Tag Archives: ESL

Sep
27
2015

Getting Ready for the Global Read Aloud

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It is only one week until the lgraaunch of The Global Read Aloud! We were so honored that during this busy time, Pernille Ripp, founder of The Global Read Aloud was able to join us for part of our discussion of The Global Read Aloud. If you missed the live session, please listen to the recording here.

Recording of TLP-C The Global Read Aloud using Blackboard Collaborate

or watch here for video only

[kaltura-widget uiconfid=”11958342″ entryid=”1_29gjsjrw” width=”400″ height=”333″ align=”center” /] We began the session by describing what TLP-C is and what our goals are. If you are already familiar with us, you might want to skip ahead to minute 9:49.    If you’re reading this and wondering what The Global Read Aloud is, let us clear things up a bit. The Global Read Aloud is an opportunity to read a book at the same time as other classrooms around the world. As the classroom teacher, you decide how you want to connect with other classrooms. It is a great opportunity to give students a global perspective, let them write for authentic audiences and connect with a book in a powerful way.

It was wonderful to hear from Pernille directly about how she got the idea to create the Global Read Aloud. I think we got a real sense of her passion for reading and for turning students into readers; as well as a sense of how big this project has become. When talking about how the Global Read Aloud impacts students, Pernille said,

“It starts a revolution in their brain that all of a sudden leads to them identifying as readers and writers.”

Looking for advice about the Global Read Aloud? “Do it, ” says Pernille. Just get involved. Read the book and try one tool.

In addition to Pernille joining us, classroom teacher, Denise Radomski, also joined in for this information-packed session. Denise teaches sixth grade at George Washington Middle School and participated in The Global Read Aloud last year. Melissa King, Technology Integration Specialist, also shared her thoughts since some teachers she works with will be joining The Global Read Aloud this year.

GRAmapWe had fun sharing ideas about why it is valuable to participate in The Global Read Aloud. We also had loads of tips and tricks to share that will guide anyone who is new to the project. The best part of this program is that you can really pick your level of involvement. Maybe you’ll just read the book with your student and read what other classes are doing as part of their read aloud. Maybe you’ll find another class in another school that wants to share ideas about the book through Skype, Edublogs, Padlet, WriteAbout or some other virtual format.

Let us know if you join the project this year. We’d love to hear about your experiences, the excitement and the challenges.

Sep
27
2014

How many apps can you smash?

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appsmashing2 A huge thank you to Caroline Doughty for launching our first 2014-2015 session of TLP-C this week. We had a lively crowd that was enthused about trying out app smashing in their classrooms. If you missed our live session, check out the recording:

Recording of TLP-C App Smashing September 25, 2014

If you are tuning in for the appsmashing3first time, the first 20 minutes or so cover what TLP-C is, our goals and protocols and a brief overview of Blackboard Collaborate. Caroline’s section will start about 22 minutes in.

Caroline began by defining App Smashing. Basically, app smashing is any time you are using more than one app together!  Caroline then explored why she thinks it is an effective strategy in the classroom. She emphasized the critical thinking involved as well as the creativity that was unleashed in her students. What was also really interesting was that she also found it to be a great way to increase oral fluency and to track the progress of her English Language Learners. Apps that were used early in the school year could be smashed with those used later on and the progress in students pronunciation, word usage and sentence structure was marked. What a powerful form of assessment!

Caroline shared some of her favorite ways to app smash. Those included using PicCollage to take a photo of a blank clock and to add the time.  Students then opened Tellagami and imported the PicCollaged clock to explain how they knew the time. We loved how Caroline structured these activities so that they were differentiated (different clocks) and provided time for students to see each other’s examples. She found students learned so much about the mathematical skill of time telling as well as about app smashing when they had time to see their classmate’s smashed apps.

Some other apps that Caroline has smashed, or that you might want to try smashing, include:appsmashing1

  • Garage Band
  • My Story
  • Skitch
  • Doceri
  • Explain Everything
  • Base 10 apps
  • Aurasma
  • Comic Touch Lite
  • iMovie
  • Word Cloud
  • Glow Draw!

The possibilities are endless. And the more students are exposed to using different apps, the more they will want to use them together. Kids love smashing – why not let them app smash!!

We hope you get a chance to watch/listen to the recording. Leave us a comment below if you’ve app smashed or if you have more questions about how to smash!

Our next live session will be Thursday, October 30th from 4-5pm EST (click here to find out when it will be in your time zone)

 

Jan
29
2014

The Power of a Story

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Last week’s session of TLP-C was another great one. Sandra Rojas Story, English Language Learner teacher shared amazing examples of digital storytelling from her students. If you didn’t get a chance to attend this session live, please listen to the recording by clicking below. You won’t regret it! (You might want to skip the first 25 minutes though – we started the recording a little early *smile*)

Recording of TLP-C Digital Storytelling with English Language Learners – January 26th

Sandra began the session by reviewing what digital storytelling is and why you should use it with students. Sandra teaches in a juvenile detention facility and works with students from a number of different backgrounds. It was great to consider both how this is a very important digital tool for her students as well as for students in all educational settings. Many of us liked how she shared both the idea of the teacher creating digital stories to use to introduce topics as well as having students make their own digital stories.tlp-c-student

Sandra also discussed the process for creating digital stories. She included that she often asks students to complete a storyboard before they actually use the technology to make the story. Many teachers were excited about the idea of storyboards and agreed that this was an important step that they sometimes skip. Here are some links to storyboard templates you might find useful:

Jason Ohler storyboards

Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling

Ohio State University Toolkit for Digital Storytelling

As Sandra told her stories about digital stories, we all had fun playing around with some of the tools she has tried or recommends. Watch the recording to hear her thoughts about the advantages and disadvantages of each. She also shared some very moving student examples with us. You will be amazed with what her students have accomplished.

Here are the links to some of the top digital story tools mentioned:

Weebly for Education – even though Weebly is a website builder, students can use it to curate videos and tell a story that way.

Haiku Deck – this tool makes gorgeous presentations and has pre-selected images for you based on the text you are entering. (Great tutorial for this tool created by a 4th grader: http://www.yoututlp-c-goanimatebe.com/watch?v=Fbs4luORHts)

Go Animate for Schools – create cartoons that speak! Be sure to use the site for schools. There is a cost to use with a classroom.

Powtoon – allows you to create animated presentations. Really engaging presentation.

Animoto for Classrooms – create very engaging videos from still images. Students can add music from the Animoto music bank. Be sure to check out the free account for teachers.

Storybird for Teachers – author beautiful virtual books. You must use their artwork which is both limiting and inspiring.

Digital Vaults – very powerful tool for history or government classes. Extensive access to primary sources.

And, of course, don’t forget the ol’ standbys of Photostory and PowerPoint. These can both be used very effectively for digital stories.

Many of Sandra’s students’ project can be viewed on her website: http://digitalstorywithesolstudents.weebtlp-c-quotely.com/index.html Here you will see many examples of the tools mentioned above as well as read her thoughts about the power of using digital tools with English Language Learners.

An ongoing theme of the session was definitely that students find digital stories highly engaging. They are a terrific way to get students interested in a topic, practicing their written and oral language skills and learning how to use technology to create something instead of just consuming something. Sandra also discussed how motivated students were when they knew that others were going to see their digital stories either face-to-face or virtually.

Thank you Sandra for a great session and for all the teachers that shared tips and ideas in the chat. Our next TLP-C will be on doing Mystery Video Calls on Thursday, February 20th from 4-6pm EST (-5 GMT). We hope you can join us then!