The librarian, Blair Hart, and ESL Teachers, Kim Moss & Giti Mirshahi worked together to create this awesome video for International Night using the green screen and the DoInk app. This video was shared with Longan Families at International Night 2018.
The students in Mr. Mitchell’s 3rd grade class researched a plant of their choice from a list of plants that grow at the Neighborhood Resource Center down the street from their school. Students used a variety of web resources, including Elementary Britannica, to gather information about their plant. Their research information was compiled into a script that they recorded using a green screen and the Do Ink App. The finished videos were uploaded to Seesaw and the QR code was printed and laminated. The students also used Tinkercad to design a 3D garden stake for their plant. Their designs were printed on their new Cetus 3D printer that was purchased for the school thanks to a grant from the Henrico Education Foundation. The QR code was attached to the garden stake. The finished stakes will be delivered to the nearby garden.
Fourth graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about lines, rays, angles, polygons, and other aspects of geometry (SOL4.10, 4.11, 4.12). Today, students in Ms. Connell’s class used DesignCap to create geometry posters that review these concepts. We started by looking at the sample posters (templates) on the website for inspiration. We noticed that many of them have large text and colorful pictures to convey a clear message. I encouraged the students to try to use similar design elements. Then, we began with a blank poster and changed the background color. I demonstrated how to add text with the text tool and customize the font, size, fill and border colors. Next, I showed them how to add images and clipart by searching the web or using the built-in clipart library. Students used these tools to create posters reviewing geometry concepts of their choice. We exported them as JPG files and shared them on Schoology. You can see all their posters here.
Fourth graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about lines, rays, angles, polygons, and other aspects of geometry (SOL4.10, 4.11, 4.12). Today, students in Ms. Connell’s class used DesignCap to create geometry posters that review these concepts. We started by looking at the sample posters (templates) on the website for inspiration. We noticed that many of them have large text and colorful pictures to convey a clear message. I encouraged the students to try to use similar design elements. Then, we began with a blank poster and changed the background color. I demonstrated how to add text with the text tool and customize the font, size, fill and border colors. Next, I showed them how to add images and clipart by searching the web or using the built-in clipart library. Students used these tools to create posters reviewing geometry concepts of their choice. We exported them as JPG files and shared them on Schoology. You can see all their posters here.
Students in Mrs. Drewes 4th grade class at Chamberlayne worked in collaborative pairs using StoryBoardThat to create a comic about a famous 21st century American. Then, they used the Snipping Tool to take a picture of their comic and save it to the pictures folder in their computer. They uploaded their finished comics to a Media Album in Schoology where their classmates could use the comment feature to guess the famous American in their comic.
First graders at Trevvett Elementary have been learning about maps (SOL1.4) and how to make maps with symbols and a legend (SOL1.5). Today, students in Ms. Robinson’s class created their own maps with ABCYa! Paint. First, we drew some land and water features. Next, we used the rainbow brush to paint roads, railroads, and rivers on our map. I explained that rivers usually flow into the ocean and roads and railroads need to go to different parts of the land. Then we looked at the stickers and discussed what they could symbolize. For example, a loaf of bread could be a symbol for a bakery and the Earth could be a symbol for a science museum. They added sticker symbols to their map, and they also added them to their map legend. The last step was to use the text tool to type words next to the symbols in the legend, explaining what they mean. We saved our maps and uploaded them to a Lino board (it’s similar to Padlet, which recently changed its policy for free accounts). You can see their finished maps here. (UPDATE: I taught a similar lesson in Ms. Shelly’s class at Holladay, and you can see their maps here).
Using their understanding of area and perimeter, Mrs. Baum’s 5th graders have been busy designing their dream homes. They started off by sketching out their designs on graph paper and then used Tinkercad to create a 3D model of their plans.
They will continue working on their 3D designs and then we will share their designs through Schoology and start printing them with the new Cetus 3D Printer!
The students in Mr. Jones’s first grade class have been learning about maps. Prior to our lesson, they set up their paper with a map key and a compass rose. During the lesson, students used markers to draw the streets on the map that the Ozobot would follow. They used the Ozocodes to add in areas where the Ozobot would need to slow down, such as a school zone, or zig zag through cones, like in a construction zone. After drawing the roads with the codes, students went back to add in the same icon on their map that they used in their key.
Take a look at the Ozobot in action on this map.
The students in Mrs. Milwit’s kindergarten class have been learning about objects that sink and float and she was interested in having them learn how to code in Scratch. For this activity I created a template which included a backdrop and a variety of objects. Students selected an object and then I showed them how to make the object appear to float or sink in the water. They did a great job typing, recording their voice, and clicking and dragging to move the blocks to build the code.
Try out their class game!
Second graders at Holladay Elementary have been learning about some of our famous Americans: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Susan B. Anthony (SOL2.11). Today, students in Ms. Fournier’s class created animations of a famous American. First, they chose which person they wanted to animate and drew their face on ABCYa! Animate. We did some research online to make sure that we were drawing them correctly. We even asked Google about their hair color and eye color! Next, we used the copy cat button to make a copy of our picture and deleted the mouth. I showed them how to redraw the mouth in a new shape. We repeated the process for a few more pictures and changed the mouth into different shapes so it looked like the person was talking when we pressed the “Play” button. I explained that they could add additional realism by making the person blink or by making their ears and eyebrows move. When we were finished, we exported our animations as .gif files. Then, I showed them how to import their GIFs into WeVideo and add a voiceover to make it look like the person is talking. The voiceovers told about the famous American’s contributions and accomplishments. You can see their videos here. (UPDATE: Unfortunately, WeVideo recently changed their policy for free users so the video links expire after 90 days. However you can see another class’s animations without sound here).
