Category: Student posts

The book that I created focuses on the different parts of speech in grammar. This means that this book would be most useful when introducing parts of speech in around second grade. However, this book could also be used later for students.

I also wanted to tie in social studies as the book uses examples of social studies concepts such as the White House and the President. I thought that in adding this it would help tie in other concepts as well as making it more engaging for students.

Featured Image: Image by pencil parker from Pixabay

I created a book to be used when introducing shapes to younger children (K-2). It features 4 basic shapes that can later be built upon. It asks students to recall what shape they see, includes a quick description of the shape, and then asks them to recall where they see the shape in real life.

I found using Book Creator fairly easy some things like text sizes and changing the colors of certain objects were slightly difficult. I assume the subscription of this website has more features but for making a basic book I found it to be pretty straightforward.

I am from the foothills of Mount Diablo,
from streets lined with sycamores and oak trees.
I am from day trips to San Francisco,
and camping under the moonlights’ glow.

I am from family who shows love with food,
from the scent of empanadas in the air.
I am from a mom who loves to laugh
and a dad who never drinks decaf.

These are the moments that shaped me,
surrounded by friends and family.

For a direct link to my poem on Microsoft Sway, click here!

For my digital story, I chose to use Microsoft Sway. I liked how Sway lets you create a slideshow presentation with your pictures. As this was my first time using it, I found Sway to be pretty user-friendly. I especially liked the function of being able to insert photos directly into the presentation. It was helpful that Sway generated suggested photos based on the text in my presentation, as well. I did find Sway to be slightly challenging to customize my presentation. I wish I could have moved the text in my presentation around, so it wasn’t directly on top of some of my images. However, this wasn’t a huge issue after I played around with different fonts and got rid of the text highlighting.

The meaning of this book is to be partnered with a graphic organizer for students researching a chosen animal native to Africa. Students will research their animal and fill out their graphic organizers on their own during the given class period. During this time, students will be able to refer to both the graphic organizer, as well as this book in order to keep on track, and have a goal in mind for what to find out about their animal.

Direct link to “Animals of Africa Book“:
https://read.bookcreator.com/9Lg0HkxPYPSqMsoUMwgblQLR2xv2/02OTFoJlSqm8FYpOM6BRWg

Featured Image Credit:
Pixabay.com

Direct link to Sway presentation: https://sway.office.com/VqDynPwMU7kz2ufw?ref=Link

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I am from a Small Big Town

I am from a small big town that’s be transformed by years of transition

A place where the nature and beauty hasn’t been yet lost

I am from an environment where the trees represent the people

Strong, resilient, one of a kind

I am from somewhere where I find peace and inspiration in the nature

The awe and power of my surroundings motivate me

I am from a place where the sea meets the land

A land where polar opposites learn to live together 

I am from the deepest of waters

Not made timid by the possibilities of what can be

I am from the brightest of colors

Where the background of myself is bright

I am from the biggest of stages

On which people come together to bond

I am from the brightest of lights

Where the brightness of friendship shines together

I am from Petaluma, Ca

The smallest big town in the northern heart of the bay

I chose to use sway. I really appreciated how simple this website was to be able to tell a story and connect it with images. I think that this resource provides a lot of opportunities to be able to tell stories in their classes. I ultimately chose it due to it being very user friendly and straightforward.

Hi everyone! In my placement, my 2nd graders were writing a short page about their “cozy place,” which is part of a larger book they’re making. I wanted to flesh it out more than they did, since I love being comfortable.

…and when Professor Pappas said “have fun with it,” I think I had a little too much fun with it. I enjoyed the ability to draw, though I eventually got tired of trying to draw with my mouse. I loved the Auto-Draw tool — it was SO helpful making shapes that I wanted to look perfect like the cover. Thankfully there was an image search for when I got tired of drawing! It was also very cool that we can embed YouTube video, since that’s something you can’t add to physical books. I wasn’t a fan of the small selection of fonts, and I think keeping the rest of the book plain was overall easier.

Anyways, please enjoy “My Cozy Place” by Ms. P.

Direct link to: My Cozy Place Book: https://read.bookcreator.com/l7L473ulJud9Ymzq4MHtnxQwO2z1/CWG2dSLRTuCyRVpfMiYb9w – Nicole Pagtakhan

Image Credits: Featured Photo by Cintya Marisa on Unsplash

by Valerie Garcia

I am from heat and flat lands

from bales of hay and picket fences

I am from the state flower of bluebonnets

bell-like petals so tall and tinder that it leans to one side

I’m from eating tamales on Christmas Eve and beautifully arched eyebrows

form Dominguez and Garcia

I’m from the competitive gene and sore losers

From “calm down hulk” and “make good choice”

I’m from chihuahua

bean tamales and strawberry jello cake

From my grandpa punching a cow in the nose when it tried to ram into him.

The bruised hip of my grandpa when Texas got snow for the first time and she slipped down the stairs

The bulletin board I have in my college house where my family photos and high school memories are alive

I am from those memory’s on the bulletin board that builds me up when college breaks me down.

https://sway.office.com/0OCzJNCY8hz5dr3y?ref=Link

I liked Microsoft sway because it was very easy to work with even without a demo I feel like anyone could get the hang of it and figure it out by themselves. It also helps that we do not have to find our own pictures if we did not want to which makes life a lot easier as well.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

I created this book to be used on the first day of school for primary elementary grades (K-2). It talks about some feelings that might come up on the first day and how our class is family that is here for everyone. There are a lot of feelings on the first day of school so addressing them and talking about them with the whole class can help build community.

I enjoyed using Book Creator, it was easy to navigate and make a book. I will definitely use it in the future.

Direct link to book: First Day Feelings

I’m from the land of trees and rain,
Where the sun shines and the sand is gray,
Where the ocean is cold on the warmest day,
And the seasons change again and again.

Summers are warm and mostly dry.
My hometown has a parade every Fourth of July.
Fall can be wet, sometimes hot, but mainly cold.
The leaves become orange, red, and gold.
Winter comes without warning,
Bringing rain and sometimes snow day mornings.
Spring prolongs Winter’s rain showers,
Knowing that soon it will coax up the flowers.

Outside was always the best place to play,
With five other siblings having fun each day.
Backyard or front yard, the park or at home,
With a big enough family, you never have to play alone.

Direct link to Sway https://sway.office.com/p9cSSIiTAx6umkdB?ref=Link

Commentary on Microsoft Sway
I found Micrsoft Sway easy to use. I liked being able to add images as well as videos. I did notice that the videos take longer to load, but I think that is to be expected with larger media files. I also had fun picking out different themes and pairing them with the presentation style (vertical, horizontal, or slides). One thing I wish I could have done was take the theme that was given and change the location of the words. There were maybe three or four themes that I would have liked to use, but the location of the title covered up my mom’s face on the title slide. I couldn’t figure out how to shift the text’s location, so I ended up changing themes instead.

Feature Image by Author

I am from coffee shops on every block

And nightly dog walks with dad

From a mom who never turned down pizza

And too many cousins to count

I’m from trips to the east

And loving the beach

I’m from lake days with Jax

And running pretty fast

From the skyline that never gets old: the place that was my mold.

link: https://sway.office.com/dZROU6HubRSfH100?ref=Link

This is the original story that I wrote for Sway. I did also remove some of the story from Sway so it would be more concise, and the one’s I took out also would not fit well in it.

I am from the counters of my mother’s kitchen 
From water and flour pressed together 
I am from old wooden walls with the weight of age starting to show 
(Rugged, mature, 
The creaks alerting its surroundings) 
I am from the pines in the horizon 
From the soil in the ground 
Dark and rich, ready to nurture what is sowed next 
I am from the uncontrollable laughter at the dinner table 
and from the nonstop victories of chess  
The never-ending relentlessness from my siblings to try and beat me 
From Fernando Israel Osorio where my name comes from 
And Laurel Debra Osorio where my heart is from 
I’m from their constant attempts to be better than their parents ever were 
And from multiple failed and successful attempts at doing so 
From all the “I love you’s” to all the “Be Better” 
I am from freedoms of choice in belief and in action 
Attempts of church on Sunday’s 
Mixture of paths that form along away. 
I am from Silverton with ancestry from all over 
Roasted coffee and sweat bread 
From me and my dad’s constant struggle with construction of a second story 
To my mom’s struggle of returning to start a new chapter 
In the closet there is a brown box with a book full of recipes 
From times long ago, of other counters that brought families together 
I am from these recipes, 
The forming of dough kneaded constantly 
The heart of the family being measured finally 

I enjoyed using Microsoft Sway mainly because I am a lot more familiar with microsoft than with Adobe. It was straight to the point, and trying new things out helped structure it to make a conscise story. It was also nice that I could put some of my personal photos, while also being able to search for some on Sway and putting those instead.

Credit:

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

By Nicole Pagtakhan

I'm From Beaverton, OR.
I'm from the smog that comes from the motorcycles and Jeepneys that take up the roads. They are a sign of a new adventure, squished next to my older sister.
I'm from the monay and pan de ube pastries, savored at any time of the day. A short walk from my aunt's house to the bakery was always an exciting quest, knowing I'd earn a sweet and buttery bun by the end of it.
I'm from the family members that I cannot speak to. Though the second language of the Philippines is English, my parents often translated their words instead of teaching me Tagalog. 

I'm from destiny, culminated from my parent's magical love story. Living a neighborhood apart when they were children, they officially met after their families moved to Canada and they became adults. 
I'm from ambition, of two parents who wanted to make a life together away from their families. Their independence and hard work inspires me to become the teacher I want to be. 
I'm from laughter and happiness, lighting up the room as I move. There are many trials that my family and I have gone through, yet we still find the happiness and appreciate it where we can. 

I'm from the heavy rain, showering the evergreens. They comfort me at night, whether I'm drifting off to sleep or staying up late to finish work. 
I'm from the dusty trails in the forests, leading me to new sights. I feel connected to the earth as I take in the sun, and the soreness in my legs vanishes. 
I'm from the letters NP. Noli, Noralene, Nhatalya, make up my immediate family, and I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Direct link to Sway: https://sway.office.com/kbbHO81HCEo8GYHq?ref=Link

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Adobe Sway was fun to use, though tricky at first. I was a little confused about reordering the blocks and if I wanted to use a different image, for example. But, it’s fairly useful once you understand how it works. I like that I can view it on WordPress without opening another tab. I think it works as a very cute way to present information. Similar to how I used it, I think it would be fun to use it for Student of the Week presentations for students to share about themselves.

The themes remind me of the Microsoft Powerpoint themes because they’re clean and readable. I didn’t look into other themes as much, but I wish there was a website like Slidesgo where you can get copies of very specific themes. It would add more flair to them, even more than the ones in the Featured Sway section.

-Nicole Pagtakhan