Cube for Teachers

Cube for Teachers is an online interactive database for teacher resources for Ontario teachers.  It is organized according to the Ontario curriculum.  It is also a forum that you can share, discuss and collaborate with other teachers.

CK-12 Free lessons and videos

CK-12 is a website that offers free textbooks, video, and activities.  They can be used in your lessons.  CK-12 can be customized and shared in Google Classroom for easier use.  Site is American but some lessons can be used in our classrooms.

Google For Education

Google For Education

Google for Education offers programs for teachers and students in order to inspire, create and innovate from K-12.  Visit the site for more information to select resources and learn more.

Movie Posters..... Media Literacy

Showing a DVD does not mean that Media literacy is being taught.  It is teaching students how media messages are being constructed, who constructs them, the audience, why they are constructed and how they are constructed.  We cannot expect students to produce effective media if we do not equip them with the necessary skills to understand media.  To Understand Media Literacy better visit Center For Media Literacy where you will find a post written by Neil Andersen where he discusses the importance of Media Literacy Education.

I have surfed the net looking for some  instructional model on how to teach Media Literacy. I realized that to teach Media Literacy is to understand the Media, the messages conveyed  and how these messages in some way guide us in the decisions we make. I also realized that its more than just tv. Its newspapers, magazines, graphic novels, films, photographs, posters, songs, radio, music, etc. 

So I decided to begin my lesson on Movie Posters. 
The following is a synopsis of my lesson.  This lesson took about a month and half from start to its completion. 

 My students deconstructed movie posters and then they produced their own.  Students were given opportunities to self-regulate, communicate through class discussions and presentations, to use ICT for learning, critically analyze, synthesize and evaluate posters.

To see a more detailed lesson synopsis (not a detailed lesson plan), click on the links to view everything I used.
Movie Poster Activities
Power Point Activity
Video Tutorial for Photoshop

I used the ideas on http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/7-elements-of-a-great-movie-poster-design/  to help put my lesson together for when my students critically analyzed their movie posters.  I changed  the posters on this site to accommodate for the age  level of my students.  I also borrowed ideas from various websites.

Thank you to Sandra Mustacato for her support and resources.

Now where do I go from here?  Like I mentioned, there are other Medias to help students understand and deconstruct.  We will build on this lesson and move onto understanding advertisement and its marketing tricks.
What do you think?

Teaching Ideas

Teaching Ideas is a site that has free lesson ideas, resources and activities.   What interested me in mentioning this site is the Library section that contains ideas and resources linked to children's books and literature. There are ICT and technology ideas as well that you can adapt by using a web 2 tool.

Scratch

Scratch is a visual programming environment.  Students learn how to create their own stories, animate and create games; they learn how to code.  They can work collaboratively or on their own.  There is an online community where you can share and remix projects.  It is Free.

Ted talks video about Coding

The Future of Glass Technology

A couple of years ago I was introduced to this video.  A good video to use to begin a discussion.

Stop Motion Animation

Stop Motion animation is a method to physically manipulate an object to make it appear that it is moving on its own.
Click on link to access some resources, tutorials and ideas for creating Stop Motion Animation for your classroom. These resources will demonstrate how you can use Movie Maker, iMovie, digital cameras, iPad, or any smartphone to accomplish this task.
Stop Motion Animation Workshop Resources

Padlet ideas

●     Creating a Virtual Wall &  Engaging Your Students Blog Post http://catlintucker.com/2013/06/padlet-create-a-virtual-wall-engage-your-students/

●     Lesson lhttp://blog.padlet.com/2013/03/how-to-use-padletcom-in-classroom.html

From this website I found a list of ideas on how to use Padlet:
http://saucontech.blogspot.ca/

○     Create a timeline with videos and images

○     KWL activity. Create one wall for what students know, one for what they want to know, and one at the end of the unit for what they learned

○     Students to comment on videos that they are watching in class

○     Assess student understanding at the end of a chapter/unit

○     Use as a way for students to brainstorm in a group on topics

○     A great place to visually collect group research

○     Create posters on people/places/topics.

33 Ways To Use Blogs In The Classroom

Click on link to read a list on using Blogs in the classroom.
http://web20intheclassroom.blogspot.ca/2008/10/ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classroom-and.html

ThingLink

ThingLink helps you create a story from images by linking web content to each image.  The images become interactive and creative.  Thinglink help students develop 21 Century skills and inspire them to be creative.
Thing Ling Education is free for sign up.  http://www.thinglink.com/action/store/education


What is ThingLink Youtube Tutorial.

Text Message Generator

With the age of text messaging, why not incorporate the idea in the classroom. SMS generator is an online tool that was introduced to me during my course.  This tool allows you to create a conversation through messaging. Below is an image that explains this generator well.  http://www.classtools.net/SMS/28_Q5H4KE

Wordmover for Poem Creation

Wordmover allows students to manipulate words on their ipad. It is a Read Write Think app created by the National Council of Teachers of English. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-mover/id572997152?mt=8

Read Write Think has some lesson plans on using this app. http://www.readwritethink.org/search/?sort_order=relevance&q=using+word+mover+app&srchgo.x=-323&srchgo.y=-484&old_q=

Evolution of Music... video mashup

This youtube video is called Evolution of Music.  It has a medley of songs throughout history.  It begins with an 11th Century song right through to 2010.

What a great idea to use as part of a biography lesson, demonstrating music through the ages or asking the kids to do their own video mashup as a project.

Kodu Game Lab...... Game Creation

What I found interesting about Kodu Game Lab is that students can create games without the worry of having design or programming skills.  This is good for creativity, collaboration and problem solving.

Teachers and students can take part in a Skype Lesson
labshttps://education.skype.com/projects/2428-microsoft-kodu-game-labs

Unfortunately it is not a web based program but a download.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=10056

This is a Youtube video that demonstrates how to use program in 1 of 4 tutorials. You can go to youtube to  view all 4 tutorials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg_jeN5AcPs

Skype in the Classroom

Post revisited from Dec/12:

Bring the outside world to your classroom using technology!! You can request to invite an organization, author, classroom.... to visit your class through Skype. This virtual technology brings experiences to the classroom where perhaps some students may not be able to experience otherwise.

Connect your classroom with teachers from around the world.  Post a request for someone to visit on a certain topic.

https://education.skype.com/

BBC Teachers Teaching Resources

I  have many times visited BBC Teacher for games, videos,and  lesson ideas. I had posted this link on my student blog back in April, 2011 and forgetting to add it here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/

Kidblog...... Blogs

Kid blog is an alternative to Blogger for kids.  Teachers can sign up and create a secure classroom blogging community for their kids.  Teachers have total control of the blogs and user accounts. It is for K-12 students.

●     Step by step instructions, including video tutorials, on using Kid Blog. The link also includes teaching ideas http://integratingtechnologyandwriting.wikispaces.com/KidBlog

●     Ways to use blogs in your classroom  http://blog.simplek12.com/education/15-awesome-ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classrooms/

CommonSense Media

Common Sense Media is a site that has cross curricular units that address digital literacy and citizenship topics in an age appropriate way.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence

Youth Privacy.......... Social Smarts

Like Media Smarts, Youth Privacy is a site from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada where students can learn to become better informed about safety and proper use of Social Media and the Internet. There are lessons and tools to help students with privacy when using digital technologies.
http://www.priv.gc.ca/youth-jeunes/index_e.asp