Now at first I have to confess that I don't know how to retwit or repost or do something of that kind with blog entries. There are a lot of useful things and interesting articles that I find every day and I would like to keep them here for myself, so that it will be convinient to refer to them at the moment of need. But I don't know how to do it correctly. I don't want to post just a link because this way it will be too much clicking, I'd love to have a chance to glance through the article quickly, refresh its content and decide whether to read it all over again ot not. Well so far I have figured out the only way to do that and keep the link to the original blog/website is by copying the whole article to my blog entry with providing a hyperlink at the beginning at the text and mentioning the author in the entry name. If someone can suggest a better way, I'd really appreciate that. And if you find out that it's your article that I would like to put into my "idea jar" ans share it with greater audience and you don't like the way I did it please just tell me - I do not intend to offense you at any point.
So, here is the original of a splendid idea - If Our Characters Had Instagram (new bulletin board: free printables to make your own). And the actual text follows:
If Our Characters Had Instagram
This idea was inspired by my second grade students. After returning from winter break, I was surprise with the amount of kids that received smart devices. Many now have the new iPad mini. I was also surprised to hear that a lot of them shared their holiday memories with each other over Instagram. I had no idea that second graders were using this application. After all, I just started using it this past summer.
After taking down our holiday door displays, I knew I had to replace it with something creative.I'm reading Dr. Dolittle for my read aloud, and we're working on character traits in reading workshop. I began to brainstorm ways to integrate both literacy elements. I couldn't find something that felt 'just-right.' So, I decided to create something myself.
Side note: After my daughter's surgery, she wanted to go to Barnes and Noble to pick out a few new books. Dr. Dolittle was one she selected. She read it in two days. Because of her love for the book, I decided to share it with my own students. They're loving the story! This is the version we're reading.
We just read the part in the book where the monkeys found the pushme pullyou (gazelle-unicorn cross animal). I didn't show the children the picture in the book. I had them sketch what they visualized. After completing the chapter, I called them up one by one to see the animal as they were leaving for drama class. It was so very cute to see the expressions on their faces. Many giggled and some let out a gasp. Others waited in their seats with great anticipation for their turn to see the sketch in the book. In writer's workshop, we later discussed the importance of writing for your reading audience. We reflected on our read-aloud and talked about how easy it was to visualize what the pushme pullyou looked like based on the author's descriptions. Our young writers eagerly went back to their drafts to revise their setting and character descriptions in effort to add more vivid detail for their readers.
Rolling out the idea to my Students Yesterday I introduced the Instagram bulletin board idea. I let the kids know how they inspired the concept. They immediately began to take ownership of this project. Additionally, they knew their work would be proudly displayed for others to see. Quality mattered. The audience would be real. First, I showed the students my own Instagram account. I placed my iPhone under my document camera (after turning down the brightness first). I explained why I post photos, how the location can appear, what happens when friends like my photos, and how others can leave comments. They enjoyed seeing the photos of my own children, noticing how many 'likes' my photos received, who left comments, what the comments were, and the locations of my different images.
Next, we shared how other friends in our class were using the application. Finally, I mentioned how funny it would be if the characters we read about had Instagram. This thought brought about many laughs, ideas, and comments. We tuned the conversation into a more serious and academic discussion.
I had the students begin to think about Dr. Dolittle. We did an informal word cloud where we jotted down the characters of the story on the SMART Board. Then students shared their thinking with their friends in class as they talked about what kinds of pictures the characters may take. Many thought it would be so funny to see Gub-Gub's pictures. He's a pig. They figured his profile would have many photographs of him playing in the mud. I began to smile as I listened in on their conversations. They were truly putting themselves into the lives of the characters.
The children were going back and forth imagining what each character may post to share on Instagram. They jumped into other group's conversations as they chimed in with who may or may not like that character's photo and why. Naturally, they began to add who may leave a comment and what the comment would state. They were becoming the characters. It was magical.Finally, I knew it was time to put the idea onto paper to share with others. I called the class together to model an example. I chose the King. I was very careful to model each part of my thinking aloud so the learners could see the process of my ideas coming together. We did an interactive writing piece as we walked through what to put into each spot for the printed papers. As the class began to transition into an independent work mode, I reminded them to really think about what their character may capture, why that character may take a picture of that image, specifically who may like the image, and what other character would be compelled to comment.
I was amazed to see how creative the responses were. Many students included setting details in the comments, thought about the relationships between the characters and how they would respond to each other, and recalled facts from the story to support their thinking. One girl even included an unusual perspective in her photograph that she designed. She drew a 'birds-eye view' of the landscape because her character was a bird! Wow! Overall, I was proud of the work they did. The activity took about an hour. However, now that we have done this type of assignment, I imagine the next time we do an Instagram project it will only take about thirty minutes.
Sharing the Idea on Instagram and Twitter I couldn't wait to share the bulletin board with my friends. After posting it on Instagram and Twitter, I was overwhelmed by the warm and encouraging responses. In a matter of minutes, the picture became a top Tweet! I had no idea that others would be interested in also doing this idea. I am so tickled that this idea has taken off in such a positive manner. I'm happy to share the printable pages I created with all of you. Keep in mind that this wasn't something I created with the intention to share. The images aren't super professional and of the best quality. I'm sure many of my photoshop friends could have done a much better job... this was just a quick project I put together for my class. Regardless, I'm happy to share it with my bloggy friends. Enjoy! I can't wait to hear what you all think and how you may use it with your class.
See more at: http://www.kleinspiration.com/2013/01/if-our-characters-had-instagram-new.html#sthash.7IHUkBcZ.dpuf
The author has also kindly provided us with free printables for this activity - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/If-the-Characters-in-Your-Story-had-Instagram-492577
No comments:
Post a Comment