grade4 | Technology Department

Effective Technology Integration is Key

Amy Jankins — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 06:07:00 +0000

I love when I am able to see effective technology integration in classrooms. This is achieved when the use of technology supports curriculum goals and enhances student learning experiences. Ultimately as educators, we want to “design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity”. (NETS·T © 2008 International Society for Technology in Education: Teacher Standards)

Fourth grade students at Bates recently spent time discussing how to order groups of fractions along a number line with landmark numbers. Their interactions, use of manipulatives and genuine “math talk”, while placing groups of fractions on number lines in a book created for them with the app Book Creator clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of technology integration with the iPad as a learning tool.

is an app that allows you to create ebooks that can be shared in a variety of ways. Book templates can be created ahead of time for students and then shared with them to personalize. In this case, students had an ePub file shared with them that contained pages with specific groups of fractions and identified landmarks along a number line at the top of each page. Fractions could then be dragged to the number line in the order students thought they should be placed according to their size. Later students selected one fraction on each page to orally justify their conclusions with detail. These explanations were recorded and later shared with their teachers providing opportunities for teachers to hear mathematical thinking from each student in the class.

Common Core Standards
Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering:

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Using Today’s Meet to Collaborate

Amy Jankins — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 20:12:00 +0000

Students in 4JH reviewed the research of 4TD and provided comments and questions using . Today’s Meet is a that allows you to connect with your audience in realtime.
Groups can use the live stream to make comments, ask questions. It allows sharing of thoughts within an isolated room. Here is a transcript of some of the comments and questions shared today.
4TDWildAnimals

I love how the pictures really express what a true tiger is! Love the video-really impressive that someone lives with an actual tiger!! 02:42PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by Alexa

Elephant- I love the picture of the elephant in the waterfall, I have the same picture.Panda- Who knew that a Panda trotted like a horse when scared 02:42PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by Ana

Macaw- I loved the video of the Macaw speaking. Can macaws say actual words
02:44PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by Ella

who knew the artic fox has 6 babies a year? 02:45PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by george

Prairie dog- The body diagram link helped me understand more things about your wild animal. I love your pictures 02:45PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by Patrick

Dolphins, I didn’t know that that a dolphin can jump 16 feet in the air, it would be really cool if we could do that! good job kate 02:48PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by michelle

Macaw- I never knew that macaws live in Brazil. I can not believe that there is not that many macaws left in the world 02:54PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by Ella

Great job 4TD! We were all very impressed with your thing links! Excellent Job! 02:56PM Thu, 17 April 2014 GMT by Ms. Heckman

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Summary Scenes

Amy Jankins — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 23:06:00 +0000

The students in 4G created written summaries of scenes from books. They drew pictures to accompany their scene selection and recorded their written work using . This tool adds a personal voice to images. Please take a listen . . .

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4TD Wild Animal Research Project

Amy Jankins — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 21:01:00 +0000

The students in 4TD have been hard at work creating a class channel of interactive graphics using , a free and user friendly digital tool. Each student chose a wild animal and researched three categories from the following list of options:

Habitat: Where the animal lives in the world. Food: What the animal eats and why. How the animal gets food?
Babies: How the animal treat its babies? How long the animal’s babies stay with them?
Communication: How the animal communicates with others of its kind? Does the animal use non-verbal communication?
Protection: How does the animal protect itself from predators or enemies? Similarly, does the animal need protection from the environment or people in order to remain a species?
Sleep: How does the animal sleep? Does it hibernate?
Body Diagram: What are the important body parts of the animal that make it different from other animals?
Interesting Facts: Does the animal have interesting facts that you come across in your research that do not fit into any specific category?

Students were then able to create multiple “hot spots” or “nubs” on their animal image that launch video, other images and text with the click of a button. Thinglink allows a lot of content to be accessible in small space. Below is a table of contents image that links to each animal studied. We are looking to collaborate with other classrooms and students across the globe studying wild animals. Please take a look at all of their hard work and provide any comments if you have a moment.

In order to create the cover “table of contents” as well as pages with multiple images we did a little app smashing using , a great app that allows you to combine photos into a single image collage.

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What is a good digital citizen?

weismerp — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 19:03:00 +0000

What does it mean to be a good digital citizen? Upham 4th graders have lots of great ideas! Check out some of their Voki messages here: check before posting only post what is true and kind keep personal information private

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Talking with Children About Digital Citizenship

weismerp — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 20:42:00 +0000

We live in a digital age. While we are citizens of local communities, our state, country, and world, we are increasingly becoming digital citizens. The Internet is a regular, and growing, part of our lives. Our devices have become smaller, connected, and truly mobile. The technology, and what we can do with it, changes with lightning speed. For all these reasons, it is essential to understand what it means to be a digital citizen and teach our children how to be responsible and safe digital citizens. As with any type of citizenship, digital citizenship affords us certain rights and responsibilities.

The 4th grade students at Upham have been examining age appropriate aspects of digital citizenship. Through interacting with a , discussions, and a web-based activity students have been developing an understanding of what it means to be a digital citizen:

use netiquette
protect private information
evaluate what is seen on the web
understand your digital footprint/tattoo
use online tools responsibly

Our toolkit (created with – hover over image to access links):

As adults, we are navigating this new digital world ourselves and we may not have all the answers or know of all the tools and technology that exist. However, we can encourage our students to think critically about what they encounter online, make responsible choices about technology tools, and think about how they can make good choices about their behavior while interacting with others online.

As adults in a digital age, we want to encourage children to employ strategies and practices that are age appropriate and can help make their online experiences positive, allowing them the opportunity to take advantage of all the wonderful tools and resources the Internet offers.

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