UDL Book Builder

I created a book that I would use with beginner level ESL students related to weather.  I plan on still editing the book to add audio for the correct pronunciation of the vocabulary words; however, the microphone on laptop wasn't working.  The UDL Book Builder is a good tool for creating your own ebook.  I like that it promotes digital citizenship by having easy to fill source citing  so you can copy and paste sources for images and content.  I also like the coaching idea.  It would be neat to create different, consistent voices or characters for each coach (a thoughtful provoking coach, a practical teaching coach, and maybe a silly, motivating coach) to keep students engaged. 

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=90005&page=1

Story Bird

I really liked this website and can think of so many great applications!  I especially liked the option to add a collaborator.  This function could allow two or more students to blend their ideas together and create a unique finished story.  One thing that I found a bit frustrating was that I couldn't choose from a variety of illustrations after choosing the initial image - I only had the option to choose from the images Storybird had as suggested images.  I understand the concept is to let the image drive the direction of the story, but I had wanted to write a story related to weather initially.  I found several great images on the first page, but once I made my choice to begin with one image there were only one or two "weather related" images that appeared within the story.

http://storybird.com/books/eli-the-adventurer/

This is the link to the story I created.

Low tech literacy toolkit

Baumgartens PenAgain Twist n a Write Pencil -Walmart.com - $2.49

Bic Wite-Out - Pack of 3 - Walmart.com - $4.79

BIC Brite Liner Fluorescent - Walmart.com - $4.49

 

 

The Pencil Grip - MultiPack (Sizes sm. - lg) - Staples.com - $40.09 - pack of 36

 

 

Pencil Grip Crossover - Staples.com - $17.29 - pack of 12

 

LEE Tippi Micro-Gel Fingertip Grips - Target.com - $11.99 - pack of 10

 

 

 

Animoto Booktalk - Mr. Popper's Penguins

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Comicstrip Creations

I tried out 2 comic strip creation web tools with my 10 year old son.  First, we tried the Scholastic comic strip creator with Captain Underpants.  This was a major hit with my son.  We have been reading these books since he was 5 and they have remained a fun bonding book series between him and his younger brother (who is now 6).  I initially called my son over behind me while I had the "reins" at the computer and told him I needed to create a comic strip based on a book that would encourage other kids to read the series.  We built the first comic page together, with me navigating through the tools at the top and him directing me behind my shoulder.  Midway through the 2nd screen, he had butted me out of the "driver's seat" and was completely creating the strip himself.  After he had finished, he called each family member over to watch his final product and talked us through what was happening in each scene.  Of course, my 6 year old then wanted to create his own comic strip and went off to find 1 of the books for inspiration!



**My only gripe with the Scholastic site is that we couldn't get the "Share" function to work.  We tried it out 3 separate times with no luck.*  http://www.scholastic.ca/captainunderpants/comic.htm



We also tried out www.bitstrips.com.  Where we created this (Yes, the potty humor is a bit outrageous, but I think it would actually be quite compelling for elementary school boys!)



Kai Loves Captain Underpants!

Literature Circle

I participated in a literature "circle" with my 10 year old son and one of his friends for several chapters of the book, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson.  I took on 3 different roles - Vocabulary Elaborator, Media Hunter, and Mapper.  I personally had a lot of fun with this activity and the boys seemed to enjoy expanding and relating the story outside of the book.  We all especially enjoyed the related media content and we really talked about elements of the story like characters, plot development, genre, use of dialogue and setting quite comfortably thanks to these role prompts.

 

 

Vocabulary Elaborator^(tech)

 

Assignment:

Your job is to develop a list of words for your group to define in the context of this book or part of book. Your task is to help define these words from the reading and share with the others.  The words you should select to define should be words that you or other members of your group cannot pronounce, define, or understand in the way they are presented. To find your words:

1.   First, point to the unexplained word and then underline or highlight it. 

2.   Next, read the sentence containing the unexplained word. 

a.   If you cannot comprehend the meaning of the word, read the preceding sentence to try to figure out the definition. 

b.   If you still don’t have a definition for the marked word, then read the next sentence after the marked word. 

3.   Lastly, use a dictionary to check the definition of the word.  Use either an interactive dictionary that occurs when you highlight the word or visit an online dictionary site such as:

·                 The Internet Picture Dictionary http://www.pdictionary.com/

·                 The Online Rhyming Dictionary http://www.writeexpress.com/online2.html

·                 Different types of dictionaries http://directory.google.com/Top/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/Reference_Tools/Dictionaries/

·                 Commonly-Used American Slang http://www.manythings.org/slang/

·                 American Heritage Dictionary (online) - Bartleby: http://www.bartleby.com/

Usually dictionaries will give several meanings for a word, and it is important to look at each numbered definition and decide which one coincides with the marked word.

 

Words I have never heard before:

Words I don’t know what they mean:

Words I have seen before, but never used this way:

 

Word               Page/Paragraph/Line  Definition

1 plausible                 | p.140/2/12                 | possible

2 cynical                     |p.147/3/1                    | believing that people are generally selfish and dishonest

3 unperturbed           |p. 161/last line           |not bothered

4 plumes                     |p. 181/2/3^rd line         |something that rises into the air in a tall, thin shape

 

Media Hunter^(tech)

 

Name: Kimberly

Book: Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark

Author: Ridley Pearson

 

Reading Assignment: page 140 to page 185

 

Assignment:

 

The media hunter reads and identifies from the text interesting aspects included in the text and then locates associated media to share with the other literature circle group members. Your task is to identify some aspect from the reading and then search and find either images, sound files, or video related to that topic, time, or location. You can search to find media on a topic of interest that happened in that specific time period or location of the setting. If the book is not story based, then identify a fact from the reading and search for associated media concerning that fact. In the list below identify from the readings at least three statements that indicate the historical or locational (or factual) setting. Then go online and use media search tools to find associated images, sound files, or videos from Websites. You can use the media search tools listed below or others you may know of. These media files should be ones that you find interesting concerning that fact, time, or location.  Share your findings and their Websites’ URLs by either copying and pasting the images into a document and printing it or by playing sound and/or video files with your discussion members. Make sure you explain to your group members how the media relates to the reading and be sure to give the source URL.

 

Search tools

·                 Google Image Search: http://images.google.com/

·                 Lycos Multimedia Search: http://multimedia.lycos.com/

·                 Search Engine Watch listing of media search engines: http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156251

·                 National Archives media tools: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_paths.html

 

Page/Paragraph/Line  Year/Location             Sentence

 

1. p.141/1/2     |Magic Kingdom – Orlando – It’s a small world ride| “The ride had references to the sun.  One, in its theme song: ‘There is just one moon and one golden sun’ Two: the ride’s Central American section included a blazing Mayan sun, the biggest sun in the Magic Kingdom.”

 

2          p.162/1-3/       |Splash Mountain – Disney World     | “Finn and Philby climbed into Splash Mountain’s waterway carefully…They slogged their way through the first part of the ride, around some turns, and soon encountered a rubber conveyor incline that proved a tough climb.

3.  p.182/1/entire paragraph   |Apartment in Cinderella’s castle – Magic Kingdom            | “Finn saw that Maleficent’s eyes were eerily bright.  She had surprisingly pretty, high cheekbones, with a high forehead, black hair, and a strong chin.  She wore a strange headdress, like two twisting horns that rose from the hood of her cape.”

 

Media Websites findings:

URL – Format – Description – Relation

 

1.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W83dDWlPYXU – video – shows the sun in the Central American part of ride at minute 5:36 – also has song throughout to hear lyrics

2.  http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/splash-mountain.htm - website - provides some neat details and facts about Splash Mountain ride including facts about the number of cameras, etc. mentioned in the story. 

3. http://movies.disney.com/maleficent - interactive website - Watch trailer for upcoming movie based on Malifecent, pictures.  Do these pictures and videos seem like the same character you pictured while reading this book?

 

 Mapper/Tracker^(tech)

Assignment:

Your job concerns the book’s characters or content and the location. You will create some form of map representation of the reading content. The map can be a tracking map, a comparison map, or collage or series of location maps. The question you are trying to answer is: where is the content from the reading occurring? A tracking map is one which provides a visual display that follows or shows in order where events took place. A comparison map is one that shows your actual location relative to the material in the reading. The map collage would contain a collection of various maps of locations presented in the reading. In each case you should edit the maps, such as adding marks onto the map image to specify location. Start by finding location information from the reading, noting where it occurs in the text and the locations that the text is describing. Now make your map: one way this can be done is to copy the map into a drawing or paint program and use the tools to add marks, or waypoints, trackways, and/or character or event names onto the map to identify the reading location or locations. Once you have completed your map or maps, write a descriptive paragraph that explains your map materials.

 

What type of map are you creating?    Xc Tracking    c Comparison    c Collage

·                 CIA World Fact Book: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

·                 Yahoo Maps: http://maps.yahoo.com/

·                 Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/

·                 Mapquest: http://www.mapquest.com/

·                 Microsoft Terraserver: http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

 

Location notes

Page/Paragraph/Line  Location statement

1 p.140/last line          | “It’s a Small World” ride

2                                  |Cinderella's Castle

3                                  |Tom Sawyer Island and Splash Mountain

 

Map Description:

I placed an X on the locations that the characters visit in Chapters 16 – 20.  You can see that much of the action took place in Frontierland and Cinderella’s castle.  In chapter 16, the DHIs explore It’s a Small World.  Later in Chapter 20, Charlene and Amanda return to the ride with 3d glasses to get a different perspective, while the others are searching for clues at the castle.  The entrance to the apartment in the castle must be on the east side because the it says the kids had their backs toward Tommorowland.

Technology Enhanced Literature Circle Application

The population I hope to teach is 4th grade.  The technology enhanced book club would be great for a class of mixed level readers (which is always the case).  My experiences thus far in the classroom have shown that students generally enjoy and are motivated by working in groups, so the social factor would be a great motivator for those kids that are either struggling or simply uninterested readers.  Additionally, incorporating technology roles increases interest for modern day students who seek out technology whenever possible.  Linking together traditional literature with concepts like digital illustration, concept mapping, etc. could expand a student's motivation to read for pleasure (or academic necessity). 

Another possibility for incorporating literature circles into adolescent education could also include building in an opportunity for greater parental engagement.  Day and Lum (2011) conducted a year long study that engaged entire family units in a literature circle.  Although families did report some struggles and stress with the project, overall analysis showed that families learned together, children were motivated and engaged with reading, and social/developmental/emotional issues were able to be discussed in a comfortable manner (Day and Lum, 2011).  This idea is super intriguing to me because I have a particular interest in parental involvement strategies!  I acknowledge that this type of literature circle may not be practical for many schools/settings; however, for some students and schools I think this would be an excellent challenge to embrace.  Specifically, I think this would be a productive endeavor for students and families in the transitional years of 5th grade and middle school.  With the correct choice of literature, many social, moral, and biological issues could be explored together.


References:

Day, D. and Lum, K.  (2011).  Lessons learned from family literature circles.  Journal of School Connections, 3(1), 3-36.

Reflections on Experience with Audiobook & DailyLit.com

I have been spending the past month or so reading Anne of Green Gables through a combination of daily short installments delivered to my email via www.dailydrip.com and audio downloads from www.booksshouldbefree.com.  I have also been sharing these files with my mom who lives over 300 miles away.  We have been able to laugh together and compare opinions about plot as we read which has increased my own interest in the plot. 

I can't express how surprised I have been that I really enjoy both of these methods! I am a self-described traditionalist when it comes to reading and literature.  I got my love of reading from Dad who himself converted to a Kindle over 5 years ago.  I had been holding out on reading books via digital format, but I also hadn't had time to read a book of my own choosing in the past 2 years.  I mainly read the DailyDrip emails in the mornings during the 5-10 minutes I sit down to drink my coffee.  This is the same time I was usually spending on various social media networks like Facebook or Instagram.  I have found that I am just as "socially connected" as I was before, but now have something else to talk about (character and plot developments and applications to real life).  I believe this would be a very effective method for breaking up an "assigned" novel or reading into digestable allotments via this method could increase student's motivation who may otherwise be resistant or anxious about tackling an entire novel.

Regarding the audio files - I have been using these to fill in when I want to read further than the short readings.  I have gotten to "read" while washing dishes, doing laundry, commuting to work, and waiting in the pick up line at school.  I grew up listening to books on tape with my mom while we commuted over 2 hours back and forth for her to attend law school, so I was accustomed to the idea of visualizing images while listening to a book; however, it had been well over 18 years since I last listened to an audiobook.  I found I still enjoy it, although I prefer to read written text.  I can see however some people would be able to take more away or better follow an audiobook because of the different voice actors for characters, use of inflection, expression, and music. 

I found supporting research for the positive effects of audiobooks on struggling readers on the American Librarians Association website.  This mixed-method study sought to find if there was a direct correlation between the use of audiobooks and improved attitudes and aptitudes in reading (Christensen, Huffman, McAllister, & Whittingham, 2013).  The study found that both the reading ability and enthusiasm increased with the participant  group!

*References
Christensen, R., Huffman, S., McAllister, T., and Whittingham, J. (2013). Use of Audiobooks in a School Library and Positive Effects of Struggling Readers’ Participation in a Library-Sponsored Audiobook Club.  School Library Research, Vol. 16.  Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol16/SLR_Use_of_AudiobooksV16.pdf.