I am a proud member of The Groovy Grammar Squad. A few of the ITRTs have been working on The Groovy Grammar Squad blog to compile all sorts of literacy ideas that use instructional technology to assist literacy development. Hop on over and check out all of the resources!
I am also a part of the county’s Reading Initiative that is beginning in four of the Henrico elementary schools. Therefore, literacy is ALWAYS on my radar and the county wants to see quality reading instruction happening in each building.
Just the other day I was walking through Glen Allen Elementary’s library and stumbled upon some amazing book report projects that ALL teachers need to consider implementing to reinforce story elements. Mrs. Pascucci and Mrs. Oliff are the reading teachers at Glen Allen Elementary who came up with the idea to have a Book Buffet. Check out these incredible student projects:
Book Buffet from Julie on Vimeo.
Mrs. Borres at Highland Springs Elementary was studying Problem and Solution in reading with her kindergarteners and invited me in to do a lesson on the ipads. Students were asked to use the Kidspiration app to find two images. The first image had to represent a problem and the second image had to represent a solution to their problem. Having kindergarteners come up with their own problem and a solution that made sense was a real thinking task but the kids ended up doing a great job! Once the two images were on the Kidspiration board, we saved their work to the camera roll and then uploaded it to the app: Screenchomp. Students recorded an explanation and annotated their problem and solution. Here was an example (Remember, we are talking kindergarteners here…):
Problem and Solution from Julie on Vimeo.
Ms. Hand at Chamberlayne Elementary had her 3rd grade students research Famous Americans they were studying in Social Studies. They then had to synthesize the most important information about a Famous American of their choice and write a sentence or two that highlighted their person’s accomplishments. We then had them create YakIt scenes with a partner and they recorded themselves reading their writing. I love cross curricular activities! Here is an example:
Violet and Kennedy from Julie on Vimeo.
Mrs. Dash’s first grade class at Crestview Elementary was studying word blends and digraphs. She had her students create Popplets on the ipads that organized words into a certain word family. Students had to include words with blends/digraphs as well as images. We then uploaded their Popplet to Educreations to have the students explain their work. Check out Chloe’s creation:
These are just a few wonderful activities that are happening in my schools across the county. Keep checking The Groovy Grammar Squad blog for more ideas!
