Technology Integration - Planning and Writing Personal Narratives

I was inspired by one of our course readings to use technology to enhance the writing process.

In first grade writing, we are working on personal narratives. During the pre-writing process, students complete a graphic organizer by sketching or writing key words for each part of their story:

• ·      Beginning – who, when, where, what (including a lead)
• ·      First – What’s happening?
• ·      Next – The most exciting part of problem
• ·      Then – The solution
• ·      Finally – An ending that “jumps back in”

Pre-Writing and Planning

The objective for the lesson was:  Students will be able to complete their personal narrative graphic organizer and include strategies for voice (dialogue, font, !, inside story) in their graphic organizer.

Normally in class, once students complete their graphic organizers they have a chance to talk through their plan with a peer. I wanted to enhance this process by having them record their plan for their story and by allowing a peer to ask them questions and give advice as they progressed through their plan. Then, I let them listen to their recorded plan before and during the time they were writing their stories.

The recording process – students are getting proficient at working in Seesaw because we used it in an earlier project. It was easy for them to take of photo of their graphic organizer, then make an audio recording of their story plan as they talked it through with their partner.  I noticed students asking their partner questions like, “What did you do?” “What did you say?” and “How did you feel?” These are the types of questions I've used to coach them all year.  As they discussed the story, I still needed to do a lot coaching to get students to add the strategies for adding voice into their plan.  I have an example here of one pair of students talking through the process.  It’s interesting to notice how his partner started to ask questions after listening to my coaching. It will be interesting and exciting to see students take over more of this process as they have more practice.

Justin's Story Plan

As you may have noticed, if you listened to his recording, he was a rather reluctant participant in this process. Although you can't see the scowl on his face, you can hear a little frustration in my voice as I coach him to share his ideas.  At the time I was doubting whether all the time and effort we put into the pre-writing process was worth it.

Using our "digital" plan to write our stories
The next day, when we wrote our stories, Justin was the only student who listened to their pre-writing recording more than once. I noticed him going back to listen to his recording several times as he progressed through the writing process. He stayed focused on writing for the entire class time. He used the technology independently to support the writing process.  Normally, he rushes through the writing portion and does not include all the details he has in his plan. This time, Justin included the details in his plan and expand on them in his final draft.

His story was one of his best yet! He took the information from his plan and added to it to make it his own. He included several strategies for voice and wrote a focused story.

Here is his recording of the final product.

Justin's Personal Narrative

Lessons Learned
I've learned to be a little more patient as I try to integrate technology into the curriculum. I'm still working to be OK with the "messiness" that comes with using new technology for the first time. No matter how much I prepare and try to anticipate glitches, new issues arise when we use an app or website for the first time. I can't let that stop me from trying new ways to enhance learning via technology.

An editorial in today's (April 4, 2015) Lincoln Journal Star (LPS Tech Future Has Arrived) quotes Kirk Langer, LPS Technology Director, as he explains that the recently-approved LPS technology plan "would put digital technology "right in the DNA" of classroom instruction."  This makes it clear to me that as an educator, I have to do all I can to stay current in classroom instruction that works and technology integration. I need to make sure the technology is effectively leveraged to enhance teaching and learning.

The closing statement in this editorial is a perfect way to end this blog post:

"There's no doubt that the district's use of technology will change and evolve over time. But there never will be a moment quite like this one.  Now it begins."

Collaborative Project - Second Grade Research Reports

Second grade general Ed, ELL and Special Education students collaborated to share research projects. We used a keynote presentation introduce the project to students. Then had students work in teams to find pictures for their report and make their recordings. It was very helpful to have other teachers to share ideas and pointers as we learned to use the app.

 Keynote Presentation - Shadow Puppet Introduction

Lessons Learned

This was the first time we used Shadow Puppet – students caught on quickly and had no problems finding photos to go with each part of the research project. It was very time-consuming though. When we got to the recording part, we learned two important things:  First, make an indication on the report to show where you will switch to the next picture.  Second – you need a quiet place to record to avoid background noises.

Opportunities to Collaborate

It was helpful to be able to learn about this with other teachers and bounce ideas off each other as we went through the process.  I also loved seeing the work of the other second graders.

Two of my ELL Level 1 students were able to go to the general education classroom to help students in that larger group use Shadow Puppet…a great opportunity for them to practice using English language in an authentic environment.

I moved the finished products into the students’ Seesaw learning journals. Students can go back and listen to them and share them at any time. I also emailed finished products to their classroom teachers and parents.

Students were very excited about the process and the end product.  Their published work was excellent.

Taking it to the next level

We all debriefed after the project and thought that one way we could take students to a higher level of thinking /collaboration is to make the recordings a literacy center.  Students could listen to a peer’s recording and give them feedback.  The Seesaw journal allows you to make comments, so we could have students do a two stars and a wish type of feedback.