I can use this by...

I'm excited about using this with my students to share photos and ideas. Thanks Kevin!!!! You gnarly blogger you.

How we will use bloggaloggin'

I could show my summer pics. -G
I will guide my students through researching a specific topic. -S

I can have my students create reading journals in blogger.

I can make a link to a plagiarism game online that students can use.

I can use this to link websites for practice.
When we go to the computer lab, I can have my students give feedback about the activity.

We think that we would have parents utilize the blog in order to stay informed on classroom activities and events.

Students could publish their writing on the blog, this would help them work on their typing skills! :)

That's all for now,

Cecilia and Christa

Sharing ideas. Students can have time to think about what they want to say without being interrupted. By the way thanks, Kevin, for making me groovy and brining me up to the 21st Century with my new mad blogging skill.
Lindsey

I could use it as a parent newsletter. Save the trees.

Here you can go to google

What a great idea to share with us! Thanks and can't wait to hear/see more.

Some more comprehension strategies, courtesy of Kelly

In order to increase the comprehension of my students, I really like to use graphic organizers. I find that graphic organizers are especially helpful tools for English Language Learners because they help students organize the information from the content area in a very clear and organized way. Certain graphic organizers can also help students express their reactions/connections to what has been taught. Organizing their personal thoughts, feelings, and connections to classroom content helps ELL students improve their comprehension and facilitate their own learning. Here are some teacher resources that have great graphic organizers:

1.     Great Teaching with Graphic Organizers (Grades 2 – 4)

By: Patti Drapeau

ISBN 0-590-12876-0

$12.95

 

2.     50 Graphic Organizers for Reading, Writing & More (Grades 4 – 8)

By: Karen Bromley, Linda Irwin DeVitis & Marcia Modlo

ISBN 0-590-00484-0

$14.95

 

3.     Graphic Organizers and Activities for Differentiated Instruction in Reading (Grades 4 – 8)

By: Nancy L. Witherell and Mary C. McMackin

ISBN 0-439-33165-X

$14.95

 

 

My students love science! They like to do the experiments and learn about new things. However, I noticed that my English Language Learners often had difficulty understanding the scientific concepts behind the experiments. A fellow teacher recommended that I try doing an interactive writing after each experiment to reflect on the learning objective for that activity. I tried this idea and it worked!!!  Not only were my students understanding the science better, they were also becoming better writers. The science experiments created a common experience for us to write about!

 

 

Dictoglos are a great way to increase the listening comprehension of high school students while still focusing on content. A teacher using the dictoglos activity in his/her classroom would begin by selecting a relevant text to read aloud. The teacher then reads the text aloud to the class once with the directions to “listen carefully”. After the first reading the teacher asks the students to listen to the same text a second time while writing down everything they can. Next, the students get together in pairs and compare their notes. They work together to recreate as much of the text as possible. Next, the students work in groups of 4 to compare notes and recreate the text as closely as possible to the original reading. Finally, one member of each foursome reads their recreated passage to the class with dramatic flair.

 

 

How to do it! Blogging, that is......

OK, here we go......

1. Open your web browser and go to blogger.com.
2. Hopefully you registered like I asked, (what do you mean you didn’t do your homework?) so sign in with the google/gmail account you have.
3. This should take you to a page called the Dashboard – if you joined my blog, you’ll see it listed, and above it you’ll see a link to Create a Blog.  Click it!
4. Pick a name, then a URL.  The name can be anything, but the URL has to be available, so you might have to try a couple times.  Once you’ve got it, go through the security thing and hit “continue.”
5. Choose a template, which is the basic design.  For now just pick one in the interest of time.  If you’re going to keep this blog you can always tweak it later.
6. WHAM!  You’ve got a blog!  Hit “start blogging” and I’ll show you a few basic things you can do:
7. This compose screen is where most of the magic happens.  Type your main text in the big box, put a title if you want in the little one above the tool bar.  Try it out.  You can always delete later, so just start with some random whatever. 
8. Most of the toolbar is standard Word-type stuff, but there are a few key buttons you will probably want to use.
1. The little chain-link/earth thing (to the left of the alignment options) is how you can create a link to elsewhere on the web.  Just highlight the text you want to be the link, click the chain, and enter the URL (e.g. www.google.com) in the box that springs up.
2. Towards the right, there are two icons, one looks like a picture of a mountain scene, the other a piece of film reel.  These let you upload pictures and video from you computer, respectively.  Just click it, and an upload form should pop up, from which you can choose the media located on your computer.
9. To allow your students to make posts and add to the blog, do the following: at the top of the compose screen, click “settings.”  At the top right, you’ll see “permissions.”  Click it.  Where it lists Blog Authors (you), click add authors, and then enter your students email addresses (in BVSD, all students automatically have a BVSD email.  I’m not sure how this works for those of you in other districts).  Once they accept, like you did for my blog, they can log in and make posts just like I detailed above.
10. Blog away!  Of course, in addition, to using it in the ways the text suggests using technology, there are many ways in which you could personalize it to your students' needs.  Good luck!.......

 

 

Blogging - Interactive Comprehension Building

Most of us at least have a general idea of what a blog is; here I hope to share with you some of the possibilities blogs offer for building comprehension for ELL's, as well as hint at some of the other myriad of possibilities for you classroom.

Herrell and Jordan reccomend using a powerpoint as a technological means to build background knowledge, but I think the blog is much more versatile.  Most of us are bored out of our skulls with powerpoints, aside from the fact that you have to load them onto each computer your students will be accessing them from.  Blogs, on the other hand, are on the web, meaning all of your students can access them simultaneously from, say, the computer lab, or at home if they are able.  Students can add to them (millions of possibilities), making their contributions instantly accessible to the rest of the class.

Although the emphasis of Herrell and Jordan's chapter is on building background knowledge and/or vocab, I will lead you through setting up your own blog and familiarizing you with a few key features you may want to use with your students.  In a sense, our background knowledge will be the ability to navigate and use blogs, but you can use blog for any of the things the text suggests (creating web links, pictures for vocab, etc.), as well as many more, which we will discuss at the end of the presentation.

Oh, sweet!

Oh, wow man, like, totally righteous!  

Welcome!

Howdy classmates.  Here's the blog I set up for our presentation.  We'll use it to show you our strategies, as well as as a strategy in and of itself.  A blog is a super easy way to set up an interactive website for your students to do all sorts of cool stuff.  Enjoy!