Techtalkers

=** Techedge Group/8Y24 Lab 1: Place your cursor BELOW the three lines. Type in your Activity Types Reviews below. Then place a line under your entry. **= =To Post Click EDIT............................................................................................It is over here ^\=

=Activity: Madlibs **The idea of this activity is that students get to fill in the blank spaces of a story with parts of speech (verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc.). This could be used as a great language activity to enhance the students' learning of the parts of speech while encouraging a hilarious time!** **This activity could be used in conferencing for assessment, having students fill out a madlib one-on-one with the educator** **Jess D**=

Lise Cote- Question and Answer Project. Students ask questions to an “expert” via email. I like this activity because it is important for students to learn how to formulate good questions and they could also ask higher order thinking questions. I could use this activity during language arts, in the writing strand, across grade levels. Students could email an author whose book we are reading. During Science, students could email a scientist or researcher about a particular topic under study. How great would it be when they receive their answer? I would assess the mechanics of the question (spelling, punctuation) as well as the level of question (descriptive vs. analytical).

**Julie Ogier- 3D Book Reports:** There are many great activities listed in the text, but I especially like the idea of the 3D Book Report. This activity requires students to familiarize themselves with the MS Power Point program. Students create slides for each component of the book report (title & author, plot summary, characters, favourite quotes, and significance). Students then print their Power Point slides, cut them out, and construct a 3D shape such as a cube. I would use this activity in a language arts class to make the traditional Book Report activity more exciting for students and to implement technology into the language arts curriculum. I would assess this activity for language arts, and evaluate students based on the different components of the book report.

__** Jessica Li **__ 2. An electronic photo album is a great way for students as well as teachers to collect memories throughout the school year. The electronic photo album is composed of a series of digital pictures selected by each individual student and incorporates music and/ or narrative describing the image and it's significance to the child. I would utilize this tool by having students create a photo essay of a school trip or a memory pertaining to a specific event at school. Each child would select an image of their favourite memory on that particular day and hand- write or audio record themselves giving a description of the events that occurred. I would assess this type of activity for language arts by looking for vocabulary, spelling, grammar, creativity and details.
 * 1. Photo Essays (Electronic Photo Album) **

 Sarah Gibson, Brochure: I really like the idea of the brochure. Dictionary.com says that a brochure is "A small booklet or pamphlet, often containing promotional material or product information". While persuasive writing is the main medium of the brochure, the visual aspect of it is extremely important as well. This is where technology comes into play. I would use the brochure in my social studies class, allowing students to persuade myself and their peers to travel to different cultures and and times. In order to assess this project I would create a rubric designed to specifically look at their ability to persuade the reading (visuals have a part in this).  ---

Donna Wilcox Podcasts: Podcasts are digital recordings of audio or video information. Students could use podcasts to record and share information with each other e.g. if they are researching a particular science or social studies topic and create the podcast to share the information they have found. (Example: grade 2 social studies unit (traditions and celebrations) Students can record what they have found out about a specific tradition). To assess podcasts, you could use a checklist or a rubric to check for the specific expectations that you have for the activity.

Danielle Korte: Digital Photo Albums: These photo albums are a great way for students to share their class projects as well as their activities from outside of class. They can show their excitement to their parents as well as family and friends outside of their school. It is also a great way to document their learning. Students can use these to look back on, and remember their learning. I would use a digital photo album for studens to document and remember a creative project they chose to do, and use that album to share their assignments with their classmates.

Andrea Di Marino: Podcasts: involve sound or video recordings. I can see myself using a podcast as an oral communication mark integrated with science as well as many other subject.. For example, students can explore a topic while pretending to be a news reporter or a radio host. The student can then be graded on their ability to speak clearly and to an intended audience. I also think the students would find this type of activity to be very different and fun because as a class, they can all watch each others final products.

Tianna Toulouse: Picture prompt writing activities. Students are given a picture that is used to prompt them to write a story. They could describe what is happening or what may happen next based on the picture. Students may work individually in in small groups to write their story. I would use this in any subject area and I would assess it based on their creativity and how well they were able to use the proper words to describe what is happening.


 * Jessica Giallonardo- Character Webs**- A character web identifies the traits of a central character, which helps the reader to understand a character's actions and motivation. A character web can show how the character develops as the story proceeds. Students can use this strategy individually or when working in small groups, as well as at the beginning of a lesson, during, or at the end. I have used this activity many times and it really helps brainstorm ideas and organize thoughts in a topic. Most people I think use this activity in Language Arts, but through other experiences, I can see myself using this idea in Drama, Science, and Social Studies. This is a very versatile activity!

A MADLib is a writing game in which a list of words is created that meet certain criteria. For example, an adjective, a verb, a noun, an item, a color, etc. The list of words is then inserted into a story. This activity is an excellent (and humorous) way to incorporate language arts into the classroom and to keep children engaged. Use an observation checklist to assess children’s ability to differentiate between nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. For printable MADLibs, visit [].
 * Rachel Lafferty:** MADLibs

Robin Kearns: Digital Photo Albums A child puts together a selection of photos that can follow the same theme or answer a question asked in class. They can add narration and music to accompany their photos. This is a great tool because it allows students to pick what they want to represent and it is authentic to them! I would use this in the classroom when you are teaching social studies and doing families, or countries, each student could get a country and have to make a photo essay about it. I would have loved this when I was a student!


 * Allison Ramdial : Digital Photo Albums**

A digital photo album is a great way for students to share key moments in their lives whether they are in the classroom or in the community. Students can select a series of digital photos and then insert music or narration to the album. The use of this tool is great for students because it allows them to create something that is unique to their lives and that highlights things that they consider important. I would ask students to create an “All About Me” photo album there they present different aspects of their lives that they feel are important and that they would like to share with the class. I would assess this activity as part of my Language Arts unit by looking at students’ grammar, spelling, and creativity (music selection and narration).

** Ashley Stasko- Podcasts  ** Podcasts can be both a great teaching tool for students to learn through and also a great project for students to complete. These are hands on and appeal explicitly to auditory learners. Students who may struggle with reading themselves, creating an auditory version of the story will help them remember and visualize what is going on in the story. Students can also create a podcast to help them study for a test or a podcast of a story they have written in class. These are excellent ways of sharing school work with family and friends and the school community. Bringing technology into the classroom will continue to challenge us as educators and the more ways we can introduce technology, the better our students will enjoy learning.