Discovering Jamestown – a Multi Grade Level Approach

Mrs. Swearingen, Mrs. Franco, and Mrs. Ahmad , all fifth grade teachers at Sendera Ranch

Elementary, know the power of feedback and praise.  They wanted their students to experience learning about Jamestown in a new and exciting way.  Mrs. Swearingen contacted an eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Kristen Mouser from Wilson Middle School.  The two teachers began to brainstorm to take the learning outside the four walls of the classroom.

First, the students in fifth grade classes were presented with the two learning targets for this project.

• I will analyze a DBQ document, so I can answer the question, “Why did so many colonists die?”

• I am successful when I can write a paragraph to explain my thinking.

Immediately students went to work and created a collaborative slideshow to brainstorm questions they wanted to know about Jamestown. The next day, students found out Mrs. Swearingen and Mrs. Mouser had set up a time for the eighth graders and fifth graders to Zoom to have conversations. Zoom is a web-based tool that allows anyone to virtually connect and host a video web conference.  

A few days later students began to write their paragraphs using Google Docs.   Using Google Docs allowed communications and collaboration for students to receive comments
and feedback from their peers.

“I liked reading what the 8th graders said.  They had some good ideas of how to make my DBQ
better.” said Brooke

“It was fun to see the 8th graders and hear what 8th grade was like and what an 8th grade DBQ was like.  They do it a lot faster than we do.” stated Logan

Research supports the value of peer collaboration and discussion across all content areas and concepts. By providing students the opportunity for peer feedback on their writing, students were able to offer one another constructive critique in order to improve their own communication skills. Extending, receiving, and evaluating feedback is a critical skill for all 21st Century Learners.  

ISTE Standards

1. Empowered Learner - Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning
sciences.
 - 1b. build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
 - 1c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways

2. Digital Citizenship - Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
 - 2b. Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.

3. Knowledge Constructor - Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
 - 3a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
 - 3b. Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
 - 3c. Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
 - 3d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.

Digital Review of a Math CBA

Students and teachers both feel the pressures of Curriculum Based Assessments or better known as CBA's. It is a time where students show what they have learned over a longer period of time. Fifth graders at Sendera Ranch Elementary were challenged by their math teachers, Mrs.Courtney Baker and Mrs Tracie Gomez, to display, explain, and justify mathematical ideas and arguments using precise mathematical language in written or oral communications that would help students to review and study for the next CBA in a new way.

First, the teacher deconstructed the review questions into three modules and assigned them to groups of students. Each group received five review problems that represented each module. Students downloaded the questions from Google Classroom to their Google Drive and imported them into the interactive whiteboard application called Educreations. In Educreations students created HOW TO videos using the annotation tools and voice recording features. Using this web based digital tool made it easy for students to demonstrate to their teacher they could solve the problem and show their work digitally. Below are pictures of Kristopher and Maverick as they are recording their Educreations videos.

 

Once the student was done with their video, the next tool used on the Chromebook was Screencastify. Screencastify was used to capture the tutorial video with easy integration into Google Drive as it saved the video for future use. Google Drive allowed the students the ability to set the shareable settings to allow others to view the videos. Click the image below to view Jack’s tutorial video showing the problem solving process for problem #12.

Jack stated, “This was an awesome way for me to send work to my teacher. It made learning math FUN!”

Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gomez wanted to have something published that could be sent home to parents to provide help to their student before the CBA. Teachers also know the importance for students to provide peer feedback with written communication and doing this digitally enhanced the learning. Students created a Google Document where they embedded their Screencastify video and shared the doc with their group where students added detailed peer feedback. Students not only saw their peers comments, but they could go back and make any corrections needed based on feedback for the final production that would be published. Below is a copy of Kayden's Google Doc with peer feedback. Kaden states, “I like to read the feedback so I can make changes. Also, look at the time the comments were made, some of them were after school.” Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gomez were so impressed with the students focus and dedication to the project. With the help of the Google Tools, this project extended to well past the school day and students were able to log into their Google Account from home and continue to learn.

 

The final published product is a compilation of student tutorial videos. A Google Slideshow was created and teachers gave all the students in class editing rights. Each student had their own slide where they embedded their video and a link to their video. Once the Slideshow was complete, the teachers published and emailed it out for reviewing outside the classroom walls. Click the image below to access the final product that was sent home this past Friday.

 

 

When I asked Kaden what he liked about this type of project he stated, “Normally I do not like computers, but the Chromebook makes things easy to organize, record, and do many things at one time.” Kayden added, “after reading through my peer feedback I knew I should have made the denominators equal.”

Maverick stated, “I know I am going to do well on this CBA.”

The amazing part of this project is just how fast the students have adjusted to the 1:1 environment. All of these skills were accomplished within ten days of the Chromebooks becoming deployed on this campus. ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) emphasizes skills and qualities we want for students, enabling them to engage and thrive in a connected, digital world. This project met the ISTE Standard of Knowledge Constructor in which students critically curated a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produced creative artifacts and made meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

Seeing the World One Recipe “Snapguide’ at a Time

Students are always in for a treat when going to the Library at Sendera Ranch Elementary. Mrs. Danette Jurgens loves sharing her love of reading with her students and finding ways to connect their aptitude for digital learning with her love of books.

After collaborating with the 3^rd grade teachers regarding upcoming Social Studies standards, Mrs. Jurgens had the perfect book in mind for her students. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman would be her starting point.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. Digital image. Amazon. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2015. <www.amazon.com>.

After reading the book and modeling the creation of a Snapguide, students were given the task of selecting an ethic food from a location in the world that they had studied and creating a “recipe” through the Snapguide based on the framework of the mentor text, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.

Students utilized the website “The Top 5 of Everything” to discover more about their specific food and where they would need to travel to obtain the different resources to make the recipe.  Additionally, students used Google Maps and Britannica School online to identify the location and other interesting facts about the location. After collecting their information, students wrote their own “How to make a __________ and See the World” recipe/story.

Here is an example of what the 3^rd graders at Sendera Ranch created. 

Fourth Grade Authors, First Grade Audience

by Hayley Sample, 4th Grade Language Arts Teacher, Sendera Ranch Elementary

My 4th grade Sendera Ranch Elementary students had been writing narrative and expository pieces all year. This time was going to be different and we all were excited to integrate technology into the mix. After studying the ins and outs of children's literature and all it has to offer, together we created a Google form survey (see snip below) asking interest questions for each story element ie: characters, plot, problem, solution, sequel etc. We then met up with our first grade buddy. Each 4th grader took their ipad , books they were using to help plan their story and sat with a first grader asking them the questions for what they would like to see in the book that would be written specifically for them. This perked not only the first graders interest but my students interests as well. After we conducted the survey through google forms. We viewed the results and had a class discussion of the importance of having a good balance of what your reader wants and what the author wants when creating a book. 

Next was creating the plot pitch. Students planned out their story making sure to include all the components of the assignment as well as keeping in mind what the survey results showed. Great conversations resulted and many began see the full scope of what needed to be taken into consideration as the author of a book. My students faced this challenging task head on. Students who might typically be unmotivated where thriving. It was amazing to see their creative ideas come alive through the planning and then continue to develop and change throughout the process.

Once they finished their plot pitch, conferenced with a partner, they were ready to meet with met. Each child discussed their plot pitch with me. Once it was “publish ready” I approved the pitch and the budding authors began publishing in book creator on the iPad.

Book creator is a wonderful app that allows for all kinds of possibilities. There is a free and paid version of this app. My campus leadership agreed this was a great investment and bought the paid version for us because it allows an unlimited amount of books to be made on one iPad. The free version only allows one.

Prior to starting this project I made a PowerPoint with specific directions to “get to know the book creator app.” It was prior to reading STAAR.  We used this time to review and also learn the app so when they kids began to type their books they would feel comfortable and allow everyone time to become successful. This was the ultimate lifesaver. The kids were able to review in a fun way and learn a new app they would soon use!

The students typed all of their text for their book into book creator first then added their illustrations. There are many options for illustrating. Several drew on paper and then took a picture and imported them into their book, others brought props from home and took pictures of those and imported them in, some found pictures off the internet for their backgrounds and some drew with the pen feature in the app. Basically the opportunities were endless! During this process kids stayed focused on producing their books. They would ask others opinions, assist each other with drawings or trouble shoot if they couldn't figure something out.

Once their book was “done” they had to partner revise and edit. This process is a natural part of the writers workshop all year long, it resulted in many great conversations and significant improvements to students’ product. 

When the students were ready to publish they uploaded it to Showbie. Showbie is a excellent management app that is like drop box. It is free and you can create folders for each assignment. The kids then upload it into Showbie where it can be graded and left with verbal or written feedback. Through Showbie I would access all of their books to grade using my iPad. Within Showbie I retrieved the book then opened each book in iBooks where is makes it into an actual page turning book (this blew the kids minds). You can also email from Showbie. To continue the interaction and sharing of books, I emailed each book to our first grade friends teacher. Then she had each one of the books on her iPad for the first graders to read.

After 2.5-3 weeks of writing and illustrating our books were ready to be revealed. We made our way down to first grade and shared them. The kids loved their books that were specially made for THEM. Several of my kids dedicated their books to their first grader and this was very special.

After doing this project and sharing about it at assembly the word was out. I then helped third grade teachers learn the app and their students created a book to go with their inventor for their living museum.

This integrated learning experience allowed for such deep collaboration on so many levels. Across the country, district, campus etc. It impacted these young lives and was a tremendous SUCCESS!