KNOWLEDGE KILLS FEAR –A post to work on racism, segregation and multiculturalism through the integration of ICT and the promotion of Bloom’s Taxonomy Thinking Skills

INTRODUCTION

During the first part of this Master’s Degree ICT subject, we explored a variety of tools to work on the different Bloom’s Taxonomy Thinking Skills through the use of new technologies in the class. These tools were presented to us by Yolanda Scott Tennent,  ICT expert and director of the Tarragona (Spain) EOI (Escola Oficial d’Idiomes).

In order to put into practice some of the ideas and tools introduced by Yolanda, I have created a mini-project on multiculturalism, racism and segregation. The name of this mini-project is “Knowledge kills fear”. And it is designed to be implemented with sixth graders. The project starts by prompting some thinking about the topic. Goes over different activities that help understand racism and appreciate multiculturalism. And ends with the creation of a final product that intends to reflect on what students had learned. 

In this post, I first briefly present some of the things that can be done with ICT around this theme, and then I develop in greater depth one of the activities that can be done to create the final product of this project or unit. The following activities don’t necessarily need to be implemented in the order in which they are presented in this blog entry.  And as not to overuse new technologies, I strongly recommend to  select some of the following ideas and include them in your own unit, or alternate them with other activities no ICT-related. Remember, the good use of ICT in the class remains within the ability to introduce them in the right moment and weighing the added value when doing it.

 QUICK OVERVIEW ABOUT WHAT 
CAN ICT DO FOR THE TOPIC  

1.  “Let’s prompt some thinking!!”: 

Nowadays, we have access to a rich variety of media resources, and these are powerful enough to engage students and open a debate. Using photos, videos and ideas from different blogs I intend to make students think about the concept of racism and segregation. Moreover, with this activity we can find out about their previous knowledge on the topic. 

1.1. An example of photos which could be used. 

1.2. An example of videos which could be used.

Father of White Girl Rejects Black Boyfriend | "What Would You Do?"

This Will Change The Way You Think (Racism Experiment)

*After the presentation of these resources (both photos and videos) we can debate or brainstorm. We can also show a short video and stop it at some point and make students write predictions about what is going to happen next. What do you think is going to happen? What do you think is happening?Who do you think these people are? Why?

1.3. Ideas from blogs.

If we were working with younger children I would recommend doing this experiment/ demonstration extract from this blog. You take two eggs, one white, and one brown. Ask them how they think they are going to be inside, the same or different and why. You gave them the structure to make predictions “I think they are going to be the same/different because…” I have done this experiment/ demonstration in P5 and it was a success. They love it, and it really makes them think. 

By presenting this idea in an ICT blog, I mean to show how blogs from fellow educators, and platforms like Pinterest and Krokotac can inspire and help teachers do creative and simple things in their classes.

2. “Brainstorming 

What do you think racism is?”: To make a brainstorming, we could use a platform like Tagxedo. Here you can find other tools to online brainstorm with your class “15 tools for solo brainstorming”.

3. “Movies”

Movies and videos are a powerful resource. They take us back to other times and make us walk in other people’s shoes. They are the perfect resource to create empathy among the students and the topic. In this case, by presenting shortcuts from different movies we can prompt reflection, approach this reality to the student, ignite intrigue and work upon the history of slavery and racism.

Kieran Donaghy, one of the speakers of the 2015 APAC (Associació de Professors i Professores d'Anglès de Catalunya) ELT Convention, has on his website, some great ideas about how to exploit short video segments in the ESL class.

To create these shortcuts from a longer existing movie, the teacher needs to use programs like Movie Maker or Pinacle. These tools do also allowed the addition of subtitles. Highly recommended if the level of the students is not too high. Click here to download to shortcuts from the movie The Help (2011).

4. “Real Experts. Research”.

After introducing the topic, checking previous knowledge and reflecting upon the phenomenon, children are now ready to make some research. This research can be done to answer their existing questions around the topic. Questions that may have been evoked by the presentation of the previous videos, photos, and activities. 

Since the network is too big, to help them research, we could narrow the search to a few websites. Some ideal websites to research on the topic of racism throughout history are the BBC history for kids website (interesting sites in this web Schools Primary History, Genocide, Martin Luther King  and The Nazi Germany ). This web page includes plenty of information, videos, and games. Moreover, they could also find some information in the website History for Kids and the YouTube channel Crash Course.

One the other hand, nowadays, children are exposed to a constant bombardment of information. That is why it is so important for them to learn how to discriminate reliable sources from no reliable ones. We could encourage them to do free searching. Nevertheless, to guide them in this apprenticeship the teacher could create and give them a Chart or Checklist to verify the reliability of the source.  Angela Bunyi,  and her post “Identifying Reliable Sources and Citing Them”, can give us some ideas on how to create this Chart or Checklist and how to address this topic with children.

5. “Timeline. Synthesize & gather all the info”.

Children could do a timeline as to synthesize, gather and display all the found information around the topic of racism throughout history in a clear and appealing way. To do so I have chosen the web page Read Write Think, because it is easy to use and allows the introduction of pictures. However, many great different tools can be found to create timelines with your class. For more ideas, check the post “8 excellent free timeline creation tools for teachers”. 

6. “Knowledge kills fear”. 

Ones the students know about racism and segregation throughout history, it is time to learn about multiculturalism and the richness of cultural diversity.

To do so they can learn about different cultures and countries in the outstanding National Geographic Kids website, they can use Google maps to travel around the world (6 Sites To Get Kids Excited About Google Maps) or they can learn about the gastronomy of different countries (International Gourmet Recipes for Kids).

 OPTIONS FOR THE FINAL PRODUCT  

7. “Create. What have we learned?” 

To create a final product in this project or unit, I have chosen 3 different tools. They could all be offered as an option. Letting children be the ones choosing the one best fitting their abilities and interest. Or we could choose the one that better fits our project or class. In this blog entry, I am going to develop in depth the activity 7.3. Create a Podcast.

7.1. Create a Digital Storytelling.
7.2. Create a Comic.
7.3. Create a Podcast.

The activity:

Create a Podcast on racism, multiculturalism and segregation.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

Level VI: Creating (create new products or points of view): This activity gives the students an opportunity to plan, design, invent and produce a podcast which integrates the knowledge they have acquired during the Project/ Unit.

Grade/ target users/ level:

6th grade/ Senior level (5th and 6th grade).

English level, between A2 and B1.

Context:

Semiprivate school, Barcelona. Upper middle class families.

Four hours of English a week + 3 hours of Science in English (CLIL)

Context topic:

Racism, segregation and multiculturalism.

Unit/ Project:

This activity is conceived as the final product of a PBL (Project Based Learning) or unit on racism, segregation, and multiculturalism. The name of the unit/ project is “Knowledge Kills Fear”. The Project arises from the idea of educating the student in the idea of seeing cultural diversity as something rich and beautiful. 

* Why this topic? This is a school with a great cultural and race variety because of the neighborhood and the services the school provides. However, the school doesn’t work on this topic. Due to some conflicts and comments the English teacher decides to create this Project as an opportunity to reflect upon this topic, give the students a space to share their family culture and address multiculturalism in a positive way.

Possible link with other subjects:

History, Geography, Ethics/Religion.

Skills:

Listening, speaking, writing and reading

Audio podcasts are a piece of recorded audio about a specific topic. To create these pieces of audio, our students will have first to listen and read some examples (to have a model to imitate). It is important to choose examples adequate to their English level. If the podcast language is above their level we can give them the script, go over it beforehand and them listen and read the podcast at the same time. Doing this, we can also go over the characteristics, format and structure of the podcast.  It would be ideal if the podcasts use as models are related to the topic, if not we should look for podcasts of the students’ interest.

Then, they will have to write the script of their podcast and recorded. To write the podcasts, they will need the teacher guidance, language scaffolding (maybe a series of preset sentences). To encourage autonomy we could use some dictionaries like Merriam Webster Visual Dictionary Online, Shahi Visual Dictionary or the BBC Pronunciation Dictionary.

Resource used:

Laptops with an Internet connection

Tool:

To create a podcast, there are many WebPages offering a large variety of tools to create Podcast with your class. Most of them are free and easy to use. In this case, I chose School Podcast because it is specifically designed for schools. Therefore, the tool is intuitive and easy to use. The web page guarantees a secure exchange and sharing format within the educational community. Podcasts can be shared with other schools from all over the world. Moreover, the webpage allows you to categorize the podcast by school subjects and topics.

However, Be careful !! This is not your tool if what you want is to embed your podcast in the school website or any other already existing website. This tool only enables the dissemination of the podcast within the same website.

They are plenty of options and ideas on the topic. Here I attach some useful links, How to Create a Class Podcast in 5 Easy Steps, Educational Podcasting, Teacher’s Guide on the use of Podcasting in Education, How to Record Streaming Audio and Create a Podcast from Your PC.

Added value:

To implement this activity without the use of ICT, we could create a “radio studio” in the class and pretend to be radio presenters, collaborators, guest or journalist. However, the creation of a real podcast gives the activity added value for many reasons.

The use of technological tools for the creation of real products is engaging and motivational. Recording speech gives reason and opportunities to focus on language and pay attention to pronunciation. The creation of a podcast offers the possibility to share their work with the world. This will make them want to do their best and will make them feel their opinion is worthwhile. By sharing their work in certain platforms, they may get some feedback. This can be very motivational and give the whole activity real meaning.

Basically, in this case, the use of ICT gives them the opportunity to be real experts in the field broadcasting to the world!!

Students’ roles:

Students will be working in groups of four. They all will provide ideas and participate in the correction of the final script. Nevertheless, while drafting the script, two students will be writing and two others will be looking for words and expressions on the dictionary. Every half an hour, they will switch roles. In this way, all the students will have experienced both roles.

Management:

If we want to use ICT for the management of our class, we can always use ClassDojo. ClassDojo is a free app that allows you to give feedback points to your students and message the parents. Students can customize their avatars and parents can easily track the progress of their children.

Feedback points will be given for participation, fellowship and use of the English language. Students will be able to win and lose feedback point for themselves or for their groups.

Evaluation: 

The process and the final product will be taken into account to evaluate this activity. To evaluate the process, the teacher will use an observation grid. This observation grid will contemplate vocabulary, structures, use of the language and participation. To evaluate the final product, the teacher will use a checklist of requisites. This checklist will be given to the students beforehand to help them create their podcasts.

Moreover, the teacher will use the self-assessment to make them reflect upon their work and role in the group.  

Example of an observation grid, by María Sánchez Lerena and Andrea Malagarriga Perea

KEY NOTE ACTIVITY Mireia, Georgina i Mariona

KEY NOTE ACTIVITY

The last 29^th of May, we had our last session of the ICT optative. As in the previous one, we were working on IPads, a sophisticated technology that nowadays many schools use or start introducing it as an educational tool.

During the first half of the class, we talked and experimented with QR codes and we shared ideas about how we can use them in class to enrich the teaching-learning process.

After that, we went through a list of suitable iPad apps to use in class with our kids. As the list is very long, we focused on the more interesting ones and we also had time to explore and try some of them. Some of the apps we discovered are Class Dojo, Tiny Tap, Toontastic and Skitch.

Class dojo is a very useful app for teachers as it helps them with classroom management. They can use it to reinforce positive behaviors in their students and parents can check their children's progress. It also offers a different but a great opportunity to communicate with parents.

Tiny tap allows us to create and play fun interactive quizzes, lessons and games. Here you can read more about this app and the things you can do with it.

Toontastic is a storytelling and creative learning tool that enables kids to draw, animate, and share their own cartoons. Here you can find a description of the app and a video tutorial with the steps you have to follow to use it.

Finally, Skitch is an app for writing and drawing on pictures. In this page you can read about its advantages and you have some examples for using it in class.

In the second part of the class, we had to design, in peers or threes, a HOTS activity for iPads. Our activity is for Primary 5 and it involves comparatives and animals vocabulary. We decided to use Keynote, an app for designing, create and share beautiful presentations. Our activity consists of two phases. In the first one, children are divided in small groups of four, approximately, and they have to create a quiz to work on comparatives and animals vocabulary. The teacher will show them an example to have an idea about what they will have to do.

The quiz should have five questions. They will have to write the question, for example “Which animal is faster?” and under the question they will have to put the picture of two animals such as a lion and a cheetah, with its name. 

Then, in the following slide, they will have to give the answer of the question by putting the image, the written word or the speaking word (using a recording) of the animal. 

This first phase is a HOTS activity because children have to create the quiz using a lot of skills during all the process. On one hand, students need to investigate on what topic they want to work and all the information about it as well as examine the uses of the activity. On the other hand, they have to design the quiz and decide a plan to make the activity happen. It is really important that while they are creating they are deciding the uses of the game and constructing the questions and the answers.  

The second phase consists on answering the other groups’ quizzes. Once the members of the group have read the question, they have to decide which is the correct answer. So first of all, they will need to discuss among them and come to an agreement and, after that, they will have to record the answer and add it in the quiz. Following the example before, they will have to say: “We think the cheetah is faster than the lion because….” And give the reasons why they have decided the cheetah instead of the lion. After giving the answer, they will be able to check whether their answer is correct or not. This second phase is also a HOTS activity because students have the challenge to decide, choose and justify their answer. It is not a simple yes/no answer, students are applying their knowledge and putting in practice comparative structures to give a reason to the game. 

3, 2, 1... PACMAN!

Good morning ICT girls!

Here it’s me (Ari) presenting an activity which might ring a bell ;). The first task I prepared for this subject was related to Animals in the Wood; I looked for different tools to use in our classrooms such as a word search creator from Discovery Education; a flashcard creator, this app is available for both Android and iOS; and an interesting webpage where you can find an incredible amount of tools to use with your students. (You already have the links to access these resources but you’ll find them attached in this post too ;))

However, the one I’m going to present here is PACMAN! Once I found this resource I thought it was going to be a really interesting tool to use in a classroom, no matter the level we are as we can create activities for both the old and the youngest pupils.

First of all, I will explain you some characteristics of this resource. I suppose all of you know Pacman; this tool has been based on this videogame, the students can play it but at the same time they are answering multiple-choice questions. All these questions are first written together with the answers (both the right and the incorrect ones). It’s really easy and intuitive but here you have the steps you need to follow ;)

Now that you’ve check the steps to follow, I want to explain the use we can give to this resource in the classroom. As I mentioned before, it can be applied in different levels, it all depends on the topics we work on and the questions we create (or the ones we ask our students to create which is also an option for the old ones).

This game it’s only and engaging way to work on specific content; the questions we write can make our students work on both LOTS and HOTS. Everything we create will imply understanding and depending on the questions just remembering. But we can also ask them to look for information on the Internet, for instance to find out the places around the world we can find an specific animal, compare different places and the species living in them in terms of the characteristics of an animal, the atmospheric conditions, amongst others. Furthermore, this research can not only be done just to answer the questions but to write them. As I previously said, our students can also create these questions, which will require collecting information and at the same time work cooperatively with their partners while structuring the test.

I personally found this tool a really interesting way to work on different aspects and make our students feel engaged and motivated in a high-cognitive demanding task. Of course as teachers, we have to adapt these activities to the level, group students, their needs and characteristics; but I found it incredibly easy-adaptable and the most important ENGAGING!

Hope you find it interesting! Enjoy it! 

Here you have some interesting links ;)

All my best, 

Ari xxx

We are storytellers!

Hello girls!

This time we are Andrea and María writing together a post related to the use of iPads in the school.

The last 29^th of May we attended our last ICT session with Maribel Benito, who shared with us a list of recommended iPad apps suitable for use in the class.

First, we talked about the increasingly popular QR codes, short for Quick Response codes. These codes are used to take a piece of information from a transitory medium to the cell phone, and once there give you details about a specific business. Nowadays, you can see QR Codes in many different places like magazine adverts, billboards, and webpages. They are more practical than a standard barcode because they scan (and digitally present) much more data, including URL links, Geo coordinates, and text. Moreover, these codes can be scan with almost any smartphone or tablet device and do not demand the use of a  chunky hand-held scanner. If you wish, you can find the full Wikipedia description here.

But can we use QR Codes and its advantages to enrich the teaching-learning process? Of course! In fact, the use of QR codes in the educational field is on the rise because they are intriguing and motivating, but at the same time they are easy to create and use. But how can we use them in the classroom? Here you can find a Pinterest Board full of great ideas and by clicking here you can download a pdf file named “40 interesting ways and tips to use QR Codes in the classroom”. We hope you like it and find it useful!

Then, we went through the list of apps placing special emphasis on the most interesting ones and briefly getting to explore some of them. We had time to explore Class Dojo an app which is an alternative to the conventional classroom management tools. This app offers the possibility to communicate with the parents and track the behavior of the students. Then we experimented with Skitch, an app to write and draw on pictures. Also, we became makers with the app Tiny Tap, a multimedia game creator. And finally, we chose Toontastic for the designing of our HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) activity and spent the last two hours of class working on this.

We choose this app because it is intuitive, simple and full of possibilities. In a few simple steps, it enables children to create their own animated cartoons. First, you can either create your own characters or choose among the given ones. Then, you create the scenes and press the button to record the voice while you move the characters as you want them to move in the final movie. And finally, you add the music and the credits.

Due to its characteristics, we thought that this app could be of use in the designing of our Project for the Elective subjects of the Master’s Degree. For this project, we have designed a unit in which 5th graders go over 5 different versions of the classic Cinderella story, from different countries and time periods. Reflect upon gender, class, and racial stereotypes around the world. Acquire the needed language to write a story (connectors, descriptions, and verb tenses).  Learn about the structure of a story (beginning, middle and end).  And finally, create their own “Breaking Stereotypes Story” and share it with the rest of the school.

The use of this app for the creation of the story could make the whole activity easier and more motivating. Not only the app scaffolds and guides children through the creation of the story, but also gives a final product which is visually appealing. Therefore, we are considering the possibility of using this app to carry out this HOTS (High Order Thinking Skills) activity, which we believe inevitably and conveniently entails the use of LOTS (Low Order Thinking Skills) like applying and remembering what has been learned throughout the unit. Among other things, this unit  aims to shape critical and creative citizens. Below you can find the story that we have created with this app.

To sum up, after two lessons learning how to use iPads as an educational tool, we believe that they can certainly make learning more engaging and memorable. This interactive technology encourages participation, allows the creation of adapted and personalize materials, encourages the creation of appealing products using English and reinforces communication  through countless possibilities and proven enthusiasm. Moreover, the use of the latest technology provides students with a set of digital skills necessary in today’s world.

TinyTap! The old ones and the yougest all engaged

Hello girls!

Laura and Ariadna are writing the entrance this time! Today at class we’ve been discovering some new apps to use on our iPads: TinyTap, Toontastic, amongst others.

We’ve decided to create an activity with the first one; this is Tiny Tap, which is an app that allows you to create and customize different sort of games for kids using your iPad.

In this case we’ve created a simple game to work on vocabulary related to farm animals, find the explanation below ;)

In the screenshot you can see on the left, the students will hear three different questions: 

Where’s the pig?

Where’s the yellow animal? 

Which animals says BAAH? 

Once they will have listened to these questions, they will need to point the correct answer.

The second activity consists of putting all the geometrical shapes in the right place to create an animal (in that case a rooster ;))

Once all these shapes will have been put in the right place; the students will hear a question: 

Which animal can you see? 

As you can see in the following picture they will have different options: Pig, Rooster, Horse and Cow.

This game has been thought to be designed by the old students (4th or 5th grade) for the youngest ones. In this case the ones creating the game are developing their HOTS (Creating) while at the same time they will be working with all the language features as this exercise will imply reading, speaking/producing, listening and writing. On the other hand, the youngest ones are working on LOTS skills such as understanding and identifying, and developing some language features, specially listening. In this way there will be also a cooperative work in which the older students will have to take the responsability to create quality exercices adapted to the youngest ones.

Finally, take into consideration that this activity can be applied in different ways. Taking the essence of making the old students create a game for the youngest pupils in the school; we can also ask them to work on other topics (the school, the street, our town, there’s an infinity of aspects we can work on). The important here is to give them the chance to discover this app, providing the proper basis to start using it of course, but allowing them to work autonomously and in cooperation with their classmates.

Hope you find it interesting!

All our best,

xxx