If you followed my blog over the summer, then you learned how ECSTATIC I was that I was moving districts. Reason being, I received a job at a 1:1 iPAD district. EEK I know!
I promised that I would share with you all of the wonderful apps and activities we would do in class. I am going to keep my promise, because I didn’t promise I would do it in a timely manner 😉
I read the following books to the kids.
All of these books have a strong main character that undergoes explicit changes.
You can read the books aloud, or show them whole group.
All of the books that are mentioned above, I have offered a read aloud version. The channel is filtered through SAFE SHARE so that there are no advertisements on the side of the video.
After we read a book, we would discuss the character traits using the acronym: STEAL
This is SUCH a great reference and concrete visual for the kids. Sure, they can generate that a character is: happy, angry, or jealous. With the STEAL acronym, the kids can glance at their paper and use it as a stem starter. This is GREAT to get kids to thinking on the right track.
Example:
Camilla Cream worries about what other people think about her. I know this because of her ACTION when she refused to eat lima beans BECAUSE in the text she SAID she didn’t want her friends to know.
We placed the reference sheet in their interactive notebook so when we had discussions about characters, they could flip to the page have an easier way to generate sentence starters. They were also told this was the expectation. They had to use one of these reasons to describe a character. It couldn’t just be generated out of thin air.
We used various graphic organizers that you can snag {HERE} Or click the image below!
How did I incorporate technology into the character trait standard?
Popplet is a wonderful app for any smart device. It is free if you choose, “Popplet LITE”.
It is a tool that allows users to visualize ideas. Teachers and students can create graphic organizers, and many other forms of visual organization.
You essentially create a bubble map. When you double click on a text box, it creates a branch from that box to connect ideas. Boxes can be resized, and images and videos can be imported into these boxes. There is also an option to color code. I used the color code feature in another ELAR standard that I will be blogging about soon.
I gave my kids a general outline of what I wanted, and let them run wild.
Prompt: Using the POPPLET app, choose any book that we have read the past two weeks. Choose one character from the book and create a bubble map of a character of your choosing.
Here an example what I received:
I really enjoyed how creative the kids got!
I didn’t tell them they had to insert pictures, but I received pictures and video. It was entertaining to see their creative juices flowing, as well as strengthening their learning of the content.
To buy the books that were mentioned in this post click the links below!
Amber is veteran teacher that built a successful TPT business before being recruited to lead social media and content marketing strategy for two Ed-Tech brands.
She loves using her unique knowledge of the teacher marketing space to help teachers grow and scale their business with the right digital marketing strategies.
