Let students' voices be heard!

You can use QR codes to share what your students are saying! 

The website Vocaroo and a QR Code Generator  are all the tools you need to save and share the wonderful things your students are saying. Whether it is reciting a poem, giving a book review, or singing a song - let them be heard! 

Record your voice here

A URL is generated with a variety of options for sharing

Students record their voice at the Vocaroo website. They are given a URL linked to their voice recording. Use that URL to create a QR code. 

You can print out the QR code and attach it to a project, put it on the walls in your school, or email it home to parents. 

Try this one:

Can you think of more ways to use QR codes linked to students' voices? I would love to hear from you! 

Kids love learning vocabulary ... with iMovie!

Vocabulary - one of the necessities of learning new content is learning new vocabulary terms. This can be a mundane task: Write the word, write the definition, memorize, and test. But it does not have to be that way! iMovie on the iPad has many great uses in the classroom. How about giving students the choice to make a movie about their vocabulary words?

A great strategy for using this activity with students is starting with a storyboard. It helps the students make decisions about what images and words they want to use in their movie. It gives them a plan or a script to follow when making the movie. I tell the kids it is just like making a Hollywood movie, you have to plan it out first. Here is a storyboard that I have created to use with iMovie activities in the classroom. You can make it longer or shorter depending on the content and creativity of the students. 

Students fill this in with a simple sketch that represents each of the vocabulary words. They write a short "script" in their own words explaining what each vocabulary word means. They can write the vocabulary word as the "caption". Once the storyboard is completed and a brief conference with the teacher has occurred to go over it, the student can begin the exciting activity of showing their understanding of the vocabulary terms with iMovie. The sketches on the storyboard will help them decide what kinds of pictures to draw in a drawing app on their iPad or search for on the internet and save to their iPad camera roll. They will then insert those pictures into their movie. They will record their own voices reading the script they wrote on the storyboard that goes along with each image.

The act of creating the movie and using the vocabulary in context is a meaningful learning activity. Also being able to share their finished product with others is powerful - students hearing other students examples of making meaning with the vocabulary words helps with understanding. Here are pictures of second grade students in Mrs. Glover's class at Drayton Hall Elementary using iMovie to learn vocabulary. This was a choice at their vocabulary center. 

Completing the storyboard

Completing the storyboard

Making the vocabulary movie in iMovie on the iPad

Making the vocabulary movie in iMovie on the iPad

Now it's your turn. How do you use iMovie with your students? Please comment below if you have any questions or have a fun learning activity you can share that your students do with iPads.

Chop that video!

Have you ever discovered a great YouTube video that you wanted to share with your students? However, the video was 6+ minutes long and the part you wanted your students to see was only 2 minutes. There is a great tool that can "chop" the video and allow you to show only the part you need. No more searching through the video during class to find a particular section. This tool saves valuable instructional time. \
The website is called TubeChop:
http://www.tubechop.com/ 

 

  

Here is how it works:

Find the video you want to use on YouTube. Below is a video about the Rock Cycle. However, I may only want to show the portion that is about sedimentary rocks. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN1eRMsAluE 

 

 Copy and paste the YouTube URL to the TubeChop website. You can play the video and select start and stop point in the video. 

 

Use the pink slider bar to choose the start and stop points. 

 Once you have chosen the section you want to use, click "Chop It." 

Then, TubeChop gives you several ways to share your video - a URL, embed code, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

 
There you go! TubeChop allows you to customize the video to use only the portion you need. 

Have you found a great way to edit online videos you use with your students? I would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts in the comment box below.