Five Tools to Use in Class
This week, I have chosen 5 tools that I am excited to explore further and hope to be able to use in my own classroom this school year.
The first website that caught my eye was the Debate Website: Debatabase, which has a wonderful list of debate topics that can be used in class. At the end of 8th grade, my students start to get an Israeli version of "senioritis". I think that having some debate lessons can help to keep them interested until the end of the school year.
The second website that I was interested in was: Web Tools - Graphic Organizers. I think find myself making Venn Diagrams (for example) by hand and photocopying them for different projects throughout the school year. I think that having tools like this can only help my documents look more professional and legible.
The next site that I enjoyed and have used before is the storybook writer: Story Jumper. The nice thing about this website is that it is easy to use, and makes assignments look like a professional book. It really takes the assignment of writing and allows you to raise the level of student output. Seeing a "book" at the end of a project does a lot for self confidence and is a great way to incorporate nice technology into lesson planning.
On the comic making website: Make Beliefs Comix I found a solution for an idea that I had been kicking around for one of my 6th grade classes. At the end of this coming unit we, the teacher of 6th grade, wanted to make an alternative assessment. We had been kicking around the idea of having the students write a comic strip using the grammar and vocabulary we have learned. Our workbook, The Detectives, has many comic strips that the students really love. This gives me a way to help the students make their comics online!
The Printing Press: Interactive Printing Press, is another great option for alternative assignments and assessments. My school has an English Week theme this year of "English Around the World". I would like my 7th and 8th grade classes to make a travel brochure about an English speaking country. These brochures could be presented along with English Week festivities at the end of the school year.
I'm looking forward to trying out many of these in my classroom!
Hi Sarah, Your blog is SO inviting. You write beautifully.I liked how you gave specific descriptions that illustrate how and where you are going to implement the ideas.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, thanks for sharing your discoveries - I also really like story jumper. I love your idea for making Venn diagrams with the Web Tools - Graphic Organisers. What a great project you could even hand over to your students!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI too loved the comicstrip site, it is really such a great site to have the students do as and alternative assessment or a school project around a certain subject
I enjoyed reading your ideas, Sara. The fact that you are already teaching helps me see that these tools can really be used in class. Also, I liked what you said about seeing a book at the end of the writing process being good for confidence.
ReplyDeleteCool! I really like the idea of having students write their own books. It can be a several-months-long project: brainstorming, writing, editing, rewriting, illustrating, publishing (so that students have hard copies) and then presenting to the school and the wider community.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a teacher yet, but would love to use these tools in the near future. It's great to read that you have the opportunity to do so! Good luck:)
ReplyDeleteI really like that you explained how you are going to use each one of these tools in your classes. Seems like you put a lot of thought into it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!