Meet Socrative – Visualizing student understanding has never been easier!

Subject: 

Digital Technologies

Year level:

K – 10

Strand:

Digital Technologies

Sub strand:

Knowledge and Understanding

Link to the resource:

https://www.socrative.com/

Cross curriculum priorities and general capabilities:  

The program Socrative will support all three Cross curriculum proprities if the subject content is what the teacher or student is shaping their learning experience around.

LiteracyInformation and Communication Technology (ICT)Critical and Creative Thinking (Australian Curriculum 2016)

Links to other learning areas: 

Any subject area for any content.

A classroom activity using this resource:

Socrative is an enjoyable tool that creates a way for students to connect with other students, teachers and people around the world. Socrative aides in the creation of online activities, quizzes and reports. This application can be loaded on to any device or operating system for teachers and students convenience. This tool allows teachers and students to connect instantly and results can be viewed in current time. This assists the teacher to instantly identify gaps in students knowledge, therefore, the teacher can prepare lesson plans accordingly.

Below is a review from a teacher currently using Socrative in her classroom:

RACHEL LANGENHORST

School: Rock Valley High School, IA

Rachel is a Technology Integration Specialist working with grades preschool through 12th. She first discovered Socrative while teaching 6th grade and saw how it helped gauge understanding with quick polls and quizzes. She now uses Socrative with pre-readers to pull pictures and see which sounds they understand. She is also a firm believer in exit tickets! Rachel’s students love Socrative. One said, “It’s a lot quicker to find out how I did. It’s easier for me to use and more fun than a paper! (Langenhorst, 2017)

Price: FREE

How to use this resource:

Creating online activities, quizzes and reports has never been so easy! Using any mobile, device or operating system, simply open a browser and enter the following URL www.socrative.com. If using the application, simply click the icon in your phone. I personally recommend taking a few moments to watch the short interactive video “demo video” located on the Socrative webpage which will provide a quick and easy guide in identifying the area you would like to focus your learning experience on. Create your own account for free by clicking on “teacher log in.”

1. Applications can be downloaded from: Google play (Android), the App Store (Apple) or Chrome web store.

Android App on Google PlayDownload on the App StoreAvailable in the Chrome Web Store

Reference

www.socrative.com

www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Langenhorst, L. (2017). Re: Review of Socrative program [Blog comment]. Retrieved from https://www.socrative.com

 

Junior Landcare! Creating a Food Garden…

Subject: Design and Technologies

Year level: Grade 3+

Strand: Knowledge and Understanding, Process and Production Skills

Substrand: Food and Fibre Production

Content Descriptor Example: Types of food and fibre produced in different environments, cultures or time periods, including the equipment used to produce or prepare them (ACTDEK012). Past performance, and current and future needs are considered when designing sustainable food and fibre systems for products (ACTDEK021).

Cross-Curriculum Priorities:

  • Sustainability

General Capabilities

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Ethical Understanding

Links to other learning areas

  • Health and Physical Education
  • Science
  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Art

Click the picture above to open the ‘creating a food garden’ resource

Link to Junior Landcare website: https://landcareaustralia.org.au/junior-landcare/

First Impressions

The Junior Landcare website provides teachers, students and parents with information about how to improve and look after the current and future environment. It is easy to read and navigate through the website. There are a heap of resources and links providing you with more ideas and inspiration. This resource is perfect for integrating Sustainability into the classroom and developing students ethical understanding. Landcare Australia also have a Youtube channel where there are a number of videos about Australia and the environment we live in. Perfect to guide student discussion developing knowledge and understanding.

What is Junior Landcare? 

Junior Landcare was created by Landcare Australia in 1998. This was created to encourage young people to play an active role in conserving current land to ensure a safe future environment. Junior Landcare encourages young people to be accountable for their actions and take responsibility of their future environment. Junior Landcare provide a range of days where students can volunteer and assist in creating a better future. The best thing about Junior Landcare, is that it links straight in with the curriculum. So you know that the students will benefit academically from the experience. The L.I.F.E website also provides event days where students can volunteer or you could create your own event to get people together. Discover more in the video below.

How you could use Junior Landcare in the Classroom

There are multiple resources on Junior Landcare that would be useful in the classroom. An activity that would provide multiple linked activities as well as benefit the actual school is to create a food garden. Creating a food garden involves multiple steps that can incorporate many other learning areas. Students would begin with investigating and defining when discussing potential ideas to create a food garden. Write all of their ideas down and discuss why some things might work better than others. Involve Mathematics by designing a to scale 2D drawing of a food garden including labels and technical terms. Now its time to produce and implement the design to create the food garden with the safe use of tools and equipment. Incorporate Science where students evaluate the growth of the food garden and ask questions like, ‘what could be done to improve the growth’. This will provide students with a collaborative and hands on experience. After the garden is created you can involve Art by drawing a birds eye view of the garden or involve English by writing a procedural text on how to create a food garden. There are so many possibilities with creating a food garden.

TIPS

Gather extra helping hands! Engage with parents and the school ground keeper to see if they can help create the masterpiece.

Create a rotating roster for students to water and look after the garden. Otherwise you will spend half the afternoon everyday doing it yourself.

Something extra…

Download and have a read of the Teacher’s Resource Guide.

Check out this classroom blog where they have created their own food garden for inspiration and ideas.

Also have a look at Landcare Australia’s Youtube channel.

Other Resources from Junior Landcare

Building a Worm Farm

Creating a Frog Pond

Enhancing and Restoring Habitats

Growing Healthy Plants using Natural Pesticides

 

By Jessica Read

 

References

Junior Landcare. [2015]. Retrieved from https://landcareaustralia.org.au/junior-landcare/

Landcare Australia. (2015, March 26). Junior landcare hits our tv screens [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEwFAwmdAoQ

Landcare Australia. (2014, December 3). Landcare is for everyone [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoVv_RMrDzk&t=34s

Landcare Australia. (2016, November 28). Love our Aussie land [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6sGGdIQ2SU&t=1s

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. [2014]. Design and Technologies. WA: Government of Western Australia. Retrieved from http://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/p-10-curriculum/curriculum-browser/technologies/design-and-technologies2

Dance Mat Typing

Dance Mat Typing

Dance Mat typing

Application: Dance Mat Typing (provided by BBC)

Subject: Digital Technologies (Skills)

Year level: 3/4

Content descriptor:

Using a range of technologies including a variety of graphical representation techniques to communicate, students clarify and present ideas, for example by drawing annotated diagrams; modelling objects as three-dimensional images from different views by visualising rotating images and using materials. Students recognise techniques for documenting design and production ideas such as basic drawing symbols, and use simple flow diagrams.

Students become aware of the appropriate ways to manage their time and focus. With teacher guidance, they identify and list criteria for success including in relation to preferred futures and the major steps needed to complete a design task. They show an understanding of the importance of planning when designing solutions, in particular when collaborating. Students identify safety issues and learn to follow simple safety rules when producing designed solutions.

Curriculum links: 

  • Plan a sequence of production steps when making designed solutions individually and collaboratively (ACTDEP018).
  • Generate, develop, and communicate design ideas and decisions using appropriate technical terms and graphical representation techniques(ACTDEP015)

Link to resource: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr

 

About this resource:

Dance Mat Typing is an online game that gives students the opportunity to practice their touch typing skills. This resource is easy to use and comes with a variety of levels to span across the different learning levels and capabilities. It involves understanding the format of a keyboard and using it to its full potential. The game involves 4 levels, each of which are divided into 3 stages that students must progress through in order to move onto the next level. At the end of each level there is a typing speed test which is linked to rewards should the student type fast enough.

See the video link for a run through of this resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2KIsMj3QfI