Use Shadow Puppet to record the year...

Let’s create our own presentation!!

Hello again partners! As you know I am Míriam Porras and I am going to talk about SHADOW PUPPET!

Shadow Puppet is an app that allows you to create custom videos combining photos and video clip with your voice and songs. You can easily create videos to tell a story, explain an idea or send a personalized message drawing on the screen, adding emoji stickers, the zoom and pan. In addition, using Shadow Puppet you are combining art, literacy and technology into one great piece of work, because it is a useful tool to create an amazing and creativity stories.

In addition, you don’t have to pay for using it. You only have to download the app for you iPhone and your iPad and enjoy!!!

Apart from this, once your Puppet is created, you can share it with your peers by email, message, copying your link or using different social networks like Twitter, Youtube or Facebook.

Here you will find some links that could be interesting to know more about how Shadow Puppet works.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/18/shadow-puppet-app/

http://get-puppet.co/#home-alternate

STRENGTHENS	WEAKNESSES
Ideas galore are included in app, with more resources available online.	Editing is possible but it is a bit trickier than creating.
Students can use their own images or pull images from several impressive online resource.
Pupils can deepen their understanding across content areas creating presentations and showcasing their knowledge.
A video tutorial walks students through the creation process.
Videos can be up to 30 minutes long and can include up to 100 images.

Regarding the activity, first of all, I will show them how it works the app and all the possibilities it offers. Then, I will present them the activity. After explaining and presenting and example of how to use the app, I would divide the class into different groups to allow them to explore the app. Then, each group is in charge of one session of additional language classroom and they have to summary what happens during the class creating like a little story that helps students in future sessions to remember what they did. Although to use a blog to write what happens in class, it is a new way to create more creative and designed a presentation about the session they have chosen.

Timing:

It would use as many sessions as groups there are in the classroom. Of course, we will ask them to present a summary of each project we will carry out. So, we will allow them a session for the chosen group to create their presentation (60 minutes).

Aims:

Ø  To use English for communication.

Ø  To work cooperatively.

Ø  To use new vocabulary in a creative story/summary.

Ø  To describe a project using the digital and the written skills.

Ø  To engage in simple and basic oral conversations. 

Classroom management:

We are going to divide the class into different groups (4 students). Each group will be responsible of one of the projects we are going to carry out during the year in English.

Multiple intelligences

In relation to multiple intelligence, they have to create the story using the content they have acquired in the project. To create a Shadow Puppet you have to use photographs, so pupils need to develop the Visual and Spatial. In addition, pupils would work on different groups using the Interpersonal intelligence. Moreover, students have to use the Linguistic Intelligence to record the story and to present the result in front of their peers.

Language skills and competences

The activity is thought to work on the four skills:

RECEPTIVE	PRODUCTIVE
Listening: The pupils will listen the explanations of their teacher and their classmates during the presentation. Reading: They will have to read the worksheet/self-assessment to complete the marks.	Speaking: They will have to speak with their peers to create the presentation and to cooperate to present it in front of the class. They also have to record their voices to create the Shadow Puppet. Writing: They could plan and write the presentation before do it in the app.

Concerning competences, they are the following:

Ø  Linguistic and audio-visual, because pupils have to create the story using language and photographs.

Ø  Information handling and digital competence, in order to do the task, they have to interact and know the app to use it.

Ø  Learning to learn: They would have to manage and regulate their own learning taking into account different opinions.

Ø  Autonomy, initiative and decision taking, because they have to assess their peers using a self-assessment.

Ø  Social and civic, because we are going to work cooperatively in groups.

Ø  Cultural and artistic, because they have to create a visual and creative presentation.

Ø  Knowledge and interaction with the world, because pupils have to create a presentation about a project that they have worked on the classroom.

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy

 Regarding Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, they have to use the following lower and higher order thinking skills:

Lower order thinking skills

•     Level I – Remembering the vocabulary and the content we have presented to do the presentation. 
•         Level II – Understanding the vocabulary and the concepts we have worked on the project to do the presentation and to understand how they have to use the app.
•           Level III – Applying the knowledge they have acquired to create the presentation.

Higher order thinking skills

•        Level VI: Creating their presentations to make visible the project we have been working.

Content topic and target users

The story/summary they have to create has relation to the project we are working in the classroom. Thus, they will be able to use it to create their presentations. You can use this approach with any topic and content.

As I said before, Shadow Puppet is easy to use. For that reason, I consider that this activity could be done in the first cycle of Primary (1^st and 2^nd Grade). Always it depends on the level of your students.

Assessment

With the aim to assess pupils, we would use self-evaluation. I strongly believe that it is essential to make them a part of their evaluation. It is a valuable way that they could understand what are their strong points and what they need to improve them. Then, they will have to assess the presentation of the group regarding content and creativity. We will give them a grid with different item to point 0-5 where 5 it is the highest mark).

Added value through ICT

·      It is a creative must have for elementary classrooms. It is a different way to present the information because the format is more attractive.

·      It is a motivated activity because they are doing presentations about a project they have involved actively and using technologies.

I hope you enjoy the activity!

See you soon,

Míriam Porras

The ant and the grasshopper with iPads

Hello everyone,

We are Míriam Porras, Ma Àngels Tugores and Anna Solé. We are going to present a lesson plan related to the story “The ant and the grasshopper”. We strongly believe that it is useful to use a source as iPads to carry out the following activities, because they can enjoy the storytelling time in a different way.

We hope you enjoy the following lesson plan and it would be useful in your classrooms! 

We would start the lesson with the following app to introduce the story “The ant and the grasshopper”:

https://itunes.apple.com/es/app/ant-grasshopper-interactive/id524296140?l=ca&mt=8

The pupils could interact during they are listening or reading the story. For instance, they could help the ant to pick food or to help the grasshopper when she is frozen because of winter.

After reading or listening the story, they would complete different activities like making a puzzle or replying different questions or pinpoint objects observing images from the story by the app. Then, we would ask them several questions concerning the story to know if they understand and comprehend the plot. Finally, we will divide the class in different groups and we will create an alternative ending for the story.

Target audience

The activity created is to be developed with 1^st Grade. It depends on the level of your class-group and the knowledge they have in the additional language (English).

Aims: 

- To develop the oral skills: listening and speaking. (Students)

- To acquire vocabulary related to story. (Students)

- To be able to understand a story told it in English. (Students)

- To develop their iPad skills (Students)

Vocabulary related:

•    Ant, grasshopper, summer, winter, woods, foods, snacks, candy, snow, clothing, door, scar, house, moon.

•    Help, remove, give, play

* Alternative and spontaneous vocabulary that suits the topic.

Competences:

•    Linguistic and audio-visual, because pupils have to watch, read (in some cases) and to understand different vocabulary in relation to the story.

•    Management of information and digital, to complete the activity the students have to use and interact with the IWB to carry out the activities).

•    Knowledge and interaction with the world, using stories we can develop the imaginary of our pupils and also we can connect the relationship that animals have in the story with the human relationship and feelings like help or friendship.

•    Social and civic, we are going to divide the class in different associations promoting the cooperative group and the individual

•    Learning to learn (The students will have to think about what ingredients they would like to add to the pancake and so they will have to create it and present it to the rest of the classmates. Thus they will have to manage their time effectively and regulate their own learning whilst solving problems).

Class management

In relation to classroom management, each pupil would have an iPad to follow and interact with the story and then, to do the proposed activities like puzzle or the evaluation part. However, at the end of the lesson plan, we would divide the class in different groups with the aim to create an alternative end to the story and present it using story creator.

The main aim is to promote the communication among students using the additional language (English) and the IWB as a tool to reach it.

*If any school that would like to carry out this lesson plan and they don’t have available iPads for each students, we could divide them in more groups to do the previous activities before the creation of the story ending.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

The lesson plan offers the possibility to improve lower and higher order thinking skills:

Lower order thinking skills

•    Level I – Remembering the vocabulary and the story they have learned.

•    Level II – Understanding the vocabulary and the concepts that the story and the activities present, not only remember them.

•    Level III: Applying and practice the vocabulary they have learned in different ways and activities like puzzle, assessment or create a story.

Higher order thinking skills

•    Level VI: Creating their own version of the end of the story and then, they will have the opportunity to share it to their peers.

Four skills

The lesson plan we have created, it takes into account the four skills that are the following:

RECEPTIVE	PRODUCTIVE
Listening: The pupils will listen the story, the explanations of their teacher and their classmates when they are preparing the alternative ending and presenting it. Reading: The pupils could read the story and the instructions to interact with the ant. Also, they need to read the activities of the IWB.	Speaking: They will have to speak with their peers to create the alternative ending and to cooperate to present it in front of the class. Also, we have to promote the interaction with the teacher using some words in English. Writing: They will have to create and write the alternative ending for the story of “The ant and the grasshopper”.

Activities with iPads

The lesson plan is divided in the following activities:

Activity 1: The ant and the grasshopper

In this activity, the pupils will know the story reading it or listening it by the teacher. Meanwhile, we could interact with the ant doing some actions like helping the ant to carry candies or give to grasshopper the scarf for the winter.

Activity 2: TinyTap

In this activity, the pupils could interact with different activities concerning the story like making a puzzle of one of the images from the app or recognise vocabulary like scarf, moon, candy, house, etc.  Finally, they could watch another video version of the story to develop their listening skills.

Puzzle

Video

*If you pick on the objects of the image, you will listen how do you say this word and what is the written word

Activity 3: Socrates

To assess if they understand the story, we have created a Socrates with different kind of questions regarding the literacy elements. Here you would find some examples:

                                   

Activity 4: Create an alternative ending

The pupils will be divided in different groups and create an alternative ending for the sort of “The ant and the grasshopper” using Storyjumper (https://www.storyjumper.com/main/help). The teacher will help these groups with difficulties in English and problems to use the program to collect their stories. At the end, they will have to present it to the rest of the class.

Assessment

In relation to assessment, it would be carried out through observation during the activities and the Socrative we have created to assess if they understand the plot of the story. In addition, we will take into account the oral presentation of the alternative ending to assess the lesson plan and the cooperative work through rubrics.

Try it in your classroom and send us recommendations to improve the lesson plan!!