eMINTS In Our Classroom

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eMINTS In Our Classroom
A PowerPoint for Parents

• Created by Sarah Nepple

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Dear Parents,

• Welcome to 4th grade! We have a
  wonderful year ahead! The purpose of the
  following PowerPoint is to give you a preview of
  what will happen in our learning environment this
  year. You can explore it at your own pace
  including the actual links that the students will
  explore. Please feel free to contact me with
  questions, concerns, or suggestions. I look
  forward to working with you and your child this
  year!
• 
  Sincerely,
  
• Mrs. Nepple

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eMINTS Philosophy

• eMINTS stands for enhancing Missouris
  Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies.
  
• The eMINTS philosophy is based on inspiring
  educators to use technology to create engaging
  learning experiences for students.
  Technology-rich experiences provide students the
  tools to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills
  as they learn concepts. Technology provides
  students with an opportunity to push their
  learning outside of the walls of the classroom.

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Lights, Camera, Action!!!eMINTS In Our Classroom

• eMINTS at work in our classroom has impacted me
  as a professional in many ways.
  
• The technology enables me to provide my students
  with opportunities to deepen their understanding
  of learning.
  
• On the following slides, you will learn about the
  ways that technology is integrated into our
  curriculum and how it has affected our
  classroom.

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Curriculum and Technology Web-Based Reading
Lessons

• One way that technology is integrated into our
  reading curriculum is through web-based reading
  lessons which help students monitor their own
  learning. I guide them with online lessons and
  explanations, provide practice sites, and a quiz
  at the end to assess their understanding. I have
  learned that when students are able to take a
  quiz and receive immediate feedback, they benefit
  from reviewing their mistakes. This is an
  excellent way to learn!
• Web-Based Reading Lesson Examples
• Compare and Contrast
• Fact or Opinion
• Whats the Point? Finding Authors Purpose

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Curriculum and Technology Reading

• We also use many sites that allow the students to
  organize information and thoughts.
  
• For example, the Read, Write, Think site has many
  valuable resources. Students are able to use
  interactive sites to work through the thinking
  process. Not only are they motivated by the
  computer resources, but they are able to walk
  through the processes. Try it out for yourself!

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Curriculum and Technology Reading

• Another example of integrating technology is to
  use Paint, a program that allows students to
  create images of what they visualize while
  reading. Students create an image or picture and
  then write a caption that is appropriate to their
  creation. This leads to deeper understanding and
  comprehension.
• Inspiration is another program that allows
  students to organize their thoughts. I have used
  this program to create timelines to help students
  learn sequencing.

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Curriculum and Technology Science and Social
Studies

• Inspiration can also be used to create a web of
  ideas. I often use this at the beginning of a
  unit to assess prior knowledge in Science and
  Social Studies. Students brainstorm what they
  already know and use one color for the bubbles
  they create. As the unit progresses, they add to
  their web using another color for the bubbles.
  This allows students to make connections and see
  their own growth as they learn more.

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Curriculum and Technology Social Studies
Projects

• Students are able to access information about
  topics we are studying. Many times during the
  year, we will be completing WebQuests which push
  students to become an expert in a certain area.
  Then, they share this information with other
  teammates. Each student is responsible for
  learning the information.
• Here are some examples of WebQuests we complete
• Proud To Be An American!
• The Business of Economics

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Curriculum and TechnologyCommunication Through
Online Projects

• Technology allows us to communicate beyond the
  walls of our classroom through online projects.
  
• Online projects provide opportunities to
  integrate the technology. We are able to
  communicate with other classes at other schools.

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Curriculum and TechnologyCommunication Through
Online Projects

• Last year we worked on a descriptive writing
  assignment with another classroom in Missouri
  called Winter Snowmen. Mrs. Overbys class drew
  snowmen and then wrote a description about their
  snowman. We received the descriptions online and
  recreated their snowmen based on the
  descriptions. I heard so many comments such as,
  I cant believe this! They forgot to tell me to
  draw the bodyand what does it look like? When
  we wrote our descriptions for our own snowmen, my
  students had really learned the value of using
  specific descriptions! After the project was
  complete, we compared our snowmen with the
  redrawn versions. We will be doing this activity
  with another classroom this year.

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Curriculum and TechnologyCommunication Through
Online Projects

• We will also work on a Graphing Missouri online
  project. As a class, we brainstorm questions we
  could ask other 4th graders about Missouri. Then
  each pair of students is responsible for creating
  a survey question to send out. Using the
  results, students graph the information and find
  the landmark statistics (maximum, minimum,
  median, range, mode) and write statements about
  their graphs.

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Curriculum and Technology Communication Through
Blogging

• Last year, I found peer review and editing to be
  a challenge. Students would get together and
  read each others stories, but would not make any
  revisions with each other.
• I found that classroom blogging may just be an
  answer! A blog is an online publication, and
  people can make comments to each other. For our
  purposes, all comments must be approved by me
  before being published online.
• Students are motivated to write to each other on
  the computer. They think it is very cool! By
  posting their stories online, students (and
  parents!) are able to review each others writing
  using a star and a wish format. They are more
  likely and willing to make suggestions.
• Visit our classroom blog!

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Scaffolding

• Technology also offers many opportunities for
  differentiating for all students. With projects
  for the whole class, I am able to provide
  scaffolding, which are extra steps and resources
  that may help students succeed. An example of
  scaffolding is in the Government WebQuest I
  created. I am able to support students with
  extra graphic organizers throughout the process
  of the WebQuest. This allows students extra help
  if needed.

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Enrichment Projects

• Technology also allows students to research in
  their area of interest within the standards. One
  project I created which is aligned with our
  standards is Who Am I? A Study of Famous
  Missourians.

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Meaningful Assignments

• All of the opportunities that technology provides
  bring changes in my classroom. As a result there
  are less worksheets and more meaningful
  assignments. Students are able to interact with
  the technology and engage in higher-order
  thinking activities. They are constantly
  creating something or synthesizing information to
  use for a project.

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Motivating Students

• Technology allows me to motivate students to love
  learning. I am able to gear lessons specifically
  to what students enjoy. This is one reason that
  students enjoy interactive educational games!
  These are wonderful review activities.
• Also, when students know their work will be shown
  online, they are motivated to make it the best it
  can be! Students worked very hard on our Social
  Studies Review Activity PowerPoints because they
  knew other students would access them to practice.

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Management

• The management in the classroom has also improved
  because the students are able to preview the day
  and always know what is happening when they
  access the lesson plans page. Even when a
  student is absent, they are able to review what
  they missed. This will help them keep up to date.

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Summary

• eMINTS is a beneficial program that involves
  students in higher-order thinking skills.
  
• Students are able to explore beyond the walls of
  the classroom in many different ways.
  
• Technology can be integrated into curriculum in
  meaningful ways.