Project resources #16-current

 

Resource 16 (week of Feb. 16):

Pixton, a comic strip creator

 

Pixton can be used for a variety of instructional purposes and is suitable for all different grade levels. Because it offers different levels of customization, younger students can drag and drop already made characters, while older students can change the finest details of each frame. Completed comics can be printed, downloaded, shared or embedded on other sites. Individual basic accounts are available at no cost, while teacher accounts with 50 students can be purchased after a free 30 day trial. More information can be found by clicking on the link to the app sheet above or visiting the Pixton website.

 

Resource 17 (week of Feb. 23):

Animoto, a video creation tool 

 

Lesson Plan using Animoto and Haiku Designer

 

Animoto is an easy to use tool for creating short videos with images, text, and sound and can be used for a variety of instructional purposes. In this week’s lesson plan, Animoto is paired with RWT Interactive Haiku developer to deepen and extend students’ understanding of literary elements. Although this lesson is written for 5th grade, instructional supports could be easily changed to provide more guidance or independence for other grades. Additionally, haiku could be written about content area themes and this lesson could meet instructional goals in social studies, math, science, or other subjects. This lesson is also adapted from another ReadWriteThink lesson, so we have included links to already created resources and a rubric. 

 

Resource 18 (week of Mar. 2):

List.ly, a digital list creation tool 

 

Listly is an easy to use tool for creating digital lists with videos, audio, images, and links. Students can also upload and use images and videos they have created and include them on the list. Potential instructional use ranges from the many collaborative classroom management lists students and teachers co-create, to meeting specific instructional goals such as: demonstrating an understanding of genre through collecting books that demonstrate key features; curating multiple ways to solve the same math problem; summarizing the main events of a narrative or historical event and including images or links to provide evidence; demonstrating understanding of the importance of sequence. Lists can be collaborative through comments on the list and can be embedded on a class blog or within another activity.

 

Resource 19 (week of Mar. 23):

Edmodo, an educational social media tool 

 

Lesson plan using Edmodo and VoiceThread

 

This lesson builds on the digital skills established throughout the year by combining a digital presentation with an educational social media site. Edmodo is an education-focused social media platform that offers discussion boards, communication tools, assignment links, and class libraries. It offers the functionality of a classroom management system and a social media site while remaining safe for students. We have shared an app sheet for VoiceThread previously- a digital presentation tool that combines images and other text-based content with audio, video and collaboration tools. In this sample lesson, students use Edmodo to demonstrate understanding of historical events and figures by engaging in a social media conversation. More information on each tool can be found in the links to the app sheets above or at their websites: edmodo.com and voicethread.com. 

 

Resource 20 (week of Mar. 30):

Bookabi, a digital book creation tool 

 

Bookabi is a free iPad app that is an accessible book creation tool for all ages. Depending on the instructional goal, Bookabi has many built in features that can be easily placed in a book for younger students and more customizable features for older students. Bookabi facilitates the illustration of student-produced writing projects with 2D and 3D characters, objects, backgrounds, and voice narration. The characters are highly customizable and can be posed, rotated, or moved around the page. This app could not only be used to create multimodal fictional stories, but also to represent scenes in fiction and non-fiction books, processes learned in science or math, events discussed in social studies, and many more! 

 

Resource 21 (week of Apr.6):

Pixlr-an image editing tool

 

Revised Lesson Plans: Popplet, ThingLink, and Diigo

 

Pixlr is a free web-based app that is designed to edit and enhance images. Pixlr is also available as an iPad app called Autodesk Pixlr and has the same features. No account is required, and there are three different types of tools available on the website depending on the abilities of your students and the complexity of your project. Three earlier lesson plans have been revised to integrate this tool into the instructional approach and instruction. This demonstrates how complexity can be built throughout the year, and how using additional tools meets additional standards while maintaining the same instructional goals. In the lessons, all new information is written in blue to distinguish it from the earlier lesson and to demonstrate how easily an image editing tool can fit into your instruction and afford additional learning opportunities for your students. More information about Pixlr can be found in the app snapshot linked above or on their website.

 

Resource 22 (week of Apr.13):

PowToon, a digital comic presentation tool 

 

With editing tools similar to those of Comic Life and other comic strip designers, PowToon allows users to create animated videos with voiceovers and animated transitions. PowToon requires a user account and provides ten videos of five minutes each for free. PowToon is useful for creating comic book-like images, adding motion and sequence to those images, and adding narration. Using PowToon is much like other presentation software such as PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Prezi, so students will not need to spend much additional time learning how to use this tool beyond familiarizing themselves with the different types of comic-like features that can be added. More information can be found in the app snapshot linked above or on their website.

 

Resource 23 (week of Apr.27):

iMotion HD, a time-lapse and stop-motion video tool 

 

iMotion is an easy to use iOS app that allows students to use their device to make physically manipulated objects appear to be moving or to condense long periods of movement into short videos. Time-lapse might be a great tool for creating a digital portfolio in science, math, or art to demonstrate a naturally occurring or student-led process. Stop-motion can be an enhanced way of retelling a scene from a story that demonstrates student understanding of setting, movement, and mood in addition to plot. This app is also useful for solving problems in math using manipulatives. More information can be found about iMotion HD in the app snapshot linked above or on their website. 

 

Resource 24 (week of May 4):

WeVideo, a video creation and editing tool 

Lesson Plan using WeVideo to Identify, Classify, and Compare

 

This website or iPad app is a video creation and editing tool that can be used for a large variety of instructional goals. From introducing and activating background knowledge of a topic to a final project, videos are a useful way of integrating your instructional goals with digital skills.  This lesson plan focuses on any instructional goal that may involve identification, comparisons, and classifications. Specific examples are given for math standard CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.G.B.4, classifying two-dimensional figures. More information can be found about WeVideo in the app snapshot linked above or on their website.