Immigration 2015

As a close to my 4th graders' immigration unit, I created this video.  It showcases all of their hard work throughout the unit studying the third wave of immigration.  They explored through the lens of an immigrant character that they were assigned.  They kept a diary chronicling their journey and even went through two simulations as their character.  The students had a very authentic learning experience with this unit and at the end I wanted to capture it to showcase at the celebration with parents.  They loved it!  They loved seeing their child's learning in a fun and visual way.  I loved using Animoto because it is so user friendly and is a simple way to do something like for the class and parents.  It is a great storytelling tool as well to display learning at the end of a unit.  I will surely be making more Animoto videos in my teaching career!

Digital Storytelling

Getting my students to create a digital story was something I had never done before but was excited to try.  They are knee deep in a poetry writing unit and are exploring using craft in their work.  When I heard about Story Bird it sounded like the perfect match.  I explored the site at first, seeing if it was accessible, and if my 4th graders would be able to navigate and understand how to use it.  My students use chrome books for publishing their work and this tool seemed like a fantastic way for them to showcase their poetry.  The poetry application on the site was fun because they got to choose their own artwork and tell a story.  I began the lesson with a quote we had already looked at, "Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks."  The students have come to understand this quote throughout their own work and how they can paint a picture in their readers' minds by writing poetry.  Showing the students how to use the tool was very easy.  They picked up very quickly how to choose artwork and use the words that were scrambled on the side to align everything to their artwork.  Students impressed me with the poems they came up with.  Some used humor, others get very deep.  

I found that the writers that were struggling in their notebooks and during mini lessons were soaring using the technology and the array of words provided for them.  It was fabulous to see!  The students were able to join a class that I created on the site and share and follow each other's work.  

Some critiques I have are that I was unable to find a way for the students to comment at first.  This would be a great and quick way for students to learn how to give positive feedback and safely comment online.  I figured this part out after the lesson was over so it is something I definitely want to try next time.  The kids loved seeing each other's work.  I was disappointed to see that once a student published their poem, they couldn't go back in and edit it.  A couple of my students accidentally published unfinished work.  I was unable to find a way to go back in and edit.  After the lesson the students shared their work on the smart board, reading their poems.  They absolutely loved this tool and begged to use it again.  I really like the feature that allows me to give assignments and have the students log in and complete it.  It was great for poetry but I want to try it for other writing assignments next.  We are beginning a unit on historical fiction writing and I think it would benefit that as well.  Definitely two thumbs up for this digital storytelling tool.  If my students ask to use this tool for homework, I consider it a success!