Literacy Project

For my final project I decided to use Storybird with my first grade class. We started our social studies unit on Kenya two weeks ago so I decided to have the students create a story about Africa.  I went through the images with the students and we chose eleven which we felt would be appropriate pictures for a story set in Africa.  As a whole group we put the pictures in order and we wrote the text for the first page together.  I had the students work in small groups to complete the rest of the writing.  I had the class come back together as a whole group and we edited the text.  I really enjoyed watching the students work together and how well their writing matched the pictures.  When I showed my class the finished product they were so excited and proud of all their hard work.  Everyday they ask me to play the story and we even shared it with the other first grade classes!  So here it is...Our Adventures in Africa!     

Web 2.0 Project

Can't believe this is my final project for this course. I have learned so many amazing new things and I am looking forward to using them in my classroom.  Thank you so much to all of my classmates for sharing so many great resources and for creating such amazing blogs. And thank you to Judy for sharing her knowledge and for being so patient!  I decided to try something new for this project so I used GoAnimate...take a look. Web 2.0 Project by k8marques74 on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

Hundreds,Tens and Ones...a Place Value Song!

Our new math unit is all about place value. During our district collaborative meeting today a colleague shared this video from YouTube. I can't wait to share it with my class!

 

Friendship Through the Eyes of a Child: A Digital Storytelling Project

Kelly and I decided to create a digital story about friendship. Kelly asked her preschool students to draw pictures about ways they could be a good friend. I also asked my first graders to draw pictures showing what it means to be a good friend. After they completed their drawings I had my students write about their pictures. I told my students we were going to be working with another class on this project and they were excited to see the drawings from Kelly's class.
I showed the video to my class and they absolutely loved it!  They enjoyed seeing their pictures and hearing the words they had written. My class enjoyed seeing the pictures Kelly's class made and they liked their suggestions for ways to be a good friend. I asked my students how we could use this video to help other children. One student suggested showing the video at the beginning of the school year to help students make new friends. Another student wanted to know if we could translate the video in different languages so students from around the world could learn from it. My all time favorite response..."I should show this video to my little brother so he won't be in the time out chair so much!"
I really enjoyed collaborating with Kelly's class and I know my students will remember this project for a long time!  Take a look and let me know what you think!
                       

My Diigo Library

Well I certainly have been giving my mouse a workout!  There are so many amazing resources available for teachers...I could spend hours every day searching!  Here is my Diigo library which includes a variety of different resources including lesson plans, activities, articles, games and much more. I can't wait to add more links to my library and I am looking forward to sharing it with my first grade colleagues.

A Cat Named Olive

My students are continuing to use Animoto at home.  Another student made a video about his new cat, Olive.  For now the students are just working on adding pictures to their videos and I have been encouraging them to add text.  Hopefully I will be able to have the students start to create videos in the classroom.  Our social studies unit on Africa is about to begin after the break and I have a lot of ideas for videos the students could create.  For now take a look at Olive the Cat.  

Read All About It!

I use a variety of early childhood literacies and digital storytelling resources in my classroom.  Our district has subscriptions to One More Story and Tumblebooks. Both of these sites have an extensive collection of pictures books and I can always find a great story to play for the students during snack time.  My personal favorite is Storyline Online, the students love listening to the different actors/actresses reading the stories.  Sean Astin reading A Bad Case of Stripes is one of my all time favorites!  If you haven't used this site before please take a look and share Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, a great story for Valentine's Day!