It's been way too long since my last blog post, which can only mean one thing...we've been busy! The past few weeks the students in my ALD class (academic language development) have been working on research projects. They first picked their groups, then which topic they wanted to research based on leveled texts I got from a grant last year.
First, students read the book cover to cover. Then they used an outline to write down facts and vocabulary from the book. Once we were finished researching, students were able to choose between two final presentation tools: Animoto or Prezi. Animoto is an animated slideshow that plays music, there is a free trial but it does cost money each month, not much though. Prezi is a free interactive alternative to traditional slide making programs. In our previous projects we used PowerPoint, but I wanted to show them a variety of ways to make final presentations.
I showed the students the basics of each platform, but then I gave them the time to really dive in and explore. By the end, they were all able to add pictures and some even videos to their presentations. I helped with final editing and finalizing each project, but the students truly did most of the work!
Enjoy!
Prezis:
The Rockies
The Grand Canyon
Niagara Falls
Animoto Videos:
Niagara Falls
The Grand Canyon
The Mississippi River
