Saturday, August 6, 2011

Final Project

For my final project, I'm am completing the second option and creating a lesson that uses Storybird. This was one of my favorite web tools that I explored through this class. As everyone probably knows, teaching the same classes each year and having the same projects can sometimes put you in a rut. So for me, I think the best part about these tools is that they allow me to add a new component to a lesson without having to completely reinvent it. So here is the idea for my final project...

Each year I have the students in French III create their own children's story to practice using the different past tenses in French. They usually enjoy this and things go pretty well. One thing that is often difficult is that there usually ends up being only 1 artist per group. So this student would end up having to complete all of the illustrations. In the past, I've told them to focus more on the story and writing than the illustrations so no one is punished for lack of artistic skills. Using Storybird this year will solve this problem. I'm going to have them complete this same assignment through this website. All of the requirements will be the same. They will be graded on their content, grammar, etc. Since our school has class sets of laptops that can be reserved, I am fortunate enough to have the equipment for the students to work on this during class as well. I think this is a perfect way to revamp an existing project. The best part is that they can all add their stories to the Storybird library for our class. They can view each other’s and I will have great examples to show the next class!  

2 comments:

  1. Its great to hear that you have a plan that you are excited about. Using technology is fun and I really do think it is beneficial for the kids. Have a great year.

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  2. After reading your comment I am anxious to look at storybird. I have not checked it out yet. Sounds like an interesting program.

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