Posts

By: Ella Parker and Valerie Garcia

Hello 4th graders! Today, we’re going to use technology to explore the fascinating lives of some of the most important women in history. By using technology, we can learn about the incredible achievements of women from all around the world, and how their actions and contributions have shaped the world we live in today. We will be using some amazing resources like websites, and making our own books to learn about these incredible women, and discover how they made a difference in their time. So get ready to put on your explorer hats, and let’s use technology to dive into the stories of some amazing women who changed the course of history!

The book being made by the students will be the final part of our unit on woman history month. Over the course of this unit the students have been learning about important women in history and the teacher will allow the students to branch out and pick a woman in history that speaks to them and inspires them. The book they make will be presented in front of the whole class so as to learn from their peers.

By the end of this instructional lesson, students will be able to effectively use technology to research and gather information about important women in history, including their achievements, contributions, and impact on society. Students will be able to navigate websites, use search engines to find relevant information and evaluate the credibility and reliability of sources. They will also be able to organize their research and present their findings in an organized and engaging way using technology tools such as the book they are making.

The technology being used in this lesson is google docs to draft their book, book creator to make their book, google sites to keep an inventory of all the books made, and lastly the search engines they are using to find their research.

Technology is supporting the instructional goal because they are using these tools to gather credible information on a woman that inspires them and showcasing this in a way that is accessible to everyone.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sg5Nd1tuMk1wFvuJDik-VXSEcSJqVIc2GepjIk3MHao/edit

(planning worksheet)

https://sites.google.com/d/1-W_5Pe1nisuWu0kV4vpyq9YRF0cp-dUl/p/1B1ba7g2x-JUFbsl-wo94TvMAuJw6CRWP/edit

(site to post the student’s books on)

Example Book Below:

Mae Jemison

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

https://read.bookcreator.com

By Garrett Esponda

Self-Graded Quiz

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJvqFdOvct0cLJ4eOJJKFkrIBtFCy4ERriJSZbCaIlonluFg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Branching Quiz

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScf5Ov-iS92Xkx9YmPnx7m-BS57VG7eBZ4gxXZa4y6DXvEr2Q/viewform?embedded=true

These google forms are so awesome! They can be used in so many ways. There is so many ways to differentiate material for students and allow them to work at their own pace. This also allows students to use their own technology to be able to develop their own skills. Furthermore, this could be used really well in sub plans. The directive and guidance able to be given in the forms is a very useful aspect to be able to connect with students even when the teacher cannot be there. I think that this is where I will use the tool most and it would be highly beneficial to develop students and monitor their learning while not able to be in the classroom.

By Garrett Esponda & Maddy Lopez

Click the image to get taken to our website!

This lesson would be used as an introductory lesson into trigonometry. The goal for this lesson is for students to be able to develop a sense of understanding of trigonometry while using different online tools to assist them.

Introduction to a week of fun geology themed learning activities for 1st-3rd graders.

Goal of the lesson

Students will be participating in a week of geology themed learning activities including three field trips. This would be something they do on the first day to introduce them to what the week is going to be like and to get them thinking about geology and its history. The goal of the lesson would be for students to navigate an interactive map and gather information from online sources about a specific topic. Hopefully they’ll be able to find something interesting that they can remember as we go throughout the week and share with friends or family!

Student facing instructions:

Hi Geologists! To start our week off, we’re going to look at a map of all the cool field trips we have planned. We’ll be going to OMSI, the Rice Museum, and Circuit Bouldering! Each of these places (including our school) are on the map and your job is to work with a friend to find find each place and learn some interesting facts by clicking on the links on each place. Let me know if you need any help!

Directions:

1. Find our school!

2. Find OMSI and learn something new about dinosaurs! Tell your friend what you learned and draw a picture.

3. Find the Rice Museum. What can you use labradorite for? Draw a picture of your favorite crystal.

4. Find the Circuit Bouldering Gym. What is the 5th highest mountain in the world?

Featured image: Photo by Oliver Paaske on Unsplash.

Here’s two very unrelated Google Forms: one about converting units of measurements and one about exploring geology.

Link to converting units of measurement form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeC3p8r8Mlb8YS0W8C-Jj4g8UkW9l13hAna6XH0Xi_Aa2LDOw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Link to geology form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSDQZS7TMxLVuiY_LuMPjscINtrK1PL8lX6R7HtzP6zj1VEA/viewform?usp=sf_link

How can it be used in the classroom?

Google Forms can be a great tool to help students with self-guided work and new technology. It’s also good for easy grading and feedback. I recently did a very short unit with 1st-3rd graders on geology and we covered all the topics mentioned in my branching form. While this might be too advanced for the 1st graders, it would’ve been awesome to have the older students use this form as a brief introduction to a topic of their choice. It also would’ve given me feedback to see which topics students were most interested in so I could have figured out what I wanted to spend most time on. Google Forms is also a great tool for exit tickets. I like to have a math “cool down” every day that allows me to see how much they got from the lesson and I think this would be a quick and easy way to get formative assessment results. Also, the instant feedback from a self-graded quiz will give students more time to ask me questions and get more individualized feedback based on their results.

Featured image: Photo by Jon Butterworth on Unsplash

Above, I created an eight question Trigonometry Quiz that I would use in my Geometry classroom. This quiz has a variety of question types and is self-graded. Students would be able to take this quiz and immediately get their score. This is very useful as it grades the quizzes immediately, I can quickly see which students are struggling or excelling in this topic, and I can see which questions were the hardest for students. Using this type of technology gets rid of the time teachers need to grade assessments and analyze test scores. I did find Google Forms is a little tricky when trying to type math equations. I found that in order to properly type math, you would need to install a separate extension that allows you to import math equations into the Form. Hopefully, Google will add an “Insert Math Equation” function soon like they have in Google Docs.

The next Google Form I created was a branching form for my Algebra 1-2 students. I designed this form as a check-in quiz where my students could test their skills on solving one-step equations and I could also see who needs more support. The form is designed in a way where students see one question at a time. If the student answers correctly, they move on to a new problem. If the student answers incorrectly, they are directed to a video and then can try the problem again. While making this form was very time-consuming, I really like the idea of utilizing these types of forms in my classroom. Branching forms can be a great way to build in more individualized supports in the classroom.

Featured Image: Photo by cottonbro studio

Diarra Brown Jenkins and Haley Vick

Ziplet is a web browser app that allows teachers to make questions to check in with their students, gauge student understanding, exit tickets, and formal/informal assessments. Similiar to Kahoot, the teacher will provide a code that the students can sign on with, so they do not need to sign up. The teacher can create questions, use predetermined questions by the app related to a theme or topic (they have many great options!) and can use a variety of response choices for students, that can also be anonymous! For more information on how to make it and how to use it, use the following great resources.

• Target audience: We think this would be great for ANY grade level because it is very customizable for their developmental needs (K can use emojis or pictures, University students could answer with text in large lecture halls where professors have a harder time collecting personal feedback).

• Subject of lesson – embed or link to teaching content: https://ziplet.app.link/signup?referrer=02f9cc49-079f-4dec-97c0-c3f290403d50. This includes a warm up with ice breaker questions and an exit ticket with two questions about how students felt about the lesson.

• Lesson context – A teacher could use this for a number of things including formal or informal assessments, check ins, or exit tickets to gauge student understanding or to see how students are feeling about anything assigned, either at the beginning or end of a lesson or the day. For more formal assessments or to collect data, we suggest teachers make the responses not anonymous to check in with individual students.

• Instructional goal: Students will be able to let the teacher know how they feel about a lesson, ask questions, check in, or show what they know. Students should also be able to feel comfortable being honest about reflections so the teachers can help them personally for future lessons and implementing instruction.

• Technology being used: Ziplet will require students and teachers to use a device of any kind. They do not need to create an account, all they need is to input the code the teacher will provide.

• How technology supports instructional goal: The technology we elected to use accommodates many learners who respond better to images and expressing themselves in other ways outside of just text. It also has a setting to make questions anonymous if the teacher wants to have an overall understanding of the class. The teacher, whether they choose to make questions anonymous or not, will then be able to analyze all responses taken to better assess lessons and student needs.

By Iliana Iniguez and Nicole Pagtakhan

Today we are continuing our lesson about animals and their features. Please use this check-in to review what we learned last class.

Check-in/Review Google Form:

Comparing Animals:

Go to National Geographic and search for two animals to compare and contrast based on their traits, or what their traits are for. We will be using Canva to share our findings! Students will be asked to share with the whole class or the group next to them. Please include:

• 2 differences for each animal
• 2 similarities

Image credits:

Image by homecare119 from Pixabay

By: Sarah Beth Leach and Valerie Garcia

This google site guides students through learning about two different native tribes from Oregon. This lesson is aimed for 4th grade students, and entails having two different pages with information as well as an exit ticket where students can demonstrate what they learned from the lesson.

https://sites.google.com/view/4thgradenativetribeslesson/home

Featured Image

Image by Michal Jarmoluk 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

The author of this lesson is: Chandler J. Marelich

This lesson was created by: Chandler Marelich UP ’23

Title: Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation.

Target Student Group: Third Grade Science

Lesson Context: This would be a comprehensive intro to the basic concepts of the water cycle. In other words, the introduction to a longer unit that covers all the building blocks for student understanding.

Goal for the Lesson: The goal for this lesson would be to introduce students to the concepts of the 3 basic pieces of the water cycle. Those being evaporation, condensation, precipitation. I would also like them to answer a small exit ticket, and explain where these different processes occur.

This site will bring this to light by providing students with a google forms quiz, a video from which the basic information can be garnered, an in-depth explanation of all 3 processes with images.