Storyboard Time!

 So, we have come to the point of storyboarding. When you create a storyboard, you are basically creating an outline for a future story you are wishing to put into production. A storyboard helps you with the very beginning planing stages of telling a truly awesome story. By creating a storyboard you pretty much eliminate a lot of excess time when it comes time to make your production. People use storyboarding in everything from movies, to plays, works of literature, and even the evening news!

I took the time to create a storyboard for our class project which follows my unit plan on "Family History". This is an example of a storyboard I would like each student to create based on their own family history story.  

Using Blogging in the Classroom

Blogging is such a versatile tool that the World Wide Web has to offer its visitors. Many people use blogging in many different ways such as personal life events like the man did in The Tact Of Living. In this blog he documents the major events that happen in his life for anyone who is interested, such as friends and family, to read. He talks about everything from the subject of Free Will to his dog having puppies to obtaining the keys to his very first public school classroom.

Other times people use blogs to keep up with family members by posting anything from pictures to old family recipes. Some people use blogs to broadcast their own opinions over the internet, while others may use blogging as a form of web support for their company or family business.

I have come to learn that you can also use blogs in the classroom as well. As a teacher you can use them as aids for a student project. You can interact with the students while both in the classroom and at home. For example, my class project is "Family History," with this in mind I would more than likely have my students post a family story or a group family photo to the blog, that way it can be viewed by other children in the class.

Internet Resources

Hello again! Well, this week I did some research on some useful Internet resources. In exploring all of my various options when it comes to all of the tools made readily available by the Internet, I discovered some great material I plan on have my students use in their class projects. One example is the website called Skype.com this website is designed so that people can video chat from anywhere in the world. I plan on connecting my students with another child from the country they are doing their family heritage projects on. The will interact on a weekly bases with this child and be able to ask questions about the country they are from and how it differs from the United States.

Inquiry Based Learning and Project Based Learning

During my research on Project based learning and Inquiry based learning I found that the category my Unit Plan is dealing with is both Project Based and Inquiry Based. In my Unit Plan I am having my students research their family (or legal guardians) ancestry. Their Essential Question, which is a broad overview question, is "Where do I come from?" this question can be broken down into smaller questions by subject. In History, students will be researching the countries their ancestors came from and will be doing a power point presentation with the information from their research. In Science the students will be learning the reproductive system and will be looking at how genetics work. In the students English Language Arts class, the students will also be writing an essay on how the native speaking languages from their ancestors home countries have effected the English speaking language in toady's society.

The basics of Inquiry Based Learning and Project Based Learning are:

Inquiry based learning is the idea or concept that the student provides the questions, then proceeds to analyze the question to produce an answer. The teacher is simply a guide and/or aid to the student. Inquiry Based Learning consists of a hands on learning environment, Project-based learning is the process of allowing students to choose a topic that most interests them, then having them work in groups both inside and outside the classroom to learn and preform their research. Project-based learning allows students to engage their minds in projects that interest them. I also allows them to interact with each other and learn for one another.

Concept to Classroom - This site explains and demonstrates through video, how to use inquiry-based learning in a classroom setting.

Inquiry Based and Project Based Learning

Project-Based Learning: An Overview - This site will present you with a video that will explain the basic concepts of project-based learning.