FW: Take 5! Integration Update - Sharing Successes! (Vol.1/#4)

Here is your 4th installment of the Take 5! Integration Update. “Take 5” monthly emails contain information related to teaching and learning for today and beyond... This week is a special edition on “Sharing Your Successes.”

Sharing Your Successes!
-- Here are a few examples of the many integration activities, lessons, and assessments from across the district...

EP

• A 3rd grade teacher updates her class website before each math, science, and social studies unit with  a few websites with games or information that go along with the unit.  If the students complete any of the games at home they can print their score sheet and return it for a prize.
  
• A 4th grade teacher uploaded most of the OAT tests from the past onto the CPS system (student response or “clickers”) and uses them for review, which the kids love.
  
• The 5th and 6th grade gifted students use Excel to create matrix charts, which help them to organize their information to solve logic problems. The students also use HyperStudio to create multimedia presentations for their independent study projects.
  

GL

• A 5th grade math class used a Wii game system to assist them with a math lesson on graphing; students collected data while playing various sports games (e.g.- bowling pins knocked over; baseball distance hit, etc.) and then made appropriate graphs to chart their performance.
• Two sixth grade teachers are using netbooks for many of their 6th grade lessons, including file sharing through network folders in order to save printing/paper costs and recorded audio files to explain concepts as well as for fluency activities. 
• One 6th grade teacher is also using SMART Board’s Notebook software recorder to create videos of lessons and have students view the lessons in centers. 
• The computer club has been using Google docs. They are writing short scripts for video projects and expressed interest in working on them from home. She set up an account and students can access their work from any computer. She can also communicate with them, give them feedback and suggestions from any computer, anytime. Not all students participate from home, but works great for those who do. 

IH

• The library media specialist had 5th grade students use a wiki (simplified web page) to summarize U.S. state information for a social studies research lesson; the students could quickly view other students’ work/states as well and many were excited to create their “first web page”!
  
• Lots more is going on at IH, but apparently they are too shy to share... ;-)
  

JH

• Cheerleaders are using Ning to keep track of upcoming events, discussions, and pictures.
  
• ELA teachers are having students use Inspiration for their research reports — to organize and plan their writing in diagram and outline formats.
  
• History classes are using Glogster for history reports; she saves a bunch of pictures for the students to pick from (saving time), then they create a poster based on their research and pictures from the choices available.
  
• For ELA, teachers entered old OAT questions into SurveyMonkey (online surveys) and the kids take the “tests” online, providing percentages and graphs of how each student answered, including incorrect answers (showing misconceptions). The kids get INSTANT feedback on how they did and can also compare their answers (extended responses are the best to compare!)  to others -- all answers are anonymous.
  

HS

• Several HS teachers are using Ning sites as a learning resource for students to use outside of the classroom. Some things they use it for include video recordings of their lessons, additional videos of related content, discussion boards to prep for an upcoming in-class discussion or continue one started in class, or to post additional links to files or websites that relate to the current learning outcomes and assignments.
  
• Lots more is going on at the HS too, but apparently they are too shy to share as well!
  

District / Multiple buildings

• Elementary reading specialists created Word forms to improve their assessment documentation, making it quicker to complete each one and easier to interpret since they are the same across the district.
  
• The Choral Director uses several technologies on a regular basis: YouTube performances as models of performance for students in grades 8-12; a multi-track hard disk recorder and a multi-disc burner to create learning media for all students; a digital sequencer to help create accompaniments for his performances; and a piece of software call "The Amazing Slowdowner" from Ronimusic.com to help create learning media for some of his students