CES: Using the GROUPS feature for Discussion Boards

Joe Pullia, 5th grade teacher at CES, conducted a unit of study with his students on the Newbery Award. He chose to use the Discussion Board tool in Blackboard as a way to motivate students to have "conversations" about five books that received the Newbery Medal. Utilizing the Manage Groups feature in Blackboard [Control Panel/User management/Manage Groups], student groups were created.
The 5 groups were set up to include their own discussion board with specific students enrolled in each group. When a new button was set up for the groups a Tool Link was added, with the tool type being Groups.
Mr. Pullia noted that the discussion boards have motivated students to write more, share more, and go deeper into various issues and characters in the book. He said that that one huge advantage of the groups feature is the ability to differentiate instruction, since a group can be created for even a single student. Janna Bell, assistant principal, has been included as part of the discussion groups and often responds to posts and asks questions to promote dialog.

Here is a sample section of one books discussion with student names erased (click on image for larger view):
One student said that she really enjoys using discussion boards and especially the Newbery discussion board because she can "talk" with her classmates even when she is home. She said that she gets some ideas about the book that she didn't even think about, and she gives other kids new ideas about the book too!

The GROUPS tool adds another way to manage discussion boards and provides a system for supporting differentiated instruction.

CES: Trash and Treasure

Sarah Spencer, LMS at CES, has been working with 2nd grade students on several sessions using the Big6 Trash and Treasure method of note taking. First she showed a Powerpoint presentation to introduce the concept of how you need a question in order to know how to find the treasure! Today's lesson involved reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books (some wordless alphabet books) in search of treasures to answer the question, "Why is this community an urban community?"

In the lesson I observed today with Karen Nelson and her class, students were asked to use the special note taking sheet to record their treasure words and the pages on which they were found. Each pair worked with a different book with several adults supporting their efforts. They were asked to find at least 10 treasure words before time was called and they shared their treasures.

All 2nd grade classes are also working with Pam Syndercombe, technology teacher, on trash and treasure activities. Having the same terminology used by the classroom teacher, technology teacher and library media specialist is helping students understand and practice the art of selecting information that is related to the research question.

CES: Usefulness and Truthfulness

Coleytown Elementary...
Sarah Spencer, LMS, Pam Syndercombe, technology teacher and Lori Buskey, 4th grade teacher, just completed a 3 session unit of study on determining the usefulness and truthfulness of websites. The lesson began with a focus on a popular hoax site, introduced at the ITL Summer Institute in a workshop on New Literacies presented by Greg McVerry and Ian O'Byrne from UConn. The convincing website elaborately describes the habitat and physical qualities of the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.

The students prepared for the lesson in the classroom by getting some background knowledge on the "traditional" octopus that lives in oceans. In the computer lab, with the technology teacher, library media specialist and classroom teacher, the students congregated near the smartboard to look at the website together, where they determined to use the online dictionary to look for the meaning of difficult words and to ask for help from their peers or adults if they needed. Their task was to work in pre-selected pairs to find the usefulness of this website and determine if it should be used in a unit on endangered animals for other students in the school. Students were asked to extract 5 useful facts from the source and write them down. Even though they came across some unbelievable pictures and facts, none determined the Northwest Tree Octopus to be a figment of anyone's imagination! The findings were shared on the Smartboard resulting in many USEFUL facts about the N.T.O.
The next day students returned and discussed how to determine if a website is truthful. After brainstorming some ideas (check other sources and look for the author) students returned to the computers and searched Destiny for books, websites, World Book Encylopedia articles, and database articles about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. After lengthy searching, and some frustration, no one found even ONE other site about this rare endangered creature. (One child had also consulted and researched with her mother the night before and was literally exploding with the TRUTH, but after sharing it with every adult in the room, was able to hold it a little longer!) After much discussion it appeared as if something was wrong with the information. The child who KNEW exposed the horrible truth -- this site was a well-known HOAX site and the N.T.O. was not real! (Many students did not believe it at first.) The students were asked to think about WHY the teachers, who knew this was a fake website, did not tell them the truth.

The following week the group met for the 3rd time. They reviewed the process and stated their thoughts about why they were "lied" to. They said, "To become better researchers; To learn to read more carefully; To make sure you are careful and you don't believe everything you read!"
The group said that identifying truthfulness was more important than determining usefulness, since if you think it is useful and then you find out it is not true, all of your work is for nothing. They then worked on creating a list of things to look for to determine the truthfulness of a website. They took those rules and visited another hoax website to see if they could prove it was a hoax. They investigated the Dog Island website and wrote down 5 ways they could determine its truthfulness.
There were many funny findings on this page including contradictory statements, impossible songs and pictures, and a hidden disclaimer at the bottom of the page. The students felt like they were on the way to being real researchers, able to respond to criteria that they had established to determine the truthfulness of a website. Next they are going to do the same thing with the concept of usefulness using a real and truthful website.

These were three exciting lessons that will not soon be forgotten by anyone involved!

CES: A Community of Writers

(Click on images to enlarge for easier reading.)

This school year Ed Wolf, 5th grade teacher at CES, started a wiki to encourage his students ("The Wolf Pack") to write more and more and more. In the process, with community authors and parents invited in to comment on student writing, and a set of explicit writing rules and guidelines, students also continue to write better and better. When asked to provide the goals and objectives of the project, he explains:

"This project was designed to extend the writing experience beyond the four walls of the classroom and to expand our writing community. I have always believed that student self-reflection is a very important part of the writing process. As part of my Writing Workshop students have always engaged in pencil and paper self-reflection. The goal of the wiki is to engage students in reflecting, not only on their own work, but the work of others. In doing this, the students gain a better understanding of the writing process and what it means to be a writer. This project has helped to raise the bar in terms of student work. In addition, and perhaps my favorite part of the project, I have enjoyed seeing the level of the comments grow in sophistication and complexity. The comments are not simply superficial accolades, but the students provide each other with real, constructive criticism. In our writing community, feedback is not looked upon as a negative. The students look forward to reading the comments left by their classmates and incorporate them into their revisions. I have also used the wiki as a place to ask questions of the students and use this information to guide instruction. Having professional authors commenting on the wiki has also served as a real motivator. The students enjoy when Judith Marks-White and Lauren Tarshis stop by and comment."

The Room 25 Look Inside wiki was well planned and organized. This wiki demonstrates the power of a collaborative writing environment, which included regular review by peers, parents and professionals. What a difference an authentic audience can create! The quality of the student writing is extraordinary.

ONE STUDENT SAMPLE WITH COMMENTS
(Copied to a page on a public wiki)

CES: Make Way for Google Earth!

Yesterday morning, Jenn Dunn, 1st grade teacher at CES, read Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey to her class.

In the afternoon she took her class on a virtual field trip using Google Earth (a free Google program pre-loaded on every computer in our schools) and a special KHZ-Google Earth file that she pre-downloaded from the Google Lit Trips website. (Next week at CMS in the LMC on Jan. 14 from 4-5 there is a webinar on this topic.)

Students were totally engaged and participating in discussion during the 20 minute exploration of Boston, following the path (shown below) taken by the ducklings. They were able to zoom in on specific locations such as the State House, Charles River bridge, and Beacon Hill, and view actual images of these locations.

Jenn Dunn has been using Google Earth in her classroom for the past two school years at least 1-3 times per week. At the 2008 Summer ITL Institute Jenn taught all participants how to use some of the features of Google Earth in the classroom.

Jenn Dunn's objectives for this Social Studies and Literature activity included:

Social Studies: Map and Globe Orientation
1. Understand the difference between a map and globe.
2. Distinguish between land and water on a world map and globe.
3. Develop a sense of near and far distance.

Social Studies: Direction
1. Use the following words correctly dealing with direction: left-right, toward-away, across-around.

Social Studies: Scale
1. Describe the distance of objects in the environment by using the following words: closer-farther, near and far

Social Studies: Symbols
1. Understand that real objects can be represented by pictures or symbols on a map.

ITL Skills
1. Interact with information in a source
2. Use questions to guide research
3. Skim and scan for information
4. Use pre-selected sites and software related to the curriculum
5. Use software programs to express ideas and to solve problems
6. Use technology to demonstrate learning