Script Writing Literacy Board

Here is my Literacy Wall for Script Writing:

Persuasive Writing Literacy Wall

Here is what the literacy wall in my classroom looked like during our unit on Persuasive Writing.

Wall Wisher

One way of integrating ICT in the classroom is through the use of Wall Wisher in your lessons. This tool can be used for any grade level and for almost any topic area. I often use Wall Wisher when beginning a new topic as a wonder wall.

The way it works is that teachers create a wall (page) and students can post a response on the wall. Students don't need a log on which makes it easy to use. Teachers can also create a setting that all posts need to be approved by the teacher before going on the board.


This is a Wall Wisher page I created when teaching about credible sources for researching. Students had to answer a question and locate the answer in three different websites:
http://wallwisher.com/wall/year6findingfacts


Another one I've used this year is to post Wonder questions to begin our unit on the Olympics:
http://wallwisher.com/wall/olympicsinquiry

This is a very engaging tool for students and they love seeing their posts/comments on an internet page.

ICT in the Classroom - AITSL Teacher Feature

One of my co-workers has been working with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and asked me if I could help her with a project.

Long story short, I was asked to create a small video of myself speaking about a current issue in education. I chose to answer the following question: "How is ICT changing what you do as a teacher?"

Here is a link to my video: http://www.teacherfeature.aitsl.edu.au/node/238

The school I work at has a huge focus on ICT in the classroom and I was only able to speak about just a few of the things I use in my classroom in this video due to the length of the video. I will continue to blog about the different uses of ICT to share my ideas.

The Lorax

During our unit on environmental sustainability, we read the story The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

This story is a great way to connect environmental degradation to human impact.

After reading the story, students were to create a Before and After drawing of the story, showing the destruction that the Onceler caused.

Students in my class did an amazing job drawing Truffula trees and the Thneed factory. 

 

Script Writing with Comic Strips

Last term, one of our writing focuses was script writing. Here is a very cool and engaging activity for students.

Students were given a short Snoopy comic strip. They then had to turn the comic strip into a cartoon by creating a script for it.

This activity took only one lesson and was also a great assessment tool t see what student did and did not understand about script writing.

Below are some samples of student work:

Number Lines

 Our school has had a huge focus on improving numeracy teaching and learning this year. As part of this, staff at our school have been participating in numerous professional development sessions.

One of the key things I've learnt this year is the importance of having a number line that is clear and visible up in your classroom. Number lines can be used for almost all maths activities and are a handy tool to help students visualise the task.

They are easy to make and apparently you can purchase ones too. I've placed mine up along the wall in my classroom, however, a modification for younger age levels is to have them run along the floor. Students in Prep at our school enjoy being able to actually "jump and hop" along the number line.
*Make sure you start at zero too!

For  more information on maths and number lines, check out the following website. Frank Schoonderbeek ran a PD session at our school that was very informative. Here is his website: 

http://www.aiz.vic.edu.au/Resources/?cid=52