In kindergarten, we have four science units. Our final unit is animal defenses. The unit starts with learning about four dinosaurs and their defenses, and then we move onto animals of today. What is exciting about the animal defense unit, is that we take a field trip to the Detroit Zoo for an authentic learning experience to tie into our science unit. I wanted to redesign this unit for my dream project because it is a lot of reading books, watching videos, and then making journal entries about a particular animal and their defenses. Kindergarten writing takes off at the end of the year, and while I did not want to throw away all of the writing aspects, the unit itself definitely needed to be jazzed up.
For my dream project, I took specific videos that we are required to show throughout the unit, different parts from books that I read to my class, and also tied in our field trip. I also wanted to make a portion of my project a home-to-school connection so that the students feel more in charge of their learning and are excited and proud to share their learning at home if possible.
My biggest thoughts when I was diving into the dream project were for my students to think like scientists or "defense detectives", be independent learners, utilize my Promethean Board in my classroom and have students work independently on our three desktop computers. I created an interactive matching game for one lesson for students to complete either as a whole group or within a small group using the Promethean Board. I created an individual labeling activity for students to complete on the desktops. I included a Voki on each page for students to use to be independent workers (in case they forget directions). My Voki can remind them to, "think like a scientist" as they complete assignments, and let them know where they may need to turn in any assignments (like to my "rainbow table" in my classroom).
The whole idea behind, "thinking like a scientist" is to promote a higher level of thinking. My school is in their third year of the Cultures of Thinking program and I am always looking for ways to incorporate thinking routines. My CoT page (Cultures of Thinking), is to truly promote students to begin thinking like a scientist. The See-Think-Wonder activity will be completed at the beginning of the unit. Students are prompted to think like a scientist, look at the pictures and watch the video, then simply write out what they see, what they are thinking, and finally what they are wondering or questioning. The video that I have included on this site supports the attention to detail that I want my students to have for this particular thinking routine. The video does a fantastic job of zooming in on different dinosaur parts and is prompting the students, without even saying it, to be defense detectives as it spotlights in on the dinosaurs. This video goes beyond looking at a traditional book and pointing to pictures with a finger. This new media tool that I embedded on this page zeroes in on what I want my students to be noticing. In my ideal world, this video can/will be used for more activities that go beyond this see-think-wonder thinking routine.
The Google Drawing portion of my webpage was quick and easy to design. Google Drawings allows me to make copies of the dinosaur pages to use for different students and differentiate based on the student's needs. I am able to check-in wherever I am on their progress, make changes to their specific drawing, and leave feedback. With using this tool, I have the ability to create group or partner Google Drawings to use for a different lesson.
I kept part of my project "old school" in terms of instructing students with my Voki that after watching a video they are to grab a piece of paper and complete a writing activity. As I mentioned earlier, I did not want to take the writing portion completely out of this project. Kindergarten writing at the end of the year is so fantastic, so I thought this was a perfect lesson to integrate a bit of technology with a bit of writing. Again, in my perfect, ideal world, I would have iPads to use in my classroom to do an activity on, but with my resources, I felt it was both academically and developmentally appropriate to tie in a traditional writing lesson to this project.
The at-home connection, with using Padlet promotes students to dive into what they've been learning and turn their thinking to household pets (something our unit doesn't touch on). Even though our unit does not touch on these animals, if they put on their "defense detective hats" and "think like a scientist", they will be able to use their new knowledge on defenses and complete the assignment with their family. Also, I included a dinosaur game page, for students to complete either at home or when they have completed a lesson (let's be real, what five or six year old isn't obsessed with dinosaurs?).
Thank you for visiting my site!
(Check out an infographic I created for my redesign project here!)
For my dream project, I took specific videos that we are required to show throughout the unit, different parts from books that I read to my class, and also tied in our field trip. I also wanted to make a portion of my project a home-to-school connection so that the students feel more in charge of their learning and are excited and proud to share their learning at home if possible.
My biggest thoughts when I was diving into the dream project were for my students to think like scientists or "defense detectives", be independent learners, utilize my Promethean Board in my classroom and have students work independently on our three desktop computers. I created an interactive matching game for one lesson for students to complete either as a whole group or within a small group using the Promethean Board. I created an individual labeling activity for students to complete on the desktops. I included a Voki on each page for students to use to be independent workers (in case they forget directions). My Voki can remind them to, "think like a scientist" as they complete assignments, and let them know where they may need to turn in any assignments (like to my "rainbow table" in my classroom).
The whole idea behind, "thinking like a scientist" is to promote a higher level of thinking. My school is in their third year of the Cultures of Thinking program and I am always looking for ways to incorporate thinking routines. My CoT page (Cultures of Thinking), is to truly promote students to begin thinking like a scientist. The See-Think-Wonder activity will be completed at the beginning of the unit. Students are prompted to think like a scientist, look at the pictures and watch the video, then simply write out what they see, what they are thinking, and finally what they are wondering or questioning. The video that I have included on this site supports the attention to detail that I want my students to have for this particular thinking routine. The video does a fantastic job of zooming in on different dinosaur parts and is prompting the students, without even saying it, to be defense detectives as it spotlights in on the dinosaurs. This video goes beyond looking at a traditional book and pointing to pictures with a finger. This new media tool that I embedded on this page zeroes in on what I want my students to be noticing. In my ideal world, this video can/will be used for more activities that go beyond this see-think-wonder thinking routine.
The Google Drawing portion of my webpage was quick and easy to design. Google Drawings allows me to make copies of the dinosaur pages to use for different students and differentiate based on the student's needs. I am able to check-in wherever I am on their progress, make changes to their specific drawing, and leave feedback. With using this tool, I have the ability to create group or partner Google Drawings to use for a different lesson.
I kept part of my project "old school" in terms of instructing students with my Voki that after watching a video they are to grab a piece of paper and complete a writing activity. As I mentioned earlier, I did not want to take the writing portion completely out of this project. Kindergarten writing at the end of the year is so fantastic, so I thought this was a perfect lesson to integrate a bit of technology with a bit of writing. Again, in my perfect, ideal world, I would have iPads to use in my classroom to do an activity on, but with my resources, I felt it was both academically and developmentally appropriate to tie in a traditional writing lesson to this project.
The at-home connection, with using Padlet promotes students to dive into what they've been learning and turn their thinking to household pets (something our unit doesn't touch on). Even though our unit does not touch on these animals, if they put on their "defense detective hats" and "think like a scientist", they will be able to use their new knowledge on defenses and complete the assignment with their family. Also, I included a dinosaur game page, for students to complete either at home or when they have completed a lesson (let's be real, what five or six year old isn't obsessed with dinosaurs?).
Thank you for visiting my site!
(Check out an infographic I created for my redesign project here!)