Check+out+our+iPad+grant!

Abstract.  An average “gamer” spends 18 hours a week playing video games. The top five most played games are Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Wii Sports, and Pokemon. None of these games are particularly educational, but they are the focus of our kids’ time and attention. Games keep them engaged in ways that teachers cannot duplicate when, say, trying to keep 22 fourth grade students reading a basal story where the focus is on making inferences. No matter how I throw myself into the story and voice characterizations, and even if we’re inferring that Grandma got eaten by a water buffalo, I can’t keep kids hooked in the same way a game can. I propose melding technology and games with stories and learning—using the first to deliver the second. We can take our kids from Pokémon to Inquiry Investigation by integrating iPads into the daily classroom.

The iPad grant will provide technology to support the inquiry process and make students better able to gather and evaluate real-world information, create work to represent their learning, and share it with others. I also intend to use the grant to continue to build literacy skills to support meaningful student engagement with standards‐based content. My classroom ELA structure has a heavy focus on reading and writing, which tends to be a collaborative process and is inherently flexible. The iPads will support students’ individual inquiry and learning needs, and we will provide time for independent investigation, project creation, and presentation, as well.

Goals. 1. To engage all students in a creative and collaborative environment by increasing technology use in reading and writing through differentiated instruction. 2. To develop a platform for students to share authentic learning by creating a class blog for one another, families, and the world. 3. To provide an opportunity for students to access authentic real-world information in support of the Common Core shifts in learning.

Personnel and audience. Training for the use of iPads in the classroom is available with colleagues in the district and region as well as through Apple stores and on-line video tutorials. Apple Care, purchased through this grant, will provide technology assistance and a minimal protection plan. The Custer School District technology staff will also be available for support. Both sections of fourth graders will benefit from the advantage of the iPads daily for ELA learning. (My grade level partner does math instruction for both sections. I see the visiting class for 90 minutes/day.)

Activities.  I will introduce students to the iPads through the use of applications in the Daily 5, which is a structure that helps students develop daily habits of reading, writing, and working independently that will lead to a lifetime of literacy independence. Then, I will introduce the recording capabilities of the iPad and develop a fluency center where students can record their reading or writing, listen to their recordings, score themselves on a rubric, (edit writings), and rerecord. This is available from an iPad application called Mental Note.  In reading, this will build fluency and introduce students to the concept of recording, which will be a component in future inquiry work for interviewing and managing our classroom site. This will also enable the teacher to track progress over time. In writing, this will strengthen the ability to self-edit. Students can publish their final writing works through the iPad application iBooks Author.  Using the Scholastic application Storia, students will participate in weekly book clubs. Students groups will select a book, determine group expectations and assignments. Students will read the predetermined assignment for the week then gather in their book club groups weekly to discuss the book. Storia provides questions, activities, and other resources. The application has read-to-me settings available as modifications for non-readers.  The iPad integration will continue throughout the remainder of the day. This will include many components, such as: - implementing iTunes U lessons across curriculum areas (especially in the area of SD history where we’re lacking in curriculum materials) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- using images and multimedia to inspire questioning and creativity <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- using interactive documents and graphic programs to create collaborative work plans <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- providing high quality, developmentally‐appropriate multimedia content to support content acquisition and evaluation and synthesis of information <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- using video, images, and slide shows to differentiate instruction <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- sharing student‐created multimedia content on the iPads and the school web site <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- discussing real-world current events and the impact on us locally <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- utilizing ebooks to expand our classroom library <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- see attachment “The Pedagogy Wheel” that correlates iPad applications to Bloom’s Taxonomy

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Timeline. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">August <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Seek professional development opportunities <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Begin creation of reading and writing rubrics with technology component <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Write letter to parents regarding responsibilities and expectations with iPads <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Set up student accounts in Storia <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">September <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Administer beginning of year benchmark fluency and comprehension assessments <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Introduce iPads with recordings <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Plan initial content‐area integration <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Begin constructing the class blog <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Seek continued opportunities for training with applications <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Start to discuss current events and where to locate information and share viewpoints <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Start book clubs using Storia October <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Reflect on routines and procedures <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Begin using multimedia and web content for questioning and information‐gathering <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Start to have students contribute to class blog site <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Sharing iPad with parents via student-led conferences <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Practice having conversations about current events, referring to specific information sources found on iPad November‐April <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Publish student‐created multimedia projects on classroom blog <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Continue class blog <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Discuss real-world current events, student led <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">May <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Administer end of year benchmark fluency and comprehension assessments <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Host Open House for community members

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Alignment to standards/21st century. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The usage of iPads will focus on addressing specific standards in reading and writing, as well as content-area standards for social studies and science. We will be developing 21st century skills by making content relevant to the lives of the students and by bringing the world into our classroom. Students will have the opportunity to collaborate in learning and sharing authentic learning experiences.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Evaluation Plan. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Goal 1: To engage all students in a creative and collaborative environment by increasing technology use in reading and writing through differentiated instruction. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">I will use existing assessments in reading and comprehension to measure student growth throughout the year. (In the past, the district has used AIMS Web and STAR testing but may be using something different this upcoming year.) Each student will have a Café Journal documenting their writing journey throughout the year serving as a portfolio assessment of student growth. The class blog will also show evidence regarding the impact the multimedia has on student learning.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Goal 2. To develop a platform for students to share authentic learning by creating a class blog for one another, families, and the world. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The class blog being maintained by students as well as student publishing content will provide evidence of the attainment of this goal.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Goal 3. To provide an opportunity for students to access authentic real-world information in support of the Common Core shifts in learning. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The class blog will have a piece regarding real-world current events that students write about or reflect on. Students will have regular student-led discussions about world happenings, sharing opinions, and debating viewpoints. Also, the addition factual based writing as well as descriptive, vivid writing (specific to vocabulary) in their writing journals will be evidence that this goal was obtained.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sharing the project. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Students will be contributing and managing the class blog that will be available to the world audience. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The students and teacher will host an Open House in the spring. The community members, school board members, colleagues, and family members will be invited to come and have the students tell their story and share the influence of iPads in our classroom. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Our classroom will be open for visitors at any time to come watch the students in action. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">I will submit two reports on the expenditure of funds, along with a narrative detailing how the goals of the project were met through this award, as requested by the South Dakota Department of Education.