ABCs of DCGMS Library: Q is for Quarter Projects

Welcome back to the ABCs of the DCGMS Library! Today's post is brought to you by the letter Q for Quarter Projects.

Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash

Each quarter, Literacy Studies students worked on projects for their reading classes, and often students shared their work with one another in Literacy Studies class. These projects were collaborative efforts with conversations and planning happening behind the scenes, then the "roll out" in Literacy Studies class. Students usually had time to work and create their projects in both their reading classes and Literacy Studies class.

So what were some of these projects? Seventh graders created Slides presentations relating to literary terms, and in another quarter, they created author study projects using Thinglink.

Sixth graders completed different projects, including a genre project and a book talk Slide. Because 6th graders talk a lot about genre at the start of the school year, it was a natural fit to create a Slides presentation using a book of the student's choice to demonstrate their understanding of genre.

The book talk Slide project was a focused attempt to improve students' book talking, and the project allowed us to explore using Unsplash to search for a related image and to use Screencastify as an audio component of Slides. Below is a screenshot of a student's Slide:

The quarter projects were an effective collaboration between reading teachers and the Literacy Studies class; it's likey we'll see more and different projects in the coming year!

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!