Thing 10, SlideShows

I plan to incorporate the use of slideshows to enable students to visualize the author's use of similes and metaphors in the book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson.  The activity will enable the students to experience more empathy for the characters in the story and to realize the author's point of using this writing strategy which in turn may encourage them to do the same in their own writing. I used RockYou, which is published on this blog,however, I did not find it very user friendly when there was a need to rearrange the photos in a specific order.  Since this was my first experience with this site, I will reserve judgement for the time. However, after a very positive experience with PhotoPeach, I highly recommend the site. The slideshow with PhotoPeach is on our classroom wiki. complete with music, and the photos, including an additional photo for a metaphor, are in the correct order according to the paragraph I chose. Please visit this awesome slideshow to see what you can do with a very user friendly site.  I highly recommend PhotoPeach.  Providing my students who struggle with reading comprehension and writing skills with visuals increase their understanding and I know they will love this activity.  The Similes for the slideshow are taken from a paragraph on pages eleven and twelve of Chains.

Attributes for above photos from Flickr.

Tree by JPCTalbot from Flickr CC
Sheep from National Archives and Rocrds Administration from Flickr CC
Pig by Vicy TGAW from Flickr CC
Bowl by Brett Arnett from Flickr CC
Lion by Tambako from Flickr CC
Earth by eye2eye from Flickr CC

Thing 9

Visual prompts using Flickr provides my students with the extra stimulus necessary to motivate their writing responses. By posting a photo on our class blog, I was then able to differentiate instruction around the response by providing simple access with instructions on the blog for the more proficient students then modeling with group and individual prompting for less proficient students. Responses ranged from the obvious to the more in depth inferences behind the scene. Student response to this activity reminded me of the importance of diversity for motivation and learning.  However, I found my students frustrated when they searched Flick for photos. Students need time and access to become familiar with Flickr before beginning class projects.  The above Chipmunk is from Flickr's Creative Commons by Andrea.  Notice the chipmunks fingers? Do you think he is posing? 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreasschwind/ / CC BY 2.0
After spring break we plan to explore storytelling with photos on Flickr.

SchoolTube - Gotta Keep Reading - Ocoee Middle School

You have got to see this video.  It gives new meaning to motivation!

SchoolTube - Gotta Keep Reading - Ocoee Middle School