Developing Communication Skills

Across the grade levels, developing communication skills was a common theme in the lessons that I supported teachers with over the last two weeks. Students have been working to improve their written and verbal communication not only in reading and writing, but also social studies, math, and science. 

Most classroom teachers are using the app Seesaw as a way for students to create as well as a communication tool between school and home. It's amazing to see how much even our youngest students can do when we give them the opportunity! 

American Symbols

First graders are learning about American symbols including the Statue of Liberty and bald eagle. To share what they've learned and become familiar with the app Seesaw, students drew a picture of their favorite symbol and then recorded themselves sharing their new knowledge.

Did you know using a plastic container can help block out background noise and amply a student's voice when recording?

The Statue of Liberty

Where in the World?
Third graders should now be able to locate the seven continents. As an informal assessment, students took a picture of a world map and then created short videos showing where each continent is located. This was a great review of content while teaching students how to use Seesaw. Afterwards, the classroom teacher could use the recordings to guide future instruction.

Labeling the Continents

Going on a Sound Hunt

Kindergartners are learning about letters and the sounds that they make. To help reinforce this skill, students went on a beginning sound hunt around the classroom. They took pictures of different objects that started with a specific sound and either recorded themselves sharing what they had learned about the letter and its sound, or created a Pic Collage of several pictures of objects beginning with the same sound. 

Books starts with "B"!

Recording a Finding for the "T" Sound

Students Creating Pic Collages of Objects that Start with the Same Sound

Fact Families
Second grade students reviewed their knowledge of fact families by rolling a die twice and then using unifix cubes to create a number "train" with those numbers. Afterwards they used Seesaw to take a photo of their train and then write down the four facts associated with their family. For example, if they rolled a four and seven their facts were 4+7=11, 7+4=11, 11-7=4, and 11-4=7.

A Student Writes Facts on His Photo

I Wonder... 
Have you ever wondering how big the largest piece of hail was? Or maybe where the biggest hurricane was located? As an introduction to a unit on weather, fifth graders brainstormed questions they have about the topic. They then used the app Shadow Puppet to create a short video of their "wonders". Work was then shared with families and classmates via Seesaw. As they dive deeper into their study of weather they'll hopefully be able to answer their questions.

The Weather was Great, so We Worked Outside

Students Used Library Books in the Creation of Their Projects

Writing with Google
Our district "went Google" last year giving students access to the Google Apps for Education suite. This week fourth graders logged into their accounts for the first time and learned the basics of word processing. They learned about features unique to Google apps, like not having to save your work and the revision history, as well as traditional features like how to indent a paragraph and center your title. As the year progresses, students will share their work with others and receive constructive feedback on their Docs.

Behind the Scenes

Writers at Work

A Gingerbread Man on a Pirate Ship...

Second grade students worked on identifying a character and setting through creative story telling this week. They selected a character and setting from a stack of cards and then developed a short story which include a problem. While writing can be cumbersome for some students, this activity allowed them to voice record their stories so that they could focus on the elements of the story. Students developed some unique stories that they'll be able to share with their families and classmates through Seesaw. 

Recording a Creative Story

Good Citizens 

What makes a good citizen? First graders considered this question as they were introduced to Seesaw. After completing a sentence about what they can do to be a good citizen, they photographed their work and then recorded themselves sharing their thought. Students worked on their writing and verbal communication skills while considering how they could contribute to their classroom and school. 

Photographing Work

A "Rocky" Tale

Students were flexing their creativity and communication muscles in one fifth grade class as they used the app Toontastic to tell the story of a rock's life (tie in to content here!). Students planned and then created a narrative about how a rock changes throughout its' life. During the planning phase they developed rock characters who would convey various emotions as while moving through the conflict, challenge, climax, and resolution of the story.

The assignment required students to have the rock transform through all three phases of the cycle, but was otherwise open-ended. This was purposeful in order to create an activity that would allow students to be creative in demonstrating their understanding of the rock cycle.

A student creates her rock character 

A student works on narrating his "Toon"

A powerful component of this lesson was that students saved their completed work to Seesaw. This allowed them to view and comment on one another's work and provided parents access to their child's creation. Additionally, the teacher was able to share some videos via projection in the classroom to help clarify common misconceptions.

Students helping one another publish their "Toons"

Students accessing the class Seesaw account to share their "Toons"

Fifth grade science was one of my favorite subjects as a classroom teacher. After this lesson, I realized that while I thought many of my students understood the rock cycle, it was really on a superficial level. After reflecting on these student stories, I realized how abstract the idea of rocks changing deep within the Earth is for students (and me!). Through this activity, students had the opportunity to be creative and communicate; however, it was equally as powerfully to me as a teacher in better understanding the content I teach as well as creating a lesson that engages students and develops life long skills.