Unit 5 April Instructional Tech Tuesday's

Can you believe that April is almost over.  When I looked at the calendar for school days, I realized there is 24 more school days for Unit 5.  Have you already started your count down calendar for your students?  Take a look at the Unit 5 Instructional Tech Tip Tuesday.  I am posititive there is something in here for everyone! 

Over the Month of April we highlighted the following in our weekly Tech Tuesday Updates: 

• Book Creator  - Harnessing Student Narrative for Learning & Assessment
• Solar Eclipse - Escape Room.  What a fun activity that was. 
• WeVideo - Earth Day Challenge
• Canva - Teacher Library & Student Template Libraries
• Wakelet for Climate Change
• WeVideo AI Feature - Note: This is an additional paid feature
• Autism Month - Check out our VTAP program! 
• Britannica AI Education - Great way to start the conversation.
• Translate in Docs - You can now translate an entire doc within the Google Doc platform.
• Suno - Create your own songs...  We used this at a PD for an Institute day and got some great laughs.
• Stossel in the Classroom - AI Vs. Job  Check out this resources for learning about AI. 

September Instructional Technology Updates

 Check out the September  Unit 5 Instructional Technology Upates.  In this edition you will find: 

• Artifical Intellegence post on how teachers are using it along with some examples.
• Book Creator has a Introduction PD after school in September and it was recorded for Elementary and Secondary levels.
• Canva classes rostered in U5 - check out the video on how to get started!  
• IC - information and more!  

Women in History - Celebrating Women Who Tell Stories- 2023

Women's History Month was established  in 1981  for the week of March 7th.  In 1987 it was passed designating March to be "Women's History Month."   Since this proclamation, we celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and various fields over the course of American history. ( https://womenshistorymonth.gov/about/) 

The video below introduces the 2023 theme "Celebrating Women Who Tell Stories" and can be used to introduce Women in History month. This year's theme honors the important role women have  played in storytelling throughout history.  It was created March 2023.   

Here are several resources for Women's History Month in which are paid resources at certain levels in the district:

• Unit 5 High School IMC  resources and Junior High IMC resources. $$
• Check in with your IMC Specialist to partner and learn more about the resources right at your students finger tips.
• NEARPOD:  Nearpod has 132 Lessons on Notable Women  Many of these are Videos from Biography, SciShow which highlights women in Science, TedEd, Socratica Kids, and Nearpod lessons with activities built in.  There is also a whole library on Women's Right and History.  Lessons include Women's Suffrage, Women in the American Revolution and Civil War as well as Gender Equality and STEM.  $$
• 4 ways to teach Women's History Month 
• 14 Women Who Are Impacting Education
• Flocabulary:  Enjoy the Week in Rap as they begin the month of March for Women in History & Current events.  This is a great opportunity to use there short video's to highlight what is going on in our world today.  $$
• Discovery Education: Discovery Education has a whole Channel on Women in History. This includes videos, images, activities, slideshows and much more. Check out the Modern Trailblazers section My Story: Yolanda Renee King - The granddaughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and listen to her story about her grandparents.  $$
• Scholastic:  All scholastic material come with multiple reading levels, text to speech, presentation view and teaching resources, such as a slide deck, Google Form for a quiz, and close reading activities.  $$
• Junior Scholastic has a Text Set to observe Women's History Month and the contributions they have made. Check out their Cover Story "Exercising Their Rights" where you will meet 5 female athletes who fight for equity in sports. (Must have a license to see this information) 
• Scope Spotlight highlights Women's History Month with Drama text and Paired Text. Find out more about Malala the Powerful, When Girls Ruled Baseball, The Lens of War and so much more. 
• Lumio - Check out the Lumio Library for more resources which can be integrated into your classroom.  $$
• Canva - FREE for Educators - Check out the Templates for Women in History!  Here you can have your student create some really creative projects with templates already started. 
• Adobe Express:  FREE If you are looking for ways to create a digital story, Adobe Express has several templates for Women in History.  Just search "Women in History" in their template library. 
• EdTechbook, Learning Pathway: Influential Women.  Here you will find Choice Boards for Women's History Month, Slide decks, and much  more.  You can also dive into different topics such as Women and the Wars &  STEM.  
• Digital Resources for Biographical Research - here is a list curated by Zeeba Pavri.  She also created a slide deck for Women's History Month take a look.  
• Decktoys Women's in History Month.  This one is a great activity for younger students.  No signup needed.  Just play. 
• This resource links your students out to Videos from each of book titles.  Great for elementary students as well. 
• PBS Media has several resources for teaching about Women's History Month.  Here are is a collection on Engaging Students and Educators on Women's History Month through film.
• Becoming by Michelle Obama -  I listened to this book and loved it. Great Read!  There is also an adaption for young readers as well.
• Book Widgets Interactive Learning: 20+ Ready to use Classroom Activities to celebrate Women's History Month. 
• Calendar which has one activity each day highlighting Women in History

Like always, these are curated from multiple sources so you can make a decision on what is appropriate for your grade level and students. 

February Instructional Technology Update

I cannot believe January has already come and gone. This year is flying by so we are starting the 2023 year with the February Instructional Tech Update where you will find lots of great information! 

• Unit 5 started a podcast series called Inside Unit #5 for our community to listen to which is linked. This is hosted by our very own teachers in Unit 5.
• IC Updates:  There have been lots of questions on score copier, so that is  included.
• Black History Month is the whole month of February, so there are lots of instructional resources for this month you can use. 
• Canva - Canva's premium is available to all teachers and students in education.  All you have to do is register your education account.  The instructions are included, as well as an activity for you to create your own Canva banner for Google Classroom.  
• Phet Simulations have been around for a while, but they have been transitioning these to HTML 5 over the last several years.  Check this resource out there is lots to find here!  

Podcasts in the Classroom

Podcasting is starting to take off across the district with teachers at Normal West, Chiddix, Parkside, and Evans having students create podcast shows! In addition, Normal West teachers, Tim Franz and Joe Burgess have created an official Normal West weekly Podcast called, “podCATS”.  The weekly show has special guests come in and talk with the teachers and student co-hosts about a variety of topics and events that are happening at the school. 

As teachers dive into podcasts a common question that comes up is: How to push the shows out once they are finished?  One option involves collaborating with technology coaches who design and create websites for the shows to be placed.  The websites are set up so that only Unit 5 students and staff are able to listen to the podcasts and are not open to the public.  

Students are taught how to create their own show logos using Canva and Google Draw.  These are incorporated into the websites and are linked to the shows.  Below are a few of the teacher websites that have the student’s shows:

• Mrs. Gallier’s Podcast Website

• Mr. Kerr’s Podcast Website

• Ms. Breuer’s Podcast Website

Those high school teachers who would like to make the podcasts available to the public should consider the free software program, Anchor. (https://anchor.fm/)  It allows teachers to take the recordings and push them out to Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Spotify!  A signed parent/guardian permission slip is needed before posting them to those public forums.

If you are interested in trying out podcasts in your classroom, contact technology coaches, Amber O’Day or Ed Hafermann and they will help get you started!

  Normal West Students recording their podcast in the Huddle Room