Découverte – Learning science with videos

The French science program Découverte is a fascinating resource to help students learn Science.  I have used several of their programs to help explain science concepts from global warming, space, green energy to the human body.  Many programs are quite visionary and have been a great source of inspiration for what kind of future we would like to have.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/emissions/decouverte/2013-2014/

The Découverte program  is also available on the Radio-Canada TOU.TV app.

Several of their productions are available online at all times, while others are available online for a short period while it is broadcasting.

The episodes that are not online can  be purchased as well.  The quality is just outstanding.  I have used the following program for teaching the human body for example.  It provides images that are just fascinating and out of reach otherwise.

http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=corps+humain#/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acorps+humain&keywords=corps+humain&ie=UTF8&qid=1383173739

A quick search  on “corps humain” on Amazon for example, will give you the video and also supporting books that can be purchased for this study.

 

Searching for meaning and understanding with Google images

gene

Using Google images can be very instrumental to understand new concepts and words and for writing purposes.

During our shared reading in grade 3, we stumbled upon a word that students did not know.  To clarify the meaning and concept, we search Goggle images in order to try to understand.  Seeing a picture with my explanation is many times easier to understand than words alone.

We used as well Google images for writing purposes.  When we search a word like “marbre” several pictures come along.  From marble in several colors, to the usage of marble in the kitchen, washroom, buildings and places of worship, to marble cake and cheese.  Only using at the basis the ideas of Google images for research, students are able to easily write a blog post on Kidblog around the rocks we discussed and where they are used in society.

 

French reading resources

I have been using the reading program Littératie en action for several years, in grades several grades.  Students responded very well to the readings.  This is not the only readings I do with my students, but it provides an excellent foundation to learn about the world.  The level seems quite appropriate for my students.  When there were texts that were too difficult, we did some pre-teaching to teach some concepts before the reading.  It is also interesting that we can purchase a yearly license to be able to project the pages of the book for shared reading.

http://erpi.com/scolcan/litteratie_en_action_p29816097.html

I have used this resource for many years and my students became excellent readers.

 

Learning French conventions with technology

Learning French conventions is still a part of learning the French Language.  I usually spend 10 minutes every day practicing the French conventions orally with my students.  They learn through immersion how to say some French structures.  Through repetition they learn to speak with proper grammar or to correct some of their mistakes.  It takes only 10 minutes a day.  The following two books are quite useful (Communication oral en 10 minutes, book 1 and book 2).  I downloaded the book on my iPad which makes access very easy.

https://www.envolee.com/en/produit/2022/la-communication-orale-en-10-minutes-1

To review conventions while writing, the following book can be quite useful.  I especially like one of the strategy for editing the conventions.

La correction avec POMMES

P onctuation

O rthographe

M ajuscules

M asculin/féminin

E criture correcte et propre

S ingulier/pluriel

http://www.librairieducentre.com/Product.aspx?id=271020&return=http%3a%2f%2fwww.librairieducentre.com%2fProducts.aspx%3ftitle%3d40+mini-lecons+efficaces%26page%3d1

One very useful program to review conventions is Antidote.  It comes as an app on the iPhone and the iPad.  The app provides several types dictionaries we can consult for French words and grammar.  What I find most useful is the complete program that can be used on a computer.  Antidote on the computer will check spelling, grammar, anglicism, usage.  It is the best program I have ever seen to help with French conventions.  As we use the program, while we make errors and correct the errors, we are also learning French conventions.

http://www.druide.com/antidote.html

If one is looking for writing ideas at the primary level, the following book is quite useful.  It has a CD-ROM with color pictures with all the worksheets that can be printed on a black and white or color printer.  If one is trying to save paper, the ideas can be displayed under the document-camera for sharing.

http://www.librairieducentre.com/Product.aspx?id=325102&return=http%3a%2f%2fwww.librairieducentre.com%2fProducts.aspx%3ftitle%3decrire+tous+les+jours%26page%3d1

Here’s how a French teacher uses Antidote and a Whiteboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75f1u9ZG6uw

 

Recycled rocks for sale

Last summer, I was walking along the beach of lake Ontario. A lady approached me and we started talking.  I was taking underwater pictures for fun and she was collecting washed-up glass pieces.  She was collecting glass in order to make jewelry.  I just thought it was a wonderful idea and that my students could do something similar in Art.

Our students can collect pieces of metal, rocks that is not used and make something useful with it.   A project can be taking a metal can and decorate it with wool to make it a pencil holder or making a necklace like the lady at the beach.  An other project can be collecting pieces of wire to make a toy car like in the book Galimoto or possibly make a doll.  Students are very creative and I am sure they can come up with many other ideas.

http://www.amazon.ca/Galimoto-Karen-Williams/dp/0688109918/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383096907&sr=8-1&keywords=galimoto

Once created, students can be encouraged to prepare a poster to sell their creation. And if they are courageous enough, actually try to sell their work.

The following poster, an example for the students, was created using the PicCollage app.

recycled rocks

PicCollage allows the easy creation of posters where text, photographs can easily be integrated.

 

 

The old fashion way still works

Sometimes, we try to get technology going for what we see as fascinating and engaging research projects.  It so happens that technology integration does not always go the way we would like it to happen, in the time frame that we have in mind.  Well, on those days, I can do the same innovative project I had in mind the old fashion way, with books, pencils and paper.

If I cannot get my wonderful app Atomes to research the elements, we will do it the old fashion way with paper books. http://www.livresouverts.qc.ca/index.php?p=il&lo=38774&sec=2

It is still going to be interesting and fascinating.  It is going to be 8 out of 10 instead of 10 out of 10 inspiration.  A- instead of A+.  I suppose it is still OK.

 

 

Teachers writing for an authentic audience

I wrote an entry about students writing for an authentic audience, teachers can also present the wonderful work they do for authentic audiences.

My board encourages such endeavors through their sponsored conferences.  They are usually advertised through MyLearningPlan.  Teachers can either attend such conferences or present at such conferences.

Other conferences are organized by various groups.  Teachers can either attend or present at such conferences.  Here is a short list.

The unconferences.  Various cities around the world organizes unconferences, free of charge where each participant come with an idea to discuss with the group. The conference is participant driven.  Each participant can leave with several more ideas they brought with them.  It is also possible to follow unconferences online with their #hashtags

http://www.edcamphamilton.ca/

There are the very inspiring science conferences from the Science Teachers Association of Ontario.

http://stao.ca/conf2/conference.php

The conferences from the Ontario Modern Language Teacher’s Association:

http://www.omlta.org/upcoming-events/fall-conference-2013/

There are the CRIFPE iPad Summit in Montreal:

http://www.crifpe.ca/colloques/view/505

There are the conferences from the Ontario Association for Environmental Education:

http://home.osee.ca/annual-conference/ecolinks-2014-2/2014-speaker-suggestions/

The American ISTE conferences:

https://www.isteconference.org/2014/

There are the TED, TEDx and TEDx Youth conferences.

http://www.ted.com/talks

Last but not least, there are the Qatar Foundation Education Conferences.

http://www.wise-qatar.org/wise-summit-2013

Several of those groups also share many of their presentations online. Why not present your successes?

 

Learning a foreign language

In Canada, we are encouraged to learn English and French since they are Canadian official languages.  For travelling purposes, there are many other languages we can learn.  I personally learned some Spanish and some Arabic.  With my twitter account, I can learn and follow what is happening in those part of the world in the original language.  It is good for learning a language but also for critical thinking since I can listen to the perspective of others in the world, in their own language.

I have seen on twitter some tools being suggested.

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-language-learning-tools-1448103513

I personally recommend Rosetta Stone for learning a new foreign language.

http://www.rosettastone.ca/

I have used it in the past and found it effective, not only with me but with teenagers as well.  Using pictures makes it possible to learn with immersion in the language as opposed to learning with translations.  There are several exercises that can supplement the learning.  It is quite fun to use.

 

Writing for an authentic audience

I do not think that I am the only one who thinks that if students write for a purpose, for an authentic audience or about something they value and find important, they spend more time writing and also write better.  The following article discusses the National Writing Project in the US, an excellent read.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/10-ways-to-promote-writing-for-an-authentic-audience/?_r=1

There are a few projects that worked in the past in my classes.

My students were encouraged to participate in the Ontario Coucours d’art Oratoire (French Speech competitions).  We start at the classroom level, the winner continues at the Board level and the winner of that continues at the province level.  Students know that what they write is important and that they have a chance to make a real difference.  My students always worked very hard because they knew it was something valuable.  I was also quite pleased when some of my students won and participated at the province-wide level.

http://cpf.ca/en/actvities/youth-activities/concours-dart-oratoire/

For story writing, I encouraged my students to first read on the WattPad website and also publish their stories on the WattPad website.  WattPad is a free publishing website where people 13 years and older can publish their writing.  The stories are available in English and French and possibly in other languages as well.   I am not aware that any of my students actually published on that website but I could see a definite spark in their eyes and an added enthusiasm when they knew that it was a possibility.

Blogging allows easy publishing for an audience.

http://kidblog.org/home/

Students can start writing a paragraph with a picture about travel, science, their interests and they know someone from their class will read what they write.  I have students travelling and they write about their trip while travelling and students in the class comment on what they write.  Students who are reluctant writers in class become sometimes very fluent writers when they know mom is watching while they do the work.  It is nice to see students sharing their thoughts and having other students respond to their writing.

Writing does not need to be only using words.  Some others are motivated by publishing pictures or videos to a read audience.  I explained the concept of technology resource teacher to my students or perhaps more accurately technology resource students.  Many of my students were thrilled at the idea of what they were learning in class was not available to many other students and that they could share their knowledge with other students in the French Speaking world.  Writing had an entirely new meaning.  In our school, we have access to iPads for half a day in a cycle.  We are currently learning to code using Hopscotch.  After the morning, students are asked to explain how they programmed a part of their work.  We are learning a text form, writing about something of value that can be of use to students in our board, in our province, in Canada and in the French speaking world.  We could publish their finished product on YOUTUBE for others to see.  I could see a spark in their eyes.  Some of my students wanted extra time to work at home in order to do a fantastic job.  Writing for an audience can be quite motivating.

 

 

The importance of a Professional Learning Network (PLN)

I can personally testify that my teaching improved since I joined a professional learning network on twitter.  There are so many good ideas available out there. Reading and sharing new ideas increases our tool set as teachers.  We can keep up with new trends very easily and continue to be lifelong learners.  In the following French TEDx talk Johanne Patry from the University of Montréal discusses the experience of several teachers.  At the end, she mentions the importance of learning network.  If I have an idea and you have an idea and we exchange them, we have two ideas.

http://tedxmontreal.com/event/2013-talks/

Will Richardson mentions that networking is a new literacy.  “The new literacy means being able to function in and leverage the potential of easy-to-create, collaborative, transparent online groups and networks, which represent a “tectonic shift” in the way we need to think about the world and our place in it (Shirky, 2008). This shift requires us to create engaged learners, not simply knowers, and to reconsider the roles of schools and educators”

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov08/vol66/num03/Footprints-in-the-Digital-Age.aspx

Will Richarson also provides ideas on how to build your own PLN.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/jun13/vol70/num09/Create-Your-PLN@-6-Easy-Steps.aspx

Networking is important for teachers and students.  If teachers do not know how to be proficient in a PLN, how can they help their students in this new literacy?