Web+2.0+Projects

=Post your critique for your choice of Web 2.0 lesson plan here=



=Please use a Heading with your name, title of the lesson, and the grade level.=

Glenn Walrath Around the World with 80 Schools All Ages

In a world that is growing smaller and smaller it is only right to introduce our students to the diversity the world has to offer. We also live in a country that is built on diversity, this will benefit students as they move/travel in America. Classrooms skyping with each other from around the world is a great idea. This will work with all ages, it will give the students something different to look forward to each week. I would have loved this lesson as a student. It has many benefits, I believe students would be very engaged during this time. It is important as educators to produce learners with a diverse mind. The biggest limitation is skyping with classrooms in different time zones. Students would have to stay after school or come in early to reach certain areas of the world. The other suggestion would be students skyping on the weekend. I worry how this would be monitered.

Christine Bryan "Blog As An Online Portfolio" Primary level media type="custom" key="6572311"

Jeremy Smith Talking Book Report Middle and High School 11-18

In the world of History and Social Studies it becomes very hard to engage students. If a high school student is asked to research a person of historical significance and report to the class, the product many times is a monotone reading of a report that was pasted from wiki or some other internet website. The Talking Book report gives students a much more exciting and engaging way to bring historical or important people to life. The project is based on the website blabberize.com. This site allows students to gather a picture of the person that they are researching say, George Washington. Next the student will research and gather 90 seconds of valuable information on this person. The student will then write these gathered facts into a presentation that will mimic the historical figure talking in the 1st person about their lives. Blabberize.com then allows the student to record the speech and add a mouth onto the facial picture the they uploaded. The final presentation allows the historical figure (George Washington) to speak the report in the student's voice with a generated talking mouth that is attached to the picture. I feel that this site is a great way to get students excited about the lives of historical figures and is an engaging way for students to present historical research.

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Kate Rivingston E-book Creations by Colin Hill Broad age range: primary (and preschool)

I was very excited when I saw this project, because it solves some crucial problems in my old school program. We’ve always had a Language Arts Fair in late Spring, displaying books made by students over the whole year. It’s my favorite school event. But there are problems: the materials are getting more costly and have to be pre-ordered, some students work last minute (so their teachers have to stay up all night book-making), and not all family members can attend the fair, which is held during school hours. The books we make deteriorate over time. Teachers don’t get to keep copies of the class’s work. We need something that is more teacher and family friendly, and gets the whole school involved without the craziness of past years.

I researched “E-books” by creating my own account and looking at the options available. One option is creating a book from as a pdf. Traditionally, preschool teachers would work on books one page at a time, helping children learn what creative writing is all about. At this age, teachers are taking down the dictation for stories. Each page could be scanned in, and a file created for each child over the course of a year. It would involve making an investment in a multi-purpose scanner/printer (we bought one for $130), but I would want one for my classroom, anyway. The older the child is, the more independent they become in this process. They can create pages, using templates and importing graphics, or create illustrations online. I think that the glogster would be a great tool for this, and the students would be so involved, they would “race” to produce their stories.

The options for creating E-books could include creating a multi-page PDF in Word (or Powerpoint) where the kids’ drawings are scanned into the computer and then placed on pages with type. After the PDF is created it could be distributed to parents, who then have the option of printing it out. Another option could be to create a GLOG where each child has a separate page and the class “book” is viewed on the web instead of as a physical file or book.

The “Fair” could be posted securely, so it is available to the school community. A child could print out their best friend’s story at home. Grandparents who live far away could print and collect stories over the years. And if a parent loses their paper copy, they can just reprint it. I think this one project would streamline teacher workload, cut costs, teach computer skills, inspire students and involve families. The benefits would be enormous.

On a final note: I would avoid creating the E-books using the website’s “direct” option: I think it’s too difficult for the primary grades. The “E-books” that are now being sold for handheld readers are built around text that reflows depending on the size of the screen and the font preferences of the user, which make it difficult for classroom use due to the unusual file formats and the difficulty with making static pages where the child’s artwork is kept with the child’s words.

Nick Lattari These People Rock! Secondary (ages 14-16)

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Colleen Maggitti Critique on "Film and Book Review" using a blog Secondary level (high school)

I read through this lesson and it immediately caught my attention because there are so many components to it, although it doesn't quite seem like it at first glance. First, there is a research component in which students have to research how to write a book or film review (as guided by the teacher.) Although the lesson plan was not very detailed, I would assume that students learned how to write the critique by reading several reviews written by professional critics. If I were to teach this lesson, I would use the professional reviews as a model to show students the format and techniqe critics use to write the review.

The lesson plan states that the students enjoyed doing this project immensely, especially after realizing that anyone could read and comment on their reviews. Doing something like this really empowers students because they have "published" their work for an audience. The lesson states that students were able to write a review about their favorite book or film. I think that this is a great idea in some ways, but if I were trying to tie it in to the curriculum, I would have students pick their favorite novel from class and write the review. I might allow students to do a film review on their favorite film separately.

Overall, I think this is a great lesson for English teachers to use. It incorporates writing in a different way. It's not your typical five paragraph essay or one paragraph response. It allows students to give their opinions and back them up with evidence. Additionally, publishing the reviews on a blog on the Internet motivates students to do their best work.

= Sara McNally =

Creative Web Tools For and By Kids 9-11 year olds

It is never too early to expose children to technology! This lesson introduces younger students to the world of technology. They learn how to create projects that display their knowledge. Students build a wiki based on a topic they find interesting. They post resources and create web-based projects. Constructing wikis promotes collaborative learning where the children bounce ideas off of one another. The only drawback to this lesson is that the teacher needs internet access and laptops for the students. This lesson is student centered because the students are given the opportunity to discover new tools. I truly believe everyone learns best when they figure stuff out on their own. I try to encourage people to play around with new devices. I refuse to just do things for my students because then they will never learn or remember how to do it again. After reading several student comments about this lesson, I can tell the projects created by the students were very rewarding because the students did it on their own. A lot of students enjoy becoming independent learners. Here is some more information about the project: []  Jennifer Coughlin Critique on “Little Red Riding Hood Video Project” Submitted by Cassie Herd Primary Level (Ages 5-7 years old) This lesson caught my eye because it connects technology and Reader’s Theatre into one lesson. The lesson was part of a Folktale Unit in which the students would recreate the story Little Red Riding Hood using imovie and Garageband. After the students completed the illustrations, voice recording of the play, and music it was posted to YouTube as a video project.

At first I was concerned for the privacy and safety of the students when using the internet and online sites. The teacher explained in the lesson plan that many precautions were taken such as not using pictures or video of the students and never were the students last names used. I found it very interesting that students as young as five years old were taught to upload their artwork and tweet their writing pieces at least one time per week. This beats the old method of having a writing center that only allows the teacher and students to view the work completed. It seems that using online sources such as Twitpic and YouTube the students in this class were able to show their work to a wider audience. In the description of the lesson the teacher discussed how parents and grandparents started following the class’s webpage and loved the projects the students completed. This is a great tool to keep parents and schools connected.

Another reason why I liked this lesson so much was how much data the teacher was able to collect in order to show student progress. The teacher stated that after a couple of weeks the students were excited and motivated to express themselves through writing and the quality of their work increased. Also, one of the benefits of reader’s theatre is to increase fluency and expression when reading. Students love to perform and using YouTube to record their performances is a much better tool than having them perform for other students in the class.

Overall, this lesson proved to be a good resource for teaching students 21st century technology skills, reading/fluency/writing, collaborative learning, and creativity. Utilizing technology to improve a simple Reader’s Theatre lesson has increased student motivation towards learning literacy skills.

Video: Students' Performance of Little Red Riding Hood

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Britton Cook Book Reviews by Dorothy Burt Recommended for ages 9-11 but I think could be used all the way through high school!

Wow! The name isn’t kidding – this is a truly amazing project book!!! I checked out the Lesson Plan called “Book Reviews” on page 36 of the projects book.

The Book Reviews title caught my attention because I am an avid reader but so many kids are not… I am always looking for new ways to interest kids in reading. The basics of this project are that kids read a book then prepare a review to be podcast through itunes. Listeners can then hear the podcasts and leave comments.

This is a really neat lesson on several levels. Kids read books, write a review and podcast script, practice reading script aloud and then use technology to produce their work. Imagine - all of that learning in order to “play with the computer” and become a “worldwide recording artist!” It is safe – they post first names and feed is audio. Since they are able to receive feedback about their books as well as their podcasting, they will continually strive to get better comments. The more they read, the better their reading will become!

Assuming that you have the equipment to produce a podcast, the only real drawback I see to this lesson is that people have to know it’s out there. I would never have thought to look on itunes for student book reviews. Knowing that it is there however, is great! Even if my students were not podcasting themselves, I could tell them about the website and they could check it out and find new books to read. Since the reviews are by kids, they would be reviewed from a common age perspective. IN addition, since this particular website is from a school in Auckland, New Zealand, the books are ones that I have never heard of. I listened to a review of “Evil Fred” which sounded so good that I had to go to Amazon to see if I could get my hands on it!

Going Batty with 2.0 by Ashley Allain Age Range: 7-9 years **
 * SARAH CHAMBERS

media type="custom" key="6575297" Link to Ashley's Lesson Plan Interactive Venn Diagram Bubble Map

Heather Schoettle =__**Cook it, Taste it, ICT i**____t__= Broad age range – all Age range – 10-16 years I feel that the age range on this project should stay “all age ranges”. I have taught immigration and ancestry in second grade (7-8 years old). As a culminating event for our unit we had a “Cultural Cuisine Party” where students researched traditional recipes and brought in foods that pertained to the countries or cultures that their ancestors came from. Many schools have similar activities such as “International Day” or “Family Heritage Day”. I think that it would be incredible if we had been able to go on to a site, view videos of students from their ancestor’s home countries creating the recipes, and to comment on the video. I think that this would be an excellent way for students to connect with the homeland of their ancestors.

This project could be used throughout school ages when studying any country or culture. Many times the food of a country or region is vital component in the people of that area’s history, culture, and day-to-day lives. Even in preschool this project could be used, many preschool teachers use cooking as a tool to teach other things such as: colors, size, the five senses, measurement, working together, and fine and gross motor skills.

This project presents a great way for students to interact with students from different countries, cultures and backgrounds. Using and practicing with “Web 2.0” technologies such as video pod casting and blogging make this activity even more motivating and interesting for students. I feel this type of project can also encourage a sense of global community and cultural pride for all parties involved.