Video Instruction

Let's face it, most kids like TV and enjoy watching videos. It sometimes frustrates me that a video can be more successful in teaching my students than I am because they are so engaged in watching the screen, however I do think videos can be meaningful instructional tools.

Recently I have been using a lot of science videos, well actually they are really short video clips ranging from 2-5 minutes, as part of my science unit on amphibians. When it comes to science, video images of creatures in the wild are as close as I can get to the real thing. Our school subscribes to Discovery Education which has an online database of amazing videos that can be sorted by topic and grade level. The kids are very engaged and always learn from the videos. I have found great videos for science, math, reading themes, and even grammar!

I think it is important to have a specific objective for watching the video and it is more meaningful to let the children know something in particular they are watching for, rather than allowing them to just sit back and watch as if Spongebob is on the screen. 

I typically like to use a book either before or after a video to extend or repeat the information and when possible, I think short video clips on a specific topic can be more meaningful than longer videos that cover a lot of topics. I am not advocating replacing my instruction during an entire lesson with a video so I can sit back and organize my desk. I think using a video as a steppingstone and part of a lesson is a great way to engage students, yet a video should not be the only component. The introduction to establish the purpose for viewing as well as discussion following the video are essential in making the viewing experience meaningful. I am always watching the video along with the students and I do not use video time as teacher break time. 

I recently discovered some cute videos on parts of speech and shared the first clip with my English Language Development group this morning. I know that I can stand in front of the group and explain that a noun is a person, place or thing and they will learn that information, but I do think that information paired with interesting visuals, characters and music can make information more memorable.

Check out this video that covers:

• What is a noun?
• Proper Nouns and Common Nouns
• Capitalizing Proper Nouns
• Plural nouns with "s"
• Plural nouns with "es"
• Plural nouns with "ies"
• Final Quiz

I will begin each lesson this week with a clip that is part of a whole video about a little bookworm that is a picky eater. Each clip is only about 2 or 3 minutes and the daily objectives are presented clearly. Additionally, the clips are perfectly sequenced so that each day adds a little more information to the previous day's knowledge. Following the video, I will conduct an activity relating to the daily objective to check for understanding. 

How do you feel about using videos for instruction? Are there particular subjects for which videos can be used more meaningfully?

More Kid Writing

I love this piece of writing by my little future scientist. Enzo is so into non-fiction and knows lots of information about animals and various creatures. 

My students have been working on writing 5 sentence paragraphs

 that begin with a main idea (topic sentence), followed by three details related to the main idea, and end with a closing sentence that tells how they feel about the main idea.  

Enzo's piece about the difference between saw sharks and hammerhead sharks is too cute! The difference between his writing at the beginning of the year and his writing now is astounding! I wish I had an example to post from September. 

Experimenting

Experimenting with posting documents that are available for download

Monsters Sight Words

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Books Humanities high frequency words

Learning Celebration Cheers

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Give me some feedback about how it works....

First Graders Love Frogs!

I am currently teaching a unit on amphibians and the kids are LOVING it. Despite my irrational fear of these little critters, especially frogs, I really enjoy teaching this unit. First Graders are finally coming into their own at this point in the year and they are curiously devouring the non-fiction books in the classroom and proudly sharing their scientific findings. 

The group "amphibians" includes two main groups, frogs and salamanders and additionally toads and newts which are part of those groups. The main difference between frogs and salamanders is that salamanders have tails. Our unit focuses mainly on frogs.

The main topics covered in the amphibians unit are:

• vocabulary "amphibian" and "metamorphosis"
• life cycle of the frog
• frog characteristics (bulging eyes, smooth moist skin, strong back legs, webbed feet, long sticky tongue)
• food chain
• frog habitat/pond life

Here are some of the materials I have used:

CHARACTERISTICS

Label the Frog

Publish at Scribd or explore others: amphibians frogs

Sticky Tongue

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Books Fiction sticky tongues flip book

modified activities for student with special needs working on color matching.

LIFE CYCLE

 

life cycle plastic set purchased for $5.95  from Oriental Trading

FOOD CHAIN

Food Chain

Publish at Scribd or explore others: School Work Research Business & Economics Recipes & Menus food chain

Food Chain Quiz

Publish at Scribd or explore others: School Work food chain

Images created using Boardmaker program. Sticky magnets used on the back so students can arrange images in the correct order on the whiteboard.

modified food chain matching activity for student with special needs. 

HABITAT

photos to come!

SOME FAVORITE BOOKS

I borrowed all of the books that our school library has relating to amphibians and frogs and put them in a separate basket so they are easy for students to access throughout the day at various reading times. I also have many age appropriate non-fiction books that I purchased from Scholastic Book Clubs that the kids are loving. Many non-fiction books are too difficult for first graders to read, but I am working on a collection of non-fiction books that are more geared towards younger readers. 

I also have many projects that the kids worked on that I am going to attempt to scan and include here for downloading, but I have to learn how to do that! Check back!

Fun with Fractions

I came across these fraction magnets from Lakeshore a few months back and included them on my most recent Donorschoose wish list. Time has passed, and sadly, there have not been any donations towards my proposal of math materials requested for my classroom. I completely understand, with the current economy, why people may not have extra money to donate, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. 

We started a unit on fractions this week so I knew that it was time to get crafty again. This simple fractions puzzle set only costs $12.99, but I was able to create them myself for less. I really love these realistic looking food items and thought dividing food was a great way to teach fractions that would be meaningful to young students. When sharing food, being fair ** having equal parts** is essential!

I went to google images and searched each kind of food that is pictured in the image I saw on the Lakeshore website.  I have a color printer at home, so I did have to use my own colored ink (no biggie) and I printed two copies of each food item. I then cut one picture into equal parts (halves, thirds, or quarters). I have a student whose mother feels so sad that we no longer have a laminator at my school and she, very kindly, offered to laminate items for me because she has a laminator at home and gets a great deal on the paper. I sent the photos home in my student's homework folder and received nice, crisp laminated photos the following Monday! I simply added a small piece of sticky magnet to the back and voila! I did not write the fractions on my pictures because I wanted my students to be able to tell me the fraction by looking at the image and thinking about it, not just reading from the image.

 I think I made a pretty good replica and saved myself at least 10 dollars. 

I then spent that 10 dollars I saved on the ingredients to make these delicious cake balls from Bakerella's AMAZING website, but my staff was very appreciative, so it was worth it. 

Some photos of my food fractions...

D to the R

I am very excited/proud/happy to announce that I was accepted into the Doctoral Program at PSU!

 Despite my last minute application, I was chosen to be one of about 15 members of the Fall 2009 cohort. My specialty will be in Curriculum & Instruction and my research for my dissertation will probably focus on multicultural and culturally/linguistically appropriate education. 

I am in for at least 3 more years of school, but I am really determined to get it done. The woman who interviewed me told me that only about 50% of people who start doctoral programs actually see them through to completion. I do not plan to be part of that 50% who drops out.

During any frustrating, difficult, and insane times I can always remind myself of the wedding invites..... 

Dr. and Mr. Toppel request the honour of your presence

 at the wedding of 

(insert name of yet to be conceived child)

It will be a long road ahead filled with 124+ credits, comprehensive exams, and the longest paper I will ever write, but I am really pumped for the journey.

P.S. Now I am bound by my conscience to run a marathon, sew a quilt, and write a children's book as I pledged in my application essay that I would do (thankfully, I did not give myself a deadline on that!)