I explored the presentation technology of Animoto. (http://animoto.com/). I found this technology easy to use and I was excited to produce a quality piece. This website allows you to input pictures, text titles, and music to create an exciting video. I think this technology is much more exciting to watch than a PowerPoint Presentation. Animoto provides a tutorial and step-by-step directions to walk you through the creation process. I easily signed up for a free membership. With this free membership, the videos you create are limited to 30 seconds, as compared to a paid membership with longer videos. The free membership also limits the number of pictures and text titles that can be included. Although the website does offer a wide selection of music, the music is obscure. You can use your own music if it is in a mp3 format.
This is a perfect tool for me to use in the classroom. In 4th grade, we study Indiana history. Not originally from Indiana, over the past few years I decided to travel around the state to actually visit the places I teach about. I then can show my students the pictures I take and bring the locations to life. I decided to make an Animoto video using the pictures from one of my latest trips to Corydon-Indiana's first state capitol, and the Civil War battlefield located in Corydon. I am excitied to show my students this video. I think it will keep them interested and engaged in Social Studies! Here is my link to my Corydon video:
http://animoto.com/play/oui7H4V88pXGt33R1BI5GQ
There are a few complications to this website when integrating it into the classroom. First, students would need to sign in with an e-mail address to get a free account. Several of my students do not computers at home, so therefore do not have e-mail addresses. In addition, as a teacher I wouldn't feel comfortable having my 4th graders enter their e-mail address, if they have one, at school. Also, the website does show other member's videos, which are not all appropriate for school. To counter this, Animoto seems like a tool that I can use to show my students on our projector. Although the students would not be involoved in the creation process, I still think the technology is engaging.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Emerging Technology: Wordle
Hi again! I have just started experimenting with Wordle, and so far I love it! (http://www.wordle.net) This unique website allows students to input words and phrases relevant to a topic. The website then jumbles the words around into a work of art! For someone like me, who loves art and to be artsy, but has no artistic talent whatsoever, this makes me feel like I accomplished something of value. The website is fairly easy to use. I did have to get used to typing in phrases or names without using spaces, or else the words will be split apart. Another thing I noticed was to be careful when spelling words, as once you jumble the words, you can't go back to correct misspelled words.
For kids, this is a great way to introduce adjectives, character traits, and poetry. Each wordle creation is a piece of art in itself. In my classroom, I used Wordle to create a piece on Martin Luther King, Jr. using words and phrases that my students and I discussed. I hung the poem on a bulletin board, surrounded by our "We Have A Dream..." stories. This was my way of introducing Wordle to my students. I plan on having each of my students create their own piece of art using character traits and adjectives to describe Abraham Lincoln or George Washington for our Preident's Day bulletin board. I think this will be a great way to get kids excitied about writing and taking ownership of their ideas. I'm excited to see how it goes! (Here is a link to my Martin Luther King Jr. word art. http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1565543/Martin_Luther_King )
One drawback I do foresee is that although these word poems look great in color, our school/administration restricts the use of color printing to a small handful of items. I've decided to print the word poems out in black and white, and then have the students color and decorate their own using crayons, colored pencils, or markers. The other thing that may be an issue for my students is spelling. This is a lacking skill for many of my students. I think the best way for my class to offset this is to first write all the words either by hand or in a Word document to check for spelling mistakes.
For kids, this is a great way to introduce adjectives, character traits, and poetry. Each wordle creation is a piece of art in itself. In my classroom, I used Wordle to create a piece on Martin Luther King, Jr. using words and phrases that my students and I discussed. I hung the poem on a bulletin board, surrounded by our "We Have A Dream..." stories. This was my way of introducing Wordle to my students. I plan on having each of my students create their own piece of art using character traits and adjectives to describe Abraham Lincoln or George Washington for our Preident's Day bulletin board. I think this will be a great way to get kids excitied about writing and taking ownership of their ideas. I'm excited to see how it goes! (Here is a link to my Martin Luther King Jr. word art. http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1565543/Martin_Luther_King )
One drawback I do foresee is that although these word poems look great in color, our school/administration restricts the use of color printing to a small handful of items. I've decided to print the word poems out in black and white, and then have the students color and decorate their own using crayons, colored pencils, or markers. The other thing that may be an issue for my students is spelling. This is a lacking skill for many of my students. I think the best way for my class to offset this is to first write all the words either by hand or in a Word document to check for spelling mistakes.
My Delicious link
Hi all! I am posting my delicious link. I've added a few 'staples' in my lesson preparation throughout the year and a few new sites that I discovered along the way.
http://delicious.com/jackiepall
http://delicious.com/jackiepall
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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