A Versatile Tool to Use in the Classroom: ThingLink

Check this Thinglink, created by using several digital tools. The words are ones recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Tagxedo was used to create the graphic. PollDaddy was used for the polling.  Thinglink was used to put together the interactive wall. Donna Baumbach, who created this interactive ThingLink quiz, has other Thinglink creations at her site: Donna Baumbach at ThingLink.




When asked how she created this Thinglink, Donna explained:

"I used Tagxedo, but Wordle would work, too. I used PollDaddy to create the polls, and to make the polls open the image, I used the URL: http://polldaddy.com/poll/xxxxxxxxx, where XXXXXXXXXX is the number of the poll from the poll's URL."

Donna read about how to embed a PollDaddy in a Thinglink in this tweet from Greg Kulowelc.

Interested in learning more about using ThingLink in the classroom, check this Thinglink that Donna Baumbach also created. Click in places to open the links in the ThingLink.







Here is a third one that Donna created that could easily be used with elementary-school children and further indicates the versatility of  Thinglink.






Given the possibilities of ThingLink's uses in the classroom, this is one digital tool looking into and adding your own imagination to create instructional materials. This is also a tool that students can use to show their research, understanding of a concept, and interest in teaching others.

Looking for Some Book Read Alouds for Young Children

A professional colleague in the language arts area recommended the StoryTimeMomShy channel on YouTube.

My colleague noted her kindergarten child has been glued to the read-alouds. What a wonderful way to develop a love of literature in young children.

I am embedding some of the stories for you to preview, but recommend going to the StoryTimeMomShy YouTube site to see all the stories available, and expect more will be added. 

You can also check out StoryTimeMom's website for more information:

Do these read-alouds look like something you would use in the classroom or recommend to parents? I am new to  StoryTimeMomShy channel, but subscribed, so I am ready to recommend it to parents and teachers when they seek a source of read-aloud sites.

Let me know what you think. Have you heard of StoryTimeMomShy? Do you know of children who watch the read-alouds on the channel? Where do you go to find online read-alouds for young children?

Doodlecast App for Promoting Literacy

Today, I came across a tweet from a kindergarten teacher, Matt Gomez, whom I follow on Twitter that caught my attention, particularly the words "reading," "writing," and "documenting." Knowing, Mr. Gomez maintains a resourceful blog (My Hullabaloo), I clicked on the link in the tweet, which brought me to his post.

The post explains how he uses the Doodlecast Pro app with his kindergarteners to document their skills as readers and writers.  Mr. Gomez granted permission to use videos of his students using the app, but I encourage you to go directly to his blog post, Documenting Reading and Writing with Doodlecast App for detailed information. While you're at his site, look around. You'll find a host of ideas related to digital literacies, information literacies, and reading and writing. The first video below documents a student reading, and the second, a student writing.

Reading

Writing and Journaling

Here is a screenshot from the Doodlecast page at the Apple Store to help you visualize some of the organizational options. One option allows for uploading to YouTube, a feature that facilitates the sharing of students' accomplishments. 

Image: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodlecast-pro/id469486202?mt=8

 Note that although Mr. Gomez uses the pro version, there is a free version with more limited options, but a good choice if you want to try the app for yourself.

What are some apps or websites you use to promote students' literacies skills?  What are your thoughts on how Mr. Gomez uses Doodlecast with his students?

Kindergarteners Blogging: No Kidding

Listen to these kindergarteners from Ms. Cassidy's class talk about what they think of blogging and how they're using it.  Be sure to leave a response. What do you think of their comments?

Do you think kindergarteners should be blogging? What will happen when they enter first grade? Should they continue blogging? What about when they enter upper grades? How do you see their blogging experiences affecting their literacy skills?