BP9 RILS Links

Please follow this link to my comments on Carrie’s Captivating Creations RILS Blog.

BP9 RILS links

Please follow this link to my comments on Dana-EMDT RILS on Educator Studio.

BP8 RILS Publication

Amanda Castaneda

Brief Overview: Students will be learning how to create stories using complete simple sentences, while focusing on the use of vivid adjectives. Students will work collaboratively to create a story describing one another. Student will create their story of friendship using the Web 2.0 tool Storybird.

1. Target Audience- My audience will consist of a third grade ESL class.

2. Materials– Internet Connection, Preferably done during computer lab time. Student will need their brainstorming papers, along with their lists of adjectives

3. Objectives– Students will work collaboratively on a story about one another. Students will create stories about another friend in class using adjectives to describe the person they are writing about. At the end of this scenario the learner will be able to create a story using adjectives and how to write complete simple sentences while using the Web 2.0 tool Storybird.

4.  Procedure–

A. Teacher will introduce lesson and objective to the class.

B. Teacher will review examples of adjectives and how to construct complete simple sentences.

C. Then teacher will introduce students to the Web 2.0 tool Storybird, by showing a short video describing the site.

D. Students will then choose a person in class they want to write about.

E. After students have chosen a partner to write about they will then start brainstorming about what they want to say.

F. We will head to the computer lab as a class and students will get started exploring Storybird by signing in and choosing artwork they want for their projects.

G. Students will take turns collaborating on a story that describes each friend. Each student should create 5 slides containing 2-3 sentences describing their friend.

H. Then students will share finished Storybird stories to the class.

1. Web 2.0 Tool– The Web 2.0 tool I decided to use is Storybird. Storybird is an online collaborative free storytelling service that allows children of all ages to read, create, and collaborate on stories by browsing through their themes or picking an artist to start with.

2. Social Participation/Social Learning– The social participation included in this project will include collaboration among students to create a single stunning story of friendship. Students will be working in pairs to write sentences about one another describing what each student likes about the other one. Students will have to work together to edit and complete their Storybird book. Then students will share their finished Storybird book with the class.

3. Making Connections–

A) Students must have an adequate understanding of adjectives and how to construct complete simple sentences. 

B) Students must work collaboratively to complete a single Storybird about friendship, which in turn will raise each student’s self worth.

C) Students will be able to proudly present their books to the class.

1. Create/Produce – The end product students will create is a finished Storybird book, they can present to class.

2. Assessment –

	Advanced	Proficient	Nearing Proficient	Not Proficient
Punctuation	Punctuation is used correctly.	Punctuation is used incorrectly one time.	Punctuation is used incorrectly two times.	Punctuation is used incorrectly three or more times.
Use of Vivid Adjectives	The student clearly understands the use of vivid adjectives. Story includes many examples of vivid adjectives.	The student clearly understands the use of vivid adjectives. Story includes many examples of vivid adjectives.	Student has limited understanding of the use of vivid adjectives. Story includes some vivid adjectives.	Student fails to understand the use of vivid adjectives. Story does not include examples of vivid adjectives.
Capitalization	Capitalizations are used correctly.	Capitalizations are used incorrectly one time.	Capitalizations are used incorrectly two times.	Capitalizations are used incorrectly three or more times.
Sentence Completion	Sentences are complete and show a high level of understanding.	Sentences are complete.	Sentences are incomplete or do not describe an idea or give information.	Sentences are incomplete and do not describe an idea or give information.

3. Reflection – The reflection for the RILS must have two parts.

a.       To reflect upon the project, students will be engaged in a discussion shortly after presenting their final projects with the class. In this discussion we talked about what they liked and what they did not like about the activity completed. All most all students had little or no trouble navigating the software but wish for more time to complete the project, so they had more time to view the artwork.

b.     The reflection I will implement as an educator is through observation. I will be going over pre and post observations, to determine what needed to be changed or added that allowed student’s using Storybird to have a fun and an enjoyable learning experience. In addition to observations I will be able to reflect and gain an understanding of what the students thought about the activity through our post discussion. I would also allow more time for students to explore the artwork when creating the next Storybird.

Here is my - Persuasive Message- for Storybird

PE5 Storybird

Just when I thought I could not love Storybird enough, I discovered their class account. This feature is free, plus you can manage your class assignments, share stories in blogs, email to parents, download, and even print stories. In addition students can receive real-time feedback from other classmates using the built in collaboration tool. This will encourage them to work together to create a great story build confidence and increase participation.
 In addition to these features you can sign up students without having to use email, all you have to do is upload your student list to automatically create accounts. 

Another really cool feature is that you can easily grade students Storybirds and reward students using digital stickers to let them know they did an amazing job. Did I mention you can create Storybirds to explain assignment details! This site is an amazing and unique Web 2.0 tool that students can use over and over again. I am really excited to use Storybird with my class because I am sure they will love it as much as I do. 

I will introduce students to their assignment by showing them a Storybird I created providing directions on how to complete the activity for my RILS project.

A Story of Friendship on Storybird

PE4 Storybird

For my upcoming Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario (RILS) project, I'll be revisiting is the Web 2.0 tool Storybird, a collaborative story telling software. Storybird is unique in that it provides a free quality service that encourages literacy through exploration, art, themes, and best of all storytelling.

When I first learned of this site I immediately fell in love with it. The site is clean, and its simple layout is great. As I go through this website a little more thoroughly I discover more of what Storybird has to offer. The artwork on Storybird is truly amazing and vivid. It features some excellent artists that really make the stories come to life. In addition to the stunning illustrations, the simple design of the Storybird layout is extremely easy to use, you focus on writing your and not having to figure out how to use the site. The artwork is laid out on both sides for your choosing, and when there is one you want to see a little close up, all you do is click and the picture it enlarges to see any details. Storybird is truly an innovative website to use in you classroom.

BP7 One minute video

Here is my one minute video for the web 2.0 tool storybird.

P3 iMovie

The Lynda.com tutorial for iMovie 11 essential training was great and highly informative. They could not have picked a better author to conduct this training. Although I had worked with iMovie in the previous classes and spend hours trying to learn how to get the hang of this program, the tutorial really showed me shortcuts and what buttons to use when wanting to complete a specific task. I truly enjoyed this tutorial.

PE2 iMovie

I am about half way through the iMovie11 essential training tutorial, so far I learned a little bit about organization and how to tag your clips in order to find them easier when your iMovie library begins to grow. One tip that I am glad I learned was how to rate your clips. I believe this tool will help me sort through the clips that I want to choose from when creating projects, had I known about this tool, it would have made creating my projects less time consuming. When I am creating a project such as my CBR video plan I have to go through quite a few clips to find the one that I am able to use. So I will definitely be using some of the organizational tools provided in iMovie. This tutorial also went into how the interface works and a little tweaks you can do to in order to help you out when creating your projects.

PE1 iMovie

I am a quarter of the way through the iMovie11 essential training tutorial, and have already learned so much about the program. Buttons I had no idea what were used for are now explained. So far in the tutorial I have gone through how to get the latest apple updates, as well as how to import videos from various sources, such as DV cameras, memory based cameras, digital cameras, and downloaded source.
When I first used iMovie it was a little difficult to get the hang of it but the more I use the program, which seems to be quite often, the better I get at using the software. I am really glad to be going through this training because I will be using iMovie quite a bit not only for Full Sail activities, but also for some fun projects I will be able to create exciting videos for family holidays and my sons birthday’s. All images are snapshots taken from lynda.com.