F2009+8Y34+Lab+1+Activity+Type+Reviews

The activity I chose is called a **BookGuide**. The general idea is to read a book/novel to the class and then pool all the ideas the students got from the book. A BookGuide can really help students with their abilities to reflect, as well as provide some fun activities. Some activities that could be used are story summaries, basic writing and discussions; which could all be altered into things such as comics, performances, etc. as long as it is based on the original material. I could see myself using this in class, with different materials chosen according to age. For example, with younger children fairy tales would be essential. As students get older, funny novels or even newspapers/magazine articles could be used. Students could work in small groups, pool all of their information on placemats or charts, and create additional things such as posters for display on the classroom walls. Whatever activity is chosen, this activity is useful because it provides a creative means to demonstrate a students’ understanding of the material. It is also a great assessment tool!
 * Adam Uppal** - 2663334

Victoria Caminiti The activity type that I am recommending is "Impersonations". Impersonations are when students email a fictional character or someone who is no longer living. The student's emails are sent to an expert that is knowledgeable of the book or person (as they are answering the student's questions as that person). I can see this activity type being really useful to me as it would really engage all of the students. I would develop a ruberic, and mark students based on the historical knowledge of the characters (which would have to be present in order to ask specific questions). Of course, students would be given the ruberic ahead of time so that they can see how they will be marked. I invision this activity taking place towards the end of a unit, as students will have a greater grasp on the content. An example of how this may look in the classroom is given at the following website: []. Here you can see examples of letters that students or their teachers have sent to Thomas Jefferson. Overall, this activity type is an excellent example of project-based learning.

 Cait WIlloughby: 2697662 The activity type that I have chosen is picture prompt writing. In this type of activity students are presented with a picture which they use as a prompt for writing a story. The teacher also provides guidelines as to what type of writing is expected of the students. I would use this tpye of activity after presenting a lesson for example on animals. I could give each group of students a different picture of an animal and give them instructions as to what the story should include (beginning, middle, end, intro sentence, etc). They then would be asked to create a story about the animal. In this activity I could assess whether they followed instructions and includedall components (beginning, middle, end, intro sentence, etc). I also could see whether or not they met the requirements as I would have taught them how to write an introduction, etc previously. Once the stories are written the students could also present their stories to the class to practice oral communication. I think this would be a great activity because they could practice their writing skills and be creative at the same time. In addition I beleive this type of activity would be good to use for students who need visual cues to assist their learning. I could assess their work using a checklist to identify whether they have met all the criteria. A rubric to assess their level of understanding could also be used.

Namita Govind: 4462735 Activity: Photo Essay Summary: A short essay that 1-3 describes images. I could see myself using this assgnment in both primary and junior grades. For example, in the primary grades you could create the story for them to read. While for junior grades the they could create the photo essay as a project.

Natalie Winter 4461398 Name of Activity: BookGuides Summary of Activity: Read a picture book or novel to the class and collect all the main ideas from it. Books Guides allow for the children to critically think and examine their feelings regarding the story. They also allow children to engage in one of the following activities: story summary, critical thinking, writing and discussion activities, art activities and Internet activities. How can I see myself using this activity? In the primary grades, children are constantly building on their reading and writing skills. I would use this BookGuide after reading a fairytale book or any novel. I would have the children listen to me read the story or chapter from a novel and perform a quick recall of what happened in the story. To spice things up in the classroom, I would have the children get into partners and brainstorm the main ideas of the story. I would allow them to use the computer to create either their Book Summary or Art activity. By doing these types of activities, educators are able to assess a child’s creativity and fluency in language development. Also, assessing their understanding of the main ideas of the story and retelling the event is important. Once all the children have created their piece of literature, I would display them around the class so the other children could appreciate everyone’s talents.

Lisa Cavers: 3900867 The activity type I chose to focus on is Vocabulary Bingo/GeoBingo. This game requires a bingo card which can be easily constructed using the table feature of Microsoft Word. Vocabulary words, spelling words and graphics that represent landmarks can be used in this game. Students must identify the word, definition or graphic based on the information called out by the Bingo Master. I could see myself using Vocabulary Bingo/GeoBingo for practice with word recognition and vocabulary acquisition during Language Arts class. I would write vocabulary words that we are learning in class in the boxes. I would hand out the bingo cards and chips to each student. Next I would read the definitions of the words out loud. Students will place a Bingo chip on the word that matches each definition read. When students get four across, diagonally, or vertically they will yell, ‘Bingo!’ The winner will read out the words that gave them Bingo and I would check to make sure I read the definitions to those words. Overall, I feel this activity is a great way to assess students’ knowledge of vocabulary. 

Devin Carpenter, 3563418 The title of the activity I chose to summarize is MADLibs. MADLibs is a game in which children are given a story but certain words are left out purposely to be replaced by another word from a list. The words are provided to the “madlibber” from the Reader who creates the word list in order to meet the criteria of the story. This activity would be good to use during a language arts activity where children have read a familiar book and have a word list already created. The teacher would be assessing to see if the children can comprehend and identify different parts of speech. For example, knowing what words need to be replaced within the sentence (an adjective VS a noun).

Brittany Bell 3548351 The activity type I selected is MADLibs. MADLibs have an author or “madlibber” who is responsible for removing certain words from a story or paragraph. A reader then makes a list of words that meet the criteria for this story (example – adjective). Once the reader has made the list of words they give them to the “madlibber” to insert into the story where words have been removed in order to make an accurate but surprising story! I would use MADLibs in a language arts lesson to work on speech and reading comprehension. The reader could be asked to provide words based on a certain topic that is being discussed in class (you could integrate the science curriculum and use space words for example). The words would also have to fit the criteria provided by the madlibber (example – adjective). The “madlibber” would be required to put together a story that makes sense. Therefore once this activity was complete I would assess the reader for using appropriate vocabulary for the criteria provided (example adjective, space etc.) and I would assess the “madlibber” for reading comprehension based on the degree of understanding that was shown in their story.

Kari Chambers 3812161 The Activity Type that I found interesting is creating brochures found in Chapter 4. A brochure is a persuasive writing piece folded into three parts that sometimes contains a message. You can put graphics, words or phrases in order to grasp your target audience's attention. I would use this activity in my classroom as a task to accompany research. Therefore, if in my science class we are learning about different animals and habitats. I could tell them to pick an animal and using a brochure share your information, where they live (can use maps), explain their habitat and so on. I could also tell them to include pictures and phrases to help describe their animal. I would assess their knowledge of the animal through reading the research and I would also mark their creativity by the physical appeal their brochure has.

Jennifer Bucknal 3569340 The activity type that I liked was the photo essays category. I liked the ISpy Stories in particular. This category helps with visual stimulation. The book does not have to be very long. The words on the page are a narration for the story and the pictures pull the story together. The ISpy Stories are a riddle book. Each picture has a number of items in it and the riddle tells you things that could be in the picture if you looked really hard. I would use this type in a language arts lesson to demonstrate different types of rhyming poems. In the lesson each photo would have a different type of poem. I would assess this activity for the students ability to link the poem to the photo and not just any poem.

Shannon Tesolin 3829926 Name: Photo Essays – Oral Histories Summary: Have students find and interview someone who has lived through an interesting event. Have students record the interview so they can use parts of the audio to re-tell the story. Students use power point to display digital images that depict the even and use audio clips to accent these images. Putting it to use: I could see myself using this in the junior grades because I think that making imputing audio might be too complex for primary students. This activity would fit well into a social studies or history lesson because the students can explore primary sources. Furthermore, it fits into the language arts curriculum because it allows students to develop interview skills, learn how to re-tell a story and how to use multi media to express their story. I would have students interview their grandparents or an older relative. They would go through the process and then would present their final product to the class. I would assess the process of this assignment by using a checklist to ensure they have completed all of the steps and then I would use a rubric to assess the quality of their final photo essay. 

Michelle Reichert 3576592 An activity type that I found interesting was creating brochures. A brochure is a small booklet containing promotional or product information in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and makes an impression based on its appearance. I think this kind of an assignment would be very useful in a classroom and I would personally use it as a summative assignment whereby students can showcase what they have learned about a particular topic. In a social studies class each student could be given a different country to research and promote through a brochure. Since a major focus of brochures are making it aesthetically pleasing students will enjoy working on it and feel more proud of their final product. I would asses their knowledge based on the information in the brochures and their creativity based on the appearance, layout and organization of the brochure. 

Renee Dorigiola 3266749 An activity type that captures my attention is the Vocabulary Bingo or GeoBingo. This particular activity is a bingo card that can be constructed in MS Word using spelling words, images, vocabulary words and the list goes on. The student is then asked to make a connection with the word, term or graphic and identify the information being given to them. I think I could see myself using this strategy in a primary classroom when teaching any subject from language to geography or even math. I would use this activity in both a small and large group setting and encourage the children to go about playing the games on their own in small groups. For example if the students are learning about with addition you can have a variety of answers written on the bingo sheet. The Bingo master would call out a number sentence and the children would have to find the correct answer. I think it would be a very engaging and interactive way to involve the students in a lesson that is often difficult to teach. Given that mathematics is often labeled by most students as boring and hard. I would be assessing to see if and when the children call out Bingo, that it is the correct answer and that they were able to complete the math sentences correctly. This way I will be able to assess for comprehension in that area.

Farah Ghadially: 3816261 An activity type that I found useful was the Character Map or Web in chapter four. This activity is a visual map or web that has spaces for students to type information about the characters in a story they will plan to write. The map or web shows how aspects of the character are related to each other and allow students to organize their thoughts and to branch from a general idea to more specific details about each character. This shows the development of the character as the story continues. The structure of the map or web gives students organizations and a way to prioritize their information. This activity incorporates technology and language together as for example in English, students are often asked to write short stories. Therefore, I could ask my students to use these graphic character organizers to plan out their story. These character webs or maps are easy to fill out and are printable to use at a later time when working on the story. They are also great visual representations to help meet students various learning styles. Students could even later on make their story into a cartoon for technology class and these organizers would help them to visually illustrate the character’s features and actions. The aspect of the activity that I would be assessing would be to ensure the students have all of the criteria filled out correctly in the character map or web and that they have an understanding of how to use the map or web. I would use a checklist to assess that the students have completed all of the components required in the character map or web and that it is finished correctly.

Amanda Wright The activity that I found to be useful was “Impersonations.” Impersonations would allow students to choose a fictional character from a book or from someone who is no longer living and impersonate them in a role playing situation. They could do it with other teachers or experts in the field. I could see myself using this lesson in my classroom because the students could do it individually or in groups when learning about history or reading historical fiction. It would allow for students to show their creativity! I would assign a couple different books depending on the students level of literacy. Students would be able to think critically in organizing their own questions for the character and it would definitely enhance the students knowledge of the book and involve them as the reader. I could assess whether the student followed directions and whether the questions that the student prepared for the character were appropriate. I would also create a rubric to make sure they understood the material that was given. This would let me know whether they grasped the concept of the book or the information they read about their character.

Janette Thorpe 1505320 The activity type that I found useful was the Character Map or Web. It is a map that shows how different categories of information are related to each other. It can be used when reading a complex story to help the reader understand the relationships between different aspects of the story. It can help provide a structure for ideas and facts to help the student sort out the information and how it occurred. I could see myself using it in the classroom to help students visualize the story that the classis reading together. I would read the story and then talk about the characters, setting, problem and solution and then have them write down the answers on the "map" I would give them. I would assess this activity by reading their maps to see if they understood the story and the concepts that form the story. It would help to determine their comprehension skills.

Name: Ashley Campbell Activity Type: Webquests The activity type that I find interesting as well as useful and fun is Web Quests. Web Quests are online activities for students to complete. They include many different forms of technology that many children may not have used. I would use this in any subject where an appropriate Web Quest could be found because it allows children to learn in a way that is more fun and uses new skills. It allows children to expand their knowledge on a subject while having fun rather than simply completing seatwork. If I used a Web Quest in a lesson I would assess the work with the final product which could be written out, created, or printed off. Work could also be assessed by observation and completion. Here is an example of a Web Quest that could be used in a Grade 4 science class. http://ssrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/webquest/

Emily Bogart 3763562

The activity type I chose is MADLibs. MADLibs is follows the traditional madlibs game, where the child is given a story but words are left out. The student makes a list of words that could go into the story, nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. The story usually becomes silly or funny if the student uses words that don't really belong. The activity would be useful to use during a language arts class although it could be incorporated to many other subjects. It would be good practice for the students to identify the parts of speech (for example: a verb) and then use it properly. Also, having students practice using different descriptive words, having them look up words in the thesaurus to have interesting sentences might be a good addition to this activity. It could also be used for vocabulary words for a social studies or science unit. This activity is fun, so students do not realize they are practicing using these different words in context.

Riley Crawford 3542156

The activity I would love to do in my class is MADLibs. This is a fun game that I remember doing when I was young and can be easily adapted for class. MADLibs is a word game where the reader is asked to replace certain words but it must meet a criteria, they could fill in the blank with a noun, adjective, verb etc. To do this the reader must understand what these mean. I would use this in my class for having fun while learning about the parts of speech. I could do this as a large group or with individual seat work. I would even do this online as there were online sites discussed. To assess students in my classroom I would use MADLibs as a formative assessment, meaning that it wouldn't be a test but instead I would record notes and begin to see how each student was understanding the concepts. Perhaps even on a test I could have a few MADLibs for fun, checking to see if the child understood the terminology and filled in the blank with a corect response (Although there could be many!)

Leah Gouveia-4486577 The Activity Type in Chapter 4 that I chose is Vocabulary Bingo and GeoBingo. The game can include vocabulary words, spelling words, or graphics to represent landmarks. Students are asked to identify the word, term, or graphic based on information called out by the Bingo Master. I could see myself using this for Language Arts. The class would play a game of Bingo and the Bingo cards would have words on them. I would read out definitions of the words and students would put bingo chips on the word that matches the definition. For another Bingo game I could have the definitions on the bingo card instead and read out the word that corresponds to the definition. Then students yell out "Bingo!" When they get 4 words in a row (horizontally, vertically, etc.) Bingo provides excellent recognition practice and can be used in small groups. For this game I would be assessing vocabulary acquisition if definitions are called out rather than the word. This game is also good to assess memory in terms of recognition and recall. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Steve Allan - 4471611

The activity I find most useful is the WebQuest. I like the idea of getting students actively involved in using the Internet to search for answers as this is a skill which will serve them well throughout their entire lives. Through a WebQuest, students will be asked to go online to a specific URL and search. A webquest can either be viewed online or printed as a handout to be filled in. Students are prompted to search for the answers to the questions on the Internet, and teachers may provide the sites to use or challenge students further by having them find their own sites using search skills and other techniques used in class.

I would most likely use this strategy in the middle of a unit. After the key points had been taught, this is a great way to expand on a smaller point of interest. Looking at the example link above, I would use this to teach more information about penguins after I had already begun coverage of the Antarctic as a whole. This would provide them an existing schema to assimilate the information to, and make it easier to absorb the facts produced using the WebQuest. The best part is, these can be completed in a computer class, which gives a well-needed structure to what can sometimes turn into a lawless period in the computer lab.

Of all the strategies taught in this class, WebQuests are one example of quick and easy strategy to give students a more well-rounded education using technology and the Internet.