It's a Trip, It's a Guide, It's a Wall....It's Cabeza De Vaca

4th grade students at Nance Elementary explored Cabeza De Vaca in Social Studies. Mrs. Cochran and Mrs. Clemons wanted to give their class the opportunity to expand on the DBQ's that were written in class.  Pairs of students had the choice of creating a digital timeline of Cabeza's adventure, a guide of his journey, or a wall of his accomplishments.  The class truly enjoyed expanding on their research and getting to choose how to showcase their learning for others.

Emma and Paige teamed up to use Padlet.  "We included a lot on our wall, because we had already researched information about Cabeza De Vaca." Paige added, "I was reminded that we should enjoy the life that we have now.  It was rough for Cabeza de Vaca.  I learned that they had to travel for years on foot when we can just get in our cars to go places, or use our phones to communicate."
  
Jack created an interactive map using Tripline.  "I learned that Cabeza De Vaca crashed into Tampa Bay, FL and my map let others see the exact line of where he went.  I choose pictures from Google images for each spot on my map and explained what Cabeza De Vaca did while he was there." 

According to John and Layton, who created a Snapguide,"We learned that Cabeza De Vaca was a surgeon. We were able to show in our guide how he survived." John decided to embed a video to conclude his Snapguide and said that this feature helped him include all of details that he learned in one slide.

Layton sums it up best when he says, "This project was a lot of fun and I would recommend all of these sites.  I did a Snapguide, but after seeing my friends projects, I want to create a map too.  It is important for us to learn with technology because when we get to Middle School and High School we will be using it a lot."    

While reflecting on the project, Mrs. Cochran comments, "It was hard to convince myself to let the students use programs that I did not fully understand myself, but I'm glad that I did.  We all worked together and they created some really great visuals that we can share with others."  

Jack and Brock's Tripline Map

Tara and John's SnapGuide

Layton and Christian's SnapGuide

Paige and Emma's Padlet (Embedded Below)