Literacy Project

I was away for our April 12th class, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I had an idea in mind for my literacy project, but hadn't yet begun it. During our April 19th class we had the chance to play around with Weebly, which I liked at first and thought I would use as the platform for my project (I was in awe of all the background options). I started typing in some of the research I had done on my project (fairy tales for second grade) during class, but then when I got home I realized it wasn't as easy to work in as Blogger is. I had trouble linking to other websites, formatting pictures, and so on. So, I created a new blog--Lisa's Fairy Tales Blog--and transferred all of my information on fairy tales to it. I like this platform much better, probably because I'm so much more familiar and comfortable in Blogger because of this blog.

I can definitely do a lot more with the fairy tales blog, but I'm feeling stressed out that I haven't finished the entire project yet. I included four fairy tales for students to read/have read to them through a cool site I stumbled on called "Speakaboo" (I shared it through Diigo). I didn't realize there is a subscription attached because the stories I listened to were provided. I'm guessing the first few are free as demos. I provided links to related sites as well as collaborative activities. I still need to complete the lesson plan in the preferred template, add a rubric, and get reaction from students (actual second graders or from our class). I also came across some great activities to use on a SMART Board (fairy tales Jeopardy!, a vortex game with "Real" vs. "Fantasy," a fun concentration game, etc.), but I have no idea if I can cross-link smart notebook activities in a blog or how to get that information across on this platform. If I was doing this unit with a class, I would simply put the activities up. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

From fairytalesforsecondgraders.blogspot.com
Image credit: Google Images

Using Google Reader

I love using Google Reader to read classmates' blogs; it makes everything much easier to access. Before I felt comfortable using Google Reader I would fall back on the Google Doc from our very first class where we all had to create a blog and put our URL and name in the table. I went back to that document over and over again until I realized there was an easier way (there usually is, isn't there?). I finally discovered what everyone else already knew--that I can see at a glance what everyone is up to (and how far behind I am compared to my colleagues!). Once I started using Google Reader my life got a little easier. I try to keep up with everyone's blog, but I especially admire Brianna for creating a separate blog about cooking (click the link for this week's tasty recipe for Cheeseburger Egg Rolls). I try to follow that one, too. I also follow a high school friend's blog that I saw on Facebook: Tom Boutell's Innards.

Digital Story - Let's Learn About Time! A Guide to Learning How to Tell Time

Okay, at long last I've finally completed my digital story in Photo Story 3 for Windows called "Let's Learn About Time! A Guide to Learning How to Tell Time." I uploaded it to Google Docs in the .wmv format (sorry; I forgot that the Photo Story file couldn't be viewed on Macs). I also finally figured out how to upload it to You Tube:


The story will work best with grades K - 2. It can be used to help young children understand the concepts of time to the hour and the daily routines of their week. This was quite a challenging project for me--it took me a while to figure out the narration and music selections, but I think it came out pretty well. Please feel free to post your comments once it actually loads; I look forward to your feedback!