Fifth graders take charge of a tech-infused project

The problem:

A school community growing by leaps and bounds needing a reminder about our community's expected behaviors.

The solution:

Give the fifth graders an opportunity to share what they know about the expected behaviors by creating projects that will be shared with our kindergarten through fourth grade students and their teachers.

The fifth grade teachers and I have been busy planning this valuable, fun, productive, and tech-filled day.

We set the task before them:

They brainstormed expected behaviors:

~Examples of student ideas~

We showed an exemplar that we created:

We reviewed the criteria for success:

Slide 1: Exemplar

Slide 2: Exemplar

Slide 3: Exemplar

We reviewed these two guiding documents:

Full document 

Full document

We sent the off with these two documents, an iPad and a laptop:

The project could be fully completed on the iPads, but I think editing an Animoto and working on a Google Presentation are easier on a laptop,so the students did their planning on the guiding document, photographed and filmed on the iPads, and then started their Animoto on the iPads. After importing their photographs and movies, naming their video, and adding some basic text, the students switched to the laptops. The laptops were numerically aligned with the Animoto accounts for ease of transferring to the new device. 

We are in the thick of it:

We have one more work period tomorrow during which the students will review, edit, and finalize their project. Watching the students think critically and creatively throughout this process has been exciting to watch.  

The hallways were full of students conferring, organizing, and acting out their skits, while back in the classrooms, the students were reviewing what they had just filmed and photographed, assessing it's merit, and heading back out again. #coolbeans

Next steps:

 The students will watch the projects next week and complete a rubric and reflection. We're determining the best time for the projects to be shown to the other students, but I'll be sharing them here soon!

Sometimes the Raising of Hands is Assessment Enough

I begin every lesson with a reflection on the previous week's lesson. It helps show the thread that connects one lesson to another, while also activating prior knowledge for the students. 

Last week, the reflection was on the visits from the the public librarians. You can read about the visits on this blog post: Sometimes a Change is All You Need.

As I had stated, my goal for these visits were:

1. Creating a connection to a person in the children's room at the public library;

2. Learning about the programs at the public library;

3. learning how to get a library card.

This week, as part of the reflection, I asked the students to give me a show of hands for each question.  In a not very scientific way, I can tell you that:

1. A majority of students in each class had gone to the library after the visits;

2. Many of those had sought out the person who visited their class;

3. A few signed up for a program;

4. About a third had gotten a library card.

This show of hands (combined with the proud look on their faces) was assessment enough for me. These visits were a success! I'll be bringing the public librarians back again next fall.

"I was surprised at how moving some of the stories are."

What an amazing week it has been!

 

In a few short days we are into the thick of Picture Book Month and we still have 23 more days to go.

What does it look like in a library that is celebrating Picture Book Month with a reading challenge?

Ransacked shelves.

Overflowing return bins.

Clever students bringing reusable bags for home

 

Careful consideration of reading choices.

Dwindling book shelves.

Resident experts on specific topics.

A wonder wall with big gaps.

How are we celebrating Picture Book Month?

Mason-Rice students are challenging themselves to read a specific number of picture books during the month of November.

Students in K will participate in a classroom reading challenge during the week of November 17th.

Students in 1st & 2nd are participating in a nonfiction picture book challenge and will record their results on these posters.

Students in 3rd, 4th & 5th  are participating in a challenge of their choice: choose your own reading adventure in reading picture book stories, nonfiction picture books, or picture book biographies. These students are recording their reading accomplishments on this reading log:

Where did we begin?

The first lesson for each classroom centered on these questions:

What are picture books?

Why are they important?

Why do we celebrate them?

There are many good answers to these questions, but here are a few that we've been talking about at Mason-Rice. 

Picture books...

~~ scaffold language development.

~~ expose students to complex sentence structure.

~~ build capacity for visual literacy (reading pictures, graphs, art, charts).

~~ bring readers of all ages together for shared reading experiences.

~~ promote learning through exposure to ideas and information.

I emphasize with students both the heart and mind value of picture books. 

How are we advertising the event?

Notices home to parents.

Burgeoning backpacks!

Signage around the library:

What do our circulation statistics look like?

Our circulation statistics are amazing! I decided to compare the last week with the week of October 17th.

Nonfiction Books

~Before~

~After~

Biographies

~Before~

~After~

Picture Books

~Before~

 ~After~

How are things progressing?

Today was the second visit for a few classes during picture book month and when I asked the students what they were finding and if a particular book or new piece of knowledge stood out, I received comments like these:

"I read a book that I hadn't read since kindergarten, Frederick. I loved it so much I had to go make a Frederick and write a story."

"I was surprised at how moving some of the stories are."

"I learned that lions encourage each other by rubbing faces when they don't manage to capture a prey."

"I learned that cheetahs are the only big cat that purrs."

"I learned that Hitler called his army storm troopers."

"I was surprised at how long it takes to read some picture books, they are longer than I thought."

I am excited about the conversations we are going to continue to have about picture books.