Google Story Builder

So we were discussing Google Story Builder yesterday during work and how it could be used in the classroom.  This is based on the concept of having two or more people working on one document within Google Docs.  Here is one of the promo videos that was made using the service.



One of the more powerful ways that emerged for use in the classroom that could be used to work on synonyms and antonyms.  You could create a script for the students on a handout and then have them visit Google Story Builder and find synonyms and antonyms for selected words and turn it into learning experience.  Other uses could also include famous moments in time between two people and how a conversation might have taken place.  One could use it as a discourse topic in government to show two opposing view points.  This project works best if you choose two or more characters and having working toward a greater good or having them debate a topic.   Your allowed to have 10 spots for conversations so you have a concise discussion in the telling of your story.

Husband:  I Love You!

Wife: (change the word love using a synonym)

Husband:  (change the new love word using a synonym)

Wife: Although I hate it when you do not wash the dishes.

Husband: (change the word hate using an antonym)

Wife: (Change the new “hate” word using an antonym again)  (then add) Anyway, let’s change teh subject.  Come help me find inspiration for your new book?

Husband: (Change the word inspiration and book using synonym) (and then add) Since your last book was horrible.

Wife: What?????

Husband:  (change horrible using an antonym) (and then add) Sorry (after what???)

Wife:  That’s more like it!


After you have the writing aspect down, they then provide you with theme music to enhance the situation to make it more dramatic as well.

Then share the goo.gl link and you are done.  There is no way to save your work.


This is what it would look like.

Learning Upgraded

This is a YouTube channel that is called Learning Upgraded that features math and english concepts that are used in their online learning program.  There are limited amount of videos for both math and english as they would like you or your school to sign up for their online tutorial business, but if they are offering free videos you can always use them in your classroom as well as a way of introducing a given topic.  The videos can seem a little "over the top" but you students will probably remember them because of that.

or

Teaching A People's History is a wonderful site that a History or English teacher could use to enhance their lesson plans on a given topic.  Teaching A People's History has detailed lesson plans in PDF format for a wide range of topics and time periods that will push students of all abilities to critically analyze a given topic deeper and in meaningful ways that are not always apparent.  One unit I looked at was on the Potato Famine that decimated Ireland.  After presenting the facts and extended reading, it asked students to start to think about what were some of the problems that led to such a preventable disaster.  At the end of the unit it laid blame not just on the English landlords but the farmers as well as the church.  If you would like to learn more about the Howard Zinn Project of Teaching A People's History, please read the Frequently Asked Questions.

National Novel Writing Month

Even though the month of November is almost over, this site has a great challenge that could be used at any time for an English teacher. There are two sites, but they both have the same goal in mind, write the majority of a novel (50,000 words) in one month.
The first is the National Novel Writing Month also known as "NaNoWriMo".They provide you inspiration with help hints, forums to ask questions, and a Young Writers Program as well.
The Young Writers Program has a similar site as well but with it geared towards teenagers instead. They have games and suggestions on how to get rid of writers block.
This would be ambitious for any teacher to have their students write this much, but they could easily adapt this exercise across a semester or year.

ASTE Day 1 ... Afternoon

Well after a box lunch and visit with the rest of ITT’s, I headed off to a Conference entitled “Technology to Enhance Your Curriculum”. After hearing about what the presenters do for the Anchorage School District, I realized they were our counterparts and would talk with them afterwards to look into some sharing of resources and collaborating with them as best we could. I was looking over their list of topics and quickly realized that due to the similarity of jobs I knew about most of the resources they were going to be going over, so I was going to be listening from a different angle during this session. Some of the key thoughts from their talk that struck me were the following:

“Technology is not something on TOP of what you are doing, but it should be something that will ENHANCE your lesson.” (Shelley Szipszky)

As an Instructional Technology Teacher, you should go in lead several lessons while giving the staff member you are working with the chance to observe how the students are interacting with the lesson. Just let the teacher know that you would like them to look past behavior and more towards their engagement in the lesson.

Then they pointed out that they did not harp on music and headphones if the students were using them as long as they were used in an appropriate manner. They noted that it would help many students focus on their work and that they would teach proper use of when to listen to music.

Then they featured a really cool movie using ISTOPMOTION, which is a program that takes still photos that will create a stop motion animation. This is actually a program that I have and I will look forward to trying it out this summer

Next up was a movie using a technique called shadow-puppet storytelling. They also mentioned that there were hundreds of iMovie 06 HD plug – in's that you could download and install. So when I get some time I will go looking for some to see what is out there.

The coolest resource that they did cover was called “Google Lit Trips”, located at www.googlelittrips.org. This site works with KMZ files in Google Earth where they will take a book, create a pathway in Google Earth and then add text and pictures to recap the book as you move from one place to the next. I downloaded the classic book of “Grapes of Wrath” and the KML file started in Oklahoma and traveled west to California. The prospect of how this could enhance an English class was a giant “Aha” moment for me. I cannot wait to share this site with my English teachers.

Finally, their shared an Instructional Technology Teachers worst nightmare that is when your best laid plans go horrible wrong. They showed off this really cool site for K – 6, called www.kerpoof.com where you can create a story or movie with provided characters. Ross had mentioned that he showed it to a teacher and the teacher was using for a couple of days and then the teacher came in the next day only to become frustrated towards technology. The emotion arose from the fact that their school district decided to block the web site. I know that feeling oh to well and know numerous teachers that have felt that same frustration.

Well now that Day 1 is done and after waking up at 4am today, dinner sounds nice and then early to bed as I am bushed. Check back soon for ASTE day 2 installments.

How Blogging Can Improve Writting Skills

So how can Blogging improve your students writing skills? Glad you asked. As I was writing my first post online last night and wanting to sound intelligent, I realized that I needed a spell checker, which usually I just use the Firefox, but I just could not figure out how to spell lethargic but just could not figure it out. But then I decided to open up the computer dictionary and typed in the word lazy and then clicked on the thesaurus and quickly found the spelling. Then I noticed that I was using the same adjective a couple of times, so I once again I was using the thesaurus. It was incredible, powerful "Aha" Moment.

More from ASTE to come