Podcasting, Part II

Once Literacy Studies students had a basic understanding of podcasting elements--specifically related to fictional, storytelling podcasts like The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel--we provided students with options, opportunity, and time to explore a wide variety of both fiction and nonfiction podcasts.

Students had class time to listen to all/most/part of a podcast, and in preparation for a sharing out activity, they completed a Google Slide that included podcast information, a recommendation, and a visual retelling using emojis. 

With their recommendation and visual retell Slides, students shared their podcast reactions with one another in a variety of ways, including rotating partner groups, small groups, and with the full class. 

Examples of students' work appears below:

Finally, students also completed a Google Form that generated a full-class list of recommended podcasts to be shared on our library main page later. With one click from our library page, students will have access to student-recommended podcasts arranged by genre, all for their browsing and listening pleasure.

Podcasting, Part I

New for Literacy Studies students this year is a unit related to podcasts. Collaborating with Cathy Hines from Heartland Area Education Association allowed for several lessons relating to understanding what podcasts are and how they are different than other "reading" and listening students might already do, podcasts themselves, and retelling.

Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash

First, students discussed what podcasts are and if they already listen to podcasts. Many indicated that they were "forced" to listen as they rode in cars with their parents, :) but some already subscribed or listened to podcasts of their choosing. We also talked about how podcasts aren't like the YouTubers or audiobooks.

To kick off our podcast listening, we focused on the award-winning and engaging podcast The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel. 

As students listened, they worked on a digital notebook where they kept track of story elements like character, plot, and setting, along with podcast elements like sound effects and music. Using a "turn and talk to your table-mates" activity, students discussed the podcast and added information to their digital notebooks. Engagement was high, and students were eager to continue listening; in fact, many asked if they could continue to listen to Mars Patel outside of class!

Students would continue to listen to Mars Patel and work on notebooks for another class before moving on to other activities--stay tuned!

Harnessing STEAM Power

With the new school year comes new STEAM activities! After receiving a State of Iowa Scale-Up STEM grant last spring, we are now able to expand the STEAM offerings to students. Still popular among students were things like Spheros and 3D pens and Cubelets, but students were also able to explore using 3Dux Design activities, dry felting, and Strawbees.


With task and challenge cards available to students both in the activities themselves and in Google Classroom, students explored making, creating, designing, and imagining all sorts of things!

With additional new items still waiting in the wings, students will have additional STEAM days to explore again!

Digital Breakout, Round 2

After a successful digital breakout last fall (you can read about it HERE), it was time to design another breakout for Literacy Studies students. And thanks to Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook and guest contributor Mandi Tolen, tips and hints were available to help shape a new breakout for students. (You can read the blog post HERE.)

Photo by John Sting on Unsplash

With students more than one quarter into the school year, some find themselves in a bit of a reading slump. One of the goals of the breakout was to share book ideas with students, along with more traditional breakout goals like problem solving, team work, critical thinking, and communication.

The title of the breakout was "Let's Talk About Reading," and students merely scrolled the Home page of the Google Site to find two photographs of our own library. 

Clicking on the "obvious" elements in the photos, students accessed a variety of clues to help them determine the combinations to four different locks. (One of the elements was a dummy clue that took students to a humorous video related to books.) A Google Form embedded in the Site on a second page allowed students to enter a response, and they immediately received feedback from the Form to know if their response was correct.

So what kind of clues did the students access? One was a Google Slides presentation that included six of the most popular series in the library; another was a Google Doc that included the YALSA Top 10 titles from 2019. Students read a blog post related to five historical fiction titles, as well as a poem related to books. Working in small groups, students worked to determine as many lock combinations as they were able.

Later in the year, Literacy Studies students will work through a combination breakout--one that incorporates the physical locks and box that they used for an earlier breakout *and* the digital components they used for this breakout. Stay tuned for more problem solving, collaboration, and critical thinking!

3-2-1 Responses

In a professional development session last spring, a colleague shared an activity she called "3-2-1 Responses" as a way to get students talking with one another about both new and learned content. Literacy Studies students have been using this activity verbally, but this time we tried it as a written response.

Throughout the year, students access our All Things Reading Symbaloo for a variety of reasons, including author study work and finding author and title read-alikes.

You can access the Symbaloo HERE.

As a way to gather student responses and guide their exploration at different author and book series websites, students completed a 3-2-1 chart on a handout shared with them in our Google Classroom.

How great to read such a variety of responses from so many of the students! While many visited the same sites--April Henry, Raina Telgemeier, and Alan Gratz were their top 3 choices--the 3-2-1 format gave such a range of answers and helped guide their reading and work at each site. 

Stay tuned--more 3-2-1 activities to follow--it's a great way to get students sharing and talking about their work!

Using Digital Gallery Walks as a Response Tool

Now that we're into the swing of things, Literacy Studies students have been working on a variety of activities, including a quarter project related to work in their reading classes.

Photo by João Silas on Unsplash

Sixth graders completed Google Slides explaining and supporting the genre of their independent reading books while seventh graders applied literary terms to one of their own independent reading books. Once their work was complete, it was time for our digital gallery walks!

If you're unfamiliar with a digital gallery walk, Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook explains it as "collaboration on their feet" and "...lets students display, share and discuss work much like a visit to an art museum. (You can read the full blog post and explanation HERE.)

Literacy Studies students have an extra opportunity with their gallery walks by writing comments related to their classmates' work. Their gallery walk comments reflected what the assignment asked of students.

After the day's gallery walk, I collected students' responses, not only so I could read through their work, but also to leave my own comments on students' papers. Now students have feedback from me through Google Classroom and in written form on their pages, as well as feedback from their classmates related to their work.

Stay tuned for more examples of digital gallery walks with variations on students' response activities!

Breaking in a New Year with Breakout Activities!

Like last year, students in Literacy Studies class welcomed a new year in the library with a Breakout activity that got them up and moving around, working together in teams to solve library- and reading-related riddles to open locks.

Sixth grade students used the same Library Orientation Breakout from last year--you can read about it here. With five different locks to open, students were problem solving to riddles related to finding books on shelves, to recognizing checkout procedures, and to locating the different sections in the library.

Seventh graders worked through a new library breakout, unofficially called "Get Reacquainted with the Library." Because (presumably) these students were already familiar with the library orientation elements from the sixth grade Breakout, this work--and opening four locks--focused on specific pieces of the library, such as state award nominees and winners and Public Lists on Destiny Quest. Students needed to spend time in the shelves to think through their clues and determine the combinations to their different locks.

So, were students successful? Yes! Both grade levels had groups that were able to break out, and many groups had just one lock remaining as the class period ended. 

As the year progresses, look for more breakout activities, both digital and blended. Students enjoy the process and solving the riddles, and in the process, they learn some valuable teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills!

ABCs of DCGMS Library: Z is for Zest

We made it! Today's post is the final ABCs of DCGMS Library post, and it's brought to you by the letter Z for zest!

Photo by Val Vesa on Unsplash

That's right--today's final post celebrates the enthusiasm and enjoyment many students displayed throughout the year in the library. While we can certainly celebrate checking out over 3,800 books during the school year, let's instead celebrate all the learning and good times we shared!

 

And we're not done yet! Tomorrow marks the start of a new school year--we can't wait to share new experiences and make new memories! See you soon!