Technology will not replace great teachers but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational.
-George
Couros-
Generative Questions:
How can teacher design their
own materials?
How can readwritethink.com
and puzzlemaker.com help a language teacher?
Hello everybody, this week we had the opportunity to analyze two important technological tools. While it is true, there are not many similarities between them; it is also true that both are very useful for teaching.
First of all, let us to start with Reaswritethink.com.
Readwritethink.com
We can mention that this tool is an amazing online
graphic organizer tool that has countless graphic organizers to help learners
enhance their writing and reading skills. On top of that, this website is used
to help students plan persuasive essays, write biographies, and create
timelines, among others. Furthermore, the website is very user friendly and
produces quality online products that students can feel proud of. I often find
that it is difficult for elementary aged students to get started with writing
projects. For instance, we can see this project. A student created a timeline
in order to do a sequence.
Interesting, right!
Moving on to our next point,
it is no secret that often students have a general idea of what they want to
say, but getting started and organizing their thoughts can be the most
challenging part. I strongly feel that with ReadWriteThink.org, students
can use the online graphic organizers to alleviate these initial stresses.
Instead of a three-sentence paragraph about why cats are the best animal,
students are creating five paragraph essays, with a thesis and supporting their
arguments. It is important to mention that learners have the visual aid to
guide them.ReadWriteThink.org also has lesson plans available for teachers and
ideas for how to use the site in your classroom.
A problem that is often
debated nowadays is related to education system; to many teachers, finding the best option
to develop students ‘skills is a difficult task. Bearing this in mind, I
decided to take the comment from one teacher in order to understand this tool a
little more. The professor said that: “Our current Writing Unit focuses on
expository writing. I am working with my students on how to create and support
a thesis. We are just working on the introduction right now, but I love this
persuasion map on ReadWriteThink.com.” Definitely, he decided to explore new techniques with the purpose of teaching. Great!
Incidentally, we must not forget that
with this graphic organizer learners are able to easily organize and visualize
their thoughts. One important point is that the map is already laid out for
them in a manner that is easy for them to understand. Besides another really
great thing about this website is that it lets pupils to share their work through
email. Learners can comment on each other's work and even send their work to
their parents. Undoubtedly, the site is very friendly.
In this video, we can comprehend how this tool works!
This is my Timeline about a daily routine. Toi be honest, I really enjoyed this activity.
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/
Puzzlemaker.com
On the other hand, we analyzed
Puzzlemaker which is a puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and
parents. One of the most striking features is that this tool produces and print
customized word search, crisscross, math puzzles, and more-using your own word
lists.
As far as crossword puzzle concerned, it is a great game to engage kids with vocabulary and make it fun. Include at least ten words and clues in your puzzle and a few additional word puzzles will be added to the workbook.
Crossword puzzle maker
What we are concerned with
here is crossword puzzle and its
functions, so it is possible to remark that this tool is used to make simple
crossword puzzles. I consider that both teacher and students should emphasize this
topic more
deeply. I remember that I used to do crossword puzzles or at least I tried to
do it, anyway. The main idea is some good crossword puzzles are found in
newspapers; in other words, these are pretty much hard to generate, and of
course, these require of lots of words, not all of which are used.
For me, the gist of the tool
is that this program puts all of the words you specify (no more, no less) into
a simple crossword puzzle. As a future educator, it is important to know that
the puzzle that is generated will remain on this server for about two months. That`s
great!
In this video, we can comprehend a little bit how this tool works!
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/PuzzleSolution.asp?submit2=Solution
2. Criss-Cross
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildCrissCross.asp
3. Cryptograms
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildCryptogram.asp
4. Fallen Phrases
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildDoublePuzzle.asp
5. Math Square
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/PuzzleSolution.asp?submit2=Solution
6. Double Puzzles
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildFallenPhrase.asp
7. Mazes
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildMaze.asp
8. Letter Tiles
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildLetterTiles.asp
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