Synopsis
Technology & Common Core shows teachers how to integrate the tech-related language found within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their everyday curriculum. The authors outline the CCSS standards for grades 9-12 and tell teachers how to reach them through classroom-tested lesson examples that harness a robust list of software, websites, and apps. The authors organize lesson ideas by subject area (math, science, social studies, and ELA). The authors also show how these activities help students meet the ISTE Standards for Students.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Valerie Morrison graduated with a type 03 Elementary K-9 degree from Northern Illinois University (NIU), USA and began her career as a classroom teacher. She became interested in teaching with technology early on and became a computer teacher for two years at a K-8 private school. Morrison then switched to the public school system where she obtained a master's degree in Instructional Technology with an emphasis in Media Literacy from NIU. She gained 14 years of experience as a technology director/technology integration specialist and technology coach, working closely with teachers and students to plan and differentiate lessons and projects that integrate technology.
Stephanie Novak graduated from Northern Illinois University, USA with a master's degree in Reading. She also earned a Reading Specialists Certificate from National Louis University. Novak started teaching at the middle school level, but then settled in the elementary school system. As a classroom teacher for 27 years and the past 7 years as an extended learning teacher and coach, she has always felt learning should be fun and meaningful.
Tim Vanderwerff has seen many federal and state initiatives come and go in his 33 years of teaching. Starting as a classroom teacher in grades 2-5, he was on his school district's technology committee for many years and during that time regularly tried new technology in his class. Vanderwerff eventually moved to the library media center at his elementary school in 1987. He was the librarian, technology teacher, and tech support for the building for many years. In 2010, he was asked to become a teaching coach, sitting in on the grade-level team meetings, finding resources for the new Core Curriculum State Standards, supporting individual teachers and teams in the classroom - both with technology and newest educational strategies - and advising new teachers.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 8: Practical Ideas for Third Grade
We realize that you will want to focus on your particular grade or subject when you are planning your lessons and implementing CCSS, so we have organized the practical ideas chapters by grade level, then subject. Each grade starts with an overview followed by ELA technology standards with accompanying apps, software, and websites that you can use to help your students succeed with that standard. We then continue with the math standard for the grade level, also with accompanying resources. Finally, we have included some sample lessons for each grade level in various subject areas. Although we intend for you to seek your specific grade and subject to help you implement CCSS for your students, please do not disregard other sections of this chapter. To see grades other than 3–5, look for our three additional titles in this collection, as they could provide information to help you differentiate for students at all levels of your class.
The CCSS expect third graders to use technology to enhance their literacy skills. The literacy standards place an emphasis on information gathering and publishing of student writing. Students should also use technology to practice math skills. This includes the use of digital math tools in the form of software programs, apps, or websites. We have pulled out the third grade standards that include technology and list them in this chapter. We also offer ideas and suggestions for which technologies to use and how to teach with them.
Research Ideas
RI.3.5 READING INFORMATION
Use text features and search tools (e.g., keywords, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently
W.3.8 WRITING
Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
WE HAVE COMBINED RI.3.5 WITH W.3.8 because search tools will also
be used when gathering information from digital sources. In third grade, students need to use search tools to find relevant information on the internet. They will need to be taught the features of webpages and how to navigate through them. Understanding the layout of webpages, such as the functions of sidebars and hyperlinks, is also necessary. The best way to do this is to show various webpages (using websites from your literacy or science standards will be a great way to integrate your curriculum with this technology standard), then model and explain what the features are and their functions by using an interactive whiteboard. Don’t have an interactive whiteboard? Check out a free site called RealtimeBoard (www.realtimeboard.com). All you need is a computer and a projector to run this virtual online whiteboard.
Teaching students which keywords to use and how to analyze search results will definitely help them find better sources and think more critically about any information they find on the internet. Following are some tips to help when teaching students to conduct a search.
• Choose your search terms carefully. Be precise about what you are looking for, though you should use phrases and not full sentences.
• Adding more words can narrow a search. Use Boolean searches to narrow your topic with quotation marks. There’s a big difference between the search term
“gopher” and “Habitats of gophers in North America.”
• Use synonyms! If students can’t find what they’re looking for, have them try keywords that mean the same thing or are related.
• Type “site:” Typing the word site: (with the colon) after your keyword and before a URL will tell Google to search within a specific website.
• Add a minus sign. Adding a minus sign immediately before any word, with no space in between, indicates that you don’t want that word to appear in your search results. For example, “Saturn -cars” will give you information about the planet, not the automobile.
Kid-Friendly Search Engines
Protecting students from unsafe content is the most important reason for using search engines made specifically for kids. Allowing your students to have the run of the web using a search engine for young students helps you, because it is difficult to monitor an entire class that is using unfiltered search engines.
Of course, there is no guarantee that results will be safe even when using a search engine tailored for children. Many districts have filters on their networks, but if yours does not, we suggest you explore the following.
SEARCH ENGINES
• Kids Click (www.kidsclick.org): A web search site designed for kids by librarians with kid-friendly results. This site is free and for Grades 2–5.
• Google for Kids (www.safesearchkids.com): Google for Kids Safe Search Kids is a custom search engine using Google’s Safe Search features with additional filtering to block more potentially harmful material than if you simply use Google. It is fun, colorful, and easy for kids to use.
• Google Kid Search (www.kidzsearch.com): This is another safe search engine powered by Google for Grades K–8. However, please be aware there are ads on this site.
• Yahoo for Kids (http://tinyurl.com/nqn4p39): Yahooligans is a safe search engine for young students (K–2) picked by editors at Yahoo.
• Ask Kids (www.ask.com): This is a free, filtered search engine for Grades K–6.
Using programs such as PebbleGo (www.pebblego.com) (must be purchased) is a great online source for PK–3 students to find easy-to-read informational text that includes citation support, videos, and audio recordings, as well as games and activities on many science topics that are typically used at this level. Although you also need to pay for it, Power Knowledge (www.pkearthandspace.com and www. pklifescience.com) is another program that can be used with your third grade science topics to find easy-reading science resources.
Tried and true methods for note taking and categorizing information found in books can still be used to gather and record information on websites. Teaching students to use data sheets, note cards, and KWL (Know, What, Learn) techniques still works; however, there are now ways that technology can make this easier. The Kentucky Virtual Library (http://tinyurl.com/ptnwz4) is a great website to use as a resource for some of these techniques.
Mind-mapping tools will help your students organize their research when gathering information. Several wonderful software programs have been used for mind-mapping for many years. However, there are also free sites out there. Following are some digital tools you can use to teach note taking and categorizing.
NOTE-TAKING TOOLS
• Kidspiration (http://tinyurl.com/dg2cxa): A mind-mapping software program that helps students organize their writing. It can be especially helpful for students who are learning to create paragraphs and organize big ideas into their smaller parts. $40 to $640. Their web-based version is called Webspiration (http://tinyurl.com/bmop3nh) and costs $6/month.
• Bubbl.us (www.bubbl.us): This is a free (with limited use) mind-mapping website for Grades K–12. It can be shared by multiple students at a time and comes with an app. For more options, purchase a package for $6/month or $59/year. Both come with a 30-day free trial. Site licensing is available. Contact the company for specifics.
• Mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com/education): This is a free, basic, mindmapping website for Grades 2–12. Upgrades are available ($18/month for a single user; $30 per user for 6 months). Educational pricing is available for schools and universities ($6 per user for 6 months). All of the upgrades have a free trial period.
• FreeMind (http://tinyurl.com/5qrd5): This is a free mind-mapping tool for Grades 2–12. However, FreeMind is written in Java and will run on almost any system with a Java runtime environment. Options for a basic or maximum install are available.
• Evernote (www.evernote.com): This is a free app that allows you to import a worksheet, document, or picture, including a snapshot of a webpage, and then annotate it using tools that you would use with interactive whiteboard software. It lets you highlight words, cut and paste, and add sticky notes. It also allows you to use voice recognition. You can then send your annotated sheet to someone else.
Of course, students can also use word processing tools, such as Microsoft Office
(www.office.com), Pages (www.apple.com/mac/pages), or Google Docs (www. google.com/docs/about). Some teachers also make digital templates to help students find specific information and to help students organize their notes.
Third graders will also need to provide a list of sources. You could make a template for sources and have students fill it in using a word processing program; however, there are websites students can use, such as Easybib (www.easybib.com). Easybib is a free website and app for ages 5–12. You can use this site to generate citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats easily. Just copy and paste or scan the book’s barcode. Students can also cite a list of sources on their own by including URL, publisher or author, topic/title, and date a website was published. If the date published is not available, they should note the date retrieved from the internet.
Writing Resources
W.3.6 WRITING
With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
MICROSOFT POWERPOINT (OFFICE.COM) IS OFTEN the presentation tool of choice—even with young students—when using technology to produce and publish writing in a collaborative way. While this is still a great program, other presentation tools have emerged. Apple offers Keynote (www.apple.com/mac/keynote) as part of its software package. Its features are similar to PowerPoint. Another program that has emerged is Google Slides (www.google.com/slides/about). It is aimed toward business presentations; however, it is free and web-based. Google Slides make it easy to share a project that multiple users can work on at once, which makes this an especially great program to use when interacting and collaborating remotely. You can also add audio recordings to your slides, as well as visual displays such as pictures and short video clips. These can be used to enhance the development of the main ideas or theme of your presentations. Some apps can be used when beginning to produce writing.
PRESENTATION APPS
• Toontastic (www.launchpadtoys.com): Students use visuals to tell stories that they can collaborate on and share with others. The app Toontastic Jr. is free with a few backgrounds. Upgrade for $9.99 or purchase a classroom set, discounted depending on the number of students.
• iMovie (www.apple.com/ios/imovie/): This app ($4.99), which also comes as a program, has many uses in the classroom to create full edited videos or short 1-minute trailers. The trailers can be very useful for recounting and presenting ideas to others.
• Animoto (www.animoto.com): This website allows you to turn your photos and music into stunning video slideshows. Educational use is free for unlimited videos of 20 minutes.
• Explain Everything (www.explaineverything.com): This $2.99 app uses text, video, pictures, and voice to present whatever your students are asked to create. They can illustrate a story or poem or recount information they hear.
• StoryBuddy 2 (www.tapfuze.com/storybuddy2/): This app is easier to use than Explain Everything, but not as versatile. You can use it to create stories with pictures that can be recorded, printed, and read aloud. The price is $3.99.
• Puppet Pals (http://tinyurl.com/qbgaks2): This app allows students to create a puppet production using familiar characters to tell or retell a story. It is free, but for $2.99, you can get all the add-ons.
• Sock Puppets (http://tinyurl.com/luznt6n): This free app allows you to create a play with sock puppets, recording your student’s voice and automatically syncing it to the puppet. $1.99 gets all the extras.
• Scene Speak (http://tinyurl.com/qg55sej): Use it to create visual scene displays and “interactive” social stories. It allows images to be edited and scenes to be linked to create “books” by theme or area of interest. The app is $9.99.
Presenting digitally is not limited to sharing with small or whole groups in the classroom. Many websites out there allow you to publish student writing to the world. Using blogging websites, such as Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) and Wikispaces (www.wikispaces.com), is a way to share student writing in a safe, protected environment. Both Edmodo and Wikispaces allow teachers to set themselves up as administrators and add students to different groups. All of the students’ writing is kept secure in these groups. You can give them assignments asking for short answers that everyone can respond to, or you can ask students to write longer pieces on their own and then submit privately to you or post writing on the site to share.
There are good software programs and sites that let you create books in print and ebook formats. There are also sites that ask students to submit their work for possible publication. The following resources are just a few of our favorites.
PUBLICATION APPS
• PBS Kids Writing (pbskids.org/writerscontest/): This site asks for student writing and serves as a nice incentive to get students to do their best writing. Free.
• Lulu (www.lulu.com) and Lulu Jr (www.lulujr.com): These sites allow you to create real books and publish them online. Parents can purchase the books as a keepsake. The site is free to use, but there is a fee to publish.
• TikaTok (www.tikatok.com): This is another site that allows students to write, create, and publish stories as ebooks or hardcover books. TikaTok Story Spark is an app that you can purchase for $3. Classroom price for TikaTok starts at $19 a year.
• Poetry Idea Engine from Scholastic (http://tinyurl.com/2cuowf): Allows you to use templates to make different forms of poetry, another great way technology gets kids writing. Better still, it is free!
Just when you should teach keyboarding is a decades-old debate. Some teachers want students to begin formalized keyboarding as young as kindergarten. Others don’t believe students’ hands are developmentally ready until third grade. By fourth grade, students are expected to type a page in one sitting. Therefore, whether you think children’s hands are ready or not, formalized keyboarding will have to begin in the primary grades. There are many keyboarding programs you can buy. Following are some tried and true programs that we have used.
• Mavis Beacon Keyboarding Kidz (http://tinyurl.com/254v9on): Set words-perminute goals; see what keys you need to practice and what keys you know well. Play games to practice what you’ve learned and to improve your speed and accuracy to become a typing pro. ($19.99)
• Type to Learn (www.ttl4.sunburst.com): This typing program, for Grades K–12, emphasizes both accuracy and words per minute speed, and provides each student with individualized remediation and goals for success. Consult the website for various pricing options and to request a quote.
• Typing Training (www.typingtraining.com): This web-based program with apps (for Grades 3–12) allows access from any computer or handheld device. Animated coaches are available with a customizable curriculum. Students can play games or choose from more than 2,500 unique exercises while tracking progress with detailed reports and graphs. Consult the website for various options and to request a quote.
Paying for a good typing program is worth the expense. A quality program keeps track of student progress and their levels of accomplishment. If you can’t buy a program, there are many free sites that offer some instruction and games.
• Dance Mat Typing (bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr): This free website by BBC schools teaches typing for younger students.
• TypingWeb (www.typing.com): This site has ads, but it does keep track of student progress with typing skills and allows reports. Free.
• TypeRacer (play.typeracer.com): Free website where you can race opponents by typing words in paragraph form. For experienced typists to bone up on accuracy and typing speed. There are ads.
Some districts have students go to computer labs to practice keyboarding at given times, others fit it in where they can in the classroom, and still others have students practice and learn at home. We have found that the best way is to combine all three. Students benefit from formal keyboarding instruction, but they need to practice both in the classroom and at home. When students are working at the computers in your classroom, they need repeated reminders to keep up good techniques such as sitting up straight, keeping hands in home row, wrists slightly curved, and moving the fingers instead of the hands.
Speaking and Listening
SL.3.2 SPEAKING AND LISTENING
Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
SL.3.5 SPEAKING AND LISTENING
Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
THE TEACHER, STUDENTS, OR EVEN SOME programs can read text
aloud. Sites such as Follett Shelf (http://tinyurl.com/) and TumbleBooks (www.tumblebooks.com) (must be purchased) allow you to have access to multiple ebooks, which include fiction as well as non-fiction. You can also check out many ebooks at your local library or purchase them from booksellers, such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble (especially if you have e-readers). There are also some free ebooks available.
Project Gutenberg (http://gutenberg.org/), FreeReadFeed (www.freereadfeed.com), or FreeBookSifter (www.freebooksifter.com) is a possibility. There are adult titles on these sites, too, so choose carefully. Though, of course, the sites that you pay for give you a much better selection.
Using ebooks or a website with your interactive whiteboard (or free whiteboard sites) allows interaction when modeling or for student engagement. Informational text works especially well with standard SL.3.2; however, fictional pieces can also be used. Working with the teacher or on their own, students need to understand the main idea of text and to state supporting details. Using ebooks with your interactive whiteboard tools (highlighting main ideas and supporting details or cutting and pasting) will allow you to work with the class as a whole or a small group to help them understand the main idea. Students can then work alone or with a partner on a tablet or laptop to do the same thing that you have modeled.
Software programs can also be used to help extend thinking and learning with mind-mapping programs.
APPS TO SUPPORT MAIN IDEA
• Kidspiration (http://tinyurl.com/dg2cxa): A mind-mapping software program that helps students organize their writing. It can be especially helpful for students who are learning to create paragraphs and organize big ideas into their smaller parts. $40 to $640. Their web-based version is called Webspiration (http://tinyurl.com/bmop3nh). $6/month.
• Popplet (www.popplet.com): A wonderful online organizational tool for students’ writing. A free app called Popplet Lite is also available. It is easy to use, and students can import pictures and text to create web maps.
• Bubbl.us (www.bubbl.us): This is a free (with limited use) mind-mapping website for Grades K–12. It can be shared by multiple students at a time and comes with an accompanying app. For more options, purchase a package for $6/month or $59/year. Both come with a 30-day free trial. Site licensing is available. Contact the company for specifics.
• Mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com/education): This is a free, basic mindmapping website for Grades 2–12. Upgrades are available ($18/month for a single user; $30 per user for 6 months). Educational pricing is available for schools and universities ($6 per user for 6 months). All of the upgrades have a free trial period.
• FreeMind (http://tinyurl.com/5qrd5): This is a free mind-mapping tool for Grades 2–12. However, FreeMind is written in Java and will run on almost any system with a Java runtime environment. Options for a basic or maximum install are available.
• iFunFace (www.ifunface.com): Students can create a read aloud to show how the main idea and details flow by using a photo and audio recording to create an animation. It helps students visualize how to support details that branch off from the main ideas and how they all flow together. App is free but can be upgraded for $1.99.
• Puppet Pals (http://tinyurl.com/qbgaks2): This app allows students to create a puppet production using familiar characters to tell or retell a story. It is free, but for $2.99 you can get all the add-ons.
Creating audio recordings and ebooks is a powerful and engaging way to demonstrate and perform fluid and accurate readings and satisfy SL3.5. Students can create their own audio recordings of stories or poems. You can use these recordings to check for fluency all year long.
Scanning finished book pages into Microsoft PowerPoint (www.office.com), Keynote (www.apple.com/mac/keynote), or Google Slides (www.google.com/slides/ about) programs allow you to make ebooks for your classroom. Keynote allows you to speak directly into the program, and then easily stores ebooks for all students. Options include controlling the speed of page advancement, recording narration, adding action buttons, adjusting mouse-over and mouse-click actions, incorporating preset animation, and setting page transition effects.
SITES TO SUPPORT FLUENCY
• Cast UDL Bookbuilder (http://bookbuilder.cast.org): This is a free site, which allows students to create and share their own eBooks online. You can also read what other students have written.
• Prezi (www.prezi.com): You can sign up for a free educational account, and your students can create and share presentations online. Prezi has mind-mapping, zoom, and motion and can import files. Presentations can be downloaded. A Prezi viewer app is available.
• Evernote (www.evernote.com): This is a free app that allows you to import a worksheet, document, or picture, including a snapshot of a webpage, and then annotate it using tools that you would use with interactive whiteboard software. It lets you highlight words, cut and paste, and add sticky notes. It also allows you to use voice recognition. You can then send your annotated sheet to someone else.
• WebQuests (www.webquest.org): These are good tools to use for presentations. WebQuest is a website that allows students to follow an already-created, project-based lesson where information is found solely on the internet. You can also create their own WebQuest if you have a website-building program or a website like Kafafa (www.kafafa.com/kafafa). WebQuest.org is the original and most popular site; however, if you search the internet, you will find more sites that you can use.
Language Resources
L.3.4d LANGUAGE
Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
MERRIAM-WEBSTER (MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM), still the most commonly used dictionary, has a free and kid-friendly digital dictionary called Kids.
Wordsmyth (https://kids.wordsmyth.net/we). Wordsmyth (www.wordsmyth.net) is another good third grade option. Little Explorers (http://tinyurl.com/2swjc) from Enchanted Learning is a limited picture dictionary that comes with a subscription. This is a good tool to use with students who struggle with vocabulary. While digital dictionaries are not updated as often as encyclopedias, they are convenient. These sites should be bookmarked or put on your website for easy access. The more students use them, the more comfortable they will become. You should plan lessons and activities to help students learn and practice the skills needed to use an online dictionary, just as you would when using hard-copy dictionaries and glossaries.
A lesson plan idea when using electronic dictionaries is to look up difficult vocabulary words in a piece of informational text. You could give students a website (preferably on a standards topic from literacy or science) and ask them to write down all of the words they don’t know. They can use an electronic dictionary to find the definitions to these words. They then reread the passage, and, with success, will come away with a better understanding of its content.
Using the app or website Trading Cards (http://tinyurl.com/8lqftek) is a great way to document vocabulary words by adding definitions, a picture, and recordings of pronunciations. You can also use Trading Cards as part of a fun activity that uses an online thesaurus. Simply give students a word on a trading card and then ask them to make as many trading cards as they can of synonyms and antonyms of that word. They can print these out and trade them with others or make them into a digital book.
Math Resources
THERE ARE TWO MAIN SETS OF STANDARDS—processes and practices— in the Common Core Math standards. First, you have the math targets, written similarly to ELA (Operations & Algebraic Thinking; Number & Operation in Base Ten; Numbers & Operations—Fractions; Measurement & Data; and Geometry).
While you work with third grade students on mathematical processes, Operations & Algebraic Thinking, you need to teach your students how to apply the Standards for Mathematical Practices (which include problem solving and precision), to those processes. One practice, the only one that includes technology, is mathematical practice 5, “Use appropriate tools strategically.”
Below is the explanation CCSS provides for MP5. As this is the standard explanation for Grades K–12, it does include references to higher grades.
Mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem. These tools might include pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator, a spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic geometry software. Proficient students are sufficiently familiar with tools appropriate for their grade or course to make sound decisions about when each of these tools might be helpful, recognizing both the insight to be gained and their limitations. For example, mathematically proficient high school students analyze graphs of functions and solutions generated using a graphing calculator. They detect possible errors by strategically using estimation and other mathematical knowledge. When making mathematical models, they know that technology can enable them to visualize the results of varying assumptions, explore consequences, and compare predictions with data. Mathematically proficient students at various grade levels are able to identify relevant external mathematical resources, such as digital content located on a website, and use them to pose or solve problems. They are able to use technological tools to explore and deepen their understanding of concepts.
Because this description did not give examples for all grades, we have provided a list of appropriate apps, websites, software, and lessons that will help translate this standard for third grade.
Your students will be using technology as a tool to help them become better at math. That is essentially what this math standard, the only one that explicitly includes technology, states. Many math programs, websites, and apps allow students to explore and deepen their understanding of math concepts. The best of them have students learning in creative ways and are not just electronic worksheets. They automatically adapt to the students’ skill levels, and they give you the data you need to know where they are in their learning and what students need to effectively continue. Of course, these usually do not come free. Following are many good math resources. Some are free; some are not. The free resources, many with ads, are unfortunately usually less interesting to your students and not as well organized. They don’t give you the feedback you need. It is up to you to decide what is best for your circumstances and budget.
Following are some resources we recommend for teaching to the third grade math standards.
WEBSITES FOR MATH
• ScootPad (www.scootpad.com): This is a web-based math site that is customizable for individual students. It adapts to the student and keeps the teacher in the loop with multiple reports. It is completely aligned to the CCSS. The price for a class varies from $5 to $20/month.
• DreamBox Learning Math (www.dreambox.com): Individualized, adaptive game-based math resource that keeps kids coming back for more. Available online or through an app. Price is $12.95/month (home) or $25/month (school), less if packaged.
• Explain Everything (www.explaineverything.com): This $2.99 app uses text, video, pictures, and voice to present whatever you ask students to create.
• IXL (www.ixl.com/math/): This online site features adaptive individualized math through gameplay including data and graphing problems. This gives students immediate feedback and covers many skills, despite its emphasis on drills. Levels range from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Class price is $199/year.
• Starfall (www.starfall.com): This free website has a few clever activities for early literacy and math exploration, but the pay site More.Starfall has a full range of activities with a price of $70 to $270/year.
• XtraMath (www.xtramath.org): A free site that lets you practice math facts. It keeps track of student progress, it’s easy to pick what you want your students to work on, and it’s easy for kids to use it independently.
• PrimaryGames (www.primarygames.com/math.php), Coolmath-Games (www. coolmath-games.com), SoftSchools (www.softschools.com), and Sheppard Software (http://tinyurl.com/ccrxoa) are among several sites that have free math games covering all math topics at each grade level. However, they have ads, are not able to keep track of a student’s success rate, and are not generally self-adaptive to the student’s own skill level.
APPS FOR MATH
• Math Blaster HyperBlast (http://tinyurl.com/q3ff7vg): The classic game many teachers used when they were students is now updated. Cost is $0.99 to $1.99.
• Pet Bingo (http://tinyurl.com/nceqqko): This app is adaptable to individual’s level and will have students practicing math facts, measurement, and geometry while enjoying it with their very own pet. There is progress monitoring. Price for the app $1.99.
• Geoboard (http://tinyurl.com/kzyxjv7): This app is the digital recreation of a geoboard. The app is simple to use, and the geometry activities are openended and endless. The app is free.
• Pattern Shapes (http://tinyurl.com/nbl5osu): Exploring geometry is what this free website is all about. Students can drag shapes to learn area, symmetry, fractions, and much more. Write equations and line of symmetry right on the screen. There is also an app, which is free.
• Swipea Tangram Puzzles for Kids (http://tinyurl.com/nsnoazj): This is a digital version of tangrams where students can manipulate, flip, and rotate shapes to create different pictures. App is free. Full upgrade is $0.99.
• Thinking Blocks (http://tinyurl.com/3c6eoa): This is a free website with manipulatives that lets students model, solve word problems, and practice with fractions.
There are many sites that allow you to use mathematical tools, such as a graphing calculator. Another option is to use software that comes with your whiteboard, which typically has all sorts of math tools built in, such as protractors, rulers, and grids.
WEBSITES FOR GRAPHING
• SoftSchools: (www.softschools.com): This is one of several sites that have free math games that cover all math topics at each grade, but they have ads, are not able to keep track of a student’s success rate, and are not generally selfadaptive to the student’s own skill level.
• IXL (www.ixl.com/math): This online site features adaptive individualized math through gameplay including data and graphing problems. This gives students immediate feedback and covers many skills, despite its emphasis on drills. Levels from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Class price is $199/year.
• ClassTools (ClassTools.net): A free site you can use to make graphs and charts.
• Create-a-Graph (http://tinyurl.com/yoedjn): Create bar, line, area, pie, and XY graphs with this free website. Easy to use, and you can print, save, or email your completed graphs.
• RealtimeBoard (www.realtimeboard.com): This endless whiteboard allows you to enhance your classroom lessons, create school projects, work collaboratively with team members, and so much more. There is a free education version, when you use a school email address. Upgrades are also available.
APPS FOR GRAPHING
• The Graph Club 2.0 (http://bit.ly/1nmvNe6): This program really helps students visualize how charts and graphs compare, and it’s extremely easy to use. The program includes ready-made activities in all subject areas, including rubrics and sample graphs. District purchasing is available. Contact a representative on the site for specific prices.
• Gliffy (www.gliffy.com): Create professional-quality flowcharts, wireframes, diagrams, and more. Free for limited use. Upgrades available for a fee.
Many studies in recent years have shown how math games can increase student learning. In addition, a survey (http://tinyurl.com/pqms3nj) released in late summer 2014 from the Games and Learning Publishing Council indicates that the use of digital games in the classroom is becoming more popular with teachers. According to the survey, 55% of teachers who responded have students play digital games in their classroom weekly.
With this in mind, pick a math unit of study. You may wish to first research a math topic and find videos to show as an introduction. Videos from BrainPOP (www. brainpop.com), Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), and SchoolTube (www. schooltube.com) are just a few good sources we have found. These videos are also a great resource for guided math stations or learning centers in your classroom. See our website (http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv).
Literacy Lessons
Cross-curriculum planning is encouraged with the common core by using ELA standards in history, science, and technical subjects. Getting through all of the standards you need in third grade is very difficult in the time given. The key to planning with the CCSS is to teach multiple standards in one lesson, when you can. We hope that the following list of a few sample lessons for third grade will inspire you to become an effective technology lesson planner.
QR CODE ACTIVITY
Scan and/or take pictures from nonfiction books that focus on a subject you are studying in social studies or science. Pictures can be mounted on a large piece of construction paper. Link the poster through a QR code reader like i-nigma Reader (www.i-nigma.com/i-nigmahp.html) or QR Code Generator (www.qr-code-generator. com) to a web-based document that contains facts about the concepts that go with each picture. This primarily satisfies W.3.6, “with guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing. . . .” This also satisfies SL.3.2, which determines the main ideas and supporting details in writing using diverse media formats. In addition, if you have students use these posters to review new information in a unit, it satisfies W.3.8, to “gather information from print and digital sources.”
IMOVIE TRAILER
Coaches in our former building worked with third grade teachers to help with this lesson, because a little prep is needed before you begin. Start with a Google search for student iMovie Trailer examples. There are some good examples on YouTube. However, you will want to preview these iMovie Trailers before showing them to your students. Begin the lesson with a discussion about the last movie trailers students have seen. Continue by discussing what makes a good trailer. For example, they capture the interest of the audience, they do not reveal the ending, and their music reflects the mood of the movie. After viewing several examples, allow students to discuss what made those trailers interesting for them.
Next, talk about important literary elements and how these elements can be included in a movie trailer. Elements include the following.
• Readable text
• Clear recordings
• Interesting, clear images
• Timing of images
• Concise language
• Music that reflects the mood
• Narration that is louder than the background music
• Enough detail to be interesting but not enough to give away the ending
• A question or scene at the end that makes the audience want to read the book
Third grade teachers we worked with chose to do this project with a book they were reading in class. However, you can also have students use a self-selected book they are reading independently, because movie trailers make an excellent alternative to book reports. Let the students know your expectations for the completed project. For example, have students:
• Introduce the book: Include the title, the author’s name, and the genre.
• Tell about the book: Introduce the main characters and action. Don’t try to tell every detail.
• Tell about a favorite part of the book or make a connection: Persuade the audience to read the book and leave them wanting to know more. For example, explain what the main character has to overcome, but don’t tell whether he/she is successful.
• Give a recommendation: Provide closure for the book trailer. This helps match the perfect reader for the book.
• Keep it short and sweet.
If students work together collaboratively, W.3.6 will be satisfied, using technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing. In the beginning, you may find your students need to plan and organize for their trailer. Apple’s iMovie for Mac site (see our website, http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv) has more than 29 free templates to help students work through their trailers. Students may need adult supervision and help when the time comes to scan, upload, or download pictures for their trailer. Certainly, students can provide their own illustrations and graphics, either by hand or digitally using any graphic art program (such as Microsoft Draw or Google Draw). If their book has pictures, students can scan and use them for trailers. Or, students can also search the internet to find pictures to use. Once all trailers are complete, students can share their iMovie Trailers with the class.
Finished projects can also be saved to the class ebook shelf for students to explore throughout the year. In addition to W.3.6, other standards satisfied include SL.3.5, as students are using technology to clarify information in their presentations. SL.3.2 is also satisfied, because students are interpreting information using a diverse media format all to develop a coherent understanding of a topic (their novel or book). W.3.8 is also satisfied, as students will need help, support, and guidance with finding and downloading images for their trailers.
Science/Social Studies Lessons
The following sample lessons address CCSS ELA standards and teach lessons based on national standards in social studies and science.
ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS
Third grade classrooms across the country study interdependent relationships in ecosystems. The following activity has students create a set of weather and climate trading cards using Wixie. Students make at least one trading card for each season, which must include a typical weather condition for that season (monsoon—summer, blizzard—winter, tornado—spring, and hurricane—fall, etc.). Each card must include the definition of the weather event, as well as describe conditions that cause the event. Students must make one trading card for climate and one trading card for weather. Students must include the definition of weather and climate and information on how they differ. One trading card will also be made for the water cycle, including the name of each part of the cycle in the order they occur. When students have finished, they should have seven trading cards. They may make additional cards that might include other weather vocabulary students have been using. Students could also record themselves on the Wixie app, narrating their trading cards. If you prefer to use something a little more authentic, ReadWriteThink’s Trading Card app is a great alternative. Students follow the same procedure outlined earlier. This app allows trading cards to be printed and cut out and “traded” with students within the classroom or perhaps another classroom. With students getting to know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently, specifically with their research, this lesson satisfies RI.3.5. This activity also satisfies RL.3.8. Working on their trading cards, whether on Wixie or the trading card app, would then satisfy W.3.6. Interaction and collaborating with others will come later as students trade and discuss their trading cards. SL.3.2 is also satisfied with this activity. Even though students are not creating a story or poem, they are creating facts for their trading cards, specifically if they narrate their Wixie trading cards. Therefore, this activity would also satisfy SL.3.5.
IMPORTANT LEADERS
Another lesson that third grade classrooms across the country study focuses on important people (past and present) who helped shape our nation, state, and community. With your class, brainstorm a list of leaders. Stay away from obvious choices (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc.). Instead, steer students toward choices such as important Native Americans from your area, local community leaders, or national leaders, as students may not know much about Supreme Court justices, Secretary of State, etc.
Break your students into groups of four (if you have a group of three, that is fine). Name each table. For example, you may want to do something fun and name each table after a type of candy or popular destinations. This is an important component so students can keep track of the tables they have visited. From your groups, pick a table host. The table host will be the leader and does not move when the groups switch. The table host is also the person in charge of writing down the words, descriptions, and brief phrases the group brainstorms. Arrange desks/tables to accommodate the number of groups you have.
In the center of the area is an iPad. Using any of the mind-mapping sources we mentioned earlier, place a name in the center of the mind-map (making sure each group has a different name). Using the World Café Method (http://bit.ly/1WN4w0Y), students will have 5 to 20 minutes to brainstorm anything they know about the person in the center of their map. The timing and how much time you can devote to this activity is up to you, keeping in mind that students need to rotate to all groups.
At the end of the allotted time, the table host thanks the group and holds up the table picture as the teacher announces the groups switch. Students are reminded that they must go to every table and cannot repeat a table. The new group gets the allotted time to go over what the previous group wrote and brainstorm new ideas about the person, as the table host records their thoughts. This process is repeated until all groups have gone to all tables. Make sure the mind-map for each table is saved, as students will need to refer to these. Repeat this process another day, if you wish, with more names.
Next, students will select a leader from the original list (which you have modified if necessary) whom they would like to research and report on. You may want to review the techniques we outlined earlier for having students search on the internet, as well as using search engines.
Before students begin their note taking, you may wish to guide them with some essential questions to include in their research. For example: Who is this person?
How have they contributed to our community? What qualities makes this person an important member of our community?
Using tools such as Kids Click (www.kidsclick.org) or Google for Kids (www.safesearchkids.com), students can search for information they need to complete the assignment. Make sure they stop to consult reference materials for definitions or pronunciations of words they do not know. This lesson would very easily satisfy RI.3.5 and W.3.8; instructing students on how to take notes and then having them take notes on information gathered will be very helpful in writing their rough draft and eventually their project.
There are so many wonderful ways students can present their writing using technology. It is also important to mention that this project can definitely be differentiated for your classroom. Consider using Trading Cards, where students can write short text on cards and add pictures. Options requiring a little more text are Evernote, PowerPoint, Google Docs, or WikiSpaces. Students present key ideas from their research and import pictures to illustrate their points. iMovie, iMovie Trailer, Prezi, Wixie, or Pixie are other more in-depth ways for students to present what they have learned. Backgrounds and music can be added. Pictures can be scanned or imported to enhance their writing.
Students may need some guidance and support from adults to produce, publish, and share their writing projects; thus this activity also satisfies W.3.6. Depending on which tool the students choose to use for producing their work, both SL.3.2 and SL.3.5 may also be satisfied, as well as L3.4d.
Math Lessons
The following lesson ideas satisfy the math standard MP5.
AREA AND PERIMETER ACTIVITY
The third grade team at our former school had students involved in a unique math investigation for area and perimeter. Marilyn Burns, founder of Math Solutions (www.mathsolutions.com) and one of today’s most highly respected mathematics educators, originally designed this math activity, but we updated it to include technology. Students read the book Spaghetti and Meatballs for All. Or, you can find a link for the story online. The third grade teachers sent everyone a Google Doc with the task, directions, and story link. Students then used their tablets and earbuds to listen to the story. Afterwards, students received the following task.
There are 32 people coming to dinner. Other than the arrangement that Mrs. (insert any name here) designed, please arrange the seating in as many different ways as you can to seat 32 people. In other words, arrange the seating in ways that will have a perimeter of 32. You can use apps such as Pattern Shapes to drag tiles to form arrangements, or you can use grid paper or online grid paper (www.incompetech. com/graphpaper). You can change the area as much as you want. You can use more than eight tiles as long as each of your arrangements has a perimeter of 32. You can put as many tables together or keep as many separate, as you want, as long as the perimeter is 32.
Student directions are then to record each new way on the centimeter square grid paper. There are also links for interactive grid paper websites, where students can do their work. See the appendix or our website (http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv).
First students should highlight the key words and important information in the task. Next, they solve the problem on the centimeter grid paper. Students need to make sure they label their thinking, so that another person can follow along easily. Once a student has come up with as many arrangements as possible, have them choose one arrangement and explain (using Explain Everything) how they know the arrangement will work, using good math vocabulary (perimeter, area, square centimeters, etc.). This lesson covers the MP5 by using digital tools to enhance math learning. Even though students are not creating stories or poems, they are creating explanations for their seating arrangements and must be able to explain using the appropriate math vocabulary for this lesson. Therefore, this activity also satisfies SL.3.5. W.3.6 is satisfied as well, because students are using the app Explain Everything to produce and publish their mathematical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving for this task.
MULTIPLICATION STRATEGIES
The following lesson appeared in first grade and was also adapted for third grade, after a former colleague of ours heard about it. As third grade teachers begin to teach multiplication strategies, each student will make a page for the class multiplication ebook. Using your favorite media publishing tool (Wixie, eBook, iBook Author, etc.), students can pair up to write and illustrate their favorite multiplication strategy. There will be duplicates—that is OK, because every illustration and explanation is different. Students are encouraged to make their own drawings to go along with their strategy. However, they may need adult help to locate and download a picture (such as arrays or grids) from the internet.
Some suggestions for students are to:
• Show the problem in an array, a set that shows equal groups in rows and columns
• Show the problem in a grid
• Write the problem and use skip counting
• Write the problem and use repeated addition
Each page should include a heading for the strategy. As a class, making a table of contents as well as a glossary will help students learn and apply text features to math and thus satisfy RI.3.5. Finished books should be shared with the class, placed on a class ebook shelf, or shared with each student in their electronic math folder. Using this ebook at the beginning of the year as you introduce and work through the multiplication tables is a great way to help your students with their facts (especially the more difficult ones). Making a similar book with division strategies is an awesome way to ensure that your students are learning multiplication and division strategies all year. Students should also be encouraged, as they learn and/or find new strategies, to add them to the electronic addition and subtraction books. This activity satisfies W.3.6, to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers. Furthermore, SL.3.5 will be addressed, as students are adding their digital photos (visual displays) to descriptions of their addition or subtraction strategies. This would also cover the MP5 by using digital tools to enhance mathematical learning. Projecting the book as well as having a class discussion where students are answering questions about the material presented in the strategy book would satisfy SL.3.2.
A Final Note
It is clear that as students’ progress through the elementary grades, they are establishing their baseline of proficiency in technology. This will definitely enhance students’ experiences with technology in middle school and high school, as well as satisfy the CCSS performance standards at the 3–5 level. There are many great ideas in this chapter that you may be able to adapt to your class. You will find more resources online at our website (http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv), which may be helpful to you and could be useful for differentiation. Please go to our online site for updated information about this book. To see grades other than 3–5, look for our three additional titles in this series.
We realize that you will want to focus on your particular grade or subject when you are planning your lessons and implementing CCSS, so we have organized the practical ideas chapters by grade level, then subject. Each grade starts with an overview followed by ELA technology standards with accompanying apps, software, and websites that you can use to help your students succeed with that standard. We then continue with the math standard for the grade level, also with accompanying resources. Finally, we have included some sample lessons for each grade level in various subject areas. Although we intend for you to seek your specific grade and subject to help you implement CCSS for your students, please do not disregard other sections of this chapter. To see grades other than 3–5, look for our three additional titles in this collection, as they could provide information to help you differentiate for students at all levels of your class.
The CCSS expect third graders to use technology to enhance their literacy skills. The literacy standards place an emphasis on information gathering and publishing of student writing. Students should also use technology to practice math skills. This includes the use of digital math tools in the form of software programs, apps, or websites. We have pulled out the third grade standards that include technology and list them in this chapter. We also offer ideas and suggestions for which technologies to use and how to teach with them.
Research Ideas
RI.3.5 READING INFORMATION
Use text features and search tools (e.g., keywords, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently
W.3.8 WRITING
Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
WE HAVE COMBINED RI.3.5 WITH W.3.8 because search tools will also
be used when gathering information from digital sources. In third grade, students need to use search tools to find relevant information on the internet. They will need to be taught the features of webpages and how to navigate through them. Understanding the layout of webpages, such as the functions of sidebars and hyperlinks, is also necessary. The best way to do this is to show various webpages (using websites from your literacy or science standards will be a great way to integrate your curriculum with this technology standard), then model and explain what the features are and their functions by using an interactive whiteboard. Don’t have an interactive whiteboard? Check out a free site called RealtimeBoard (www.realtimeboard.com). All you need is a computer and a projector to run this virtual online whiteboard.
Teaching students which keywords to use and how to analyze search results will definitely help them find better sources and think more critically about any information they find on the internet. Following are some tips to help when teaching students to conduct a search.
• Choose your search terms carefully. Be precise about what you are looking for, though you should use phrases and not full sentences.
• Adding more words can narrow a search. Use Boolean searches to narrow your topic with quotation marks. There’s a big difference between the search term
“gopher” and “Habitats of gophers in North America.”
• Use synonyms! If students can’t find what they’re looking for, have them try keywords that mean the same thing or are related.
• Type “site:” Typing the word site: (with the colon) after your keyword and before a URL will tell Google to search within a specific website.
• Add a minus sign. Adding a minus sign immediately before any word, with no space in between, indicates that you don’t want that word to appear in your search results. For example, “Saturn -cars” will give you information about the planet, not the automobile.
Kid-Friendly Search Engines
Protecting students from unsafe content is the most important reason for using search engines made specifically for kids. Allowing your students to have the run of the web using a search engine for young students helps you, because it is difficult to monitor an entire class that is using unfiltered search engines.
Of course, there is no guarantee that results will be safe even when using a search engine tailored for children. Many districts have filters on their networks, but if yours does not, we suggest you explore the following.
SEARCH ENGINES
• Kids Click (www.kidsclick.org): A web search site designed for kids by librarians with kid-friendly results. This site is free and for Grades 2–5.
• Google for Kids (www.safesearchkids.com): Google for Kids Safe Search Kids is a custom search engine using Google’s Safe Search features with additional filtering to block more potentially harmful material than if you simply use Google. It is fun, colorful, and easy for kids to use.
• Google Kid Search (www.kidzsearch.com): This is another safe search engine powered by Google for Grades K–8. However, please be aware there are ads on this site.
• Yahoo for Kids (http://tinyurl.com/nqn4p39): Yahooligans is a safe search engine for young students (K–2) picked by editors at Yahoo.
• Ask Kids (www.ask.com): This is a free, filtered search engine for Grades K–6.
Using programs such as PebbleGo (www.pebblego.com) (must be purchased) is a great online source for PK–3 students to find easy-to-read informational text that includes citation support, videos, and audio recordings, as well as games and activities on many science topics that are typically used at this level. Although you also need to pay for it, Power Knowledge (www.pkearthandspace.com and www. pklifescience.com) is another program that can be used with your third grade science topics to find easy-reading science resources.
Tried and true methods for note taking and categorizing information found in books can still be used to gather and record information on websites. Teaching students to use data sheets, note cards, and KWL (Know, What, Learn) techniques still works; however, there are now ways that technology can make this easier. The Kentucky Virtual Library (http://tinyurl.com/ptnwz4) is a great website to use as a resource for some of these techniques.
Mind-mapping tools will help your students organize their research when gathering information. Several wonderful software programs have been used for mind-mapping for many years. However, there are also free sites out there. Following are some digital tools you can use to teach note taking and categorizing.
NOTE-TAKING TOOLS
• Kidspiration (http://tinyurl.com/dg2cxa): A mind-mapping software program that helps students organize their writing. It can be especially helpful for students who are learning to create paragraphs and organize big ideas into their smaller parts. $40 to $640. Their web-based version is called Webspiration (http://tinyurl.com/bmop3nh) and costs $6/month.
• Bubbl.us (www.bubbl.us): This is a free (with limited use) mind-mapping website for Grades K–12. It can be shared by multiple students at a time and comes with an app. For more options, purchase a package for $6/month or $59/year. Both come with a 30-day free trial. Site licensing is available. Contact the company for specifics.
• Mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com/education): This is a free, basic, mindmapping website for Grades 2–12. Upgrades are available ($18/month for a single user; $30 per user for 6 months). Educational pricing is available for schools and universities ($6 per user for 6 months). All of the upgrades have a free trial period.
• FreeMind (http://tinyurl.com/5qrd5): This is a free mind-mapping tool for Grades 2–12. However, FreeMind is written in Java and will run on almost any system with a Java runtime environment. Options for a basic or maximum install are available.
• Evernote (www.evernote.com): This is a free app that allows you to import a worksheet, document, or picture, including a snapshot of a webpage, and then annotate it using tools that you would use with interactive whiteboard software. It lets you highlight words, cut and paste, and add sticky notes. It also allows you to use voice recognition. You can then send your annotated sheet to someone else.
Of course, students can also use word processing tools, such as Microsoft Office
(www.office.com), Pages (www.apple.com/mac/pages), or Google Docs (www. google.com/docs/about). Some teachers also make digital templates to help students find specific information and to help students organize their notes.
Third graders will also need to provide a list of sources. You could make a template for sources and have students fill it in using a word processing program; however, there are websites students can use, such as Easybib (www.easybib.com). Easybib is a free website and app for ages 5–12. You can use this site to generate citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats easily. Just copy and paste or scan the book’s barcode. Students can also cite a list of sources on their own by including URL, publisher or author, topic/title, and date a website was published. If the date published is not available, they should note the date retrieved from the internet.
Writing Resources
W.3.6 WRITING
With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
MICROSOFT POWERPOINT (OFFICE.COM) IS OFTEN the presentation tool of choice—even with young students—when using technology to produce and publish writing in a collaborative way. While this is still a great program, other presentation tools have emerged. Apple offers Keynote (www.apple.com/mac/keynote) as part of its software package. Its features are similar to PowerPoint. Another program that has emerged is Google Slides (www.google.com/slides/about). It is aimed toward business presentations; however, it is free and web-based. Google Slides make it easy to share a project that multiple users can work on at once, which makes this an especially great program to use when interacting and collaborating remotely. You can also add audio recordings to your slides, as well as visual displays such as pictures and short video clips. These can be used to enhance the development of the main ideas or theme of your presentations. Some apps can be used when beginning to produce writing.
PRESENTATION APPS
• Toontastic (www.launchpadtoys.com): Students use visuals to tell stories that they can collaborate on and share with others. The app Toontastic Jr. is free with a few backgrounds. Upgrade for $9.99 or purchase a classroom set, discounted depending on the number of students.
• iMovie (www.apple.com/ios/imovie/): This app ($4.99), which also comes as a program, has many uses in the classroom to create full edited videos or short 1-minute trailers. The trailers can be very useful for recounting and presenting ideas to others.
• Animoto (www.animoto.com): This website allows you to turn your photos and music into stunning video slideshows. Educational use is free for unlimited videos of 20 minutes.
• Explain Everything (www.explaineverything.com): This $2.99 app uses text, video, pictures, and voice to present whatever your students are asked to create. They can illustrate a story or poem or recount information they hear.
• StoryBuddy 2 (www.tapfuze.com/storybuddy2/): This app is easier to use than Explain Everything, but not as versatile. You can use it to create stories with pictures that can be recorded, printed, and read aloud. The price is $3.99.
• Puppet Pals (http://tinyurl.com/qbgaks2): This app allows students to create a puppet production using familiar characters to tell or retell a story. It is free, but for $2.99, you can get all the add-ons.
• Sock Puppets (http://tinyurl.com/luznt6n): This free app allows you to create a play with sock puppets, recording your student’s voice and automatically syncing it to the puppet. $1.99 gets all the extras.
• Scene Speak (http://tinyurl.com/qg55sej): Use it to create visual scene displays and “interactive” social stories. It allows images to be edited and scenes to be linked to create “books” by theme or area of interest. The app is $9.99.
Presenting digitally is not limited to sharing with small or whole groups in the classroom. Many websites out there allow you to publish student writing to the world. Using blogging websites, such as Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) and Wikispaces (www.wikispaces.com), is a way to share student writing in a safe, protected environment. Both Edmodo and Wikispaces allow teachers to set themselves up as administrators and add students to different groups. All of the students’ writing is kept secure in these groups. You can give them assignments asking for short answers that everyone can respond to, or you can ask students to write longer pieces on their own and then submit privately to you or post writing on the site to share.
There are good software programs and sites that let you create books in print and ebook formats. There are also sites that ask students to submit their work for possible publication. The following resources are just a few of our favorites.
PUBLICATION APPS
• PBS Kids Writing (pbskids.org/writerscontest/): This site asks for student writing and serves as a nice incentive to get students to do their best writing. Free.
• Lulu (www.lulu.com) and Lulu Jr (www.lulujr.com): These sites allow you to create real books and publish them online. Parents can purchase the books as a keepsake. The site is free to use, but there is a fee to publish.
• TikaTok (www.tikatok.com): This is another site that allows students to write, create, and publish stories as ebooks or hardcover books. TikaTok Story Spark is an app that you can purchase for $3. Classroom price for TikaTok starts at $19 a year.
• Poetry Idea Engine from Scholastic (http://tinyurl.com/2cuowf): Allows you to use templates to make different forms of poetry, another great way technology gets kids writing. Better still, it is free!
Just when you should teach keyboarding is a decades-old debate. Some teachers want students to begin formalized keyboarding as young as kindergarten. Others don’t believe students’ hands are developmentally ready until third grade. By fourth grade, students are expected to type a page in one sitting. Therefore, whether you think children’s hands are ready or not, formalized keyboarding will have to begin in the primary grades. There are many keyboarding programs you can buy. Following are some tried and true programs that we have used.
• Mavis Beacon Keyboarding Kidz (http://tinyurl.com/254v9on): Set words-perminute goals; see what keys you need to practice and what keys you know well. Play games to practice what you’ve learned and to improve your speed and accuracy to become a typing pro. ($19.99)
• Type to Learn (www.ttl4.sunburst.com): This typing program, for Grades K–12, emphasizes both accuracy and words per minute speed, and provides each student with individualized remediation and goals for success. Consult the website for various pricing options and to request a quote.
• Typing Training (www.typingtraining.com): This web-based program with apps (for Grades 3–12) allows access from any computer or handheld device. Animated coaches are available with a customizable curriculum. Students can play games or choose from more than 2,500 unique exercises while tracking progress with detailed reports and graphs. Consult the website for various options and to request a quote.
Paying for a good typing program is worth the expense. A quality program keeps track of student progress and their levels of accomplishment. If you can’t buy a program, there are many free sites that offer some instruction and games.
• Dance Mat Typing (bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr): This free website by BBC schools teaches typing for younger students.
• TypingWeb (www.typing.com): This site has ads, but it does keep track of student progress with typing skills and allows reports. Free.
• TypeRacer (play.typeracer.com): Free website where you can race opponents by typing words in paragraph form. For experienced typists to bone up on accuracy and typing speed. There are ads.
Some districts have students go to computer labs to practice keyboarding at given times, others fit it in where they can in the classroom, and still others have students practice and learn at home. We have found that the best way is to combine all three. Students benefit from formal keyboarding instruction, but they need to practice both in the classroom and at home. When students are working at the computers in your classroom, they need repeated reminders to keep up good techniques such as sitting up straight, keeping hands in home row, wrists slightly curved, and moving the fingers instead of the hands.
Speaking and Listening
SL.3.2 SPEAKING AND LISTENING
Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
SL.3.5 SPEAKING AND LISTENING
Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
THE TEACHER, STUDENTS, OR EVEN SOME programs can read text
aloud. Sites such as Follett Shelf (http://tinyurl.com/) and TumbleBooks (www.tumblebooks.com) (must be purchased) allow you to have access to multiple ebooks, which include fiction as well as non-fiction. You can also check out many ebooks at your local library or purchase them from booksellers, such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble (especially if you have e-readers). There are also some free ebooks available.
Project Gutenberg (http://gutenberg.org/), FreeReadFeed (www.freereadfeed.com), or FreeBookSifter (www.freebooksifter.com) is a possibility. There are adult titles on these sites, too, so choose carefully. Though, of course, the sites that you pay for give you a much better selection.
Using ebooks or a website with your interactive whiteboard (or free whiteboard sites) allows interaction when modeling or for student engagement. Informational text works especially well with standard SL.3.2; however, fictional pieces can also be used. Working with the teacher or on their own, students need to understand the main idea of text and to state supporting details. Using ebooks with your interactive whiteboard tools (highlighting main ideas and supporting details or cutting and pasting) will allow you to work with the class as a whole or a small group to help them understand the main idea. Students can then work alone or with a partner on a tablet or laptop to do the same thing that you have modeled.
Software programs can also be used to help extend thinking and learning with mind-mapping programs.
APPS TO SUPPORT MAIN IDEA
• Kidspiration (http://tinyurl.com/dg2cxa): A mind-mapping software program that helps students organize their writing. It can be especially helpful for students who are learning to create paragraphs and organize big ideas into their smaller parts. $40 to $640. Their web-based version is called Webspiration (http://tinyurl.com/bmop3nh). $6/month.
• Popplet (www.popplet.com): A wonderful online organizational tool for students’ writing. A free app called Popplet Lite is also available. It is easy to use, and students can import pictures and text to create web maps.
• Bubbl.us (www.bubbl.us): This is a free (with limited use) mind-mapping website for Grades K–12. It can be shared by multiple students at a time and comes with an accompanying app. For more options, purchase a package for $6/month or $59/year. Both come with a 30-day free trial. Site licensing is available. Contact the company for specifics.
• Mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com/education): This is a free, basic mindmapping website for Grades 2–12. Upgrades are available ($18/month for a single user; $30 per user for 6 months). Educational pricing is available for schools and universities ($6 per user for 6 months). All of the upgrades have a free trial period.
• FreeMind (http://tinyurl.com/5qrd5): This is a free mind-mapping tool for Grades 2–12. However, FreeMind is written in Java and will run on almost any system with a Java runtime environment. Options for a basic or maximum install are available.
• iFunFace (www.ifunface.com): Students can create a read aloud to show how the main idea and details flow by using a photo and audio recording to create an animation. It helps students visualize how to support details that branch off from the main ideas and how they all flow together. App is free but can be upgraded for $1.99.
• Puppet Pals (http://tinyurl.com/qbgaks2): This app allows students to create a puppet production using familiar characters to tell or retell a story. It is free, but for $2.99 you can get all the add-ons.
Creating audio recordings and ebooks is a powerful and engaging way to demonstrate and perform fluid and accurate readings and satisfy SL3.5. Students can create their own audio recordings of stories or poems. You can use these recordings to check for fluency all year long.
Scanning finished book pages into Microsoft PowerPoint (www.office.com), Keynote (www.apple.com/mac/keynote), or Google Slides (www.google.com/slides/ about) programs allow you to make ebooks for your classroom. Keynote allows you to speak directly into the program, and then easily stores ebooks for all students. Options include controlling the speed of page advancement, recording narration, adding action buttons, adjusting mouse-over and mouse-click actions, incorporating preset animation, and setting page transition effects.
SITES TO SUPPORT FLUENCY
• Cast UDL Bookbuilder (http://bookbuilder.cast.org): This is a free site, which allows students to create and share their own eBooks online. You can also read what other students have written.
• Prezi (www.prezi.com): You can sign up for a free educational account, and your students can create and share presentations online. Prezi has mind-mapping, zoom, and motion and can import files. Presentations can be downloaded. A Prezi viewer app is available.
• Evernote (www.evernote.com): This is a free app that allows you to import a worksheet, document, or picture, including a snapshot of a webpage, and then annotate it using tools that you would use with interactive whiteboard software. It lets you highlight words, cut and paste, and add sticky notes. It also allows you to use voice recognition. You can then send your annotated sheet to someone else.
• WebQuests (www.webquest.org): These are good tools to use for presentations. WebQuest is a website that allows students to follow an already-created, project-based lesson where information is found solely on the internet. You can also create their own WebQuest if you have a website-building program or a website like Kafafa (www.kafafa.com/kafafa). WebQuest.org is the original and most popular site; however, if you search the internet, you will find more sites that you can use.
Language Resources
L.3.4d LANGUAGE
Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
MERRIAM-WEBSTER (MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM), still the most commonly used dictionary, has a free and kid-friendly digital dictionary called Kids.
Wordsmyth (https://kids.wordsmyth.net/we). Wordsmyth (www.wordsmyth.net) is another good third grade option. Little Explorers (http://tinyurl.com/2swjc) from Enchanted Learning is a limited picture dictionary that comes with a subscription. This is a good tool to use with students who struggle with vocabulary. While digital dictionaries are not updated as often as encyclopedias, they are convenient. These sites should be bookmarked or put on your website for easy access. The more students use them, the more comfortable they will become. You should plan lessons and activities to help students learn and practice the skills needed to use an online dictionary, just as you would when using hard-copy dictionaries and glossaries.
A lesson plan idea when using electronic dictionaries is to look up difficult vocabulary words in a piece of informational text. You could give students a website (preferably on a standards topic from literacy or science) and ask them to write down all of the words they don’t know. They can use an electronic dictionary to find the definitions to these words. They then reread the passage, and, with success, will come away with a better understanding of its content.
Using the app or website Trading Cards (http://tinyurl.com/8lqftek) is a great way to document vocabulary words by adding definitions, a picture, and recordings of pronunciations. You can also use Trading Cards as part of a fun activity that uses an online thesaurus. Simply give students a word on a trading card and then ask them to make as many trading cards as they can of synonyms and antonyms of that word. They can print these out and trade them with others or make them into a digital book.
Math Resources
THERE ARE TWO MAIN SETS OF STANDARDS—processes and practices— in the Common Core Math standards. First, you have the math targets, written similarly to ELA (Operations & Algebraic Thinking; Number & Operation in Base Ten; Numbers & Operations—Fractions; Measurement & Data; and Geometry).
While you work with third grade students on mathematical processes, Operations & Algebraic Thinking, you need to teach your students how to apply the Standards for Mathematical Practices (which include problem solving and precision), to those processes. One practice, the only one that includes technology, is mathematical practice 5, “Use appropriate tools strategically.”
Below is the explanation CCSS provides for MP5. As this is the standard explanation for Grades K–12, it does include references to higher grades.
Mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem. These tools might include pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator, a spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic geometry software. Proficient students are sufficiently familiar with tools appropriate for their grade or course to make sound decisions about when each of these tools might be helpful, recognizing both the insight to be gained and their limitations. For example, mathematically proficient high school students analyze graphs of functions and solutions generated using a graphing calculator. They detect possible errors by strategically using estimation and other mathematical knowledge. When making mathematical models, they know that technology can enable them to visualize the results of varying assumptions, explore consequences, and compare predictions with data. Mathematically proficient students at various grade levels are able to identify relevant external mathematical resources, such as digital content located on a website, and use them to pose or solve problems. They are able to use technological tools to explore and deepen their understanding of concepts.
Because this description did not give examples for all grades, we have provided a list of appropriate apps, websites, software, and lessons that will help translate this standard for third grade.
Your students will be using technology as a tool to help them become better at math. That is essentially what this math standard, the only one that explicitly includes technology, states. Many math programs, websites, and apps allow students to explore and deepen their understanding of math concepts. The best of them have students learning in creative ways and are not just electronic worksheets. They automatically adapt to the students’ skill levels, and they give you the data you need to know where they are in their learning and what students need to effectively continue. Of course, these usually do not come free. Following are many good math resources. Some are free; some are not. The free resources, many with ads, are unfortunately usually less interesting to your students and not as well organized. They don’t give you the feedback you need. It is up to you to decide what is best for your circumstances and budget.
Following are some resources we recommend for teaching to the third grade math standards.
WEBSITES FOR MATH
• ScootPad (www.scootpad.com): This is a web-based math site that is customizable for individual students. It adapts to the student and keeps the teacher in the loop with multiple reports. It is completely aligned to the CCSS. The price for a class varies from $5 to $20/month.
• DreamBox Learning Math (www.dreambox.com): Individualized, adaptive game-based math resource that keeps kids coming back for more. Available online or through an app. Price is $12.95/month (home) or $25/month (school), less if packaged.
• Explain Everything (www.explaineverything.com): This $2.99 app uses text, video, pictures, and voice to present whatever you ask students to create.
• IXL (www.ixl.com/math/): This online site features adaptive individualized math through gameplay including data and graphing problems. This gives students immediate feedback and covers many skills, despite its emphasis on drills. Levels range from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Class price is $199/year.
• Starfall (www.starfall.com): This free website has a few clever activities for early literacy and math exploration, but the pay site More.Starfall has a full range of activities with a price of $70 to $270/year.
• XtraMath (www.xtramath.org): A free site that lets you practice math facts. It keeps track of student progress, it’s easy to pick what you want your students to work on, and it’s easy for kids to use it independently.
• PrimaryGames (www.primarygames.com/math.php), Coolmath-Games (www. coolmath-games.com), SoftSchools (www.softschools.com), and Sheppard Software (http://tinyurl.com/ccrxoa) are among several sites that have free math games covering all math topics at each grade level. However, they have ads, are not able to keep track of a student’s success rate, and are not generally self-adaptive to the student’s own skill level.
APPS FOR MATH
• Math Blaster HyperBlast (http://tinyurl.com/q3ff7vg): The classic game many teachers used when they were students is now updated. Cost is $0.99 to $1.99.
• Pet Bingo (http://tinyurl.com/nceqqko): This app is adaptable to individual’s level and will have students practicing math facts, measurement, and geometry while enjoying it with their very own pet. There is progress monitoring. Price for the app $1.99.
• Geoboard (http://tinyurl.com/kzyxjv7): This app is the digital recreation of a geoboard. The app is simple to use, and the geometry activities are openended and endless. The app is free.
• Pattern Shapes (http://tinyurl.com/nbl5osu): Exploring geometry is what this free website is all about. Students can drag shapes to learn area, symmetry, fractions, and much more. Write equations and line of symmetry right on the screen. There is also an app, which is free.
• Swipea Tangram Puzzles for Kids (http://tinyurl.com/nsnoazj): This is a digital version of tangrams where students can manipulate, flip, and rotate shapes to create different pictures. App is free. Full upgrade is $0.99.
• Thinking Blocks (http://tinyurl.com/3c6eoa): This is a free website with manipulatives that lets students model, solve word problems, and practice with fractions.
There are many sites that allow you to use mathematical tools, such as a graphing calculator. Another option is to use software that comes with your whiteboard, which typically has all sorts of math tools built in, such as protractors, rulers, and grids.
WEBSITES FOR GRAPHING
• SoftSchools: (www.softschools.com): This is one of several sites that have free math games that cover all math topics at each grade, but they have ads, are not able to keep track of a student’s success rate, and are not generally selfadaptive to the student’s own skill level.
• IXL (www.ixl.com/math): This online site features adaptive individualized math through gameplay including data and graphing problems. This gives students immediate feedback and covers many skills, despite its emphasis on drills. Levels from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Class price is $199/year.
• ClassTools (ClassTools.net): A free site you can use to make graphs and charts.
• Create-a-Graph (http://tinyurl.com/yoedjn): Create bar, line, area, pie, and XY graphs with this free website. Easy to use, and you can print, save, or email your completed graphs.
• RealtimeBoard (www.realtimeboard.com): This endless whiteboard allows you to enhance your classroom lessons, create school projects, work collaboratively with team members, and so much more. There is a free education version, when you use a school email address. Upgrades are also available.
APPS FOR GRAPHING
• The Graph Club 2.0 (http://bit.ly/1nmvNe6): This program really helps students visualize how charts and graphs compare, and it’s extremely easy to use. The program includes ready-made activities in all subject areas, including rubrics and sample graphs. District purchasing is available. Contact a representative on the site for specific prices.
• Gliffy (www.gliffy.com): Create professional-quality flowcharts, wireframes, diagrams, and more. Free for limited use. Upgrades available for a fee.
Many studies in recent years have shown how math games can increase student learning. In addition, a survey (http://tinyurl.com/pqms3nj) released in late summer 2014 from the Games and Learning Publishing Council indicates that the use of digital games in the classroom is becoming more popular with teachers. According to the survey, 55% of teachers who responded have students play digital games in their classroom weekly.
With this in mind, pick a math unit of study. You may wish to first research a math topic and find videos to show as an introduction. Videos from BrainPOP (www. brainpop.com), Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), and SchoolTube (www. schooltube.com) are just a few good sources we have found. These videos are also a great resource for guided math stations or learning centers in your classroom. See our website (http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv).
Literacy Lessons
Cross-curriculum planning is encouraged with the common core by using ELA standards in history, science, and technical subjects. Getting through all of the standards you need in third grade is very difficult in the time given. The key to planning with the CCSS is to teach multiple standards in one lesson, when you can. We hope that the following list of a few sample lessons for third grade will inspire you to become an effective technology lesson planner.
QR CODE ACTIVITY
Scan and/or take pictures from nonfiction books that focus on a subject you are studying in social studies or science. Pictures can be mounted on a large piece of construction paper. Link the poster through a QR code reader like i-nigma Reader (www.i-nigma.com/i-nigmahp.html) or QR Code Generator (www.qr-code-generator. com) to a web-based document that contains facts about the concepts that go with each picture. This primarily satisfies W.3.6, “with guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing. . . .” This also satisfies SL.3.2, which determines the main ideas and supporting details in writing using diverse media formats. In addition, if you have students use these posters to review new information in a unit, it satisfies W.3.8, to “gather information from print and digital sources.”
IMOVIE TRAILER
Coaches in our former building worked with third grade teachers to help with this lesson, because a little prep is needed before you begin. Start with a Google search for student iMovie Trailer examples. There are some good examples on YouTube. However, you will want to preview these iMovie Trailers before showing them to your students. Begin the lesson with a discussion about the last movie trailers students have seen. Continue by discussing what makes a good trailer. For example, they capture the interest of the audience, they do not reveal the ending, and their music reflects the mood of the movie. After viewing several examples, allow students to discuss what made those trailers interesting for them.
Next, talk about important literary elements and how these elements can be included in a movie trailer. Elements include the following.
• Readable text
• Clear recordings
• Interesting, clear images
• Timing of images
• Concise language
• Music that reflects the mood
• Narration that is louder than the background music
• Enough detail to be interesting but not enough to give away the ending
• A question or scene at the end that makes the audience want to read the book
Third grade teachers we worked with chose to do this project with a book they were reading in class. However, you can also have students use a self-selected book they are reading independently, because movie trailers make an excellent alternative to book reports. Let the students know your expectations for the completed project. For example, have students:
• Introduce the book: Include the title, the author’s name, and the genre.
• Tell about the book: Introduce the main characters and action. Don’t try to tell every detail.
• Tell about a favorite part of the book or make a connection: Persuade the audience to read the book and leave them wanting to know more. For example, explain what the main character has to overcome, but don’t tell whether he/she is successful.
• Give a recommendation: Provide closure for the book trailer. This helps match the perfect reader for the book.
• Keep it short and sweet.
If students work together collaboratively, W.3.6 will be satisfied, using technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing. In the beginning, you may find your students need to plan and organize for their trailer. Apple’s iMovie for Mac site (see our website, http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv) has more than 29 free templates to help students work through their trailers. Students may need adult supervision and help when the time comes to scan, upload, or download pictures for their trailer. Certainly, students can provide their own illustrations and graphics, either by hand or digitally using any graphic art program (such as Microsoft Draw or Google Draw). If their book has pictures, students can scan and use them for trailers. Or, students can also search the internet to find pictures to use. Once all trailers are complete, students can share their iMovie Trailers with the class.
Finished projects can also be saved to the class ebook shelf for students to explore throughout the year. In addition to W.3.6, other standards satisfied include SL.3.5, as students are using technology to clarify information in their presentations. SL.3.2 is also satisfied, because students are interpreting information using a diverse media format all to develop a coherent understanding of a topic (their novel or book). W.3.8 is also satisfied, as students will need help, support, and guidance with finding and downloading images for their trailers.
Science/Social Studies Lessons
The following sample lessons address CCSS ELA standards and teach lessons based on national standards in social studies and science.
ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS
Third grade classrooms across the country study interdependent relationships in ecosystems. The following activity has students create a set of weather and climate trading cards using Wixie. Students make at least one trading card for each season, which must include a typical weather condition for that season (monsoon—summer, blizzard—winter, tornado—spring, and hurricane—fall, etc.). Each card must include the definition of the weather event, as well as describe conditions that cause the event. Students must make one trading card for climate and one trading card for weather. Students must include the definition of weather and climate and information on how they differ. One trading card will also be made for the water cycle, including the name of each part of the cycle in the order they occur. When students have finished, they should have seven trading cards. They may make additional cards that might include other weather vocabulary students have been using. Students could also record themselves on the Wixie app, narrating their trading cards. If you prefer to use something a little more authentic, ReadWriteThink’s Trading Card app is a great alternative. Students follow the same procedure outlined earlier. This app allows trading cards to be printed and cut out and “traded” with students within the classroom or perhaps another classroom. With students getting to know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently, specifically with their research, this lesson satisfies RI.3.5. This activity also satisfies RL.3.8. Working on their trading cards, whether on Wixie or the trading card app, would then satisfy W.3.6. Interaction and collaborating with others will come later as students trade and discuss their trading cards. SL.3.2 is also satisfied with this activity. Even though students are not creating a story or poem, they are creating facts for their trading cards, specifically if they narrate their Wixie trading cards. Therefore, this activity would also satisfy SL.3.5.
IMPORTANT LEADERS
Another lesson that third grade classrooms across the country study focuses on important people (past and present) who helped shape our nation, state, and community. With your class, brainstorm a list of leaders. Stay away from obvious choices (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc.). Instead, steer students toward choices such as important Native Americans from your area, local community leaders, or national leaders, as students may not know much about Supreme Court justices, Secretary of State, etc.
Break your students into groups of four (if you have a group of three, that is fine). Name each table. For example, you may want to do something fun and name each table after a type of candy or popular destinations. This is an important component so students can keep track of the tables they have visited. From your groups, pick a table host. The table host will be the leader and does not move when the groups switch. The table host is also the person in charge of writing down the words, descriptions, and brief phrases the group brainstorms. Arrange desks/tables to accommodate the number of groups you have.
In the center of the area is an iPad. Using any of the mind-mapping sources we mentioned earlier, place a name in the center of the mind-map (making sure each group has a different name). Using the World Café Method (http://bit.ly/1WN4w0Y), students will have 5 to 20 minutes to brainstorm anything they know about the person in the center of their map. The timing and how much time you can devote to this activity is up to you, keeping in mind that students need to rotate to all groups.
At the end of the allotted time, the table host thanks the group and holds up the table picture as the teacher announces the groups switch. Students are reminded that they must go to every table and cannot repeat a table. The new group gets the allotted time to go over what the previous group wrote and brainstorm new ideas about the person, as the table host records their thoughts. This process is repeated until all groups have gone to all tables. Make sure the mind-map for each table is saved, as students will need to refer to these. Repeat this process another day, if you wish, with more names.
Next, students will select a leader from the original list (which you have modified if necessary) whom they would like to research and report on. You may want to review the techniques we outlined earlier for having students search on the internet, as well as using search engines.
Before students begin their note taking, you may wish to guide them with some essential questions to include in their research. For example: Who is this person?
How have they contributed to our community? What qualities makes this person an important member of our community?
Using tools such as Kids Click (www.kidsclick.org) or Google for Kids (www.safesearchkids.com), students can search for information they need to complete the assignment. Make sure they stop to consult reference materials for definitions or pronunciations of words they do not know. This lesson would very easily satisfy RI.3.5 and W.3.8; instructing students on how to take notes and then having them take notes on information gathered will be very helpful in writing their rough draft and eventually their project.
There are so many wonderful ways students can present their writing using technology. It is also important to mention that this project can definitely be differentiated for your classroom. Consider using Trading Cards, where students can write short text on cards and add pictures. Options requiring a little more text are Evernote, PowerPoint, Google Docs, or WikiSpaces. Students present key ideas from their research and import pictures to illustrate their points. iMovie, iMovie Trailer, Prezi, Wixie, or Pixie are other more in-depth ways for students to present what they have learned. Backgrounds and music can be added. Pictures can be scanned or imported to enhance their writing.
Students may need some guidance and support from adults to produce, publish, and share their writing projects; thus this activity also satisfies W.3.6. Depending on which tool the students choose to use for producing their work, both SL.3.2 and SL.3.5 may also be satisfied, as well as L3.4d.
Math Lessons
The following lesson ideas satisfy the math standard MP5.
AREA AND PERIMETER ACTIVITY
The third grade team at our former school had students involved in a unique math investigation for area and perimeter. Marilyn Burns, founder of Math Solutions (www.mathsolutions.com) and one of today’s most highly respected mathematics educators, originally designed this math activity, but we updated it to include technology. Students read the book Spaghetti and Meatballs for All. Or, you can find a link for the story online. The third grade teachers sent everyone a Google Doc with the task, directions, and story link. Students then used their tablets and earbuds to listen to the story. Afterwards, students received the following task.
There are 32 people coming to dinner. Other than the arrangement that Mrs. (insert any name here) designed, please arrange the seating in as many different ways as you can to seat 32 people. In other words, arrange the seating in ways that will have a perimeter of 32. You can use apps such as Pattern Shapes to drag tiles to form arrangements, or you can use grid paper or online grid paper (www.incompetech. com/graphpaper). You can change the area as much as you want. You can use more than eight tiles as long as each of your arrangements has a perimeter of 32. You can put as many tables together or keep as many separate, as you want, as long as the perimeter is 32.
Student directions are then to record each new way on the centimeter square grid paper. There are also links for interactive grid paper websites, where students can do their work. See the appendix or our website (http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv).
First students should highlight the key words and important information in the task. Next, they solve the problem on the centimeter grid paper. Students need to make sure they label their thinking, so that another person can follow along easily. Once a student has come up with as many arrangements as possible, have them choose one arrangement and explain (using Explain Everything) how they know the arrangement will work, using good math vocabulary (perimeter, area, square centimeters, etc.). This lesson covers the MP5 by using digital tools to enhance math learning. Even though students are not creating stories or poems, they are creating explanations for their seating arrangements and must be able to explain using the appropriate math vocabulary for this lesson. Therefore, this activity also satisfies SL.3.5. W.3.6 is satisfied as well, because students are using the app Explain Everything to produce and publish their mathematical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving for this task.
MULTIPLICATION STRATEGIES
The following lesson appeared in first grade and was also adapted for third grade, after a former colleague of ours heard about it. As third grade teachers begin to teach multiplication strategies, each student will make a page for the class multiplication ebook. Using your favorite media publishing tool (Wixie, eBook, iBook Author, etc.), students can pair up to write and illustrate their favorite multiplication strategy. There will be duplicates—that is OK, because every illustration and explanation is different. Students are encouraged to make their own drawings to go along with their strategy. However, they may need adult help to locate and download a picture (such as arrays or grids) from the internet.
Some suggestions for students are to:
• Show the problem in an array, a set that shows equal groups in rows and columns
• Show the problem in a grid
• Write the problem and use skip counting
• Write the problem and use repeated addition
Each page should include a heading for the strategy. As a class, making a table of contents as well as a glossary will help students learn and apply text features to math and thus satisfy RI.3.5. Finished books should be shared with the class, placed on a class ebook shelf, or shared with each student in their electronic math folder. Using this ebook at the beginning of the year as you introduce and work through the multiplication tables is a great way to help your students with their facts (especially the more difficult ones). Making a similar book with division strategies is an awesome way to ensure that your students are learning multiplication and division strategies all year. Students should also be encouraged, as they learn and/or find new strategies, to add them to the electronic addition and subtraction books. This activity satisfies W.3.6, to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers. Furthermore, SL.3.5 will be addressed, as students are adding their digital photos (visual displays) to descriptions of their addition or subtraction strategies. This would also cover the MP5 by using digital tools to enhance mathematical learning. Projecting the book as well as having a class discussion where students are answering questions about the material presented in the strategy book would satisfy SL.3.2.
A Final Note
It is clear that as students’ progress through the elementary grades, they are establishing their baseline of proficiency in technology. This will definitely enhance students’ experiences with technology in middle school and high school, as well as satisfy the CCSS performance standards at the 3–5 level. There are many great ideas in this chapter that you may be able to adapt to your class. You will find more resources online at our website (http://tinyurl.com/oexfhcv), which may be helpful to you and could be useful for differentiation. Please go to our online site for updated information about this book. To see grades other than 3–5, look for our three additional titles in this series.
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Meeting Common Core Technology Standards : Strategies for Grades 3-5
Published by
International Society for Technology in Education, 2016
ISBN 10: 1564843696
ISBN 13: 9781564843692
Used
Softcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 16551339-6