ABCs of DCGMS Library: O is for Online Presentation Tools

Today's ABCs of DCGMS Library post is brought to you by the letter O: O is for online presentation tools.

Photo by J. Kelly Brito on Unsplash

Throughout the school year, students in Literacy Studies class created several book-related projects using a variety of online presentation tools. Of course, the Google Suite of apps was the most easily accessed and the most familiar for students, so many chose to use Slides or Draw when given the choice. Below is an example of a project in Draw:

And another example of a Slides project:

Students also created projects using tools that were maybe less familiar to them, including Thinglink and MySimpleShow. Because students could log into both sites using their Google accounts, initial work went smoothly. Below is a PDF of students' author study work using Thinglink:

MySimpleShow is a great site featuring templates that students can use to create videos showing their learning. You can read about students' work on this blog post. Literacy Studies students created book trailers using MySimpleShow; below is an example:

See the full trailer HERE

A lot of creating and a lot of variety in online presentation tools! Students also used old favorites like Flipgrid and tried new tools like Screencastify to share their learning and make book recommendations. Stay tuned--the coming school year promises more creating and sharing!

2nd Quarter Library Projects

Each quarter in literacy studies, students work on a project related to their reading classes. Last quarter, sixth graders created Slides presentations showing their understanding of genre by choosing an independent reading book they'd read, identifying the genre, and providing supporting examples. Seventh graders also created a Slides presentation to show their understanding of different literary terms, including protagonist & antagonist, point of view, conflict and theme.

In the new quarter, students are again working on different projects. Sixth graders are developing better book talks based on a poster from www.middleschoolmind.com.

LINK to access full blog post

Students chose a book they could enthusiastically recommend, developed their book talks, then used the Unsplash add-on in Google Slides to add an image to also grab the listeners' attention. Finally, students recorded their work using Screencastify. This will allow students to take part in a gallery walk, of sorts, after the holiday break and listen to multiple book talks.

While sixth graders worked on book talk presentations, seventh graders again this year completed an author study project. Over time the project has undergone several revisions; this year, those revisions included using Thinglink as the basis of the project and adjusting the written requirements to include both required and personal choice items.

LINK to site

Students used Google Drive to write and present information about an author of their choice--they wrote about the author's publishing life and included an analysis piece of a passage of their choosing, and they also included one of the following: a personal narrative about their interest in the author, a creative interview, or a scene rewrite.

State Award Book Nominees & ThingLink

It's that time again--time for us to explore the state award books and start reading our way through the lists. To promote the titles and raise interest, this year's titles are featured in ThingLink images that connect to book trailers.

Let's start with the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees:





You can also access trailers for the Iowa Teen Award nominees:





Enjoy the trailers--and when you're ready to try one of the nominees, be sure to stop by the library and check out a copy. Remember, you're eligible to vote for the building and state-wide winner when you read at least two books from either list.

Promoting the Iowa Teen Award Titles

Each year we celebrate and promote the Iowa Teen Award nominees with different activities: maybe a Prezi presentation (click HERE for the post) or QR codes (click HERE to see this post). This year, we're trying another different approach--using Thinglink to introduce and promote the titles.

Thinglink will allow students to use interactive content related to the ITA nominees and encourage them to move through the titles that interest them.

Check out the presentations below, and come back later to read about students' use of them!