tpack questions

Content:
Standard 2
Students will understand cultural factors that shape a community.
Objective 1- Evaluate key factors that determine how a community develops.
Indicators:Identify the elements of culture (e.g. language, religion, customs, artistic expression, systems of exchange). Compare elements of the local community with communities from different parts of the world (e.g. industry, economic specialization )
Identify and explain the interrelationship of the environment (e.g. location, natural resources, climate) and community development (e.g. food, shelter, clothing, industries, markets, recreation, artistic creations).

Pedagogy: All of the activities the students will be doing are active and involved. The content material will be directly applied and the learning will be guided, but also students will be able to discover on their own. Some of the work will be in groups and partners, while some of the activities are individual. While using google earth all of the students will be working individually to make sure they understand to program and can use it effectively. There will not be very much direct instruction in these lessons, but more hands-on work and students will present for the class on some of the topics.
Technology: Students will be using google earth and different links within it to find weather, location, geography etc. Students will also be using the general internet and looking up information on it.

tour plan

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. New York city, New York	Students will find the Empire State building in NY then, compare and contrast it to a building that we have here in Provo, Utah. Look at height, sizes and attributes of each the share findings with the class. Tie their findings into how the buildings and area affect the community and the culture.	Students will find information on the two buildings using the internet and then they will look at the buildings in 3d view using google earth.
2. Hawaiian Islands	Write a journal entry about what they would do if they had one day to spend on the Hawaiian islands. As a class we are pretending to go on a trip and each student needs to find out what the current weather is and then then write down what they would pack.	With google earth look at the weather layer and the climate there. Then search the internet for the forecast for the coming week.
3. Giza, Egypt	Have students draw the pyramids in an art lesson, and then have a class discussion on how our lives would be different if we were still ruled by pharaohs and if we still built structures like the pyramids.	Students will look at the pyramids in google earth with the 3d view and understand their incredible size. Then they will do an internet search for dynasties and what periods the pyramids were built in and why they were built.
4. Washington D.C., White House	Students will write mock letters to the President of the United States telling what they think about how he's running the country. Talk about a democratic society and how our country is working and has worked.	Using google earth students will search for the white house, in Washington D.C. They will do a street view of the building and look at the surroundings. Then students will break into groups and find different information on the building, surrounding area and background of our government.
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:

Digital Story

Here is my story... the narration is really quiet...hope you enjoy!

Content: Students are following the Utah core standards: Standard 1, Objective 2- They will develop language through viewing media and presenting. Each student will produce their own individual story and will need to present it to the class when complete. This project will enhance the student in many areas. Background information on community development and social interaction with others will be talked about and then the stories will be along those lines.

Pedagogy: The students will be working on the writing project in class, for this lesson it will focus on an experience they have had. Some materials that we may discuss and go through are Family Stories, ABC storybook, or Circle Story. The students will be viewing other student's work as well as presenting for the class and by having them each create a story from what they have individually done will be helpful in applying the content and enjoying the project.

Technology: I used the pen and paper storytelling template which helped organize my thoughts and ideas. It will help the students put their story in order and help the teacher to see what they have come up with. I also plan to use Photostory 3 which will let me show my pictures on the screen and add my own voice as a narration of the story.

Story board

TPACK

what is the content you are focusing on in your science lesson?
-Observing, analyzing, and predicting the weather- Paying special attention to clouds

What is the pedagogy you are using and why is it a good fit with the content?
-The students got to individually create their own charts and make their own personal predictions. This assignment helped them in thinking ahead and studying an aspect of life that we deal with daily.

What is the technology you'll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?
-Kidsperation- It is kid friendly and can be easily navigated through and used by students of all ages. It will also help the students analyze and review the previously learned material more effectively.

Tech Savvy Teacher

There are so many technologies out there for teachers to use to help them teach more effectively and help their students enjoy the learning process more. In this experiment we will look at one of those programs and see how it can improve the teaching experience.

The core that will be focused on is 4th grade Standard 2, Objective 1. It states that, students will understand that the elements of weather can be observed, measured, and recorded to make predictions and determine simple weather patterns. The purpose of this activity is for students to observe, and record the basic elements of weather, paying particular attention to clouds.

On different days throughout the month we went out as a class and observed the weather. These observations were done at different times during the day and all students got to participate. Going outside and actually observing what they saw, drawing pictures of it, and describing in words their observations were all part of the process. As a class we had discussions on weather, particularly the clouds and we learned what the three main types of clouds are: stratus, cumulus, and cirrus. After studying the clouds and learning about the types of weather they bring the students got to add predictions to their observation materials.

As a class we learned how to use the program Kidspreration and were able to apply that to all they were learning. With the program the students were able to review the types of clouds and weather and show what types of weather different clouds would bring.

They each were able to develop an individual chart showing what they had learned, observed, and predicted. Using the program the students were able to more effectively analyze their data.

Along with their charts there was a writing assignment to basically summarize all the information they had learned about the weather and clouds.

Resources:
http://www.climatechangenorth.ca/images/illustrations/spring_kids-sm.gif
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirkinorbit/601598866/

Websites that could be helpful for planning and teaching:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/clouds/cloud_types.html
http://vortex.plymouth.edu/clouds.html/
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/