Have you tried Educaplay? This is a fantastic site where you can create interactive content for use on your VLE.Blogs and Web Sites for free, simply register, create and share..
Below is an example of what they call an interactive map. I will be beginning work with Scratch this term with my phase three students I want them to become familiar with the Interface and where to find unfamiliar items. This map based quiz will hopefully help consilidate their understanding of where to find things in the program.
We will also need to become familiar with keywords and vocabulary. So how about a Wordsearch as a starter, before moving on to define and use these terms in learning diaries and such.
Other great tasks available include "word jumbles," "sentence jumbles," "matching" and "crossword" interactivities.
These can be saved in your account space and then embed codes generated for the tasks copied and pasted into html view in you pages or tasks that can be shared with students either in the VLE or through provision of shared shortcuts to specific pages online you have created.
Oh and did I mention that the site is free!
Enjoy..... :o)
3.4.13
PLTS Slideshows
Since September I have been using a set of PowerPoint Templates to help organise, standardise and simplify my lesson planning and organisation.
The templates carry a standard style
My title slides include the session WALT and an image from the PLTS posters I created. The PLTS poster image displayed will be identified according to unit skills focus, and the particular skill focus for a session is highlighted on the image through the addition of an autoshape around it.
Slides to support progression within the lesson and outline tasks are inserted as duplicates where required in the lesson structure, and in some cases printed out for use on the desktops of students as “Success Criteria."
Within each Template show I have also inserted PLTS related slides, that contain the progressions we used to support learning during Integrated curriculum sessions. These have been placed to support rubric development by deletion. It is easier to start with all content included initially and delete those elements not required.
Here is an examples shared in Google Docs format to show what I mean. Any thoughts would be useful and helpful.
The templates carry a standard style
- Unit/Lesson/Challenge Title
- WALT (We Are Learning To) Overall Lesson Objective
- Differentiated WILFs (What I Am Looking Fors), these are leveled and coloured Red, Amber, Green in rubric format to enable a view of progression in learning.
My title slides include the session WALT and an image from the PLTS posters I created. The PLTS poster image displayed will be identified according to unit skills focus, and the particular skill focus for a session is highlighted on the image through the addition of an autoshape around it.
Slides to support progression within the lesson and outline tasks are inserted as duplicates where required in the lesson structure, and in some cases printed out for use on the desktops of students as “Success Criteria."
Within each Template show I have also inserted PLTS related slides, that contain the progressions we used to support learning during Integrated curriculum sessions. These have been placed to support rubric development by deletion. It is easier to start with all content included initially and delete those elements not required.
Here is an examples shared in Google Docs format to show what I mean. Any thoughts would be useful and helpful.
6.2.13
Pen's Video Revision
For a while now one of my colleagues has been producing video files to support student revision and publishing these to his own You Tube Channel.
The videos feature modeled examples of working past GCSE papers and questions. This post is an opportunity to celebrate his work and to encourage visitors to check out the materials he has developed. Rob's Videos can be found by following this link. I hope you find them useful.
The videos feature modeled examples of working past GCSE papers and questions. This post is an opportunity to celebrate his work and to encourage visitors to check out the materials he has developed. Rob's Videos can be found by following this link. I hope you find them useful.
25.10.12
Great Videos from the BBC to Support E Safety Discussion
 |
| BBC Horrible Histories: Guy Fawkes shares the Plot? |
Welcome To WonderWeb World. A Newsround special about a fantastical place, not so far away where Lost Princess meets her White Knight. Narrated By David Tennant, my phase three students gained a great deal from the conversations and discussions the "Fairy Tale" style of this story evoked.
Horrible Histories
Naivety causes all sorts of problems for Online Users in a number of guises, these can be a source of embarassment and anxiety, however watching people out of time and place make the same mistakes we do when left to our own devices becomes a source for discussion..... So
- Check out what happens when Lady Jane Grey responds to pop ups, and her digital footprint is intercepted by Bloody Mary's Spymasters.
- We may try to make our Facebook profile's secure, but what could happen two or three friends down the line when someone in the chain is not quite so concerned, and we decide to share ideas within what we consider a closed group of friends. Poor Old Guy Fawkes finds out.
- A reminder of the potential hazards and difficulties of publishing images and video on line. The concept of digital footprints, and how they might come back to haunt us presented through the eyes of an ambitious Anglo Saxon Monk.
13.11.11
Hmming and Hahing round a Spreadsheet Modelling Project for Phase Three.
I have been a largely passive participant, observing the adoption process and use of Google Docs in the classroom. Several colleagues have written at length about how they are introducing and using Google Docs in sessions with students, and it has been interesting recently to see how the tools presented within the Google for Educators bundle are being adapted by some to support development of school learning platforms.
I have been desperate to have a go myself but did not want to use the tool just because it was there. Recently I worked with a number of phase three groups to develop tasks around modeling with spreadsheets. We have introduced the tool's basics and explored the insertion of formula building simple models from the ground up, now we are approaching that point where we need to use and apply the skills we have been working on to begin developing a model of our own.
So her goes with the hmming and hahing... I have been thinking about the idea of collaboratively planning a party. Quite a common project you might say, but have wondered about taking the tack because of the student's ages of planning an evening out, perhaps beginning at the cinema, going bowling, skating as examples and following this with a visit to for example McDonalds.
In pondering this project I have several assumption
Surveying and collecting ideas for the pre-meal event seems a little easier to manage with a simple vote being possible, while choosing food from the menu presents more of a challenge with so many potential variables to consider. In my mind I have images of the chaos that could ensue from students collecting and collating a common data set, so my big question here is how to engage everyone in the process while quickly putting all the information in one place for everyone to access quickly. Here is where my first real collaborative adventure with Google Docs would come into play, using Google Forms to collect the initial data we would need to begin the project.
Step one suggesting and voting on a pre meal event
Setting the scene with a brief to provide the big picture would be my starting point.
We have been asked to plan and prepare an after school activity to celebrate...............? The activity will involve us all meeting up to do something for example watching a film, going bowling etc that will be followed by something to eat before we all return to school and go our separate ways.
a However we must agree as a group on the something that I was thinking that we could create a class Google form based simply on suggested venues from the students accepting and adding all suggestions. Having saved this we might distribute the link to the whole class by email or through the VLE with their votes being added to the associated spreadsheet. With all votes in the top three venues could be highlighted, and web based research carried out to identify the possible costs of a visit to each venue.
Step Two choosing our menu
Choosing MacDonalds as an after event venue, we could use a second prepared form, again accessed through a link from the VLE, where students could select first and second choices of Sandwich, sides, drink and dessert for their meal orders. Completion and submission of this form would provide additional data we could use as the basis for modelling cost options for our visit/party. This second spreadsheet, once all "orders" were in could be downloaded to the student shared space, or added for download from the VLE.
Step three Collating information
Using data collected the students could begin to use it compile frequency tables tallying and recording first and second choice meals, that they would then be used to populate a prepared template that would form the basis for the final spreadsheet model.
Step four: Inserting variables to the spreadsheet model
The Excel template provided for this activity would include prepared worksheets
a menu showing current McDonalds' prices
an order form
The students would be encouraged initialy to enter the variables, the data we had collected together into the relevant worksheets eg
This would be repeated for first and second choice meals
Step Four: Modeling the creation of rules
The application of formulae to the table for meal choice one would be modelled and then carried out as a class. Asking the children to describe firstly to each other and then to the class the calculation we would need to use to if we wanted to work out the cost of say 15 cheeseburgers at a cost of £0.99 each
The calculatiuon would look something like this
15 x £0.99 =
To allow the spreadsheet to do this calculation we would expect to...
input =15*0.99
However we want to be able to change our variables and allow the spreadsheet to be able to update automatically, or without us having to input each change individually so.. how have we done this previously? By using cell references to help
This process was remodeled eg =cref1*cref2 and students asked to complete the task for the remainder of the total cost cells, reminding after three or four cells that we could auto-complete using drag and fill.
Finally a rule would be added to find the total cost of the meal using autosum.
With this aspect of the model complete the students would then repeat the process independently with the second choice meal.
Stage 5: Comparing costs.
Using copy and paste the contents of the two options sheets can be moved to the comparison sheet, and a new set of cells added to calculate the meals combined with the pre meal event. Suggestions could be sought as to the calculation and formulae we would need to use in order to find the total cost of our meal and the cost of our visit.
the cost of the meal + the cost of the event = total
Using cell references a formula would be added to support rules allow each table to factor in and compare possibilities that included the new variable, the cost of the pre meal activity.
=cellref1+cellref2
With this complete we could begin identifying not only the cheapest meal option but also begin thinking about the effect that choices of venue for the pre meal event would have.
Stage 6: Using the Model to Support Making Choices
Just how good a model is this?
How robust, fair and useful is it in helping us to plan and make decisions?
Are there any changes we need to make to the model's design and what might these be if we are to make the cost of the event fair to all of the participants?
In making choices about the event as a whole I have made a number of assumptions that we need to consider as a group that should ultimately lead us back to thinking about the design of the model itself and how it works and how effective it has been in supporting our decision making process.
The most contentious I hope is that everyone should pay the same amount on the night regardless of choices they made in the vote in order that the collection of monies be made easier. It will be interesting to see what the students have to say about this in terms of fairness, however as a starting point it opens a number of interesting discussion points around the validity of the model in relation to an outcome and purpose not shared at the beginning and how this might impact on our starting point. The concept of fairness, also gives a personalised in for students to to begin thinking about and suggesting how the essentially sound principles of the model itself might be adapted inorder to make cost distribution fairer. Eg should we have surveyed at the beginning the most popular meal choices, and then limited the order around these to balance the costs.This has been an interesting thought experiment... Any thoughts?
I have been desperate to have a go myself but did not want to use the tool just because it was there. Recently I worked with a number of phase three groups to develop tasks around modeling with spreadsheets. We have introduced the tool's basics and explored the insertion of formula building simple models from the ground up, now we are approaching that point where we need to use and apply the skills we have been working on to begin developing a model of our own.
So her goes with the hmming and hahing... I have been thinking about the idea of collaboratively planning a party. Quite a common project you might say, but have wondered about taking the tack because of the student's ages of planning an evening out, perhaps beginning at the cinema, going bowling, skating as examples and following this with a visit to for example McDonalds.
In pondering this project I have several assumption
- We will be including everyone in the group,
- We will have to prebook and order because of numbers
- We will need to make sure that the event is affordable.
Surveying and collecting ideas for the pre-meal event seems a little easier to manage with a simple vote being possible, while choosing food from the menu presents more of a challenge with so many potential variables to consider. In my mind I have images of the chaos that could ensue from students collecting and collating a common data set, so my big question here is how to engage everyone in the process while quickly putting all the information in one place for everyone to access quickly. Here is where my first real collaborative adventure with Google Docs would come into play, using Google Forms to collect the initial data we would need to begin the project.
Step one suggesting and voting on a pre meal event
Setting the scene with a brief to provide the big picture would be my starting point.
We have been asked to plan and prepare an after school activity to celebrate...............? The activity will involve us all meeting up to do something for example watching a film, going bowling etc that will be followed by something to eat before we all return to school and go our separate ways.
a However we must agree as a group on the something that I was thinking that we could create a class Google form based simply on suggested venues from the students accepting and adding all suggestions. Having saved this we might distribute the link to the whole class by email or through the VLE with their votes being added to the associated spreadsheet. With all votes in the top three venues could be highlighted, and web based research carried out to identify the possible costs of a visit to each venue.
Step Two choosing our menu
Step three Collating information
Using data collected the students could begin to use it compile frequency tables tallying and recording first and second choice meals, that they would then be used to populate a prepared template that would form the basis for the final spreadsheet model.
Step four: Inserting variables to the spreadsheet model
The Excel template provided for this activity would include prepared worksheets
a menu showing current McDonalds' prices
an order form
- a cost calculator for each set of choices
- A comparison book that we could use to compare each meal option cost with the inclusion of the pre meal event included
- A final cost calculator that would help us to decide how we want to divi up the cost of the event and that I hope would allow the students to see the value of using a tool like this when considering and planning events such as this.
The students would be encouraged initialy to enter the variables, the data we had collected together into the relevant worksheets eg
- food items
- cost of one unit
- number of orders
This would be repeated for first and second choice meals
Step Four: Modeling the creation of rules
The application of formulae to the table for meal choice one would be modelled and then carried out as a class. Asking the children to describe firstly to each other and then to the class the calculation we would need to use to if we wanted to work out the cost of say 15 cheeseburgers at a cost of £0.99 each
The calculatiuon would look something like this
15 x £0.99 =
To allow the spreadsheet to do this calculation we would expect to...
input =15*0.99
However we want to be able to change our variables and allow the spreadsheet to be able to update automatically, or without us having to input each change individually so.. how have we done this previously? By using cell references to help
This process was remodeled eg =cref1*cref2 and students asked to complete the task for the remainder of the total cost cells, reminding after three or four cells that we could auto-complete using drag and fill.
Finally a rule would be added to find the total cost of the meal using autosum.
With this aspect of the model complete the students would then repeat the process independently with the second choice meal.
Stage 5: Comparing costs.
Using copy and paste the contents of the two options sheets can be moved to the comparison sheet, and a new set of cells added to calculate the meals combined with the pre meal event. Suggestions could be sought as to the calculation and formulae we would need to use in order to find the total cost of our meal and the cost of our visit.
the cost of the meal + the cost of the event = total
Using cell references a formula would be added to support rules allow each table to factor in and compare possibilities that included the new variable, the cost of the pre meal activity.
=cellref1+cellref2
With this complete we could begin identifying not only the cheapest meal option but also begin thinking about the effect that choices of venue for the pre meal event would have.
Stage 6: Using the Model to Support Making Choices
Just how good a model is this?
How robust, fair and useful is it in helping us to plan and make decisions?
Are there any changes we need to make to the model's design and what might these be if we are to make the cost of the event fair to all of the participants?
In making choices about the event as a whole I have made a number of assumptions that we need to consider as a group that should ultimately lead us back to thinking about the design of the model itself and how it works and how effective it has been in supporting our decision making process.
The most contentious I hope is that everyone should pay the same amount on the night regardless of choices they made in the vote in order that the collection of monies be made easier. It will be interesting to see what the students have to say about this in terms of fairness, however as a starting point it opens a number of interesting discussion points around the validity of the model in relation to an outcome and purpose not shared at the beginning and how this might impact on our starting point. The concept of fairness, also gives a personalised in for students to to begin thinking about and suggesting how the essentially sound principles of the model itself might be adapted inorder to make cost distribution fairer. Eg should we have surveyed at the beginning the most popular meal choices, and then limited the order around these to balance the costs.This has been an interesting thought experiment... Any thoughts?
30.8.11
Zondle Update: Sound out and Read Throughs Using Soundclips created on my mobile
The developers at Zondle have been fantastic responding quickly and enthusiastically to a query/request I had about the ability to provide readthroughs to followand support sounding out in the Phonics games I had begun to make at the beginning of the holidays.
Thanks to the Zondle team I have been able to update these games by uploading additional soundfiles I have created that correspond to each of the words used in the quiz behind them. This may be a new notion to some readers, recording sound using the computer, so I have chalked this on my to do list, a post to explain how to do this and some of the options available. Recording on the computer is not as complex a process as it may seem, in fact being away from my desk as it were for month or so I was forced to improvise and experiment with the equipment I had to hand. My Microphone and recording software tools were in Bristol and I was in the North East. The result was that the recordings for these games were made not on the computr at all but on my mobile phone. (I am accompanied for short bursts on one or two of the clips by my nephew who was "helping" me and playing the games as we went, so please excuse the far from studio quality sound).
The Phone in question was an HTC windows phone, and I used the Audio Recorder to create each short sound clip. For each of the words in my quiz I made separate sound clips by pressing the record button, speaking as clearly as possible the word into my handset before pressing the stop button. As I finished each sound clip, it was renamed from the default filke name with the word it held.
I used my USB cable to connect the phone to my Netbook, though I could have removed the Micro SD card from the phone and used a card reader to access the files I had made. Navigating to the "My Voices" Folder I located the sound clips and copied them to my Netbook for editing. Unfortunately the AMR format files on my phone were not compatable with the games platform at Zondle, which required MP3 files.
Not to be discouraged I searched for a tool that would convert my AMR files to the correct format and found a piece of freeware called AMR to MP3 Converter. I downloaded and installed this before following instructions on the website to convert the soundfiles. Once converted to MP3 format I logged into zondle, navigated to my quize, chose to edit my quiz and thn added each of the sound files to the appropriate word in my quiz.
Now I have done this with my phone and netbook once I have a clear path/process to follow.
1. Create my word list or quiz in Zondle.
2. Using my audio recorder on the phone, create my sound files.
3. Import my sound files from the phone to my PC
4.Using AMR toMP3 converter, change my sound fle to the MP3 format.
5. Upload my soundfiles to my quiz at Zondle
6. Publish my chosen games to an online space for the students to access.
You can try out the updated games that use these files on my previous post Phonic Games and Zondle.
Wondering now whether I could use this or a similar process with my Key Stage 3 and 4 students to create podcasts and talking heads activities thruogh their mobiles.... Hmmmm.... ;0) We have Blackberries and iPhones, I have micro SD card readers... what do you reckon!
Thanks to the Zondle team I have been able to update these games by uploading additional soundfiles I have created that correspond to each of the words used in the quiz behind them. This may be a new notion to some readers, recording sound using the computer, so I have chalked this on my to do list, a post to explain how to do this and some of the options available. Recording on the computer is not as complex a process as it may seem, in fact being away from my desk as it were for month or so I was forced to improvise and experiment with the equipment I had to hand. My Microphone and recording software tools were in Bristol and I was in the North East. The result was that the recordings for these games were made not on the computr at all but on my mobile phone. (I am accompanied for short bursts on one or two of the clips by my nephew who was "helping" me and playing the games as we went, so please excuse the far from studio quality sound).
The Phone in question was an HTC windows phone, and I used the Audio Recorder to create each short sound clip. For each of the words in my quiz I made separate sound clips by pressing the record button, speaking as clearly as possible the word into my handset before pressing the stop button. As I finished each sound clip, it was renamed from the default filke name with the word it held.
I used my USB cable to connect the phone to my Netbook, though I could have removed the Micro SD card from the phone and used a card reader to access the files I had made. Navigating to the "My Voices" Folder I located the sound clips and copied them to my Netbook for editing. Unfortunately the AMR format files on my phone were not compatable with the games platform at Zondle, which required MP3 files.
Not to be discouraged I searched for a tool that would convert my AMR files to the correct format and found a piece of freeware called AMR to MP3 Converter. I downloaded and installed this before following instructions on the website to convert the soundfiles. Once converted to MP3 format I logged into zondle, navigated to my quize, chose to edit my quiz and thn added each of the sound files to the appropriate word in my quiz.
Now I have done this with my phone and netbook once I have a clear path/process to follow.
1. Create my word list or quiz in Zondle.
2. Using my audio recorder on the phone, create my sound files.
3. Import my sound files from the phone to my PC
4.Using AMR toMP3 converter, change my sound fle to the MP3 format.
5. Upload my soundfiles to my quiz at Zondle
6. Publish my chosen games to an online space for the students to access.
You can try out the updated games that use these files on my previous post Phonic Games and Zondle.
Wondering now whether I could use this or a similar process with my Key Stage 3 and 4 students to create podcasts and talking heads activities thruogh their mobiles.... Hmmmm.... ;0) We have Blackberries and iPhones, I have micro SD card readers... what do you reckon!
27.7.11
E Safety: How to choose a strong password
Great video from Sophos Labs and a very Enthusiastic sounding fella Graham Clulely. How to choose a strong Password. Thinking this might be a nice tool to support discussion during our introductory Phase Three sessions.
Phonic Games and Zondle
 |
| From Zondle Newbie, to.. Big Smiles! |
I am going to spend most of this post making a topic using Phase 1 and 2 phoneme/grapheme groups. I have made a number of resources already to support work with this cluster, both with students and as support material and template files to share with colleagues. So forgive me as I play, think through a few aspects I want to share back at school and a few thoughts around CPD that might be needed to utilise this tool set or how they might be embedded not just as web based resources but also within classroom and IWB supported sessions.
Delving into the Quiz Builder
This morning I decided to investigate the more tab in the quiz builder tool, having watched some of the excellent video tutorials recommended by @ wayneholmes. Amid the tools mentioned in the videos was "Zondle Builder," a tool that I thought Foundation and KS1 colleagues might find particularly exciting. Zondle Builder currently in Beta, is a filtering tool to help quickly build phonic games and resources from an already populated database. In the Builder, wordlists are organised initially, under these scheme headings as the first filter option, Jolly Phonics, Letters and Sounds, and High Frequency Words (Dear Zondle would it be possible to include a filter for the so called "tricky words?"). This is the first time saver being able to identify with existing phonic programs in common use. Items can be further filtered within each scheme by Phase (letters and Sounds), Word Set (High Frequency Words and Jolly Phonics). So in two clicks I have been able to refine items very quickly,with further focus possible by refining word sets through other more specific filters, eg consonant and vowel sequencing. Once filtered down to the specific word groups required, further tightening of the selection is possible by deselecting words from presented lists that I can exclude from my final quiz list.
On Getting Lost, and Learning from my Mistakes
I have to admit to getting a bit lost while trying to find the "Zondle Builder," but this was more to do with my "IKEA Man overzealousness" than Zondle itself... Yet another if only... indeed if only I had rewatched the video, or waited another 30 seconds, the mist would have been cleared away. Anyway, time wasn't wasted indeed I spent time exploring the contents of the more tab and created my first phonics quiz and games, in the process identifying a developmental task and key process I will need to revisit with colleagues, namely recording and saving audio for upload. Anyway on with the post.
Here is my first game Phonic game SATPIN Quick Sand Bunny.
This was created using an item from the more tab, the "Phonics- drag the letters to create graphemes that make up a word" question type
Entering each word was achieved a phoneme at a time, selecting and clicking the phoneme keyboard (1), dragging the grapheme I needed from those listed in blue (2), before sequencing these on the "hangman type" space (3) by drag and drop. On completing each word pressing the save question link added it to the quiz. By repeating this process I created the word list for my quiz in between 10 and 15 minutes. On returning to my topics, I was able to click on my quiz and select the game I wanted to use.
Sharing My Game
To share my game here I clicked the "embed this game in your site" link in the top right of the game window. There is a great video from Zondle explaining the process here. However for class/school bloggers or VLE users rather than creating a web page, you will need to create the post or add a page element to house your game first. After copying the code from the site as in the video, returning to your blog space or page element, you will need to view the page's HTML source. Tools to do this are usually provided as a button option on the tool bar or as in blogger a tab. With the HTML source/editor visible click into the text box, right click and select paste or holding down the control key and pressing the V key should paste the code where you chose to put it.
All VLEs and Blogging platforms are slightly different, so explanations here as within the video beyond the generic is difficult. A little playing and mouse hovering will be necessary, perhaps even a delve into the help files might be useful in enabling you to find the tools you need.
Zondle Builder a Real Jewel
Moving on then it transpires that what I missed earlier was the floating "Zondle Builder" Button that appeared after I had clicked the More Tab.Not quite as observant or sharp as I used to be maybe!
Anyway clicking the Zondle Builder opens a page offering a 3 step process to making your phnonic or spelling game question.
In Step 1: Select your quiestion type (how you would like the students to engage with your words.)
In Step 2: Use the filters to find and narrow down the word groups you would like to use and generate your word list.
Having explored the interface and with familiarity this was really quick to achieve. From this again a number of games are now available to be played and shared. As a treat for following my wittering this far, here is one of the game generated from the list above.
Variety is the Spice of Life
Thinking about using these activities, I can't see myself simply wanting to embed these phonic zondles in a web page, blog post or VLE and hoping the students will want to visit them. As games they will stand alone for consolidation and practice, but would be even even more effective used as integral parts of Phonic sessions.
I had my word list prepared and in class will no doubt have a range of activities and tasks to use with the students. Some of these will be whole class, small group or individual tasks. Some will be practial, physical and because we are talking about sounds... heavily based in speaking and listening. The tasks could involve physical objects, use of worksheets, the use of look and say with flash cards but having a particular personal vent towards embedding and using ICTs, I would also include the use of "multimodal" tasks, using dry wipe whiteboards as we work as a class around our IWB. These activities would include
- Phonic photosets and slideshows using images from the web, to represent words and phonemes.
- Odd one out shows using powerpoint slides and photograph, or present my phonemes in a variety of font styles to encourage recognition of the letter shape in a variety of forms.
- Rub and reveal and white on white activities having students predict which of our words letters will appear. How do we know?
- Using a set of "flash based" editable dice set up in my Notebook, to randomly generate graphemes, challenging students to spell words using them before collecting ideas sounding them out and reading these through using sound buttons.
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