Photo Credit: Will Lion
I love this quote by Mitchell Kapor, as it really sums up what it can be like to try and find something on the internet.
Below is a video with some Google Search tips that everyone should know. Make sure you watch it carefully.
Here are some other neat tricks you can use when searching:
The students have been really engaged in their animation. The information they have shared about the various body systems is extremely impressive.
We have had some challenges:
Our first attempts don’t have background music on them (time restraints!), but hopefully the information remains the most important part of the animation. Here’s Alex’s animation – Well done Alex!
We are beginning a new Sharing the Planet unit which looks at:
Our actions and choices have an effect on the environment
You will be doing some research on an environmental issue of your choice, and will share your findings with others using Glogster. I have prepared a very quick glog (below) to show you what Glogster is:
It’s a LOT of fun, and very easy to share your information in a creative way…
HOWEVER…
Sometimes people get a bit carried away with Glogster and the audience can suffer from SENSORY OVERLOAD!
It’s great to make your glog look visually exciting, but the bells and whistles shouldn’t detract from the message you are trying to get across.
Audio
You can add recordings of your voice created using Audacity. This might be where you create an audio version of your persuasive piece of writing.
Video
You may wish to upload a video you have found or created, that relates to your environmental issue.
Visuals
You may wish to add images that enhance your presentation. Remember you must acknowledge your sources.
Links
You can create links to websites that you have found that provide more information about your issue.
Bibliography
Further to your work with Ms Day, you will need to include a bibliography of websites, books & images you used for your presentation.
Assessment
You will be helping me create a rubric which we will use to assess your final Glogs. It will be based around the following criteria:
It’s time for some Internet Safety information. Explore the different sections of the Cyber Cafe and do the Brain Teaser at the end.
Thinkuknow – 8-10 – Cyber Cafe via kwout
If you have already completed the Cyber Cafe Brain Teaser, add some ideas to your original Kidspiration Mind Map about Internet Safety in a different coloured text. Then check out the games below. You need to add more information to your mind map as you go along.
Thinkuknow – 8-10 – survey via kwout
Here are a couple of videos which provide us with some really important issues to think about.
What might you do differently after watching these videos?
Welcome back to the Grade 4 page! After a great holiday break, we’re back into it. And what is it we’re doing exactly? Animation!
We’re using Marvin as our animator of choice and so far the Grade 4’s are picking it up very quickly. We aim to create an animation to share their knowledge and understanding of their current ‘How the World Works’ unit, focusing on the following central idea:systems work together to sustain life in human beings.
At the moment, we’re still learning the skills of animating our characters, inserting backgrounds, adding voice and so on. Next up we’ll be preparing a short script for 1 or 2 characters so that when it comes to the animation we won’t be working out what we’ll say.
Stay tuned and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on their progress.
Grade 4 did a lot of new learning last week – we experimented with using the chat function in StudyWiz to discuss ways of being a principled blogger. Students read the blogging guidelines I gave them (based on guidelines developed by www.itscotland.org.uk/mfle) and chatted about whether they agreed or not, or thought things needed to change.
For many, it was the first experience of using chat. They quickly learned the appropriate etiquette of replying to a person using the @ symbol, and were very respectful.
Lots of excellent discussion came as a result of the chat: reasons why we needed to be responsible for anything posted in our own name made us more aware of the importance of keeping our passwords safe. We looked at reasons that we should try to use correct spelling. We reworded some of the information I originally had on academic honesty so it was more student-friendly.
One thing I particularly liked about the chat feature is that everyone wrote a comment. If we were having a face to face discussion, not everyone would have participated. I am sure some people asked questions they wouldn’t normally have asked.
Here is our final Essential Agreement:
Essential Agreement for Being a Principled Blogger
We are about to start our new unit about Where we are in Place and Time:
Countries have a unique past, significant location and definite character.
Explore the World Mapper website below, to look at distribution of the world’s resources and population.
Also check out the interactive map below to see how the location of a place can grow and change over time.
I hope you had a fantastic trip to Sibu. Please look through the voicethread below, sign in using the username and password I have given you and leave a comment.
Take the time to write a meaningful reflection. Listen carefully to my comment as it contains instructions about what you might comment on. It’s not just about how much fun you had – it’s about what you learned.
Respond to other people’s comments.
Agree or politely disagree with others, explaining your reasons.
I look forward to hearing your reflections.
You have created some wonderful Wordles that represent you and your interests – well done! Your photos are quirky to say the least, but that’s how I like them!
We have explored the places we have lived using Google Earth, which gives us a bit more information on each other’s experiences.
It’s now time to think back over what we have learned. Please click on the link below and complete the survey.
Identity
In class we are inquiring into the notion of identity. More specifically, we are looking at how:
Our identity is shaped by experiences, beliefs and values.
I would like to share some tools that allow us to share our experiences, beliefs and values with others.
One of these tools is called Wordle.
Wordle – Beautiful Word Clouds via kwout
As you can read from the excerpt above, wordle makes ‘word clouds’ out of text that you give them. In order to learn a bit about what you are interested in and what is important to you, I would like you to do a wordle about yourself!
Here are a couple I made:
Captured from www.wordle.net
Captured from www.wordle.net
I would like you to follow 2 important steps to create your wordle:
Step 1
Use a Word document first to type all the words that are important to you.
If there are 2 words you want to stay together (e.g. Mrs Beasley), you need to type the ~ key between them (e.g. Mrs~Beasley). You can find the ~ key on the top left corner of your keyboard, under the Esc key. You also need to hold the shift key down to make it work.
If you want to make your name (or any other word) stand out, then type it several times. The more times you type it, the bigger it will be.Don’t forget to check your spelling!
Save your work in your personal file. That way, if you make a mistake and lose your wordle, you’ll still have the text you wrote, so you can make another one quickly.
Step 2
Wordle allows you to print photos or put them in a public gallery. As we have Jing software installed on our computers we can highlight your wordle and save it as a .jpg file so we can use it later. If we use Jing to capture our wordles, we must be academically honest and acknowledge where the picture came from.One of the ways we can do this is by keeping Wordle in our file name (e.g. saving the .jpg Mrs Beasley Wordle). That helps remind us where it came from. Another important way we can be academically honest is by putting a caption under the picture wherever we use it. Have a look at my wordles above and you will see I have done this.
Now it’s your turn. Remember to open a Word document and start typing there first!
