Chatterpix-Fourth Grade and Planets

Fourth grade students study planets (Georgia Standards of Excellence-Science S4E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to compare and contrast the
physical attributes of stars and planets)  They chose a planet or spacecraft to research and write a script to record using the app, Chatterpix.  Limited to 29 seconds students have to carefully consider what information to include about their topic.  Recording themselves is an important skill as they can hear what they actually wrote and they can then edit their writing (they realize their errors as they try to read their own writing).

I prepare a Livebinder of resources in order to supply them with credible resources and to speed up the process.  The whole process still takes about 3 plus library visits for each class in order to record all of the students.

I upload the videos to YouTube to give the students’ work a wider audience and the opportunity to share with parents and fellow students.

Link to one of the classes uploaded Chatterpix videos: https://goo.gl/WXqfK4

 

 

 

Third Grade-Book Character Poems

Third grade students used picture book characters as inspiration for their poetry writing in celebration of National Poetry Month.  I selected picture books with strong characters and randomly assigned them to small groups of students.  Using a template, the students read the book and decided who would be the subject of their poem.

We emphasized using text evidence for their writing.  If you are going to say the character “sees” something, be sure that you can point to the evidence.  This template could also be used as book report.

The second library visit was used to finish up with those groups who hadn’t filled in all the lines or who needed some help editing.

Recording the Poems and Uploading to YouTube

The third library visit I video taped the groups reading their poems and I used Windows Movie Maker to create a movie, which I uploaded to YouTube.  Shared the links with the teachers so that the students could view the finished product.

One more class needs to be taped and now that the craziness of state testing is over, I might get to it!

Class watching their video of poems on YouTube.

Blackout Poetry with Fourth Graders

I decided to be a risk taker and try blackout poetry with my fourth grade classes.  I saw this several years ago but wasn’t sure how it would work and whether they would “get it”. Previous examples used newspaper or magazine articles and I just didn’t think this would excite our students.  But I think it was a success with most of them really enjoying it and excited by the process.

Finding the Right “Hook”

Somewhere I read about a librarian who used photocopies of the first page of chapter books for the basis of the poems (I would attribute this idea if I could remember where I saw it).  I browsed our fiction section to choose ones that really grabbed the readers attention.  This group also needs motivation to pick out chapter books and actually read them.  I thought this activity might inspire some of them to check out the books.  I didn’t reveal what books they came from until after the had completed the poems and they were excited when they recognized their page.

Introduction and Examples: Google Slides and YouTube

I created a brief Google Slides that contained examples of blackout poetry and then I showed the students a video about Austin Kleon, a writer who is well known for his newspaper blackout poetry.

Then I randomly gave out the copies of first pages along with pencils.

The Creative Process

Some students struggled a bit at first, but after they relaxed and were assured there really wasn’t a “right” way to do, they made progress.  This activity was completed over two library visits with instruction and creating taking about 20 to 30 minutes each time.

Students in the initial stages circling words in pencil.

 

Getting serious now!  Blackening in with crayons.

Sharing Using Padlet

I wanted a way for the students to be able to read each others poems so decided on Padlet.  After taking photos of each completed poem I uploaded them.  I emailed the classroom teachers the Padlet link and asked that they share with their students.  In the case of one of the teachers this will be her only opportunity to see her students’ work as she nearly always sends her para to the library while remaining in her classroom!

Here are the two links:

https://padlet.com/isecslibrary/5asa8x4ef5pl

I will definitely do blackout poetry again next year for National Poetry Month!

5th Grade Exhibition: Action

 

The first week I worked with our 5th grade students, I made a Google Slide presentation based on one by Pam Weiger, teacher librarian/IB coordinator at Allisonville Elementary School in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Pam shared her PowerPoint at a recent IB PYP workshop.

We introduced our students to the United Nations’ Global Goals in order to help them brainstorm for issues and problems.  Our students each have school issued Dell tablets so they worked individually through the presentation. My Google Slide presentation for this second week-https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NcE4bInSKHK3AeG7uHM35q6ub0yo5iqa55yVvyd4QnY/edit?usp=sharing

Action Focus: PYP Exhibition

The second week I worked with the students and we focused on the action component of the exhibition.  We looked at the words invent, innovate and campaign, as these were the concepts from the video, The World’s Largest Lesson 2016.  This video, according to the description on YouTube: ” invite(s) children to get involved in the Global Goals for Sustainable Development by inventing, innovating and campaigning.”

Student Response: Tweet or Question

After viewing the video the students could choose to add another question to our map or compose a Tweet to explain what the UN’s Global Goals are about.

 

I tweeted a sampling of the students’ works:

Third Grade “Rocks” ChatterPix

I really like using the app, ChatterPix and the students do, too.  This year I decided to introduce it to third grade.  As they were beginning to study rocks I had them use our online subscription to World Book or the state-funded resource Britannica School Encyclopedia (through the Galileo database). 

Note Taking and Writing Skills

The students used notepaper to write a few facts about rocks after reading one of the online encyclopedias.  I had shown them an example of a Chatterpix at the beginning of this activity so they knew the concept was to make a “talking rock”.

It took one entire library visit to introduce the topic, get everyone’s tablet to the correct website and write down some facts.  Afterwards I went through the students’ notes to insure that they had enough information to write a script at the next visit.

At their second library visit students used their rock facts to write a short script as if they were the rock.  Chatterpix limits the recording to 29 seconds.  Most students required editing of their writing, as they did not write it in first person.

Curated Rock Photos

I choose a bunch of rock images ahead of time to save on time.  The students had about twenty different rock images to choose from.  After opening the Chatterpix app (unfortunately only available for Apple products), they selected an image from my laptop and took a photo of it using the iPad.  Then a line is drawn across the photograph, which becomes the talking mouth. Then they recorded their script.

Students love to hear themselves!

Uploaded to YouTube

After they completed their ChatterPix I saved them to the iPad and from there uploaded them to my YouTube account.  I shared the folder link with the teacher so that the students could watch themselves.  Ideally the teacher would share it with parents.  Just giving them another digital tool for their tool belt.

 

 

3rd Grade and Book Character Poems Celebrating National Poetry Month

While in graduate school working on my Specialist degree, I was introduced to a poem template for a book character.  I used it successfully last year during National Poetry Month and decided it was worth a repeat.  I selected picture books with strong characters and a strong plot that could be read easily by the 3rd grade students. Titles included: Where the Wild Things Are, Harry the Dirty Dog, The Paper Bag Princess, The Gingerbread Boy, The Three Billy Goats Gruff (and a few more).

The small group decided how they would read the book (take turns, have one reader, etc.) and after reading the book, they completed the template.

Movie and YouTube

I recorded all of the groups reading their poem using Windows Movie Maker to put together the clips and then uploaded the movie to YouTube.  I’ve completed 2 movies and have one more to go. Check out the completed ones:

I used one of our Flip cameras to record the students in our morning show studio.

Read Across America Day 2017

I have organized, planned and executed 12 Read Across America Days at my school.  It’s always the most exhausting but rewarding day (and only 5 more to do before I retire-but who’s counting?).  Lots of walking (to and fro from the office, to classrooms to take photos); excited members of the community coming to read; random parents and volunteer readers showing up unannounced,etc.

Additional Student Involvement: Including Student Readers

This year we involved our students more in RAAD.  I asked some of the 4th grade students who had recently read to fellow students and staff for World Read Aloud Day if they would be interested in reading to Kindergarten and 1st grade classes.  I tried to match up a couple with younger siblings’ classrooms.  I gave them some choices on book titles and we went over how to read aloud to a group.

I will definitely keep this student involvement for next year’s RAAD, but I will spend more time training them and have them practice with me.  They enjoyed reading to the classes and I think it helped build their self-confidence.

Fourth grade student reading to a kindergarten class.

Further Student Involvement: Official Escorts

At the suggestion of our International Baccalaureate: PYP Coordinator, we added student escorts.  These members of our school’s United Nations Club took the readers to their classroom, guided them to a second classroom if necessary, and escorted them to the front office to sign out of the building.  The students basked in this responsibility and it gave the readers (mostly community members) a chance to further interact with our students. I will definitely continue this next year as well.

3rd Grade United Nations Club member escort and RAAD reader.

Read Across the World Day: A New Experience

One of our kindergarten teachers came to me a week or so ago with an idea proposed by a parent of one of her students.  The father of the student is in the Army currently stationed in Kuwait.  The mom thought maybe we could Skype and have the dad read a book to the class.  After discussions back and forth, the mom came up with the idea of dad recording himself reading.  She uploaded the video to YouTube and sent me the link so that I could project it on the big screen in the library.  She arranged to come to school and the class came to the library for a “special reader” who was going to share a story.

I had the teacher sitting in a chair with the book as dad (and 3 fellow Army members) read the book from his phone. It took the student a couple of seconds to realize what was going on and then he said, “That’s my dad!”. The teacher turned the pages while the soldiers read the book and the students were very engaged.  As the class was leaving the boy asked his mom if he could call his dad!

The soldiers did a very energetic reading and singing!

Our long distance reader, a kindergarten student’s father reading from Kuwait via YouTube!

The kindergarten class after they finished watching the video from the soldiers in Kuwait, with mom and teacher.

We had 4 news reporters from our local Fox television stations read to the students.  One class of 5th graders asked the young reporter for her autograph!

Chatterpix, 4th Grade & Jupiter

I have used the app Chatterpix with 4th grade and 5th students in previous years, but only with projects where the subjects were people.  This seemed alike a good fit as the point of Chatterpix is to make something talk.  This year I decided to take a risk and use Chatterpix with 4th grade students early in the year when they are studying the solar system.

Livebinder, World Book Online, Britannica Student (Galileo)

I created a Livebinder with resources on the planet Jupiter and the recently arrived space probe, Juno.  Since this was a item that had been in the news recently (Juno having reached Jupiter in July), I thought it would make learning about the planet more relevant.  I included a link to our online subscription to World Book and a link to Britannica School Elementary, which we receive through the state of George via Galileo (www. galileo.usg.edu).  I added other websites such as NASA and news outlets to bring in the very current events.

Chatterpix

Students had a choice to make Jupiter (the planet) or Juno (the spacecraft) their topic. This ties in with one of the current Georgia Performance Standards, “S4E2.d. Demonstrate the relative size and order from the sun of the planets in the solar system” and “S4CS8. Students will understand important features of the process of scientific inquiry. Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices: c. Scientists use technology to increase their power to observe things and to measure and compare things accurately”.

I modeled this project by creating a Chatterpix of the planet Mars.  The students were all intrigued to see a planet talking.  They were given two library visits to conduct their research and if they didn’t collect sufficient notes during those two visits, they would not be able to make a Chatterpix.  That was incentive enough for about 98% of them!  Some were ready to write their script with the info gathered after one sitting.

Scripts: 1st Person Narrative

After gathering notes, the student wrote a first person narrative as Jupiter or Juno.  I have begun posting them on YouTube. I just realized after posting LOTS of Chatterpixs on my personal YouTube account it was time to open up an account linked to my school email and create folders for each teacher.  Don’t know why I didn’t think of this years ago! I’ve only uploaded four so far, but more will follow.

One student recording on the iPad and another student rehearsing their script.

Surprises

Using this digital storytelling app showed me how students will surprise you.  Two of the students who “got it” immediately were not ones I expected.  One was a 5th grader (more about their Chatterpix subject in a soon to be written blog post) who didn’t appear to take any notes, but just wrote her narrative in first person while looking at the online resources.  This is a student who might be called a “little turkey” (one of my favorite expressions from a former teacher to describe students who were always pushing your buttons and the limits).  Boy, I never expected that script out of her without any prodding or really oversight.  She just did it!

The other student who really embraced this project was a 4th grade boy who has almost had to repeat a grade several times and is reading about a full grade level below.  He nailed that person narrative right off the bat. Check out our talking planets and spacecraft!

http://bit.ly/2bI1M56

 

 

 

April-National Poetry Month-5th Grade “I Am” Poems

Earlier this month I celebrated National Poetry Month with fifth grade students.  At the first library visit I read the picture book biography, Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton written and illustrated by Dan Tate (Peachtree Publishers, 2015).  This is a moving story about a slave who teaches himself to read and goes on to write poetry, publishing several books in his lifetime.  This is a good book to read to these students as they study the U.S. Civil War and are very familiar with the concepts.  We discuss how his poetry expressed his feelings about himself and his life.

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton by Dan Tate

“I Am” Poem Template

I found a template on  the Freeology site (http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/i-am-poem-template/).  I gave copies of the template to the teachers and instructed the students to express themselves as George Moses Horton did in his poetry.  The teachers had their students complete their poems during morning work time or other convenient slot.  Some of the students put a lot of effort and thought into writing their poems.  I chose the best works and asked the students if they wanted me to video them reading them.  Only 2 students out of about 20 declined.

Flip Camera, Windows Movie Maker and YouTube

Working around teachers’ schedules (they were all prepping their students for the upcoming Georgia Milestones, our state tests), I managed to record each class with a Flip camera.  I still love these little cameras.  So convenient and easy to use.  I put the videos together using Windows Movie Maker.  Now, ideally, if it weren’t the week before testing, I would have had the students put the movies together.  However, I knew they didn’t have the time to take away from instructional time.  I usually like to give them hands-on experience with this type of technology, even if it’s only a few students and not the entire class.

After completing the movies, I uploaded them to my YouTube channel and emailed each teacher the link to their class’s video.  Then I did a post on our school’s Facebook page to let parents and community members see our students’ work.

 

Post of the YouTube videos on the school’s Facebook page

 

The Twenties, Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance and Chatterpix

Our fifth grade students are required to be knowledgeable of 5 figures from the 1920’s United States history: Louis Armstrong, Langston Hughes, Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford.

Georgia Performance Standards: SS5H4b. Describe the cultural developments and individual contributions in the 1920s of the Jazz Age (Louis Armstrong), the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes), baseball (Babe Ruth), the automobile (Henry Ford), and the airplane (Charles Lindbergh).

Collaborating with the teachers, we decided that the students would use Chatterpix to record a first person narrative in the persona of one of the historical figures.

Graphic Organizer and Livebinders

I designed a graphic organizer for the students to use to collect their notes and write their script.  I created Livebinders for each historical figure to ensure that the students used quality, reliable websites.  Here is a link to one of the Livebinders:

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1933083?tabid=5b0552b8-b751-7bf9-5303-59cebbc3a483

Livebinder for resources on Charles Lindbergh

Chatterpix Recordings

I looked over the students’ scripts trying to ensure they were written in first person, contained sufficient details to explain why these people are notable and how they changed the United States in the 1920s, and didn’t contain a sentence about when that person died (looking at the recordings, I see that one of these statements did slip by). We had two iPads in use at one time and students didn’t need much help using Chatterpix as last year as 4th graders they did a Chatterpix.  At this point one class has finished their recordings, a second one has done a few, and we haven’t started recording the third class yet!

Uploading to YouTube

I uploaded the finished Chatterpix to my YouTube channel so that I can share the links easily to each of the teachers and the students.  Our students all have a Dell tablet assigned to them, so they will be able to view their Chatterpix and their classmates easily on YouTube.  I sure wish there was an android version of Chatterpix and then it would be so much easier!  When all 5th students are finished, I will share the link on our school’s new Facebook page.

My YouTube channel link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrAWZL6jG6kgse7KfsEqs5A/videos?view=0&shelf_id=0&sort=dd

Technology Challenges

Last year, after students finished their American Revolutionary War historical figures’ Chatterpix, I just exported them easily by choosing the email option.  This year, using the same iPad, that didn’t work and neither did using the export to YouTube option.  So, I exported them to “Photos” and then used the USB cord to directly connect the iPad to my laptop and copied them.  Then uploaded them to my YouTube channel!  Oh, and then today I couldn’t get the iPad to connect to our school’s wifi.  Boy, some days technology is so much fun!!!