Since September, my students have used a variety of social media tools.  Here is a list of some of the different tools that my Grade 1 students have used and the ways that they have used them:

Twitter — I have a Grade 1 Twitter account.  On a daily basis, I use this account for shared writing activities, interactive writing activities, and even independent writing activities.  Please visit the Grade 1 Website to find out more about the “tweeting” my students do.

Google Docs — My students use Google Docs on the computers in the pod and even on the SMART Board to complete various independent and small group writing activities.  The links to some of these completed documents are posted on my Grade 1 Twitter account.

Wikispaces — In September, my students got involved in a collaborative Wikispace — the Waliacam Wikispace — that involves schools from Wales, Australia, Canada, and the United States.  While this is a protected Wikispace, some of the Wikispace activities that my students completed are available for you to see on the Grade 1 Blog.

Skype — My students love to Skype with other classes from around the world, and we have used Skype in a variety of ways, including, practising a shared reading poem, completing a modelled reading activity, doing a read aloud between classes, and sharing holiday songs.  Our biggest Skype accomplishment was definitely what I like to call “Halloween 2.o.”  Click on this link to read more about this exciting adventure!

VoiceThread — I have used VoiceThread for a variety of literacy, math, and art activities.  My students love sharing their thoughts with others, and by posting our VoiceThreads on Twitter and the Grade 1 Blog, we are able to share them with a global audience too.  Here’s a link to a VoiceThread my students made in response to a blog post from another school.

Diigo — Diigo is a bookmarking tool that Zoe Branigan-Pipe introduced me to.  She uses this tool with her Grade 6 students, and I wanted to introduce it to my Grade 1 students as well, for it is a great tool to use for media literacy and critical literacy.  Initially I modelled how to use this tool, then I let students help me use this tool, and finally, I let students independently use this tool on the SMART Board as part of a literacy centre activity.  Check out my Diigo library to see some of the ways my students have used Diigo.

Blogging — As part of interactive writing, my students have helped me create blog posts for my Grade 1 Blog.  Some of their completed work has also made it onto the blog, usually in the form of photographs.  Some videos of classroom activities are on the blog too.  At home, some of my students even comment on blog posts.  Thanks to @mrjarbenne and his great blogging suggestion, my students are at work on their first blog post.  They will finish it when we get back after the holidays.  I can’t wait!

On Janary 29th, I’m presenting at the Brock Tech Showcase with Zoe Branigan-Pipe, and we are discussing using social media tools in the classroom.  I would love to hear your thoughts on these tools to help me with this presentation.  What are your child’s favourite social media tools to use and why?  Thanks for your help!

Aviva

For as long as I can remember, I always used to like spending my winter holidays reading a good book.  I actually measured the value of the holiday based on the number of books I read during my time off.  I will never forget the time that I read a book a day: one of the best holidays ever!:)

While I hope that all of you get some time to spend the holidays as you want to spend them, I hope that you get some time to read to.  Children benefit from reading and being read to every day.  To help you with this, I have listed three of my favourite authors here:

1) Robert Munsch — His stories are always amusing, and they appeal to boys and girls alike.

2) Dr. Seuss — While his stories can be long, and he often makes up his own words too, children love his silly rhymes.  Dr. Seuss inspires many of my students to read.

3) Phoebe Gilman — I think that I know all of her stories off by heart.  Children love her silly rhymes, and her illustrations are fantastic too!

Please comment below with the names of your favourite authors and even some of your favourite books too.  Students love variety, and together we can provide this for them.

Aviva