Sunday, November 15, 2009
BP15_20091115_Response to Lindsay Wood
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
bp7_2009112_webtool2
An educationally useful tool I came across while browsing the Visual Thesaurus is VocabGrabber. VocabGrabber is a Web 2.0 tool that extracts useful vocabulary from any text, sorts it into meaningful categories, and provides users with definitions and links for each word.
A user can copy and paste any text into the VocabGrabber's text box and simply click "Grab Vocabulary". Almost instantly, a text cloud will appear listing all of the vocabulary words that VocabGrabber extracted from the text. In addition, users will see a graph of relevance, and the number of words in each "category". On the right hand side, users can see definitions and related words for a chosen word, as well as in-text examples of the word.
The educational uses for this tool are limitless. Teachers can enter the text from an article or chapter and know exactly which words they should teach students explicitly. Students can also use this tool to help clarify difficult vocabulary in texts they read independently. A good summative activity for a unit would be to take the word list and convert it into a Wordle to use for studying purposes.
I also think that teachers could use this tool to increase student confidence. Many of the words that VocabGrabber suggests would be words that students are already familiar with and use regularly. Having a legitimate source to validate their knowledge would be incredibly powerful for students, especially those who are struggling readers. I look forward to using VocabGrabber in the classroom and helping students isolate vocabulary and understand its relevance.
Posted by Lindsay at 9:52 PM
2 comments:
Erin said...
Lindsay, this site seems to be a real gem, and one I hadn't heard of before. I will definitely be using it in my music classes as we work on content area literacy. When you get into the real vocabulary of music, we have lots of big, confusing, words, and I'm hoping that use of this site will help my student decode some of the difficult vocabulary that they stumble upon. I also am excited to recommend this site to other teachers in my building. Thanks for sharing!
November 13, 2009 7:23 PM
jsibley said...
Lindsay-
I haven't heard of this site, but it looks much better than the visual thesaurus and dictionary, I've used in the past. I can't wait to have my students try it. We work on vocabulary all the time. Anything to break up the monotony and make it more fun and exciting. Gotta reach those kids that just aren't getting it. Thanks Lindsay!
bp7_2009112_webtool2
An educationally useful tool I came across while browsing the Visual Thesaurus is VocabGrabber. VocabGrabber is a Web 2.0 tool that extracts useful vocabulary from any text, sorts it into meaningful categories, and provides users with definitions and links for each word.
A user can copy and paste any text into the VocabGrabber's text box and simply click "Grab Vocabulary". Almost instantly, a text cloud will appear listing all of the vocabulary words that VocabGrabber extracted from the text. In addition, users will see a graph of relevance, and the number of words in each "category". On the right hand side, users can see definitions and related words for a chosen word, as well as in-text examples of the word.
The educational uses for this tool are limitless. Teachers can enter the text from an article or chapter and know exactly which words they should teach students explicitly. Students can also use this tool to help clarify difficult vocabulary in texts they read independently. A good summative activity for a unit would be to take the word list and convert it into a Wordle to use for studying purposes.
I also think that teachers could use this tool to increase student confidence. Many of the words that VocabGrabber suggests would be words that students are already familiar with and use regularly. Having a legitimate source to validate their knowledge would be incredibly powerful for students, especially those who are struggling readers. I look forward to using VocabGrabber in the classroom and helping students isolate vocabulary and understand its relevance.
Posted by Lindsay at 9:52 PM
2 comments:
Erin said...
Lindsay, this site seems to be a real gem, and one I hadn't heard of before. I will definitely be using it in my music classes as we work on content area literacy. When you get into the real vocabulary of music, we have lots of big, confusing, words, and I'm hoping that use of this site will help my student decode some of the difficult vocabulary that they stumble upon. I also am excited to recommend this site to other teachers in my building. Thanks for sharing!
November 13, 2009 7:23 PM
jsibley said...
Lindsay-
I haven't heard of this site, but it looks much better than the visual thesaurus and dictionary, I've used in the past. I can't wait to have my students try it. We work on vocabulary all the time. Anything to break up the monotony and make it more fun and exciting. Gotta reach those kids that just aren't getting it. Thanks Lindsay!
BP14_20091115_Response to Erin Lodes
BP#8_2009112_Web 2.0: ClassTools.net
Screenshot of the Classtools.net logo taken by Erin Lodes
Check out this website! http://classtools.net/
This great tool allows you to customize flash games or quizzes for use in your own class. Here's a sample for music:
Click here for full screen version
There are tons of websites my students visit and use for music learning, and now I can make my own based specifically on our class content.
The example that I share above allows students to choose their own Arcade Game to play, and all of those games interact with the same content that I entered. I like this added choice on this particular template. I also appreciate how easy it is to enter information. On the screen shot of my data entry screen to the right, you can see that all I had to do was enter my questions, an asterisk, and then the answer. the program does the rest! This is a tool that I can truly share with my peers as an example of something that is genuinely easy to use.
And, as always, I appreciate how easy it is to embed the game directly into my website. Since I already maintain websites for all of my classes, I prefer to keep all of my content focused on the one page when possible. It makes it easier to keep my students focused on the content they should be interacting with rather than wandering off and losing their original class page.
This site will prove useful to teachers in all subject areas!
Erin- This tool looks super easy to use and fun for my kids to use. They always want to play games, but I want them to work on content. This is a good way to compromise. I look forward to getting into this site and exploring more. Thanks Erin!
Screenshot of the Classtools.net logo taken by Erin Lodes
Check out this website! http://classtools.net/
This great tool allows you to customize flash games or quizzes for use in your own class. Here's a sample for music:
Click here for full screen version
There are tons of websites my students visit and use for music learning, and now I can make my own based specifically on our class content.
The example that I share above allows students to choose their own Arcade Game to play, and all of those games interact with the same content that I entered. I like this added choice on this particular template. I also appreciate how easy it is to enter information. On the screen shot of my data entry screen to the right, you can see that all I had to do was enter my questions, an asterisk, and then the answer. the program does the rest! This is a tool that I can truly share with my peers as an example of something that is genuinely easy to use.
And, as always, I appreciate how easy it is to embed the game directly into my website. Since I already maintain websites for all of my classes, I prefer to keep all of my content focused on the one page when possible. It makes it easier to keep my students focused on the content they should be interacting with rather than wandering off and losing their original class page.
This site will prove useful to teachers in all subject areas!
Erin- This tool looks super easy to use and fun for my kids to use. They always want to play games, but I want them to work on content. This is a good way to compromise. I look forward to getting into this site and exploring more. Thanks Erin!
BP13_20091115_Reponse to Roxanne Santiago
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2009
BP15_20091115_Web 2.0 tool Mandala
Mandala Maker
Video created by © Roxanne Santiago
I love working with radial designs in my art room. I usually work with kaleidoscope designs with my second graders and radial/mandala designs with fourth graders. Most mandala designs are symmetrical. The meaning of “mandala” comes from Sanskrit, meaning center or circle. The design usually begins in the center and branches outward.
"Mandala Maker" is a web 2.0 tool that allows anyone to create a mandala design online. This can be a great addition to my introduction to my lessons on mandalas/radial designs. On this site, students can use geometric shapes to design 1/8 of their mandala. This is a great pictorial illustration of fractions. Students have options to change colors, rotate the scale and skew the shapes. Once the students feel that they have completed their design or just want to take a peek at their design as a whole, they can press view design. This is when the magic of symmetry begins! Students will begin to “Oooohhhhh!” and “Aaaahhhh!” at what they have created but they will not be satisfied just yet! Now the curiosity kicks in and students will continue to play around by clicking “Continue working”. Who would have thought!? Eventually students will finally become satisfied with a design and it can be e-mailed to themselves or to someone else. I can definitely use this as warm-up project prior to their detailed hands-on art project.
Not only is this a great art lesson, it reinforces many concepts that are taught in our Everyday Math series and allows for cross-curricular teaching, which is a huge push in my district. Grade level teachers really appreciate the additional practice with terminology being taught in math. A few mathematical topics that will be revisited as a result of this activity include geometric shapes, symmetry, fractions, patterns, and measurement (height/width). This web 2.0 tool is not only an engaging introduction for an art project, but it is educational and enjoyable.
Posted by Roxy at 7:40 PM
Labels: art, mandala, math, symmetry
2 comments:
Lori Pickering said...
This is a nice simplified tool for creating mandalas. I, too, do many art lessons around radial design. Its connection to math and symmetry are excellent for students to see the relationship between art and math. In middle school, differentiation is critical and this site may be perfect for students who are not advanced enough for My Oats. Thank you Roxanne.
November 10, 2009 8:44 PM
jsibley said...
I am always looking for new and interesting art projects since I teach my own art. We aren't as fortunate to have an art teacher. I wish we were. The mandalas look fun for the students. I want to try this lesson. I also like the fact that it incorporates math into art. I also like that students can share their art work with others with out having to print it out. Go Green! Go job Roxanne!
November 15, 2009 1:34 PM
BP15_20091115_Web 2.0 tool Mandala
Mandala Maker
Video created by © Roxanne Santiago
I love working with radial designs in my art room. I usually work with kaleidoscope designs with my second graders and radial/mandala designs with fourth graders. Most mandala designs are symmetrical. The meaning of “mandala” comes from Sanskrit, meaning center or circle. The design usually begins in the center and branches outward.
"Mandala Maker" is a web 2.0 tool that allows anyone to create a mandala design online. This can be a great addition to my introduction to my lessons on mandalas/radial designs. On this site, students can use geometric shapes to design 1/8 of their mandala. This is a great pictorial illustration of fractions. Students have options to change colors, rotate the scale and skew the shapes. Once the students feel that they have completed their design or just want to take a peek at their design as a whole, they can press view design. This is when the magic of symmetry begins! Students will begin to “Oooohhhhh!” and “Aaaahhhh!” at what they have created but they will not be satisfied just yet! Now the curiosity kicks in and students will continue to play around by clicking “Continue working”. Who would have thought!? Eventually students will finally become satisfied with a design and it can be e-mailed to themselves or to someone else. I can definitely use this as warm-up project prior to their detailed hands-on art project.
Not only is this a great art lesson, it reinforces many concepts that are taught in our Everyday Math series and allows for cross-curricular teaching, which is a huge push in my district. Grade level teachers really appreciate the additional practice with terminology being taught in math. A few mathematical topics that will be revisited as a result of this activity include geometric shapes, symmetry, fractions, patterns, and measurement (height/width). This web 2.0 tool is not only an engaging introduction for an art project, but it is educational and enjoyable.
Posted by Roxy at 7:40 PM
Labels: art, mandala, math, symmetry
2 comments:
Lori Pickering said...
This is a nice simplified tool for creating mandalas. I, too, do many art lessons around radial design. Its connection to math and symmetry are excellent for students to see the relationship between art and math. In middle school, differentiation is critical and this site may be perfect for students who are not advanced enough for My Oats. Thank you Roxanne.
November 10, 2009 8:44 PM
jsibley said...
I am always looking for new and interesting art projects since I teach my own art. We aren't as fortunate to have an art teacher. I wish we were. The mandalas look fun for the students. I want to try this lesson. I also like the fact that it incorporates math into art. I also like that students can share their art work with others with out having to print it out. Go Green! Go job Roxanne!
November 15, 2009 1:34 PM
BP12_20091115_Week 3 Researching and Blogging Web 2.0 Tools
This image was created by Jamie Sibley. Copyrighted by dipity.com.
The website that I found this week, is dipity.com. There are many great things that this site provides for the user. First, is the fact that a user can create a timeline about a variety of topics. I like the format of this site much better than other timeline sites I’ve tried in the past. On this site the timeline events can be used for a specific date, month, day and year. A user can also put a specific time to the event. Such as, when putting the day a person was born, an exact time can be used. When users sign up to use this tool, they automatically get their own url. For example, mine is www.dipity.com/jamiesibley. Another aspect I like about this application is that a user can share his timeline and upload it onto other applications, for your friends and/or family to see. Some of the applications a user can upload to are twitter, facebook, myspace, and stumbleupon. A user can also create and see others who are following them or who he is following. Others who are following can also comment on a timeline. I really like the fact that on this website a timeline can be viewed in 3 different ways. One is the traditional timeline, a flipbook, which the events are stacked on top of one another, and list, where the events are listed down the page. Since, people learn in different ways, why not have an application that allows them to create and view their timeline, that works best for them. A final aspect that I noticed and liked is that a person can add widgets to their timeline. This timeline application is very interactive and goes along with what we are learning about, the social aspects of the web.
I would incorporate the timeline website into my class by first having the students create timelines about themselves. This is a topic they have more understanding of so it should be a good way to begin. Other ways I would use dipity.com is with the Social Studies curriculum. History I think is many times understood better if one can see it through events that have happened at important times. Right now my class is learning about explorers that came to California and this would be a great tool to use to help them see that it was over a span of time that these explorers came to California and what things each one found while exploring the land. I would also use it as a cumulative project , to view the important events in California’s history over many chapters.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
BP10_20091108_Week2Activity-Social Bookmarking
This image was created by Jamie Sibley. Copyrighted to delicious.com
In researching information about social bookmarking it appears that this is quite a fast growing part of the internet. There are different sites that a person can use to bookmark his or her favorite sites. Muir (2005) suggests that social bookmarking is a personal web site where you can store and categorize your bookmarks. The site http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/socialbookmarking/index.htm, further explains that social bookmarking uses a user generated labeling system that has become known as a folksonomy. According to this site, a folksonomy is where users create the labels. These labels are also called tags on the social bookmarking sites. Jackson (2006) states:
Instead of individually saving the site in a variety of folders, you just type a few keywords called tags (Langston Hughes, alliteration, Black History, metaphor, rubric, and so on.), and your sites are organized automatically with sites saved by other users, using those same keywords.
You even can see a list of your saved bookmarks, not just by alphabetical order, but also by how often you use a given tag. So, you know at a glance that you already have a lot of information on World War II, but not nearly as much on the Spanish-American War. Thus you benefit from the research of others, while having a far more dynamic and helpful system of organization.
Education is an area that can benefit greatly from the use of social bookmarking. Not only can teachers benefit, so can students. In regards to teachers, the Department of Education suggests that teachers could set up an account for each class and make the URL available to the class, create a collaborative account, sharing the username and password with the class or use specific tags to direct individual students to specific readings or resources. Muir (2005) also weighs in on teachers using social bookmarking, by suggesting that teachers use it for professional research, book recommendations, or placing web links on their school web page. As far as students are concerned, Muir also gives suggestions in how they may use social bookmarking. These possibilities are: web sites are used for student research or projects, students can find resources at home and access them at school, share what they are reading or view what their peers are reading on the web.
The sites researched and reviewed provided a better understanding of social bookmarking for a novice user. These three sites also enabled the reader to get a grasp on how this new phenomenon could be used in education, by teachers and students alike.
References
Department of Education. (n.d.). Social Bookmarking. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/socialbookmarking/index.htm
Jackson, L. (April 2006). Sites to See: Social Bookmarking. Retrieved November 6, 2009 from http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites080.shtml
Muir, D. (October, 2005). Simply Del.icio.us Online Social Bookmarking, or: Tagging for Teaching. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from http://personal.strath.ac.uk/d.d.muir/Delicious1_2.pdf
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