This post is all about the great projects we reviewed on http://gilligan.mec.edu/~groves. It was great to see some of the past projects other teachers have created. The first site I enjoyed was http://gilligan.mec.edu/~groves/erica. The site was called The Changing Earth. It is all about ersosion and glaciers, and how they change the shape of the land...which is my upcoming science unit! There are questions for the kids to answer and links to different websites about the topics. It is organized well, with different headings and sections for "caves, wind erosoin, glaciers, and a summary." There is also a teacher link with a printable worksheet for the kids to answer the questions. I do wish the links were displayed under each heading. Instead they are all grouped together at the end. I could see kids pontentially wasting a lot of time trying to figure out which link to explore for each question. The font is nicely organized and easy to read. I might pick a different background color, but overall it is very kid-user friendly.
The second site I enjoyed was a 3rd grade Wampanoag and Pilgrim Webquest (http://gilligan.mec.edu/~groves/heathbrook). While this is 3rd grade material, and I teach 4th grade, I like how the webquest is organized and it would be a great model for the webquest that I am hoping to create for my own project. The font, background, and graphics are all pleasing to the eye. There is a short introduction describing the webquest, then different "tasks." The journal is mandatory, then there are 7 other tasks and the students have to complete two. Each task is explained, with a link to research the assignment. Some of these assignments are research the Wampanoag tribe using primary sources and complete a fact sheet, create an alpahbet book of the pilgrims, and create an exhibit documenting the real first Thanksgiving (among others). What I really like is that these tasks involve critical thinking skills and creativity...they are not just a regurgitation of facts.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
It was great to learn about so many websites with teacher information in class last Saturday. One of the websites I checked out was Merlot. When I searched the General Education "library," one of the first references that came up was a site about webquests, which I found interesting because Eric had mentioned that a webquest would be a good avenue to take for our final project. So, naturally, I decided to browse through the webquest site, which was created by Bernie Dodge (http://webquest.org/index.php).
The webquest site had a great general home page that described a webquest. My favorite part was the link to actual webquests that could be used. There was a great second grade webquest for the book Dinosaurs Before Dark, a sixth grade webquest for Mesopotamia, and some others. Neither of these are for my grade level (fourth grade) but they are great examples of a webquest. Webquests, I learned, should involve higher order thinking skills, and not just a regurgitation of information. The site also lets you create your own webquests, but you have to pay $20 for a two year subscription. I didn't think that was a bad price, plus they give you a 30 day free trial.
MERLOT also led me to a math site called "Who Wants Pizza?" created by Cynthia Lanius at
www.mathrice.edu/~lanius/fractions/index.html. This is a great interactive website where kids can manipulate different fractions. I especially liked it because it shows kids how fractions can be the same fraction, but represent different amounts. For example 1/3 or a pizza is not the same as 1/3 of a cookie. Kids can take different shapes and stretch them or shrink them down to see different fractions. I would use this site in my classroom by linking it to my Edline page, where each student can log in a explore different links on my math page at school.
The second listserv site I visited was How Stuff Works. I found two great links that I will use in my classroom when teaching science. The first is a video about electromagnets, which will be great when I teach my electricity and magnet unit in the spring (http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11956-magnetism-electromagnetism-video.htm). The second was a video showing how wind vanes work, which I teach in my weather unit. Kids always have difficulty remembering the difference between a wind vane and a wind sock, so this video link will be great (http://videos.howstuffworks.com./hsw/16796-hands-on-weather-ii-a-look-at-wind-video.htm)! The video even shows how to make your own wind vane! Both will be great to use with kids!
Both MERLOT and How Stuff Works are two sites that are brand new to me! I'm excited to use them on a regular basis to enhance my teaching!
The webquest site had a great general home page that described a webquest. My favorite part was the link to actual webquests that could be used. There was a great second grade webquest for the book Dinosaurs Before Dark, a sixth grade webquest for Mesopotamia, and some others. Neither of these are for my grade level (fourth grade) but they are great examples of a webquest. Webquests, I learned, should involve higher order thinking skills, and not just a regurgitation of information. The site also lets you create your own webquests, but you have to pay $20 for a two year subscription. I didn't think that was a bad price, plus they give you a 30 day free trial.
MERLOT also led me to a math site called "Who Wants Pizza?" created by Cynthia Lanius at
www.mathrice.edu/~lanius/fractions/index.html. This is a great interactive website where kids can manipulate different fractions. I especially liked it because it shows kids how fractions can be the same fraction, but represent different amounts. For example 1/3 or a pizza is not the same as 1/3 of a cookie. Kids can take different shapes and stretch them or shrink them down to see different fractions. I would use this site in my classroom by linking it to my Edline page, where each student can log in a explore different links on my math page at school.
The second listserv site I visited was How Stuff Works. I found two great links that I will use in my classroom when teaching science. The first is a video about electromagnets, which will be great when I teach my electricity and magnet unit in the spring (http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11956-magnetism-electromagnetism-video.htm). The second was a video showing how wind vanes work, which I teach in my weather unit. Kids always have difficulty remembering the difference between a wind vane and a wind sock, so this video link will be great (http://videos.howstuffworks.com./hsw/16796-hands-on-weather-ii-a-look-at-wind-video.htm)! The video even shows how to make your own wind vane! Both will be great to use with kids!
Both MERLOT and How Stuff Works are two sites that are brand new to me! I'm excited to use them on a regular basis to enhance my teaching!
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