Mind Mapping with Popplet

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This week we read an informational text titled All That Corn in our Harcourt Trophies reading books. On Day 2 of the Harcourt Trophies plan it recommends that the teacher help students create a concept map about farms. I have been eager to use a new, web-based, mind mapping tool with my students and I saw this as the perfect opportunity. When I did my action research during my graduate studies with my PreK students, I used Kidspiration software for mind mapping. Kidspiration is a good software package, but for the purposes of this blog I want to make sure that I am showcasing applications that are free and accessible to everyone. Plus, I know there are many mind mapping tools that have come out in the past few years, so I wanted to familiarize myself with the new tools out there. The world of educational technology is ever-changing, so it is important to stay up to date!
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Creating an Interactive Virtual Photo Cube

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This particular week we read the story, Todd’s Box, about a boy who takes a walk with his mother. Along the way he collects artifacts from nature, and he saves them in a box. At the end of the story he surprises his mom with the box. In math we were still working on subtraction, which was the focus of our Jack and Rick Subtraction stories the previous week. Incorporating science was a logical choice based on the reading selection for the week. For this project I decided to have students go on a nature walk and take digital photos of what they found. Then students created their own virtual box to showcase the artifacts they found on their nature walk.
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Using iMovie to Turn you Students into Music Video Stars!

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We read a nonfiction story titled Ants in reading. An exciting addition to our classroom was an ant farm this week. On Day 4 in the Harcourt Trophies lesson plan students sing “The Ants Go Marching”, and are engaged in some phonemic awareness activities using words from the song including identifying rhyming words. I thought this song was the perfect opportunity to tie in music, art, math and literature.2013-09-20 13.20.10
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Using PowerPoint to Act Out Mathematical Story Problems

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Jack and Rick Cover

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This particular week students read the story Jack and Rick. A charming story about two lovable characters, Jack, a rabbit and Rick, a bear who find themselves on opposite sides of a river. The pair have to problem solve to get on the same side of the river, so they can play together. In math students have been working on subtraction with an emphasis on story problems. For my cross-curricular project I had students work in groups to create their own taking away story problem. I thought using PowerPoint would be the perfect tool for this project, because students can deepen their understanding of subtraction by using animation to demonstrate taking away.
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Virtual Tour of the Niña

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A few years back a replica of the Niña, one of Christopher Columbus’s ships, visited Pittsburgh.
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I was able to take photos of the ship, and at the time I put them into a PowerPoint presentation that I shared with my students for several years in honor of Columbus Day. Then I learned about Mapwing. This is a great Web 2.0 tool that allows you to make your own virtual field trips!
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Hats & Caps Number Sentences

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Hats & Caps Number Sentence Example

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In math we have been working on understanding addition concepts. In reading we read the story The Hat. In this story Pam’s hat blows away and her friend Dan retrieves it for her. This week we cover the short a vowel sound, so in addition to the word “hat” students also had the word “cap” on their spelling list.
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Oh the Places You’ll Go with Good Behavior

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The Inspiration

I originally got the idea for my behavior clip chart from the blog, Littlest Learners.  I have used many different classroom management systems throughout my 8 years of teaching, but this is the one that works best for me!  This is similar to the traditional stop light behavior management chart. With the stop light chart, students begin on green, and if they make poor choices they are moved to yellow and then red. What makes this chart different is it gives students who are making good choices the opportunity to move up the chart, and go above and beyond.  I like how it recognizes exceptional students for a job well done!

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Calling on Students Equitably to Boost Engagement

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Putting your Students on the Spot

We all have those “teacher pets” who crave attention and love to be called on in class. Often we are grateful to those students who “carry the lesson”.  Do you feel like you are always calling on the same two students? Calling on students at random is a technique that keeps all students in the class on their toes and better engaged. This makes me think of Elle Woods’s first day at law school in the movie “Legally Blonde”.  She takes out her feather boa pencil to take notes, and the professor randomly calls on her.

Being called on at random was not fun for Elle Woods, but you can make it fun for your students with some of the ideas floating around out there!
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