Connection to GLCEs

The following fourth Grade Level Content Expectations, taken from the Michigan Department of Education, illustrate that students are required to write an informational comparative piece, be able to connect personal knowledge, experiences, and understanding, and explain relationships by categorizing, classifying, and comparing.

W.GN.04.03 write an informational comparative piece that demonstrates
understanding of central and supporting ideas using an effective organizational
pattern (e.g., compare/contrast) and informational text features.

R.CM.04.01 connect personal knowledge, experiences, and understanding of the world to themes and perspectives in text through oral and written responses.

R.CM.04.03 explain relationships among themes, ideas, and characters within and across texts to create a deeper understanding by categorizing and classifying, comparing and contrasting, or drawing parallels across time and culture.

Students could demonstrate their understanding of these GLCEs through taking part in an assignment similar to the Module 3 assignment, “A Tale of Two Retail Spaces,” in which our class analyzed the interior design elements of two similar retail spaces. I think students would benefit from this assignment because they could relate their learning experience to a real world situation. Students could be given an option for how to present their findings either through a written report, PowerPoint, or movie.

Below is an example video I created analyzing the interior design of two craft stores:

Classroom Architect

At http://classroom.4teachers.org/ there is a free application available called “Classroom Architect. This online application allows you to create a classroom floor plan by choosing your classroom dimensions and then dragging various pieces of classroom furniture onto the floor plan.

I think that Classroom Architect could be used in the classroom as a learning tool. Students, either individually or in small groups, could each create their vision of a functional classroom. They could present their floor plans, and students could vote on which plan to put into real use. This activity could help students to investigate elements of architecture and interior design. They would need to create a space that doesn’t seem crowded and in which students can learn. By designing a room they would need to analyze the space and materials available. They would be working collaboratively to discuss what plans are functional and what elements contribute to this. They would also discuss plans that didn’t work and the interior design elements that caused the plan not to work.

Here is an example picuture of a floor plan created with Classroom Architect:

Math and Interior Design

There are a number of ways that teaching about interior design and architecture can be connected with learning experiences in the classroom. As students learn about creating illusion through the use of color and or structure, they could also use mathematical skills.
In Sarah Susanka’s book she discusses the technique of contrast and illusion. One example is creating an illusion of a raised ceiling. However the ceiling could have height variety to vary heights around the edge making the center appear higher than it actually is. Students could estimate ceiling heights and then take actual measurements as a math connection.
Another math lesson could be created by giving students photos of two rooms of equal size. However in one picture the room would be bright and well lit, with many windows. In the other picture the room would be dimly lit with fewer windows. Students would guess which room was larger and then measure the rooms to test out their estimates.
When learning about angles, students could calculate and measure various angles found in architecture or in interior design.

Interior Design and Education

After reading the introduction to Sarah Susanka’s book and listening to her NPR interview, my first thought is that I really want and need to remodel my house to make it a home. Won’t my husband be excited when I share my new plans of creating the feel of a vaulted ceiling in our living room!

But how does interior design and architecture relate to education? As I looked around the school today and thought about compelling interior design, I did not see very many compelling elements. There were sky lights in the hall, however the doors at the end of the hall were not painted a light color to draw one toward them, instead they were brown. I do think that each teacher does try to set up their classroom to the best of their ability to create a positive learning environment. For example, our autism teacher displays a lot of light blue in her classroom to convey a calming feeling, and has moved the classroom furniture out so her room appears large and open.

Each student has a unique learning style that works best for him or her. Taking this into consideration, having a student sit next to the window who likes to work in bright light could make a positive impact on their learning. Or how a teacher groups students’ seating arrangements could also make a difference. Do students learn better in a school that is architecturally designed in a compelling way or will they make the same progress in an old run down building?

Video in My Classroom

For March is Reading Month, I want to teach my students how to create movies to display either a story or poetry using Windows Movie Maker.  I have decided to have my fourth graders create informational texts about various animals.  They will use: http://www.pics4learning.com/?view=sub&cat=Animals to gather photos to place into the digital story.  Students will gather information to record behind their photos.  I am planning to have the fifth graders choose a poem to recite.  They will collect photos to place into Windows Movie Maker that go with the topic of their poem. 

 

This year our school district created an “ITV” room in each of our five elementary schools.  This room enables us to make live video connections to any of the elementary schools.  When my students finish their digital stories, I would like to use the ITV room to connect to another school so that students can present their work to peers across the district.

Video and Writing Process

While creating and editing my video for CEP 882, I realized that editing a movie is very similar to editing a paper. Just as it is important to have a good lead sentence at the beginning of a paper to draw the reader in, it is equally important to have a good lead scene in a movie to capture the interest of the viewer. All of the combined scenes in a movie are like the supporting details in a paragraph, that tell a story when combined. When reading a story or a paper, descriptive details enable the reader to picture a certain image in their heads. As a movie director and editor create a film, they also have to show through color, action, and camera angles all of the details that help the viewer to capture the feeling of the movie. At the end of a paper there is a conclusion sentence and similarly there is a concluding scene in a movie that pulls everything together. With these thoughts in mind, I believe that teaching students to write, produce, and edit video is a great way to help students work through the writing process. The element of creating a video is of course a huge motivating factor as well.

Educational Video to Convey a Message

For open house in early September, I made this video to illustrate our Swartz Creek expectations and school mission statement. This year our school theme is a space related theme, "Blast Off to Learning," so that is why I used the images of space in the background. I am thinking about making a video similar to this one for the video module project, however I want to include all of the schools from our district in the video to create a video that promotes all of Swartz Creek Community Schools.

Making Movies in the classroom

I believe that using video for educational purposes can have a huge impact on student learning and understanding. I made a video at the beginning of the school year to demonstrate playground rules. Because students from our own school created the content of the video, the students at our school feel a connection to the video as they view it.

Connecting Film and TV to Education

Just as a teacher might have a student analyze a piece of literature, I think that analyzing a film or television show could also be a compelling educational experience for a student. After reading a number of articles about analyzing and understanding film, I already today was looking at various commercials and tv shows in a different way. It caused me to think more deeply about the story that was being told or what techniques went into telling the story. The important piece for education is that understanding the design of tv and film will cause students to think more analytically and critically. Possibly looking at the world in a different way will develop more creativity as well.
I do think that creating video is a great way for students to tell and write their own stories in the elementary classroom. This year in March I am planning to have each grade focus on a different type of genre and create digital stories to publish their work. I think that the digital publishing portion also helps with motivating students who otherwise might not be interested in writing.
However, because I teach elementary school I am wondering what movie clips would work well for younger students to analyze.

Building Bridges in the Elementary Classroom

After completing the photography module assignment, I have been thinking about how to make a connection between what I have learned and how I can use or apply this in my elementary teaching position. I think that having elementary age students take photos and writing about them could be a great way to motivate students to write. I also think that students could learn about how to add descriptive details to their writing through a project similar to the one we did in our grad course. Because students would be writing about a photo that they took, I think they would take pride in their work of art and also be compelled to write about it. This type of assignment also encourages students to think critically about a subject and analyze details.