This summer I am trying something new to engage my readers & writers in an attempt to lessen the summer slide.
Use Google Classroom to create an online-only learning environment.
I sent home a sign-up for upcoming 6th-grade students the last week of school that gave students permission to participate. This form asked students for their ID number to be added to the Classroom and parents for their email address to be added to a Google Contact Group and connected to the Google Classroom for guardian summaries.
Collaborative Opportunities Provided
I have built-in many opportunities for students to share their reading experiences.
- Google Classroom discussion questions are a great resource to engage students in discourse with their peers.
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| Discussion Question created to share why they joined this summer class and what they hope to gain from it! Students then replied to one another. |
- NearPod's Collaborate Board is a great way to share information with peers and add images. Students can even like each other's postings!
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| Share a Beautiful Line of a book you are reading right now |
- Kidblog also allows students to comment and give feedback on each other's writing pieces.
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| Kidblog Dashboard |
Challenges
I will be providing my students with a variety of challenges geared to increase interest in reading and writing, as well as continue to build skills. Some examples of challenges I will be providing my students:
- Find errors in popular celebrity posts & correct the grammar.
- NearPod has a great Writing Do's & Writing Don'ts that I put on Student Paced Lesson choice that has students look at Social Media posts & provides opportunities for students to collaborate electronically.
- Correct meme's to have proper grammar.
- Take a picture of a book you are reading while outside.
- Record a video of you sharing a Beautiful Line* from a favorite book.
- Have students use Google Slides to build a slide deck of book recommendations.
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| Example Student Addition to Slide Deck |
I also believe an added benefit for the students that are participating is that we will the opportunity to build relationships before the first day of school (with me AND each other). Students will also be familiar with the technology expectations and applications we will be using in class. I am hopeful that they will feel more comfortable when they walk into the classroom for the first time in late August.
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| I shared a picture of a trip to the library & was able to have a conversation about the library & books with a student! |
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| After I left a picture of my trip a student was inspired to share the results of her trip to the library as well! |
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| Private comments in Google Classroom allow me to help students with technology before school starts and build relationships by asking questions! |
*A beautiful line is a line or phrase that resonates with the reader in a deeply personal way. It can also be a line that the reader enjoys because of the use of beautiful language. This idea was taken from 180 Days by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher.
If you have any ideas or would like more information about how this goes, please contact me!
Good luck! It's a fun idea--I can't wait to hear how it goes!
ReplyDeleteThanks! So far it is amazing! I love how this is connecting me to my students on a personal level, while providing them with practice and feedback over the summer months!
ReplyDelete