Glogster - Integrating Technology

Ever heard of Glogster?  Yeah, me either... until I went to a district PD.  This was way back in the fall, but I knew I wanted to try some things out that I had earned on how to integrate technology into the classroom and into the units I was already planning on teaching.

Glogster is basically an online poster board.  Students can choose from various backgrounds, graphics, images, everything.  Or they can choose a pre-made template.  They can add text boxes and change the font, color, size, etc.  I used Glogster for our States of Matter unit.  I put my students in groups of three and four.  Our tech coach created accounts for each of our groups and gave them a little intro.  Then the kids went to town!  I did create a checklist for them so they would include the necessities for showing me what they learned about the states of matter; it included things like: create a background, create a tile, include 3-6 graphics, included three text boxes, etc.

And voila!

The projects took a little longer than anticipated, but isn't that how it always happens?!  These are two of the five projects my students created.  I was really impressed.  You can click the play buttons to hear the students talking.  I also got a lot of great feedback from parents saying they were impressed as well.

Here are a few other pieces of technology that I've been trying out this year.  These are free!

Wallwisher/Padlet

Popplet

Cheerios & Jell-O = Matter

My little second graders have been learning about Matter!  We have done a lot of fun things so far but I want to share some of my students' favorites.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and liked it so much, we made them in my class!  We watched a BrainPop Jr video on solids, liquids, and gases and talked about the atoms in each state of matter.  The following day, we made these posters with Cheerios!  I tell you... they LOVE any activity that involves food!

Another fun thing we did after learning about changing states of matter was make Jell-O!  First we talked about how to read and follow a recipe.  Then I split students into groups and gave them a numbered card 1-4.  Each number/student had a different job so they could all pitch in.

#1 poured the jell-o mix into the bowl

#2 poured the cup of water into the jell-o bowl

#3 stirred the jell-o and water

#4 poured the jell-o into cups (with my help)

We ate the jell-o for snack the next day!

Next??  We are braving a Glogster project to show what we've learned about the states of matter!