For elementary students, I like the TimeforKids.com printable instructions and graphic organizer for a storyboard. For some students, the ability to easily move around the frames is key, so for those students I would suggest they cut out the squares and arrange them on another piece of paper only to be glued in place when they are satisfied with the arrangement.
Students benefit from using a storyboard as a graphic organizer in that they can systematically sort through their thoughts, learn an organizational process, and easily rearrange ideas, images, video, and text before committing to a final product.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thing #2 Evaluate Information
Taking into account my elementary audience, I used the Checklist for Evaluating Web Sites and Kathy Schrock’s Critical Evaluation Information form to evaluate a .gov site I found about Duke Kahanamoku. Intermediate elementary students will enjoy using the online form and can print and include it in their research packet. Kathy Schrock’s site is more appropriate for 2nd - 4th grade. I like the additional forms on the Teacher’s Helpers page such as The 5 W’s of Web Site Evaluation, Example Handout for the 5 W’s, and the educator lesson plan for Evaluation of a Web Page.
Before research begins in the library or classroom, librarians should prepare a lesson for students on evaluating websites (similar to this TEAMS tutorial) to give them the tools to learn the evaluation process. Including a website evaluation form in the research packet or a link to a form on the Internet for students to download and including an evaluation of websites as part of the grading rubric will help to make the evaluation process a natural part of the research project.
Before research begins in the library or classroom, librarians should prepare a lesson for students on evaluating websites (similar to this TEAMS tutorial) to give them the tools to learn the evaluation process. Including a website evaluation form in the research packet or a link to a form on the Internet for students to download and including an evaluation of websites as part of the grading rubric will help to make the evaluation process a natural part of the research project.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thing #1 Access Information
1. Text
Since my project focus is a book trailer using a specific title, I did a title search in Aquabrowser using “Surfer of the Century.” The resulting word cloud gave me other keyword, subject, tag possibilities for this book such as surfing, Olympics, swimming, Duke Kahanamoku, and Hawaii. I like the fact you can easily refine the search by topical subject, personal subject (biography), genre subject (fiction, non-fiction) and series in the event one wanted to create a unit of study around a particular book or topic. Searching the SBISD subscription databases is as easy as clicking on “Log in to search article databases.” I like the way it seamlessly searches all the databases without having to go to each one individually. The only drawback is having to log in to each one if one is not conducting the search on a district networked computer.
2. Search Engines
Bing
I found better images here (than at Google or Flickr) and some obscure information about Duke Kahanamoku using this Microsoft supported search engine. Students will like the ease of using “Related Searches” and viewing the “Search History,” which are both prominently displayed in the left-hand margin. It also pinpoints and displays the location from where one is searching in the top right-hand corner. A tab for Wikipedia is notably displayed and useful for those seeking quick information from that source as well.
Clusty
This metasearch engine gives the user the ability to narrow a search by the type of extension: .com, .gov, .org, etc…, which is a tool used when evaluating websites. Give this search engine a round of applause! It also gives a summary of other search engines used for its results, and since Bing and Ask were included in the keyword search for Duke Kahanamoku, I might just skip the other two and use Clusty. I like the cloud of related topics and the ability to “remix” the cloud and find other combinations of associated terms. Finally, the ability to preview an article instead of having to click on the link and lose the search results page is an added bonus.
Wolfram-Alpha
This site is mostly about computation related topics, so when I used Duke Kahanamoku as the topic the results displayed a table of all of his Olympic events, medals and time results. Neat! A box of suggested uses for the site includes an “enter any date” search that when I entered by birth date found mathematical expressions for my age, events, anniversaries, observances, and daylight/nighttime/moon cycle information. Students and science, music, and math teachers will love this site. I noticed on an advertisement for the Wolfram-Alpha app for the iPad that is interactive, engaging, and is bound to be a winner with all.
3. Databases
Aquabrowser
The database search I conducted through Aquabrowser combed through the SBISD subscription databases for information about Duke Kahanamoku with good results.
The Library of Congress American Memory
This site was new to me. It has some archived images of Duke Kahanamoku taken by the Chicago Daily News in the early 1900s. All images are available for educational use with proper citation.
4. Social Networking Sites
YouTube
This site has good video sources of actual footage of Duke Kahanamoku surfing and an interview about with him about his accomplishments.
delicious
This bookmarking site listed many of the sites I had seen about Duke Kahanamoku when I searched the search engines and databases. This is a great site for bookmarking sites the librarian compiles for grade level or individual classroom use.
5. Visuals
Copyright-friendly Wiki
I will be linking the copyright-friendly wiki to my library site for easy use by students and teachers. It has a good variety of sites from which to choose. I like the Navigation bar on the left-hand side with links to everything from copyright-friendly music and sound to sound effects and a MLA style sheet.
Since my project focus is a book trailer using a specific title, I did a title search in Aquabrowser using “Surfer of the Century.” The resulting word cloud gave me other keyword, subject, tag possibilities for this book such as surfing, Olympics, swimming, Duke Kahanamoku, and Hawaii. I like the fact you can easily refine the search by topical subject, personal subject (biography), genre subject (fiction, non-fiction) and series in the event one wanted to create a unit of study around a particular book or topic. Searching the SBISD subscription databases is as easy as clicking on “Log in to search article databases.” I like the way it seamlessly searches all the databases without having to go to each one individually. The only drawback is having to log in to each one if one is not conducting the search on a district networked computer.
2. Search Engines
Bing
I found better images here (than at Google or Flickr) and some obscure information about Duke Kahanamoku using this Microsoft supported search engine. Students will like the ease of using “Related Searches” and viewing the “Search History,” which are both prominently displayed in the left-hand margin. It also pinpoints and displays the location from where one is searching in the top right-hand corner. A tab for Wikipedia is notably displayed and useful for those seeking quick information from that source as well.
Clusty
This metasearch engine gives the user the ability to narrow a search by the type of extension: .com, .gov, .org, etc…, which is a tool used when evaluating websites. Give this search engine a round of applause! It also gives a summary of other search engines used for its results, and since Bing and Ask were included in the keyword search for Duke Kahanamoku, I might just skip the other two and use Clusty. I like the cloud of related topics and the ability to “remix” the cloud and find other combinations of associated terms. Finally, the ability to preview an article instead of having to click on the link and lose the search results page is an added bonus.
Wolfram-Alpha
This site is mostly about computation related topics, so when I used Duke Kahanamoku as the topic the results displayed a table of all of his Olympic events, medals and time results. Neat! A box of suggested uses for the site includes an “enter any date” search that when I entered by birth date found mathematical expressions for my age, events, anniversaries, observances, and daylight/nighttime/moon cycle information. Students and science, music, and math teachers will love this site. I noticed on an advertisement for the Wolfram-Alpha app for the iPad that is interactive, engaging, and is bound to be a winner with all.
3. Databases
Aquabrowser
The database search I conducted through Aquabrowser combed through the SBISD subscription databases for information about Duke Kahanamoku with good results.
The Library of Congress American Memory
This site was new to me. It has some archived images of Duke Kahanamoku taken by the Chicago Daily News in the early 1900s. All images are available for educational use with proper citation.
4. Social Networking Sites
YouTube
This site has good video sources of actual footage of Duke Kahanamoku surfing and an interview about with him about his accomplishments.
delicious
This bookmarking site listed many of the sites I had seen about Duke Kahanamoku when I searched the search engines and databases. This is a great site for bookmarking sites the librarian compiles for grade level or individual classroom use.
5. Visuals
Copyright-friendly Wiki
I will be linking the copyright-friendly wiki to my library site for easy use by students and teachers. It has a good variety of sites from which to choose. I like the Navigation bar on the left-hand side with links to everything from copyright-friendly music and sound to sound effects and a MLA style sheet.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Bringing It All Together
Lights! Camera! Action! Movie trailers have long been a vehicle for generating excitement about an upcoming film. Book trailers have the same type of appeal for introducing and creating excitement about books. This blog was created to demonstrate the step-by-step process involved in creating student-generated book trailers. The use of energetic and compelling images, text, and music in a book trailer engages students creating high interest and excitement about new books.
Using Surfer of the Century by Ellie Crowe, from the 2010-2011 Texas Bluebonnet Award list, my goal is to give teachers and students an opportunity to learn how to create a 2.0 readers advisory, instead of the usual book report, to motivate their students and peers to read. This blog will also be a vehicle by which to motivate my 3rd – 5th graders to read and enjoy the most recent Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees.
This topic will cover TEKS §126.3. Technology Applications for grades 3-5 as students learn to research, acquire, and evaluate electronic information, while complying with the district acceptable use policies and copyright law, and format the information into new knowledge and effective communication.
Using Surfer of the Century by Ellie Crowe, from the 2010-2011 Texas Bluebonnet Award list, my goal is to give teachers and students an opportunity to learn how to create a 2.0 readers advisory, instead of the usual book report, to motivate their students and peers to read. This blog will also be a vehicle by which to motivate my 3rd – 5th graders to read and enjoy the most recent Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees.
This topic will cover TEKS §126.3. Technology Applications for grades 3-5 as students learn to research, acquire, and evaluate electronic information, while complying with the district acceptable use policies and copyright law, and format the information into new knowledge and effective communication.
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