SIRS Researcher next year as I stated in another post. I teach a current events class so this will ensure that I am using great resources relating to topics we are discussing. What is so great about this resource is that it breaks topics down into opposing viewpoints which makes it very helpful for debates. It also provides links to recent news stories about the topic from reputable news websites.

I chose the topic of school shootings and gun control as it is extremely relevant to students and they have extremely high interest in the topic. The topic specifically would be on whether schools/teachers should be armed. Here is the link to this topic.

The audience for this would be my Freshmen Current World Issues class. I would break the class into two groups. One group would research the reason for arming schools/teachers with guns and the other would research reasons for not arming schools/teachers. We would eventually debate the topic.

The student outcome would be to better understand both positions on this topic and formulate there own position on the topic. Potentially, it could lead to some changes in our school to make things safer in our school.

The resource that I have chosen to use is Iclipart from the Iowa AEA online resources.  The link to this resource is, http://schools.iclipart.com/index.php.  The reason that I chose this resource was because many times my students who are low functioning and struggle with reading, writing and math.  During instruction or assignments, the students are asked to draw pictures about careers, are designing invitations, or doing something career related.  My students are not big fans of drawing and many times in the curriculum that I use asks for them to draw a picture, they then get upset and we spend hours trying to calm them down and to get them back on task.  Now that I know about this this website it will help so much because instead of them drawing I can show them this website and how to log in and then they can find their own pictures.  We have a printer in the classroom and they can print the pictures and glue them in the assignment.  This will have multiple benefits because they will not get upset because they can use the computer rather than draw.  Another benefit is I believe in trying to give my students as many options as they can have.  The students now have another option because if they feel like drawing they can or if they don’t they have an easy coping skills or alternative behavior that will be non-aggressive and a better use of instruction.  A third benefit would be that they can use the computer to benefit them rather than using the computer for inappropriate behavior.

I chose Bookflix as my resource to peruse.  I would use this resource with my 3rd graders to find nonfiction books that we are focusing on right now and to use as a station during our reading rotations.  2nd and 3rd graders could listen to the story as well.  It would give them different options instead them always having to read.  Once they heard the story read to them.  Having many ELLs in my room, being able to hear the text helps in hearing the language through voice and not just text.  Some of the stories are better read aloud than others.

I searched for help with the Calculus and Precalculus classes that I currently teach and could not find anything. Unfortunately, that reinforced my feeling that when I need something specific it takes less time for me to make it myself than to look for other resources.

So I decided to look for things for science classes I have taught in the past. In the AEA Digital Library I searched for "Physics" and the only thing that came up was an episode of Bill Nye titled "The Science of Music" (https://www.aeadigitallibrary.org/Media.aspx?id=229). I have used this program in the past, but did so in violation of copyright law. Using a proper source that would not break the law is something I wanted to do and I now know how to accomplish that. Plus, it's getting more challenging to be able to play DVDs while using online sources is getting easier all the time.

This video helps to introduce the science behind both music and sound in general. It is helpful in middle school science as well as in Conceptual Physics. In the course of the unit on Waves, this would be beneficial when we learn about sound waves, their energy and propagation, and their wavelengths and frequencies. I would use it at the beginning of that topic as an introduction and would refer back to select segments from that episode when I need to reteach or reinforce challenging ideas like standing waves and the doppler effect.

teenhealthandwellness.com

The resource I have chosen to share is the teen and wellness website. The main reason I picked this resource is to incorporate more of a health and wellness into my physical education courses. Our students have for the moment has limited access to health and wellness course in middle school. However, our district is looking into adding health class into middle school within the next few years. My making once a week or 2 full week’s focus of physical education class health related. I believe my students will benefit from these classes.
The personal stories of tween and teenagers that my students can relate to on a personal level would be a positive benefit. My students can web quest, daily journal, research projects, personal essays, and other projects for the health instruction. The goal would be to give students a brief but hopefully helpful introduce to health beyond the units they receive in their science and math classes.

teenhealthandwellness.com

When I was exploring all the resources I really liked GALE kids infoBites.  I went to www.iowaaeaonline.org and click on Gale (PreK-12) on the left hand side of the screen. This one stuck out to me because 2nd grade has been working on their research papers.  I know they used Pebble Go to find their books to research their topics.  The Kids infoBits reminds me of that resource.  It targets toward an audience of beginning researchers and is developmentally appropriate.  There are six tabs at the top where you can choose between Elementary, Middle School, High School, All, Educators, or Subjects.  You need a username and password to get past this screen.    The students would also be able to have access at home and school.  The main page on kids infoBites has a variety of research topics with pictures to help the students choose their research topic.  There are 12 total choices on the main screen.  I wont list them all but some of them that our students would be interested in are Animals, Sports, People, and Inventions & Technology.  

Since I am currently engage in a coaching cycle with three Title teachers, I chose to focus on using BookFLIX: http://sdm-bkflix.digital.scholastic.com/?authCtx=U.600055191

The target audience is students in grades PK-3. BookFLIX provides ebooks organized into categories. The categories are based on themes and include one fiction book paired with a nonfiction book with the same theme. Students can read along with the story, read the story independently, play games/puzzles related to the books, learn about the author, explore websites related to the theme, and find other books in the database that has a similar theme. It also has lesson plans, Spanish versions of books, and are correlated to state standards. Students can also access the database from home.

Our Title teachers are always looking for leveled readers for their students. They will be able to select books tailored to each student's needs. The teachers can then use the stories to help develop fluency, word recognition, and reading comprehension.

I went to the Iowa AEA online site, http://www.aeadigitallibrary.org/Menu.aspx, and logged in as a guest.  I selected True FLIX http://auth.grolier.com/login/tfww/login.php?bffs=N as a reading resource for my 6th grade class.  TrueFLIX is a site that will “bring non-fiction to life.”  This site pairs a book from the Scholastic True Book series with a video that is related to the book.  Since TrueFLIX focuses on science and social studies, it could be a situation where I, as library media specialist, am partnering with the social studies or science teacher to help the students work on a project.  For the purposes of this assignment, I will partner with the 6th grade science teacher.  To introduce their study on planets, the students can come into the library and I will have TrueFlix already on the computers to save a little time.  We can explain that as they begin a unit on the planets, we’ve found an online book for them to look at on the Solar System.  Then, they can watch the video that is paired with the book.  I would do the book first, because many kids may skip the reading if they go right to video first.  The outcome is to have a great introduction to a new unit by using an online system which pairs reading great non-fiction books with visuals with a video to help strengthen the connections they are making in the reading.  Hopefully, this will engage the students and further elicit questions that will be brought up in subsequent lessons or for further their research on their own, or in class.  

In my second post I stated that one of the challenges will be to master one of these resources myself before teaching it to my students.  I have already been playing around in CultureGrams since I learned about it in this class and I really like it!  I told my principal about it today.  I told him about the recipes that were shared on there from different states and countries and he thought it would be a great resource to share with our Family Consumer Science teacher as well!  So, I have decided that this would be the best place for me to start.  I have mentioned CultureGrams in some other areas for my assignments in this class.  
Begin by going to the following link:  http://online.culturegrams.com.  Once there, you can click on the states section.  A map of the United States will come up.  You can simply click on the state of your choice.  In this instance we will be learning about Iowa History, so click on the state of Iowa.  Once there, you will be able to see links to Iowa's climate, economy, history, population, famous people from Iowa and much more.  You can even print a picture of Iowa's flag!  At the bottom of the page, there is an outline of the state of Iowa.  You can click on a link to see all 99 counties and another link to see more details about the state.
My target audience for this is a 6th grade social studies class.  One 6th grade social studies standard is SS.6.23. Compare Iowa’s geography, natural resources and climate to other regions of the world.  I will have students use this resource to compare Iowa's geography, natural resources and climate to another region of their choice and then present their findings to the class.

During the class, I was very interested in Teachingbooks.net.  I went there and searched for a book I have just started with some of my students, A Wrinkle In Time.  It was one of my favorites when I was in 5th grade, and I love sharing it with them.  With the new movie out, many of them are excited to read the book.  On the site, I found the audio clip of the author reading the beginning of the book.  I wish I had known about the site before starting the book with them, as hearing the first chapter would have gotten them more engaged from the get go.  I also liked that there is a pronunciation of the author's name.  I am super excited to show them the vocabulary pages.  That will be a big help.  I spent a lot of time looking for an interview with the author and could only find a transcript of the Scholastic one.  There is another one from NPR that is on this site.  The discussion questions will be helpful as well. I am super excited about adding this to what my students do with this book.

The source that I used through Iowa AEA is the Learn360 website.  After accessing this website I used the keywords financial literacy to find videos on financial goals, marketing techniques, rights and responsibilities of a consumer, savings, investment, and financial planning.  Through this search I found multiple links and videos that would work wonderfully.  I ended up deciding to  use Personal Finance Essentials: Financial Literacy for Young Earners Series, found at https://learn360.infobase.com/p_Collection.aspx?seriesID=20033.  This is a five part series breaking down different financial skills.  The first video that I will incorporate is the Savings and Investing video.  This video aligns with the standard ss.7.31- Explain how an investment differs from a savings account in potential risks and returns.  I would use this video for my 7th grade social studies classroom and would use it paired with their everfi accounts.  I would use this video to introduce the basic differences between saving and investment before students used the interactive everfi account that would build off concepts talked about in the video.  This video will help identify savings type (simple savings, cd, and money markets) as well as investments (retirement, stocks, bonds, mutual funds).  This will also help identify what interest is and will be easily linked to interest lessons within the unit.

Currently I am working as a Para with SpEd high school students.  BookFlix would be a great resource in some of the classes.  Being able to listen to the stories while the words are highlighted could enhance their comprehension and, perhaps, assist in gaining knowledge while encouraging a love and enjoyment of reading.  If or when I start subbing again or return to full time teaching, BookFlix would be a great addition to teaching stations.

I would like to introduce CultureGrams. It can be located on the Iowa AEA Online website, click on CultureGrams (K-12) in the left column and then it will bring you to this website http://online.culturegrams.com/.

I have Spanish IV, which is made up of seniors, design a travel brochure of a Spanish speaking country. Most of the students pick Costa Rica since that is where I take students every two years. The brochure has to be in Spanish and in their own words. It has to contain certain information about the country, like its' flag, a famous person, its' capital and activities that are popular.

Now, when I introduce the assignment, I will put CultureGrams on their rubric and add a few more items that have to be covered on the brochure. For example, I want them to include a popular recipe and for extra credit, make and bring in the recipe. I will also want them to add the currency rate and what the name of the currency is. And finally, I will want them to tell me about a special holiday.

There are two outcomes that I hope designing this travel brochure will accomplish. First and foremost, I want the students to learn some neat facts about a Spanish speaking country. Maybe that will entice them to want to travel there. Also, I am hoping to tap in to their creative side by having them design this brochure. They are of course using Spanish, but I am having them do something that is working on their Spanish in a different way. They learn a lot of hard grammar concepts in Spanish IV and I want this project to give them a 'break' from learning those concepts. It will be a bonus if they use those concepts that we have been working on!