Title of Project: Quadblogging about Winter

Subject(s): Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math

Grade Level(s): 1st 

Abstract:

Students will use their class blog and collaborate with 3 other 1st grade classes in Australia, Canada, and California centered around the seasonal topic of Winter. Each class will be featured for 1 week, and the other 3 weeks each class will comment on 1 other classes’ blog posts about winter. Students will culminate the activity with a Skype chat between 1 or more of the classrooms. Students will be weather reporters and experts on the geography of their area, as well as discussing preparations for winter and drawing conclusions about other cultures in the process.

Learner Description/Context:

A class of 23 first-graders, including 7 ELL students, and 3 special needs autism inclusion students are in the classroom. The students have widely varying levels of ability and will be engaging in new forms of learning. Although they have written in their class blogs since September, this will be their first opportunity to collaborate with other 1st grade learners. Parents will be included in the learning activity by receiving an information sheet about the project from the teacher and by being invited to read and comment on student blogs.

Time Frame:  Pre-project blogging: 1 ½ hours per week for 8-10 weeks. Project 4-5 weeks (2-3 hours per week), beginning the week of January 7th and culminating in early February   

Standards Assessed:

CCGPS – Grade 1

Writing

• write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure (CCGPS) (1LA_D2012-25/ELACC1W2)
• focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed, with guidance and support from adults (CCGPS) (1LA_D2012-27/ELACC1W5)
• use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers, with guidance and support from adults (CCGPS) (1LA_D2012-28/WLACC1W6)

Language

• demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CCGPS) (1LA_F2012-37)
• demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (CCGPS) (1LA_F2012-38/ELACC1L2)

Science (Earth Science)

• observe, measure, and analyze weather data to determine patterns in weather and climate (GPS) (1SC_B2007-7)

Social Studies

• use cardinal directions (GPS) (1SS_A2008-1)
• use intermediate directions (GPS) (1SS_A2008-2)
• compare similarities and differences (GPS) (1SS_B2008-3)
• identify and locate his/her city, county, state, nation, and continent on a simple map or globe (GPS) (1SS_C2008-10)
• locate major topographical features of the earth's surface (GPS) (1SS_C2008-11)

Mathematics

• organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another (CCGPS) (1MA_C2012-25/MCC1.MD.4)

ISTE-S Standards

1- Creativity & Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

d. Identify trends and forecast possibilities

2- Communication & Collaboration

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media

b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats

c. Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures

5 – Digital Citizenship

Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.

b. Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity

c. Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning

d. Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

Learner Objectives:

• Students will be able to write information blog posts with grade-level appropriate mechanics & spelling
• Student posts/comments will be on-topic, convey factual information about winter in Georgia, and have a sense of closure
• Students will make factual observations about our weather and weather data from other places
• Students will contribute data to a class weather graph and discuss similarities and differences in the data points
• Students will identify other countries and states on maps and globes, and use cardinal directions to go from one place to another
• Assessment will be done through rubrics evaluating blog posts, and pre-made grade-level assessments in social studies and mathematics

The “hook” or Introduction:

Students will view and respond to a video slideshow about last year’s Snowmageddon event, including some news clips about this year’s winter forecast. Then, they will watch a teacher-created video showing last winter in Ontario, Canada, Los Angeles California, and Melbourne, Australia. Students will be introduced to the project through photos and tweets from the cooperating classes and will brainstorm ideas about what we could share with them about winter, preparing for winter, last year’s Snowmageddon, and more.

Process:

Pre-project blogging: 1 ½ hours per week for 8-10 weeks, beginning in September and ending in December.

• Weekly instructional coaching support from technology coach
• Expansion of audience to include other teachers at school, parents, and administration
• A mixture of teacher-selected and student-selected posts

Project 4-5 weeks (2-3 hours per week), beginning the week of January 7th and culminating in early February.

• Week of January 7th – intro lesson, begin gathering weather data (recording temp/precipitation on charts), “meet” classes through photos, Twitter feeds, Skype chat if possible
• Week of January 14th – gather/record  weather data, read/comment on other student blogs, SS geography integration with Google Maps & cardinal direction practice
• Week of January 21st – gather/record weather data, draw conclusions from graphs, read/comment on other student blogs, write drafts for “featured week” posts – possible Skype with Paul Milliken from Fox5 Atlanta
• Week of January 28th – gather/record weather data, write/publish “featured week” posts, including multimedia component (photo collage or other)
• Week of February 4th – read/comment on other student blogs, have a culminating Skype chat with 1 other class

Product:

Students will produce 3 high quality blog posts about weather, winter, and the geography of where they live. They will select which post to feature through reflective discussion and self-evaluation with peers and the teachers. They will comment on student blogs from the other 3 participating classes as well, with a focus on developing written conversation skills and learning from others. Student blogs will be shared with parents and the community, and students will be invited to speak and/or record short videos to display on school announcements to tell other students at our school about the project and what they learned. Student blogs will be assessed by the teachers using a teacher-developed writing rubric with an additional audience awareness component (rubric linked in references section)

Technology Use:  Kidblog (web-based and iPad app) will be used to publish student work and for students to read and learn about weather from students in 3 other classes. Twitter will be used by teachers and displayed to students to show photos of students and their winter weather. Skype will be used by teachers and students to have face-to-face guided conversations around the weather topic. Video slideshows will be used by teachers to kick-off the lesson. These technologies support higher-level LoTi by using technology to connect outside of the classroom and to make a learning experience possible that couldn’t happen without this technology.

References and Supporting Material:

Informational Blogging Rubric – Grade 1

• Quadblogging website http://quadblogging.net/
• Twitter to connect with other teachers and classrooms
• Skype in the classroom - https://education.skype.com/
•  Karen Lirenman’s blog - http://learningandsharingwithmsl.blogspot.com/2012/09/getting-my-class-connected-list-of-ideas.html
• Kristen Wideen’s Primary Blogging Community - http://www.mrswideen.com/2012/09/primary-blogging-community.html
• WeVideo to edit clips for introductory video - https://www.wevideo.com/
• Weather data collection chart (student)
• Class-created weather chart
• Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) & Google Earth (http://www.google.com/earth)
• Screen clipper to get snapshots from Google Maps
• School-owned and student devices to take pictures
• Instaweather app to create pictures from weather photos
• PicCollage app (iOS & Android) to create photo collages