Smartboards in the Classroom

 

One of the most important roles we have as educators is to stimulate our students' curiosity and get them talking/writing about interesting ideas.  The challenge, of course, is to interject these ideas at key points in the curriculum pacing calendar! 

 

Here's a very interesting video I found on the History Channel that would fit in the seventh grade pacing calendar (around October) when the investigation of European Explorers begins.  

 

The video asks "Did Christopher Columbus actually see a USO - an Unidentified Submerged Object?" 

• Use your SmartBoard to present the video. 
• Embed it into your six slide lesson.
• Preview the video for vocabulary and introduce the new language before you show the video (ELL/ESL Standard #1). 
• Use a chat to capture the conversation as the video progresses. 
• Divide into teams using a google.doc to develop their ideas.  
• Have them create a podcast of that they learned.
  

Let's use Web 2.0 tools to reach our 21st Century learners...and have fun along with them!

Enjoy!

 

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&vid=92a97840-9672-44c6-8e8b-93aaddf502fc

 

 

Technorati Tags: Social Studies; European Explorers; Christopher Columbus; USOs; UFOs

The Growth of a Nation

Here is a wonderful interactive resource on the growth of the United States that is appropriate for all grades.  It contains an interactive map, audio narration and embedded timelines.  It's perfect for use with a SmartBoard.  Many thanks to Jim Hollis for this wonderful resource.

Technorati Tags: Social Studies; Westward Expansion; US History; Civil War; Spanish American War; Native Americans; Slavery

Attachment(s): http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html

Another possible Inauguration lesson could focus on your visual/auditory learners with elements to engage tactile/kinesthetic learners.  If some of your students' learning preference is for small group presentations, this lesson is for them!

 

Inaugural Addresses:

Andrew Jackson's Inaugural Address (Transcript)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr075a.html

 

More research:

http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/

 

 

Learning Objective: To Develop a Greater Understanding of Power of the Spoken Word

• Organization and Research:  Form teams of three students and determine presidents.
• Present: As a team, create a slide of the Inaugural speeches of three Presidents. Project them on the SmartBoard. Cite all sources.
• Research and Write: Each team member will write a brief one paragraph biography of his/her President and then present the biography to the class.
• Vocabulary:  Each team member will (1) read the President's Inaugural address in advance and identify new key words, (2) create a vocabulary slide with the new word in one box and the definition in another, (3) present the slide, defining each word, (4) scramble the words and definitions and (5) have a student come up and unscramble the words and definitions.  Team will move on when everybody knows the meanings of the new words.
• Presentation: Each team member will then present their President's Inaugural Address using the split screen window on the SmartBoard.  The presenter will read the speech aloud to the class, highlighting key words and phrases.  On the second split screen, the class will rewrite the beginning of the speech together. All handwriting will be converted to text using the inking function.
  
• Reflection and Analysis:  Each student in the class will choose a Presidential Inaugural Address and rewrite in his/her own words.
  
• Publish:  Each student will copy/paste their rewrite to the class blog in the comment section for review and publication.
  

Learning Modalities Addressed: Auditory/Visual, Tactile/Kinesthetic

Content Areas Addressed: Social Studies, English Language Arts

Standards Addressed: see "Standards" category to right for pdf

ISTE - 1. Creativity; 2. Communication/Collaboration, 3. Research and Information Fluency, 4. Critical Thinking, 5. Digital Citizenship, 6. Technology Operations and Concepts. 

 

NYSED ELA - 1. Language for Information & Understanding, 2. Language for Literary Response & Expression, 3. Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation, 4. Language for Social Interaction

 

Please give us your thoughts on this lesson in the comment box below.  If you use this lesson with your students, please let us know how they liked it.  Were they engaged?  Did they absorb the content?  Did their response surprise you?  Together we learn! 

Technorati Tags: Inauguration, SMARTBoard, SMARTBoard Lesson Plans

 

 

Attachment(s): http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/inaugural-exhibit.html#washington

Interactive Whiteboards (Smartboards and other brands) have become increasingly common in our schools.  Unfortunately, they can be intimidating devices to many teachers.  This course supplements the introductory "Out of the Box" course and explores how to use the device and its software resources to create interactive, engaging lessons that address specific academic needs of our students.

This session focuses on:

• Review of Howard Gardner's book "Theory of Multiple Intelligences"
• Reviews recent research on the "Effectiveness of Interactive Whiteboards on  Learning"
  
• Discusses the teacher's role in utilizing the tool through the eyes of a teacher
• Reviews set-up of the whiteboard and use of tools.
• Establishes basics for the six slide lesson
• Explores the gallery and "Essentials for Educators"
• Reviews how to use online resources.
• Shares comments and best practices

Attachment(s): SmartSOCIAL1_1.ppt

During this session, we will explore a seventh grade Geography lesson on "Explorers".  We will review basic functions and tools and then place ourselves in the student seat, actively participating in this lesson. 

Attachment(s): SmartSOCIAL1_2.ppt

Content

In "Understanding by Design" by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (ASCD, 1998), the authors discuss the theory of "Backward Design" or "Reverse Planning".  Very briefly, that means that we as teachers must first identify a concept that our students don't understand and then write our lessons to address that specific concept or need. 

This session of the course focuses on (1) reflection and group discussion of common ELA concepts that our students in middle school have not acquired, and (2)  designing a Smartboard lesson that teaches that concept in an engaging, interactive way. 

Key Points:

• Reverse Planning
• Writing to Address an Academic Need
• Practical Guidelines in Creating a SB lesson
• How to create a 6 slide lesson
• Using a template
• Making a text box
• Changing font color
• Textboxes, boxes, changing box background color, order and grouping
• Sharing our work - Exploring how our fellow teachers have created SB lessons to meet their students' needs.