It has been a busy Fall! It was time for a recap of what we have been up to in my classroom. Last term we have been working on research and organizational skills. As part of our district-wide themes, we focused on endangered animals, however I felt that my students needed a creative way to showcase their learning. Instead of settling for the typical report, I wanted my students to write poems. I provided several templates to get them started. The poems challenged my students to be flexible and figure out ways to incorporate different information about their animals in new and interesting ways. Some students struggled with the open nature of the poems, especially with poems that required them to think from the perspective of their chosen animal. As a final step, I had some students use Pages to showcase their poems. I taught them to use the poster templates and modify those for their poems. Overall, I am very delighted by their final products!
Elvira,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Calah Reynolds and I am in a class called EDM310 at The University of South Alabama. This is a class about learning how to incorporate technology into the class room. Here is a link to my blog if you'd like to check it out!
I really liked how, instead of just getting your students to do a report, you chose a more creative path and had them do poems! That is such a great idea. I looked at the templates that you used. I really enjoyed reading some of the poems that your students did!
Calah,
DeleteI am also in the EDM310 class. How did you do your link to your blog?? I'm trying to figure it out and having problems! If you could email me at medlin.jennah@gmail.com I would be forever grateful!
Jennah Medlin
Calah,
DeleteThese poems were more challenging than my students expected! And that's exactly why I loved using them. Plus, my students are starting to warm up to Pages and the templates on there. They struggled with formatting and fitting their information into the templates and I mentioned to them how I use the Newsletter template to create our school newsletter. You should have seen their eyes widen when they realized how much work it is to create that newsletter. I think now, they can appreciate their final products more!
Elle
Ms. Deyamport,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jennah Medlin and I just commented on your most recent blog post. I also took a look at this blog and I just love all of the ideas you have! I have never been much of a fan of poems, but I think this idea of letting kids think from the perspective of an animal is a great idea. It's a great way to have a double lesson on both poetry and the environment since you did endangered species. The student poems you posted were very creative and I only hope I am able to read poems like this one day! Once again, I hope you'll be able to take a look at my blog. I'm still learning about this blogging stuff so I'm going to try to post another link to my blog.
http://medlinjennahedm310.blogspot.com/
Jennah Medlin
Jennah,
DeleteSuch a small world we live in! I am glad you chose my blog to check out and hope that it is giving you ideas to use in your classroom. I am always looking for creative and engaging projects that allow my students to explore and create. I think using poetry to showcase learning gained from research has been one of my favorite!
Thanks for stopping by,
Elle
Ms. Elvira,
ReplyDeleteI actually commented on the blog post after this one but I will introduce myself again. My name is Meagan McRae and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. Here is a link tomy blog, or you can follow me on twitter at @MeaganMcrae1. I loved how you presented this research project to your students in a different way. It allows the students to be creative and not just find facts and recite them to the class. I'm sure having the templates for your students made the project easier to explain and have them find the information you are looking for. I have not heard of Pages since I don't have a Mac but I am interested in learning more about this program and how I could use it in the classroom.
Meagan McRae
Hello again, Meagan! I have enjoyed exploring the research process with my students this year. My goal is to push them to share what they have learned in creative ways. Templates have helped them organize their information and plan effectively. The macbooks have also allowed us to integrate digital literacy skills and integrate technology with programs such as Pages, iMovie, and screencasts! I am so glad to learn these tools from the various technology and gifted conferences I have attended. Stay tuned for more to come!
DeleteElle