The projected timeline for the creation of the iBook is six working days: Monday May 7 - Monday May 14. We are cognizant of time constraints and intend/hope to finish by the proposed end date. You can expect a post everyday until the project has been completed. I will describe the events with supporting visuals. Every day's post will end with feedback from the students.
Timeline
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OUR END PRODUCT IS HERE!
Click here to link to the PDF version of the dinosaur project e-book
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DAY SIX ---May 14, 2012
I apologize for the late entry. I was absent on Monday due to a family medical emergency.
The third grade students worked independently on finishing their dinosaur “page”. Below are a few samples of the finished product. These pages will be collated and inserted into an ebook which can then be viewed in iBooks.
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DAY FIVE --- MAY 11, 2012
Once again, only four students were available; three students in testing and three being absent.
This afforded the opportunity for the third graders to work with different students! The third graders had already begun editing their work in Pages when the Kindergarten students got there. We had a brief
two-minute conference on the carpet to emphasize what is required on the page. Information on the four categories is required with a visual to support their writing. The students were advised to save a little space for the pre-recorded videos and the illustrations by the kindergarteners. Some groups remained on the carpet while others spread around the room.
While the Dinosaur groups were creating their electronic page, the regular 3rd grade reading groups met with the classroom teacher! Monday will be the last opportunity for students to collaborate on the dinosaur project. The students will finish their page and send it to iTunes for storage. These "pages" will then be compiled to create an iBook!
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| Teaching and learning from each other |
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| Sharing a page |
Mini-tutorial on creating text boxes in Pages
Feedback from Day Five
- Several students got to work with more than one kindergarten student and that was helpful for third grade students to learn to adapt to different personalities.
- Greater efficiency was noted today as the students got familiar with each otter's learning styles.
Suggested Improvements
- Kindergarten students wished for more time to explore Pages. I will follow-up on that request when we complete the collaborative piece of this project.
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DAY FOUR --- MAY 10, 2012
Due to three kindergarten students being absent and three taking the county reading assessment, just four students were available to work with their third grade buddies.
We started with a discussion about fosiils; What are fossils? Where are they found?
The students were then shown two fossils of fish found in French Guiana ( borders Brazil).
The students were then given the direction to start working on the Pages app. Each student pair would create a page that includes text boxes incorporating information from their graphic organizer. They would work as a team and include their kindergarten buddies in the writing, perhaps to type in the headings and cloose font size and color.
This was followed by some clarifying questions. For example. “What if we haven’t finished the graphic organizer and do not have information for the extinction category? Another student volunteered to share her research; this was judged acceptable by the students because the questions under the extinction category deals with the whole species and not particular dinosaurs.
The students who didn’t have their kindergarten buddies, worked independently on Pages. Today’s session lasted 30 minutes.
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| Focused on Pages |
Feedback from Day Four
- Kindergarten students were noted helping their 3rd grade buddies by extracting information from the pictures to complete their organizer
- Third graders felt that teaching younger kids helped them to get familiar with Pages and become confident about navigating the app
- Re-reading graphic organizer to younger students helped both students to refresh their memories about details they may have forgotten
Suggested Improvements
- Remember to re-direct kids if they get distracted by telling them to expect a turn to write on the iPad (headings).
- As a follow-up a decision was made to work in the hallway outside the classroom to reduce distractions...the 3rd grade students not part of this dinosaur project were in the classroom as well meeting in their small groups with the classroom teacher.
DAY THREE --- MAY 9, 2012
A brief meeting with the 3rd graders in the morning enabled them to preview the iTunes videos and receive further instructions regarding the graphic organizer. Some questions had come up for clarification and they needed to be addressed.
A development - three students could not join us because they were participating in an electronic county reading test. Two other kindergarten students were absent. The remaining five students met their 3rd grade buddies and proceeded to work together to complete their graphic organizers. The third graders employed yesterday’s feedback and remembered to rephrase questions and re-read the responses to keep the kindergarten students engaged and share input. The students worked for about 30 minutes before it was time to leave.
This reading intervention group from kindergarten consists of students from three kindergarten classes. We will be missing some students Thursday and Friday as well when it will be their turn to take the reading test. This has been a little challenging as we try to fill out the graphic organizers for all ten of the chosen dinosaurs. It has necessitated some creative thinking and problem solving so all of the 3rd grade students get turns working with the kindergarteners.
Tomorrow is a big day for us as we start working on the Pages app! Each pair of students will create a page to be imported into the iBook.
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| Sharing a discovery |
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| Listening to text |
Feedback from Day Three
- Both grade level students were glad to be getting more familiar with the apps and recognizing where information could be found...increased efficiency!
- Many 3rd graders re-read work to include and encourage the kindergarten students...this led to them making improvements to their responses...accuracy!
- Third graders taught the younger students the "define" feature so they could hear the meaning of a word
Suggested Improvements
- If the kindergarten kids get a little discouraged about how to target-find information, the older students should guide and demonstrate persistence by following through (searching other apps, listening to iTunes videos) and completing the organizer.
- Instill motivation by suggesting they take turns with the iPad leading to shared writing.
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The students met on the carpet and paired off. The graphic organizer was introduced to them before they started their research. The organizer consists of 2 pages; the first page relates to appearance and habitat and the second page targets survival and extinction. Once again the K/3rd students worked for about 25 minutes.
Graphic Organizer- Page 1 Graphic organizer - Page 2
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| Discourse |
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| Sharing ideas |
Feedback from Day Two
- The third graders felt that the kindergarten students exhibited a greater degree of comfort in sharing information.
- The kindergarten students were happy to share their prior knowledge of the dinosaur apps
Suggested Improvements
- Kindergarten students would like their 3rd grade buddy to read their writing back to them.
- Kindergarten students would like their 3rd grade buddy to rephrase the question and headings for better understanding.
- The third graders will encourage the kindergarteners to participate in shared writing on the organizer.
DAY ONE --- MAY 7, 2012
We have begun our joint Kindergarten/3rd grade venture into creating an iBook about dinosaurs!
Here is the partially filled out KWLW from the app Tools for Students
What I Know What I Want to Know
What I Know What I Want to Know
Here is a student pair discussing what they want to know about dinosaurs.
Feedback from Day One
- There was some initial anxiety on the part of kindergarteners about working in a 3rd grade classroom, but it dissipated quickly when they were welcomed warmly and guided by the older students .
- The 3rd grade students realized that the younger students needed time to be comfortable enough to initiate dialogue.
Suggested Improvements
Index cards with names of the chosen dinosaurs should have been given out to each pair of students before they were dismissed to pair/share....this was an omission on my part.
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Index cards with names of the chosen dinosaurs should have been given out to each pair of students before they were dismissed to pair/share....this was an omission on my part.
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Tomorrow we will start filling out the graphic organizer and get into the meaty details. The students will be investigating the appearance, habitat, survival and extinction of dinosaurs! Stay tuned...
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