21st Century Ways to Teach a Book

Today I was presented with a challenge; a Language Arts teacher wanted to know how to teach her next in-class novel without the usual routine of study guides, comprehension questions, and vocabulary worksheets.  Your memories of English Language Arts classes probably include those types of activities.  While those activities all have their place and can still be worthwhile, technology has made it possible for students to create connections with their reading in deeper ways.  Below is the start of a list of ideas for truly engaging students in a book discussion using 21st century tools and higher level thinking.

1.  Create a classroom space on Edmodo.  Have students discuss the story in large or small groups.  Connect with another classroom elsewhere reading the same book.

2.  Contact the author to see if he or she will Skype.  Many authors will Skype with students for free.

3.   Use the Fake Tweet Builder to tweet a character or write a book review.  Try the lesson created by The Daring Librarian.

4.  Create character conversations using ifaketext.  See the example that I created between Katniss and Peeta.

5.  Find one image that represents the book or a specific part of the book.  Share this in Edmodo.  Have other students guess and comment on what it represents and why it was chosen.  Use Thinglink to have kids link their images to videos and other information.

6.  Use BrainyFlix to illustrate vocabulary words.  Share final product in Edmodo.

7. Create a voki speaking from the perspective of one of the characters to share his/her feelings during any part of the story.  Blabberize would also work well for this purpose.

8.  Have a QR Code scavenger hunt to begin the book and help students understand background information.  Display QR Codes around the room, and use a QR code scanner to have a scavenger hunt.

9.  Use Padlet to connect with the story at the beginning of class.  Post a sticky note with a question related to the reading/connection to students' lives.  Students respond and comment on others.  This would also be great as an exit ticket.

10. Use tools such as the trading cards, motivator, and magazine cover at Big Huge Labs.

11.  Create a comic that illustrates a part of the story at Make Beliefs Comix.

12.  Rewrite the ending of the story.  Use  PowToon or GoAnimate 4 Schools to create it as an animated video.

13.  Use the app Songify to turn text that students write about the story into a song.

14.  Create a screencast of students discussing and illustrating vocabulary words using apps such as Educreations or Show Me.

15.  Have students create a Google Earth virtual tour to highlight parts of the setting.

16.  Use mindmaps and online organizers such as Popplet and Mindmeister to make connections and map out parts of the story.  These tools also allow images, weblinks, and video to be added.

17.  Post a request for a partner class on Skype in the Classroom.  Find another classroom to take part in a virtual conversation.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this is only a start!  There are many other ideas we could add to this list.

What are your ideas for teaching literature in 21st century ways?  What are you doing in your classrooms to help students form real connections with the text and think about their reading in deeper ways using 21st century tools?

Being BRAVE to inspire our kids and ourselves!

This morning as I attempt to get back to reality after a great couple of days attending the Wisconsin State Reading Association annual convention and picking up an award for Leadership in Literacy Technology, I  am busy decompressing and reflecting on all of the great new ideas and knowledge that I gained.  Some of the useful nuggets include better ways to manage our iPads, new apps, great new books, and better ways to implement online Lit Circles.

While so many great ideas were shared, I was most struck by a session presented by author and veteran teacher, Kate Messner.  In her session about creating student leaders, she inspired her audience to create authentic and meaningful learning experiences beyond standard classroom-based instructional activities.  One of the ideas that she stressed throughout the presentation, and the message that struck me the most, was that in order to create thoughtful, reflective, forward-thinking future leaders, we need to give kids experiences that force them to be brave.  This type of bravery does not mean exposing kids to life-threatening activities, but rather giving them a chance to go outside of their comfort zones and outside of their usual safe boxes.  Many of us have this fear of failing, of not looking perfect in the eyes of our students, of somehow not appearing to know everything.  I know that I personally put a lot of pressure on myself to feel as if I can solve any problem and find the answer to anything.  I often worry about not keeping up and not staying one step of everyone else.  I worry that when I put myself out there, others will think that I am not good enough or smart enough.  As I listened to Messner, I reflected upon how I limit myself by giving in to these insecurities.  I realized that I gave less of myself when I did this.  Do I really want to do this to my kids as well?  If I am supposed to be their leader and their model, how can giving in to my fears and putting limitations on myself teach them about being brave and the rewards that come along with that?

Kate inspired me to take more steps to be brave.  How can I do that?  First, by expanding my PLN, especially through Twitter.  Second, by making more of a personal contribution to my school district, associations, and the other educational communities of which I am a part.  While we all often make the excuse that there is not enough time, the real excuse is sometimes our fear of not appearing to be perfect to others and worrying that others will think less of us.

On the other hand, I have always been a brave teacher.  I am not afraid to try whatever new tool I discover immediately within my lessons.  I believe in giving kids as many real-world learning experiences as possible.  I use Skype regularly to connect kids to authors, other classrooms, and world experts.  The same class that I have been teaching for three years has looked almost completely different every semester that I begin anew.  That's why I am really excited about Messner's new website Kid-sourcing.  Kid-sourcing was created to connect kids to experiences where they are able to solve real-world problems.  As shared by Messner, the data collected by students engaging in some of these projects will be used for real research.  What better way is there to give kids real-life opportunities, take them outside of their comfort zones, and allow them to participate in the body of knowledge that is being created?  When opening our students to these types of experiences, we not only engage them in real-world activities, but we are also teaching them to be brave.  Bravery, of course, is essential to creating great generations of future thinkers and leaders.

I encourage you to consider your own classroom.  How are you instilling bravery within your students?  What opportunities are you giving kids to connect with the world outside of their classrooms?  How are you modeling bravery?

This blog has been a big step for me.  As I continue to add new posts, I attempt to put aside my fear of worrying about what others will think of me and my ideas.  I continue to put more of my voice into it, which is really the key piece in contributing to the world.  It is one way that I choose to be brave.

Thanks, Kate Messner for inspiring me!

Lessons from TIES

I was lucky to attend the TIES Education Technology Conference in Minneapolis from December 9-11.  The awesome speakers there highlighted best practices in educational technology and reminded us all of how 21st century teaching uses technology to engage students in meaningful experiences.  Among these lessons were the following other reminders with which I walked away:

1.  Using a technology tool does not equal innovation.  Innovation does not equate to throwing in a project or tool to say that you use technology in your classroom.  Innovation is using a technology tool as an extension of meaningful learning.  Innovation is using a technology tool to take students deeper into the learning and connect them with real-world experiences that lead to a better grasp of how the concepts are used outside of the classroom.

2.  Stuff is not what is important.  So many use the excuse that there are not enough computers, SMARTboards, iPads, etc. for the reasons that they do not regularly integrate technology.  My argument is that so much can be done with one computer and a multimedia projector.  Through these you can engage your class with online interactives, videos, virtual tours, ebooks, Google Earth, or podcasts.

3.  Kids need license to be creative.  A 21st century student needs to be an innovator, thinker, and creator of new knowledge.  Our assignments and projects need to give kids the opportunity to do this.

4.  The 21st century classroom is collaborative and connected.  Workers of today have no walls.  They can freely communicate and work with someone on the opposite end of the world through Skype, Google Docs, Today's Meet, and many other tools.  Classrooms of today need to model these same practices.  Why not have students create something with a student from another part of the world?  Or even with another student from another school in our district? It is important that we not limit learning to the confines of our classroom to allow students to explore collaboration and communication in a 21st century work environment.  There are so many resources that will give you opportunities to connect your class to another.  My favorite: Skype in the Classroom.

5.  You do not need to be an expert on all things technology to integrate it into your classroom.  The great thing about technology is often it is easy to learn through experimentation.  If you give kids a class to try out a tool, I guarantee that the majority of them will figure it out.  Use your school technology specialist to help you brainstorm ideas and teach lessons to ease the burden of having to feel like the expert in all areas. Most of all, don't be afraid to fail.  Things are not always going to go as planned.  The risk is definitely worth the chance of a flop.

6.  Technology should be integrated into every class as a natural extension of the learning, not as an add-on course or unit.  To repeat what is stated above, technology should be used to enhance the learning and not as a tool to simply state that you are using technology.  It should not be an "extra" or a "bonus", but rather something that is just a part of our everyday life and the way we learn.

7.  Don't assume that kids know how to use technology properly.  Kids must be taught effective use, safety, ethics, and copyright.  There are many important rules to consider as creators of new information.  We MUST teach our students how to properly give credit, what is legal to use, and what information is safe to reveal online.  As educators, this is our responsibility to teach as well as model in our own use of technology.

To access resources and handouts from the conference, visit the TIES wiki.

Beeclip EDU- Create Online Scrapbooks and More

While searching for an alternative to the no-longer free Glogster EDU, I discovered Beeclip EDU.  Beeclip EDU is a simple platform that gives users the option to create an online scrapbook, collage, photo album, portfolio, or poster by adding photos and videos.  The EDU version is free to teachers, but it only allows for the addition of up to 30 student accounts and one project.  (Teachers can upgrade to the paid version for more features or to purchase additional accounts).  Once work is complete, students have a private environment to view other student projects and insert their comments.  Multiple students can work on the same project simultaneously by adding additional editors.  Work can be embedded, downloaded, and printed once completed.

While this is a nice, free alternative to Glogster, Beeclip's interactive features are limited.  For example, students cannot draw directly onto their scrapbook, search for clip art, add music, or even change the size of the text.  They can, however, add YouTube videos, borders to photos, and text bubbles.  If you are looking for a very simple way to create digital scrapbooks or posters, Beeclip EDU is worth a look.

Classconnect: Share and store lessons, websites, and more

Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to store all of your lessons, videos, SMART Notebook files, and favorite websites all in one space? Wouldn't it be better if this space was also accessible to students, parents, and colleagues? Classconnect does all of this for you. By creating a free account, you now have a space to store all of your teaching resources. The other perk is the ability to search for others' lessons and files by various topics. Check out the video below to see how it works.