Author: Lydia Wanner

Hi! My name is Lydia Wanner. I’ve spent this past semester increasing my knowledge of different technological tools that can be incorporated into the classroom. This post highlights some of my favorite projects that I completed this spring.

What’s the Weather Like?

Teaching the Middle Grades with Google Forms

Adaptations for Survival Against Predators

Hop Along the Oregon Trail

I hope you’ve had as much fun looking at my posts as I did making them! As I continue my college journey and beyond, I hope to incorporate the tools that I have experimented with this semester into my teaching practice.

By Lydia Wanner and Israel Osorio

This is the first lesson in a unit on greetings and common conversational phrases for a junior high Spanish I class. Students will read the following text, which was made on Book Creator, as an introduction to the target phrases for this lesson. After reading as a class, students will be divided into groups and assigned a number of phrases to translate using the pictures from the book as clues. On a Google Slides presentation (see the link below), students will create a picture dictionary for their phrases. Students will put their translations of the Spanish as well as images for each translation on their slides. Students will present their slides to the class and explain why they chose those translations. At the end of class, the actual translations will be revealed using the same text (see the second Book Creator link).

The purpose of using Book Creator for the anchor text was the audio feature. This book has recordings of the correct pronunciations for each phrase. This way, students can hear what the Spanish sounds like. In addition to Book Creator, we decided to use Google Slides to foster collaboration. With each lesson in this unit, more slides can be added to grow the class picture dictionary! Throughout the unit, students will be working together to make a great classroom resource.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HXAiY4apqh2K77TlfuE0A1AZj2AqSJLDG9Ea_wDTA28/edit?usp=sharing

Feature Image by jairojehuel from Pixabay

Dear Past Me,
It feels like just yesterday that I was finishing the Spring Semester of my second year at UP. So much has happened in the ten years since then. Because I don’t want to spoil anything about your future life, here are five pop culture highlights that have happened in the past decade. Enjoy!

1. More and more reboots and remakes

That’s right! The trend of reimagining classics has continued. Thankfully, we’ve still gotten some original ideas from larger production companies like DreamWorks and Warner Brothers. However, in the grand scheme, there is still a strong surge of Disney live action remakes as well as reboots of book to movie adaptations. Starting with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which was set to come out in 2024, the Riordanverse has expanded in TV show adaptations. So far, The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase have joined the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus on the tube (yes, old slang has come back). We’ve also seen TV adaptations of some of your favorite book series from grade school such as Cryptid Hunters, Kingdom Keepers, and, of course, The Missing Series. Hollywood finally figured out that books, specifically book series, should become TV shows, not movies.

2. Continued Franchises

Remember watching a great movie and thinking, wow, that was such a great story just the way it was, and then next thing you know some big production company treats it like the goose that laid the golden eggs? Welp, creators just don’t know when to stop. Remember when Frozen 2 came out six years after the first one? Well, now we’ve had Frozen 3 and Frozen 4 as well as an Olaf and Sven spinoff. There have also been two more Pirates of the Carribean movies as well as many TV show “epilogues” to other long-lasting franchises such as Shrek, James Bond, and Jurassic Park/World.

3. Slang change!

So long slay, period, and queen! Let’s face it, you know the slang was way better back in middle school and high school. Roasted, legit, and tea hit hard. I don’t want to spoil what the kids are saying now, but I will say that Gretchen Weiners was 30 years ahead of her time.

4. And the new historical American Girl is…

You might remember that way back in 2023, the American Girl company added the newest historical American Girl dolls: Isabel and Nicki from 1999. Well, this year they are releasing the next doll in the Historical collection: Madison from the 2000s. After adding 3 more dolls from the late 80s and early 90s between 2026 and 2029, the company is releasing their first doll from the 21st century!

5. Flying cars in 2015? More like 2030

That’s right! Back to the Future 2 was only off by fifteen years. While we aren’t quite at the level of The Jetsons just yet, there have been fast advances in the realm of transportation. With the increase of electric cars that were released in the late 2020’s, the first actual flying car was patented three years ago. Flying cars are set to hit local dealerships within the next five years.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak peek into the future! See you in ten years! -Your Future Self

Feature Image by Blanca Díaz from Pixabay

By Sophia Litterski and Lydia Wanner

Greetings teachers! This Google Site exhibits a showcase of short activities that can be used to teach weather topics to K-2nd students through scientific inquiries. These activities can be used as stand-alone mini-lessons or activities that you build on throughout your weather unit. 

Each activity is complete with:
– the goal for the exploration
– materials needed
– directions for the exploration
– guiding questions for closing discussions

https://sites.google.com/view/weather-mini-lessons/home

Feature Image by Author

This week, I used Google Forms to create a self-graded assessment and a branching form.

Self-graded Assessments

Creating a self-graded assessment was fairly easy to do and I can see this being an especially helpful tool in the future. Teaching multiple subjects, it can be difficult to stay on top of grading. While I am not saying that using Google Forms will solve that dilemma, I do believe that it could help with minimizing how much time is spent grading summative assessments if you decided to utilize this tool. Not only does it mark whether responses were right or wrong, but it also allows for you to give predetermined feedback based on the correctness of an answer. Additionally, the data from the form can be put directly into Google Sheets, making it easy to read and enter into a grade book. I chose to make my self-graded assessment on foundational chemistry concepts targeted at fifth and sixth grade.

Branching Forms

Branching forms are perfect for “choose your own adventure” type lessons. You can have students complete a series of tasks in the order of their choosing or lead them down a road of their own design depending on which way they go at the forks. You can also have students work in groups to complete an online escape room that incorporates material that they have learned in class. For mine, I decided to turn it into a choose your own adventure through reading for 4th graders. Using books that I remember enjoying in school, as well as books that are brand new to me, I created a series of choices that would lead students to their next reading adventure. I ask students what genre they want to look at, who they want to meet, and what they want to do. I can see this branching form being used throughout the year whenever students need suggestions for books, whether that be an assigned book report or fun reading. A modified version of the form can also be used for picking read-a-loud chapter books.

Feature Image by Gulfer Ergin from Unsplash

This week, I created an interactive picture book using Book Creator. The purpose of this book is to teach elementary students about different defenses animals use to protect themselves from predators. Through reading the text, looking at the pictures, and watching the videos, students will gain an understanding for how adaptations, such as being poisonous or playing dead, help animals survive in the wild. It is a great addition to any primary grade lesson about animal adaptations, animal populations, or food chains. This book also has an option for students to read along with audio recordings on each page.

Direct link to my book: https://read.bookcreator.com/CNn0z2t8g8ZbXq2Md0UpRstLRpy1/0y0ZRPEsQFGmFLqKeooV0w

Book Creator is a great tool for creating classroom content. In addition to the options for visually designing each page, it allows you to include videos, audio recordings, 3D models, and so much more!

Featured Image by Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz 🇨🇭 💕Thanks for Likes from Pixabay

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

Feature Image by Artodidact from Pixabay

Welcome 4th Grade!
Today, we will be starting our Oregon Trail unit!
We will:
– Set the historical context for the Oregon Trail and
– Understand the geography of the Oregon Trail

Historical Context
Let’s look at the history of the Oregon Trail using our journalist questions:
What was the Oregon Trail?
The Oregon Trail was a wagon trail that spanned about 2,000 miles.

Where was the trail?
The Oregon trail started in Independence, MO, and ended in Oregon City, OR. Along the way, travelers made stops at landmarks, or notable locations, such as forts, rock formations, and settlements. Many landmarks can still be visited today, such as Courthouse and Jailhouse Rock in Nebraska or Whitman Mission in Washington.

When was the Oregon Trail used?
While the trail was formed between the 1810s and 1840s, the largest wave of pioneers traveled along the Oregon Trail between 1846 and 1869.

Who traveled along the Oregon Trail?
Over 400,000 pioneers made their way along the trail. Amongst the pioneers on the trail were adults and children, families and single folk, slaves, and free persons looking for a better life.

Why did people travel the Oregon Trail?
Manifest Destiny was an American belief that pushed westward expansion. This belief in addition to the chance of owning land and finding gold caused many to make the 2,000-mile journey from Missouri to Oregon.

How did people travel the Oregon Trail?
Pioneers traveled in groups called wagon trains. Each wagon train consisted of 30 or more wagons, or prairie schooners, that were pulled by teams of horses or oxen. Additionally, because the pioneers had packed all their belongings in the wagons along with food and medicine for the journey, there was little room for traveling in the wagons. Because of this, many pioneers traveled on foot alongside the wagons and any livestock they had brought with them.

Map Analysis

Below is a map of the Oregon Trail. Take a couple minutes to examine it before we discuss it as a class.

Discussion Questions
-What is do you notice about the map as the trail moves westward? What happens to the terrain, or land?
-What landforms do you see on the map along the trail in Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho?
-Recall our lesson on geographic features in the US. Which notable geographic features would the pioneers on the Oregon Trail have passed through?
-Using what you know about how the pioneers traveled along the trail, which parts of the trail do you think would have been the toughest? How do you think the pioneers overcame these obstacles?

Coming Attractions
Next class, we will look at:
-Life on the Oregon Trail and
-Interactions between pioneers and indigenous peoples along the Trail

Lesson Vocabulary
Landmark: a notable feature or object of a landscape that is easily recognizable
Manifest Destiny: an American belief that fueled westward expansion efforts in North America
Wagon Trains: a group of wagons that travels together
Prairie Schooner: another name for a covered wagon that comes from the bonnet shape of the wagon’s canvas cover
Terrain: a synonym for land
Landform: a feature of the land such as a mountain, plain, plateau, peninsula, etc.

Welcome 3rd Grade!
Students will be able to: identify equivalent fractions and use them to compare fractions.

Let’s Review!
Every fraction has two components: the numerator and the denominator.
The numerator is the top number and tells us how many pieces we have while the denominator tells us how many equal sized pieces we need to make 1 whole.

What’s an equivalent fraction?
Fractions can be simplified into smaller fractions (lower number numerator and denominator) while representing the same value.

If you said the pictures show the same amount of shading, you’re right! 6/8 and 3/4 are equivalent fractions! Both represent the same amount of shading when compared to one whole! Equivalent fractions can also be found by multiplying the numerator and the denominator by the same number!

In the second problem, we found that simplifying fractions also shows whether or not two fractions are equivalent. We can simplify fractions by dividing the numerator and the denominator by the same number. For example, 3/15 can be simplified into 1/5 by dividing 3 and 15 by 3.

Knowing equivalent fractions helps with comparing fractions!
We’ve talked before about comparing fractions with like denominators (1/4 compared to 3/4) and fractions with like numerators (2/3 compared to 2/7). But what happens when neither the denominator nor the numerator of either fraction matches? Let’s look at the example below:

When it comes to comparing fractions, you can use equivalent fractions as a benchmark. For the above example, maybe you saw that the denominator in 1/2 can be multiplied to be the same denominator in 3/8.

By multiplying the numerator and denominator of 1/2 by 4, you created an equivalent fraction that will make comparing 3/8 easier. And the solution is…3/8 < 1/2!

Great Work! Equivalent fractions make substitution possible without changing the overall amount! In addition to comparison, equivalent fractions can be used in our daily lives! Before we go, what are some activities that you might need to use equivalent fractions for? Hint: What activities require using measurements?

Credits:
Cover Image by joshuemd from Pixabay
Graphics by Author