Toontastic: tablet activity (Anna A., Esther M., Mireia N.)

Hello, we are Anna Alcázar, Esther Muñoz and Mireia Núñez. In the following lines we aim to present you our tablet activity and the evaluation of the app we used.

Kahoot and Science (Geography)

Hello teachers!  I'll show you an idea of how to use Kahoot program, a free software game-based learning platform designed to create questions and interact with them in the classroom through different devices. When a session is created, Kahoot gives us a password, and by that password all of us can enter in the same session and compete and learn from each other at a time. In this case we will use Kahoot to study the political map of Europe.

Target audience

The activity created is thought to be developed with third key stage (5th - 6th grade).

Aims:

- To revise the unit we have been learning about the last sessions, the political map of Europe.

- To create a game in groups and play with their peers in class

Competences:

-          Management of information and digital:  the students use the computer or other devices.

-          Knowledge and interaction with the world:  is a Geography class, specifically we are working the political map of Europe.

-          Interpersonal:  In groups, they have to cooperate and respect the opinion of others

Classroom Management

Having worked the political map of Europe in previous sessions, all students will be disposed in groups of 3-5 students with a device per group that they will use to create the activity. They will have 20 minutes to think about the 5 questions that will make to the other groups. The teacher will go group by group observing that the questions are well made and are not very difficult. When all groups have all ready to ask the questions, each group will make to the other groups five questions and go counting the points. At the end of class the group that has most point wins.

Material: One device per group

Assessment

The teacher will take into account the process of creation of the game by the groups, not only the final result of the competition. The teacher also will observe if all the members of the group participate actively in their groups during the creation of the game, if they create the questions in English correctly, if they need much help or not and if they treated properly the computer or the device.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

This activity is mainly a HOT in the Bloom’s Taxonomy because the students have to identify which contents they can use to make the questions in order to create the questions.  Finally, when we have created the game, they use LOTS because they remember what they learned on the previous sessions.

Four English skills

The creation of this game involves mainly reading and writing. In order to create the game all of them they have to read the unit about the political map of Europe and write on the device the questions correctly in order to make the questions.  Although we could also use the speaking and listening if we added a variant that students have also read aloud to his peers the question.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages: it’s a very motivating game for the students.  Easy to use and very intuitive. We don’t need to create an account, simply with a PIN we can play. They learn playing.  

Disadvantages: if the internet connection doesn’t work we cannot play. Sometimes they get focused on the competition and forget the real aim of the game.  Another problem may be the lack of participation of some students in their respective groups. 

Pixton: let's create a comic!

Hello everyone!

During this term in the ICT classes we have learnt a lot of resources and different programs and apps that can be really interesting for the English classroom. One of the programmes that I enjoyed the most in the masters’ is Pixton.

What is Pixton?

It is a website that allows you to create beautiful comics in just a few minutes. You can something simple or really elaborated. People can use it to:

- Write a book report or other school project in the style of a graphic novel

- Explain a concept or idea in a concise format

- Tell a story with words and pictures

- Depict nuanced emotions with customizable characters

- Make a joke as a comic strip or cartoon

- Storyboard a movie script

Key features:

- Fully possible, expressive characters

- Searchable prop library with 2,000+ objects

- Preset backgrounds grouped by theme

- Stylable text, captions, and speech bubbles

- Flexible layouts with variable panel width and height

Here you have a video that explains how to use it.

Activity:

I found this website so interesting that I have used it in 5th grade with a science project. The project consists in create a comic explaining the Prehistory and the Roman Times. In the first two sessions the students in groups have to search information about Prehistory or Roman times, depending on the group. Once they have the information they have to summarize it in order to use it for the creation of a comic. In the third and forth session they learn to use the Pixton with laptops and they start doing a brainstorming for the comic: What to write (content), the number of characters, the background they want to use, among others. During the fifth and sixth session they create the comic and finally in the seventh session they present it to the class.

As I was using it I discovered some advantages and disadvantages. For example, that it is only free during a short period of time. Besides, with this trial period, you cannot print or download the comic. If you need to use it more you can create an account for the school or pay for it. I decided to create a school account and I have discovered the following advantages:

• Control the comics the students are creating. They can’t publish them without permission.
• Add comments to my students’ comics so they can make improvements.
• Print and download the comics.
• Unlimited time using Pixton
• The school can create 50 different accounts for the students.
• The student and the teacher can grade the comic.

In the following PDF that I have created you can see step by step how to use it and the classroom options when you have a school account.

Finally in the following picture you can see an example of a Pixton comic created by some students.

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       Target audience: Second Key stage

-       Placement in curriculum: ICT, Science and English

-       Aims:

·      Session 1 and 2:

Understand the importance of the historical facts during Prehistory and Roman times.

Analyse and summarize information while connecting ideas.

·      Session 3 and 4:

Understand how Pixton works

Use the program exploiting its possibilities

·      Session 5 and 6:

Create a comic using the summarize content with Pixton

·      Session 7: Present the comic in front of the class acting out. Evaluate their own comic and the others.

General aims: Work collaboratively and speak in English.

-       Strategies and competences involved

Language and audiovisual communicative competence

Information processing and digital competence

Autonomy and personal initiative competence

Knowledge of and interaction with the physical world

-       Content:

• Using ICT to research information on tour performing specific tasks.
• Oral individual or group exposition of subjects studied and using all media available visual tics and       informatics.
• Understanding work instructions and performance in the classroom.
• Understand global and specific types of texts and diverse content in different media and formats and extraction of information for performing a specific task or as reinforcement / expansion of knowledge

English skills:

Reading: During the first sessions the students have to read a lot of information in order to summarize it.	Speaking: During all the sessions the students have to speak in English among them and with the teacher. Furthermore, the last session they have to present the comic in front of the class.
Writing: While summarizing the information and creating the comic they have to write.	Listening: During all the sessions the students have to listen to the teacher instructions, to each other for the creation of the information and the comic and finally pay attention to the presentations.

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy: This activity offers an opportunity to enhance both lower- and higher-order thinking skills.

Lower order thinking skills.

·      Level II. Understand (explain ideas or concepts): Understand the importance of the historical facts during Prehistory and Roman times. Understand how to use Pixton.

•   Level III. Applying (using the knowledge in a variety of ways):  Implement the ICT knowledge using Pixton.

Higher order thinking skills.

·    Level IV: Analyse (draw connections among ideas): Analyse and summarize the Prehistory and Roman information while connecting ideas.

·      Level V: Evaluate (justify a stand or decision): Evaluate their own comics and the other groups.

·      Level VI: Creating (create new products or points of view). The activity gives the students the opportunity to create a comic with Pixton.

Added value through ICT – In my opinion this resource is appropriate to use it in the classroom and for example, in this project, because it is very complete and at the same time intuitive. It provides agility because students don’t have to spend time creating the comic if you don’t want because the website provides backgrounds, characters and accessories divided in topics.  I believe that ICT contributes to the activity because it is more motivational and challenging. It facilitates scaffolding because the students have the parts of the comic created.

Trouble-shooting – As I explained before if you don’t pay for the account you have a short period of time to work with it, so I recommend creating a school account. Another problem is that sometimes in the schools Internet doesn’t work properly and you waste a lot of time waiting for the page to charge completely. Maybe some students need extra help with the site, so we could teach one person of the group and create “Expertics”.

Assessment – As I explained before Pixton includes an Assessment grid and has the possibility to write comments. The teacher have to take into account the process and the final result, taking into consideration if the students speak in English all the time, is the apply the suggestions of the teacher in the comments, if they work collaboratively, if they make grammar mistakes and the technology skills and problem solving. Finally, during the presentation the teacher will be using the following rubric:

I hope you enjoy this resource!

Laia López i Mullor

Storyjumper

Hi girls!

Today I would like to share with you a web application that we learnt with Yolanda at the beginning of the subject. This is www.storyjumper.com and it’s a web page that allows you to create illustrated books with very easy tools.

Storyjumper is a tool for developing writing stories and creativity and it also allows you to publish the stories that you have created. For creating a book we have an easy menu where there are text tools, images (props), a set of templates to create the first pages of the stories and a tab that lets you upload images from your computer.

This web application has even the option of creating a book cover and a dedication for the story so it gives you the opportunity to personalize totally your creation. 

This activity can be used for children of primary and by using this web application, children would be working more on HOTS (High order thinking skills) activities since they can create a new story and evaluate and analyze the final product.  

This kind of activities promotes children to use some skills such as reading and writing. Moreover, students could also work on other skills like speaking and listening if the stories are represented afterwards. 

CREATE A SPECIAL GIFT!

Hello girls!

Here is my last blog entry! This time, I’m going to present one activity that I’ve designed with one of the resources we discovered at the beginning of the subject with Yolanda Scott-Tennent. In those sessions, in order to do some research on interesting ICT resources & tools and to re-think the way we use them we were asked to do a task. It consisted in choosing a content topic of the English Classroom and presenting some resources explaining how they could be used. I chose “Describing people” as my topic and I shared with my classmates some ideas of how to use different tools such a video, an online board game, a Snake and ladders board creator, a video quiz with Educaplay.com and a Hot Potatoes activity. But the one I’m going to share with you in this entry is a WORLD CLOUD CREATOR named TAGUL. Below is the explanation of the activity, which I’ve entitled as “Create a special gift!”

We are in Year 5, it is a group of 24 students who have quite a good level of English. They do two hours of English per week plus another hour of Science (CLIL).

Christmas is getting closer and we have been working on the topic “Describing people” during the previous sessions. We have worked the basic structures to describe (“He/She is” & “He/she has got”), vocabulary related to physical appearance and to personality and comparatives and superlatives. But with this activity, the goal is to expand this vocabulary in a more meaningful and motivating way for the students.

The activity basically consists in creating a world cloud with adjectives. It would be the closing activity of the unit. As a Christmas present students will have to choose someone they love, to look for different adjectives to describe this person and create a special and personalized word cloud. 

First, students will have to create each one a list of adjectives to describe the person they choose, they should use some of the words they already now and also they must add some new using the dictionary. Then, after each student has its list, all together we will share and pool the new words that they have come up with creating a Popplet with the IWB of the classroom (interacting and creating it in a collaborative way). So we are creating a vocabulary bank to which everybody can have access. 
This is a good way to expand vocabulary because it comes from the students'need. Moreover, when asking them to share the new words they have learnt they are creating something together that can be useful to everybody, which adds a meaning to the whole process. If we want it the Popplet could be printed and hung on the wall of the class. 

This could be an example of the Popplet: 

Then, using the computers room of the school, students will have to create a world cloud with their adjectives with the tool Tagul. They can choose the shape and colours which best represent the person they are describing. Finally, they will have to send it by email to that person, writing a short Christmas greeting.
With this activity we are taking into account the affective part of our students, since they are creating something for someone they love. In addition, presenting them the creation of this world cloud as a final result makes all the process of looking for the words more motivating.

These could be some examples of the world clouds:

Finally, each student will present briefly its creation with the help of some scaffold language (i.e. “My _________ is ________ because__________” / I love my ________ because he/she always ___________. He/she is very ______________). This oral part will be also used to assess the students. To assess the oral presentation we can use a rubric. 

Regarding Bloom's Digital Taxonomy, the activity can be classified primarily as a LOT, but also includes a small creative process, so you could say it is too a HOT. Firstly, when listing the vocabulary and creating the mindmap all together they are remembering and understanding, and they are also applying their ICT skills both when using Popplet and Tagul. And secondly, as the world cloud is a personal creation that they have to design, it inlcudes some creation.  

Why is it approppiate to use these ICT resources and what ICT contributes to the activity?

Well, first I must say that I strongly believe that the use of ICT make the children more involved and increase effectiveness of learning. In this case, the use of Popplet makes everyone feel involved and participant of the learning of all the group, so it can increase students' confidence and motivation. Then, the use of Tagul makes children assume greater responsability for their own learning and makes the outcome of they effort appear in a funny, visual and beautiful way. The combination of the two activities, also enables us to work both collaboratively (creating Popplet with the participation of all) as well as individually.

Useful advice

Unfortunately I haven't been able to realize this activity in a real context, but if you would like to carry out it, you should take into account some possible problems you may encounter. 
For instance, one possibility could be that when you ask them to share the new words, there are many that are repeated. In that case, you could ask questions about their family and friends, prompting new adjectives to look for the meaning.
Also you should bear in mind that you will have to give them some basic instructions before starting using Tagul. It's true that they are digital natives and some of them can get how to use it in few minutes, but it is always better to provide the informtacion needed and make clear what you expect from them.


Now you are ready to go to your classrooms and carry out this activity! I hope you like it and do not hesitate to ask if you have any doubt or want some more specific information.

It has been a pleasure to share ideas and learn form all of you.
Thank you!!!

XXX

Andrea Malagarriga