Using iBooks Author, students can create their own storybooks, illustrated with original artwork, downloadable from a website.
Stories written in iBooks can also be exported and displayed as a PDF file. This format is easy to send and view in all computer systems.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Photo Source: http://blog.safetyweb.com/parenting-children-connect-via-video-playdates/
Working in the library at our school, I have seen many examples of both acceptable  and unacceptable use of computers. We have banks of computers in the library that students may come and use and various times of the day. Most of the screens of the computers are visible from the checkout desk, so it has been fairly easy to monitor. Some of the most common problems have been students going on Facebook or trying to watch YouTube videos which are not related to their education. It has become much harder to monitor students’ use of computers now that our school is going one-to-one beginning with this year’s senior class. Students often sit with their screen away from the desk and will sometimes play games or watch videos instead of concentrating on schoolwork. Students can be monitored remotely while on campus, and they all know that this is part of the computer use agreement. Still, they know that there is a good chance that they won’t be caught, and so far, the consequences for minor infractions are not clear or much of a deterrent.
It is important for every educational institution to have clear rules and regulations regarding computer use and internet access. As technology quickly changes, it is important to keep these guidelines updated. While our school does already have an AUP in place for middle school and high school students, accessible through the online student handbooks, more work needs to be done on these documents to make them more complete. Since there was nothing in place for elementary school, three teachers from our school, as part of the COETAIL cohort, collaborated on creating an Elementary Computer AUP, with a view to add to the existing information available to parents through the school website. Our AUP is viewable here:
CAJ Elementary AUP and Supporting Documents
We worked on outlining a few basic rules for computer use in the library and this will be added to our school’s guidelines for behavior. Most students know the rules pertaining to library computer use, but it helps to have those rules simplified, clearly stated and written down so that they can be referenced should any problems arise. The following “Library Use†topic under the heading “Technology Policies and Procedures†will be added to our staff information database called “Sophie†and will be linked to the student handbooks.
We also created an AUP Commitment Letter to be signed and returned by the parents of Elementary students at the beginning of the year. This letter is included in the document linked above. Realizing that most of the parents of grade school children have many questions and concerns regarding their computer  use and online presence, we are planning to hold a series of parent tech information workshops where parents can be shown exactly how their children will be using computers, the internet, blogging, etc. An outline of the first two planned workshops is included in the above document.
Because many parents have fears and questions about the safety and use of technology in the hands of their children, it is best to address these issues at the beginning of the year. Knowledge is power and it is also a great motivator to encourage parents to become more involved in their child’s education. With their parents gaining tech experience alongside them, students will be able to expand the boundaries of their learning far beyond the classroom.
Even the youngest elementary students are excited by the things that they can do with a computer and with the information that is available to them. They have such a curiosity about the world and they have such a diversity of interests. It is thrilling to me to see students as young as Kindergarten and First Grade take an intense interest in a range of subjects from slugs to bridges to poetry to singularities. Technology provides such a depth of resources for students of all ages; it is our responsibility as educators to help make the bridge to their quest as singularly safe and as poetically rich as possible.
“Personal branding, by definition, is the process by which we market ourselves to others.” This is the essence of an article by Dan Schawbel called, “Personal Branding 101; How to Discover and Create Your Brand.” What is my brand and what do I stand for? My current job is librarian, but my brand may have more to do with writing for children. 
Do I even need a brand? While one may question the need for self-marketing, if one tumbles into the adventure of looking for a new job, the value of having a personal brand may suddenly become apparent. An individual may already have a personal brand of sorts, in fact, and not even know it.
This topic interests me, not because I am currently searching for a new job, but because I am launching into the world of digital publishing and realize that, as an author, I am responsible for the promotion and branding of my books. If I want to sell books and reach an expanding readership, I have to build my brand. So far, my children’s sermon website, Kidsermons.com, does have links to purchase my books, but it exists mostly to give pastors a free resource for their time with the children on Sunday morning. The digital book I am currently working on, however, has no connection to the children’s sermon site and I realize that I will have to create another online presence that can highlight a new category of illustrated children’s books. I have a lot of work to do.
One shouldn’t wait to start building a personal brand until there is a desperate need, of course; it should be a process that sculpts itself over time. As soon as a person begins posting content online, in fact, a personal brand is already being developed. In talking with others about our digital footprints, I have often said that the internet makes it hard for someone to lead an anything-but-transparent life. Even previously posted blogs, websites and photos that have been purposefully removed can be looked up again through sites like the Internet Archive. Your digital footprint is pretty much permanent. As Dan says in his article, “transparency and authenticity are the only means to survive and thrive in this new digital kingdom,” so be careful where you step.
Even if you are building on an old “brand you,” there are many things you can do to help your image, as long as everything that you post is true and truly you. If your Facebook page has good, positive content, then that is a good start to “Brand You.” (Students should be reminded of the visibility and permanence of Facebook material before they enter high school as colleges can search these sites as part of their acceptance decisions.) But beyond Facebook, it is even more important to have a personal webpage or blog. While I have and maintain both, I realize that they do need a lot more work.
When I do a search of my name, Ruth Ingulsrud, on the web, I find 86,700 results. The first result to pop up references my wonderful sister-in-law, whose maiden name was Ruth Ingulsrud, and who is now the Chancellor of Kwansei Gakuin and goes by the name of Ruth Grubel. Most of the other references were mine, but I saw one important reference that was sorely out-of-date. I realized that I need to update my online resumé. To help with this process, I can use the helpful information found on another of Dan Schawbel’s pages on building the “Ultimate Social Media Resumé.” I don’t know if I will end up with the “ultimate” but I hope it will be better than what I currently have. I can do so much more now with the ability to embed video and photos and to include links to social networks and forums, blogs and wikis. I’m realizing that a personal brand does not create a brand-new you, but it can show your strengths and gifts in a brand-new way.
“Inanimate Alice represents a paradigm shift in how we approach reading and writing instruction,” states an article posted on the National Writing Project website. I’m reading this piece that reviews and promotes a book it touts as “the leading example of this transmedia phenomenon is the born-digital story.” Really? Haven’t they ever heard of hypercard? Wow; maybe I’m just too old to be reading this article. Twenty-some years ago, I remember purchasing and playing with quite a few interactive stories with my three-year old son. He loved them. He could make different things happen in the stories by clicking on various choices. There were several options on many of the pages and the story had a variety of endings.
The stories used a very neat piece of software called “Hypercard” which was pretty simple but worked quickly and worked well. Amanda’s Stories was one of the early examples. The stories were simple, creative and interactive. Manhole was a more sophisticated later example. The brothers who designed Manhole went on to create Myst, a virtual, explorable world with countless adventure permutations. These are just a few early examples of transmedia storytelling which invite (and actually require) reader participation. Hypercard was simple enough for my four year old computer-loving son to make an interactive story of his own with some help from techie-hubby.
Here is one area where computers are encouraging more brain activity instead of passive consumption. This is encouraging. In the school library where I work, many students come after school to use the computers to access games. They tend to gravitate towards the less mentally-demanding games that involve shooting some sort of missile, balls or birds or what-have-you, at a moving target. Although I have explained to them again and again that the only games they are allowed to play in the library are educational ones, they still try to justify their choice by explaining that they have to aim correctly to shoot the object. “And is your brain working hard? Are you having to think to figure things out and solve problems?” I ask. “Not really,” they usually admit, and then they find a more challenging game that involves logic or physics puzzles like Civiballs, or teaches typing skills like Super Hyper Spider Typer, or encourages them to practice math problems like IXL Math.
I have started to set up links that they can easily access through the CAJ library site that takes them directly to games which exercise their brains. The typing links are up, but I have more to do in this area. It would be fun to set up some interactive computer stories accessible through the library website as well. In the past, students have requested “Choose Your Own Adventure” type stories, but we only have a few of these in the library. In paper form, they are a bit cumbersome and awkward to read, but the digital platform is perfect for this sort of thing. I expect to see more of these books with embedded, applicable links becoming available in the future, and would hope that many new offerings would become available that challenge readers to exercise many different skills and areas of learning: physics, biology, math, literature, history, etc. In order to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, for example, the reader would have to solve problems or figure out the optimal storyline choice. Interactive stories and texts that exercise the brain and teach curriculum would be a welcome addition to our school library and textbook resources.
Update:
Here are a few resources that I was guided to after posting this article …Â (thank you Lorraine Hopping Eagan) :
Interactive MathStory-Game: Â http://www.kosjourney.com/
Blog about Transmedia: Â http://www.transmediakids.com/
Robot Heart Stories project: Â http://www.indiegogo.com/Robot-Heart-Stories
Laura Fleming’s Blog: Â http://edtechinsight.blogspot.com/
As of this year, 34 of the United States of America have laws in place that relate to cyberbullying, electronic harassment or bullying among minors in a school context. Every state has some sort of law in place that addresses related issues such as cyberstalking or cyberharassment, which do not necessarily relate to students specifically. Details of these laws and links to their respective codes can be found at the NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures). It’s good that these laws are in place, but students need to know what these laws are and what, if any, consequences or teeth that they might bear or bare, as the case may be. The laws are there, but often the awareness is not. It’s a bit like the intergalactic hyperspace highway plans stored in the basement of some government agency in Douglas Adams'”Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” explaining to the public that their planet would soon be removed as part of the construction process and that they had better find another place to live. When the earth residents seem affronted at the inevitable and precipitous destruction, they are calmly told that the plans had been there for decades; they merely had to look at them if they wanted to be informed.
We want our students to be informed, even if they don’t know that they should be. The consequences of bullying (for both victims and perpetrators) are too serious and potentially permanent to be ignored. There have already been many cases of cyberbullying that have led to suicide. We know that much. We also know that material flung into the sticky web of the internet has a way of hanging around for a long time, and possibly permanently. The spoken word or the physical push does not usually leave a traceable and permanent record. Barbed words and malicious images downloaded into cyberspace, however, can replicate at an amazing rate and be stored forever.
Every school should have a visible and intentional policy in place that relates to cyberbullying. Students should know in detail what sort of behavior is unacceptable and what are the immediate consequences of that behavior. They should understand that what they do in high school in cyberspace can follow them to college and on into their early job searches. There are many good things about being able to quickly connect with the rest of the world, but students should also be aware of how visible their online activities are.
My daughter in high school was not aware of any cyberbullying incidents at her own school, but she knew about the sorts of things that had gone on in other areas. At our school, we do have some specific policies in place that address this sort of thing, but the information should be more visible and accessible, and the parents need to be better informed. Misuse of computers needs to have definite consequences as well. Currently, a student may lose a cell phone or iPhone for a day if it is being misused, but when caught computer gaming on a laptop, for example, on school grounds during the instructional day, there is no real consequence besides being asked to stop. Perhaps we need to have some firm rules and consequences in place. This is one area that will be addressed by the colleagues from my school in our final project for this current COETAIL course.
by Kalexanderson
I have often wondered, as our world becomes more complex and global knowledge is added at an exponentially increasing rate, how a student will ever manage to have, even a reasonably basic overview of all that they should know by the time they complete their degree. It is even more impossible now, to know everything that there is to know. It seems that a student who has specialized in one area of knowledge early on, and has thus been able to dive deeper into its complexities, has an advantage in the job market over a student who has a shallower but wider range of knowledge. In each area of expertise, one has to learn such a vast amount of material before one can go further and become a pioneer in new and crucial findings and discoveries.
The idea of a “collective intelligence” as outlined in the MacArthur white paper, “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” has very important ramifications for how we prepare our students for their higher education experience and their eventual participation in the work force. Understanding that shared knowledge from a base of varied expertise can accomplish so much more than trying to progress on the acquired knowledge of just one or few individuals allows us to structure learning where students can become an expert in one area of their studies. If we can let go of the insistence that all students learn exactly the same thing (and in exactly the same way), we can allow students the thrill and edification of being responsible for teaching his or her peers. This approach has been successfully enacted in history classes, for example, where each student takes on a persona of a historical character, researching their possible actions, motives and background so that they can participate in a writing or role-playing exercise that uses actual historical events to guide the classroom action. 
This “collective intelligence” is clearly valued as students search online for resources relating to school assignments, artistic searches for music or images and for purposes of pure entertainment. We learn to sort through the vast ocean of material to find the very best or exactly what we need for our purposes. We use what is already out there for our own individualized purposes. Artists and scholars have always borrowed and built on the work of their predecessors. The issue of copyright and correct attribution, however, has never been more important than it is now.
The richness of a collective intelligence has a parallel in the collective creativity of an increasingly accessible and digitized world. We all benefit from being able to access material from so many sources, both contemporary and historical. There has to be a happy medium somewhere between completely free “borrowing” of material and copyright fossilization. The Disney company, for example, although it has borrowed freely and often without attribution is constantly pushing back the copyright cutoff date to protect access by the public to creatively borrow Mickey Mouse. Ironically, Mickey’s debut film “Steamboat Willie” was a parody of an early Buster Keaton film, “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” and thus, Mickey began his ascent to stardom by building on the works of others and referencing the popular culture of his day. Interesting that the Disney company does not think this sort of thing should continue when it begins to be applied to the company’s own proprietary material.
Copyright Disney; this low-res. screen shot qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.
Despite my indignation over Disney’s apparent hypocrisy and although I am still a bit confused about all of the rules and regulations attached to what materials we can use and for which purposes, I know that it is essential to teach students to properly attribute all media used in reports and presentations. We carefully teach MLA format and run submitted papers through various plagiarism checks, and we should be as thorough when scrutinizing borrowed images, music and video clips as well. We should not, however, discourage incorporation of such a vast store of resources for fear of an error in attribution. For the most part, students, who are not out to make money from someone else’s creativity, are not targets of the copyright police. We can guide them to sites like Creative Commons that provide images with a more relaxed attitude about sharing and make sure that they do give credit where credit is due. The better students are prepared to collaborate with the collective intelligence and the collective creativity of their world, the better they will be prepared to craft new and compelling ideas, inventions and art to grace our collective consciousness.
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” Used to be, when we were wrong, only a few people knew about. Now with the internet removing layers of privacy, we can be wrong much more publicly. What does this mean for my creative endeavors, and what does this mean for my kids and the students whom I am teaching? Fear does tend to choke creativity.
I was recently watching (again) Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk entitled, “Schools Kill Creativity.” This statement about being prepared to be wrong, resonated with me. I thought about how differently I approach writing assignments as opposed to how I approach math assignments. I love writing. I hate math. Writing can have an infinite number of brilliant solutions to a literary proposition. Math seems to always only have one. It automatically carries the fear of being wrong.
What if we taught math in such a way as to invite creativity… somehow? Of course, you eventually have to come up with the right answer. But I remember my son coming home from school one day when he was in fifth grade in an accelerated learning program when they had a visiting mathematician. This teacher invited the students to use any method to solve a problem, as long as they could show that their method would work consistently for other related problems as well. Good challenge for a kid who liked to make up stuff. If he didn’t know the answer to a question, he would often just make something up and then back up his statement with some invented, but plausible, resource. (He soon found that many grown-ups were gullible.) So, with a compelling challenge in front of him, and no fear of being wrong, my fifth-grader came up with a completely new method which worked consistently and suddenly enjoyed doing math.
And to add to that “If you’re not prepared to be wrong” statement…. if you’re not prepared to be hurt or be put into some sort of danger, you will never fully understand your world. This is an idea supported by another “Ted Talk” entitled, “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do,” Before I watched this, I thought about the dangerous things I let my children do… climb trees and jump out of trees into big leaf piles, whittle with knives, go online, argue with their teachers, climb around and explore the rooftops of tall buildings (I won’t tell you where, but it’s in Tokyo) and plank. These are things that I allow them to do, fully understanding the risks. (Yes, they have gotten some poor grades in subjects that they know well because of the arguing…. but at least they competently supported their arguments.) But against the risk of doing these things, I have to weigh the risk of not doing these things. No risk, no experience… and no learning to climb, to control a blade, to manage a digital footprint, to hone an argument, to internalize architecture or to strike a silly pose. The benefits outweigh the risks. And thankfully, there have not been any major accidents. So far the most dangerous thing that my daughter does every day, is to commute to school. She’s been hit by cars a couple of times, and no, the cars did not have the right of way. They just didn’t see or stop in time. But the accidents have not been serious, thank the Lord.
Nowadays, the worry over online risk is causing many to throw up so many shields around their children and their students, that authentic and educational engagement with the rest of the world is not possible… but at least they’re safe. Of course, the predators we are so worried about are much more likely to come from a child’s own family or social contacts, and much less likely to be an online creeper. Recent research shows that most fears on online predation are unfounded, but the worry persists. As the linked article explains, “Perverts trolling for cute kids on MySpace would have about as much luck dialing numbers out of the phone book and asking for a date. It just doesn’t work and they know it.” The online world is not more dangerous than the physical world. We teach kids all kinds of safety rules about fire, traffic, strangers, eating sticky candy off the floor… Teaching children from an early age the basics of online safety and etiquette is undoubtedly the best way to ensure that they keep themselves safe and continue to be savvy and cautious as their online presence increases.
If a student has taken some risks, both physically and mentally, that student can be much better prepared to take on a world full of dangers and challenges that are constantly changing and evolving. If their brains and their attitudes are not trained to deal with the new and the dangerous, then they will have a much harder time surviving in the workplace as skill needs change at increasing rates. Letting students try new things and training them to thrive on solving problems in their own way is the best preparation we can give them.
Last week, with the storytime link in place on the school library site (http://tinyurl.com/4x74fyx)Â the 5th grade students at my school were able to watch themselves tell their collaborative folktale with their partners.
For some, it was their first time to really scrutinize their oral presentation style. They were given a task to perform while watching; to write down one positive thing and several areas where they could improve in their storytelling techniques. Some had trouble finding a positive. “Did you look at the audience? Did you speak up clearly? Did you know your story well? Did you and your partner collaborate well during the telling of the story?” I asked as I circulated among them. Finally, most found at least one positive. And all of them had a list of suggestions of ways they could improve. “Don’t play with your clothes. Too many, ‘ums’ and hesitations. Don’t look at your partner. Speak up. Add some expression. Don’t look so bored.” I didn’t have to tell them anything. They told themselves. A video was worth a thousand words.
Now for the second phase…. the students will have the chance to remake their folktale as an iMovie, adding all of the expression and movement that they may have missed at the first go. There are a lot of steps to this one. They already know their stories and most have learned to collaborate very well with a partner that they probably would not have chosen for themselves (all boy-girl assigned partners, poor kids), and they know how to improve. Now they just have to:
1. Learn how to use a video camera. (We have several new Kodak PlayTouch cameras;Â http://tinyurl.com/3amsvlj)
2. Make a storyboard of their folktale. (Jason Ohler has templates and instructions on his site:Â http://tinyurl.com/24tjrv2)
3. Shoot the folktale footage with the focus remaining on the student storytellers.
4. Download the footage and begin to work on the final product in iMovie. (Apple’s tutorials are helpful:Â http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/)
5. Post new and improved folktales alongside the original ones on the library “Storytime” website.
Of course, first, I might have to learn to use iMovie. My students will probably end up teaching me. I look forward to the process.
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall… who’s the fail-est of them all? OK, don’t answer that. I’m afraid of the answer.”
As I look into my digital competency mirror, I still wince as I notice all the areas that still need work. I guess the best thing about looking in this mirror is realizing that I’m at least brave enough to do so. I need to give myself time and space to learn the tools and applications and understand that not everything will work perfectly the first time. There is so much to learn, but I can take it one step at a time.
I have been thinking about mirrors and how we view ourselves, because in one of my library units that makes use of tech tools available to my students, I am having the 5th graders take a good look at their own oral presentation skills and challenging them to improve. The first step of the project is almost complete. Students, working in assigned pairs, have chosen a regional folktale, did a bit of research about the country of origin, and have practiced a collaborative re-telling of the tale. The pairs have then had the opportunity to get up on stage and perform their story before an audience of their peers. The result has been digitally recorded.
The next step is to post these stories on the library “Storytelling” site where they can comment on their own performances and give helpful feedback to their fellow students as well. We are emphasizing constructive criticism to encourage students to first share a positive comment before giving a helpful suggestion. After the self-analysis is done, the students will be given a camera, iMovie instructions, and some time to improve upon their storytelling skills. When this project is finished, we should be able to see a marked improvement from the first performance to the second. Students are being encouraged to work on diction, volume, expression, clarity, and creativity. They are telling the stories in their own words, so part of the challenge is in developing an authentic storytelling voice that still communicates the true gist of the tale.
Here is the unit which is being developed:
Presentation Skills and Self-Awareness Through Storytelling
Grade 5 Library Storytelling Unit
Ruth Ingulsrud; ES Librarian CAJ
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Standards Met: (From CAJ Atlas Curriculum Mapping:) English Grade 5 Presenting
7.05.01. I can competently give an oral report on a subject that I have researched. Social Studies Grades 3-5
11.K12.3. I stay on task with the group (PC2) Student Objectives Grade 5 Productive Collaborator 1: Students respect themselves and others as being created in God’s image Effective Communicator 1: Students communicate through writing, speaking, reading, listening, graphs and charts, and the arts (From NETS for Students:) ISTE NETS*S Standard 2:  Communication and Collaboration:  Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems ISTE NETS*S Standard 6:  Technology Operations and Concepts: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students: a. understand and use technology systems. |
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Enduring Understandings: |
Essential Questions: |
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1. Â Students will understand the importance of oral presentation skills 2. Â Students will understand how collaboration can improve presentation skills 3. Â Students will develop a self-awareness of posture, gesture and elocution with a goal of self-improvement |
1. Â Why is personal presentation important? 2. Â How can integrate our outer presentation with our inner self? Why is this important? 3. Â How can we change our world for the better with what we say and how we say it? 4. Why is it important to encourage others to improve their personal presentation? |
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GRASPS Task |
Six Facets of Understanding |
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Goal:  Students will collaborate on analyzing and improving their oral presentation skills though the use of video footage and editing to produce a partner retelling of a folktale to be published on the Storytelling Channel of the Library website. Role: Students become narrators, directors, critics, and filmmakers as they practice and polish their storytelling skills. Students will practice constructive criticism as well, as they help their peers improve their presentation skills. Audience: The intended audience is, first of all, the students themselves as they see, firsthand, exactly how they look as they speak. The secondary audience is the students’ peers and larger school community. Situation:  Working in pairs, students will select and practice the retelling, from memory, of a folktale. Students must limit their story to about 5 minutes; they must introduce each other before they begin; they must name the story and country of origin and give some background information; all students must demonstrate respectful listening as audience members and be ready to give constructive comments at the conclusion of the story. All folktale pairs will be digitally recorded and will have the opportunity to see their own performance as well as those of their fellow students. Folktale pairs will gather input and suggestions from their peers with the intention of improving their performance. After a second session of practice and planning, students will be instructed on the use of digital video cameras and be given a chance to perform and film the folktale once more. They will be shown the capabilities of iMovie and encouraged to add music, titles and transitions where appropriate. The improved folktales will be posted on the Library Storytelling Channel and opportunity will be given for viewers to post helpful comments which the students can use to continue to improve their oral presentation skills. Product:  The final product will be viewable on the Library Storytelling Site and will make the two storytelling versions available for viewing and comparison. The improvement of the second version should be markedly noticeable. |
Explaination: Students will explain why they need to acquire good oral presentation skills.Interpretation: Students give examples of what a good oral presentation might sound like and look like.Application: Students perform and then watch and analyze footage of their own folktale retelling. They should be able to point out the strong and weak points and make plans to improve the identified areas of work.
Perspective: Students make a thorough self-evaluation with an increased self-awareness in how they are perceived and heard by others. Students become sensitive to the way in which we suggest improvements to others by understanding that they must listen and evaluate suggestions that others are giving to them. Empathy: Students begin each constructive criticism comment with a positive remark, acknowledging a strength in the oral presentation before giving a suggestion for improvement. Self-Knowledge: Students will demonstrate that they have understood their areas of weakness in oral presentations by making improvements with the second attempt that reflect the internalization of comment, critique and self-analysis. Notes: The CAJ improved library site is in the process of being developed. So far, the link to the Sakura page has been added and the Educational Games link is working, but the Storytelling component is still in process. Link to : CAJ Library Website Resources: |
5th Gr. Folktale Pair Storytelling Rubric
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Student Score: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
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Intro: Self and Origin of Story Preparation & Collaboration |
Full name of storyteller not given; no information offered regarding folktale.No evidence of collaboration. | First name of storyteller stated; full title of story clearly given.Country of origin named.Some collaboration evident. | Storytellers introduce each other with full name given; title of folktale given along with country of origin. Knowledge of story’s origin is evident.Collaboration and rehearsal evident. |
Clear introductions of storytellers given with good interactions between the storytelling pair. Title and origin of story explained with additional information offered. Skillful collaboration throughout. |
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Expression & Action Creativity |
Story told or simply read in a monotone.Little or no gestures, action or expression. | Story told from memory with both storytellers contributing.Some gestures and expression evident. | Story told with good evidence of practice and collaboration.Gestures, actions, vocal and facial expressions present. | Well-rehearsed, engaging and interesting use of expression used consistently. Excellent collaboration of storytelling shown. Compelling delivery. |
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Diction & Clarity Elocution |
Storytelling voice too quiet or unclear to be completely understandable. | Storytelling voice is loud enough for most to hear and clear enough to be understood throughout most of the retelling. | Storytelling voice is loud and clear with good diction and pronunciation throughout the story. | Storytelling voice is consistently loud, always at an appropriate volume. Every sentence is  delivered with good pronunciation. |
The SAMR model was developed by Dr. Reuben Puentedura to help educators rethink the way they use technology to enhance and encourage student learning. Because the use of computers in education is still relatively new, tech tools are not being used to their full potential in the classroom and this is the impetus behind SAMR. This model was designed to push educators towards more creatively intentional use of today’s available technology. The acronym SAMR stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition.
The SAMR graph helps to show the progression of the levels of computer use in academia. At its simplest level, the computer is used as a substitution. A research report can now, for example, be typed on the computer instead of being handwritten. At this level, other computer and tech capabilities are being ignored. A student could be encouraged to embed links in the bibliography which would redirect back to the source (Augmentation), or present the report as an oral report in video form with additional data or sub-points branching off of the main report (Modification), or the report could be something entirely different. A research paper in Redefinition mode makes creative use of all the new technology and connectivity that is now available to us.
A research project enters the “Red†zone, when the purpose of the assignment (that of demonstrating new knowledge garnered by thorough researched) makes authentic use of available technology and “redefines†the assignment. An audio-visual report might be given that augments the live speaker’s informative talk with video and sound back-up and may even include a real-time Skype interview with an expert in the field with the opportunity for other students in the classroom to also interact with the expert and ask questions or even suggest future experiments or areas to investigate.
I am attempting to pull our school library into the “Red†zone, or at least the “Mod†zone now by adding features to its website that will help students in various ways. Students will be able to link directly to library-authorized educational games that they will be allowed to play in the library after school. They will be able to see and hear their favorite library assistant, Baabara the Lamb, read a story to them. They will be able to watch fellow student storytellers present a variety of folktales from all over the world and leave comments and questions for them. Watching a video of themselves will also teach them which public speaking skills they still need to work on. They will be able to select the perfect Guided Outside Reading book by reading summaries and fellow students’ comments and recommendations.
The plan starts with a need and tries to fill it using tech resources and capabilities in the most direct way possible. I hope that these new capabilities will help school families get even more out of their library interaction experience.
Schematic of new CAJ library site:
