Veronica Roldan

About Me

Name: Veronica Roldan

Site: Park

Grade(s): 3rd

Technology I Recommend

Seesaw is a perfect way to create an online portfolio of student work, as well as keeping parents in the loop about what they are working on in class. Parents like being able to view their kids' work and write comments to their children.

Technology ability: Proficient

A little about me:

I graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Psychology and I recently completed my M.A. in Education from CSULA. This is my 3rd year as a teacher. My first 2 years I taught 4th grade and this year I am teaching 3rd. Seesaw and Educreations have been a big part of my classroom this year and my kids love it! In my free time, I enjoy painting, drawing, and hiking

Lesson

Native American Expert Groups

Technology used: Apple TV and iPads: Seesaw, Educreations, Keynote

Subject: Social Studies

Common Core Standard(s):

SS 4.2.1

CSS ELA W4.7

CSS ELA SL4.4

Using GLAD, I created a unit that included a pictorial input chart on the Native American tribes that lived in various regions of CA, chants about various tribes, big books about various tribes, a sentence patterning chart about tribes, and a coop paragraph about Native Americans. Once the students had background knowledge, I incorporated technology into expert groups.

Day 1:

I met with a group of students who were assigned to become experts on the Yokut tribe. I provided them a chunked passage about the region, shelter, food, clothing and jewelry, cultural rituals, and interesting facts related to the Yokut tribe. Each student read a different section and we took notes/sketches for each section. Other students not meeting with me were in their teams completing team tasks I assigned to them.

Day 2:

I met with a group of students who were assigned to become experts on the Chumash tribe. I provided them a chunked passage about the region, shelter, food, clothing and jewelry, cultural rituals, and interesting facts related to the Chumash tribe. Each student read a different section and we took notes/sketches for each section. Other students not meeting with me were in their teams completing team tasks I assigned to them.

Day 3:

I met with a group of students who were assigned to become experts on the Cahuilla tribe. I provided them a chunked passage about the region, shelter, food, clothing and jewelry, cultural rituals, and interesting facts related to the Cahuilla tribe. Each student read a different section and we took notes/sketches for each section. Other students not meeting with me were in their teams completing team tasks I assigned to them.

Day 4:

I met with a group of students who were assigned to become experts on the Shasta tribe. I provided them a chunked passage about the region, shelter, food, clothing and jewelry, cultural rituals, and interesting facts related to the Shasta tribe. Each student read a different section and we took notes/sketches for each section. Other students not meeting with me were in their teams completing team tasks I assigned to them.

Day 5:

I met with a group of students who were assigned to become experts on the Pomo tribe. I provided them a chunked passage about the region, shelter, food, clothing and jewelry, cultural rituals, and interesting facts related to the Pomo tribe. Each student read a different section and we took notes/sketches for each section. Other students not meeting with me were in their teams completing team tasks I assigned to them.

Day 6/7:

Students separated into their expert groups, i.e. students who were experts on the Pomo tribe met together (no more than 4 in each group to assure everyone participated). Now that each group was an expert on a tribe they were allowed to use any app we had already used in class in order to create a presentation that would teach the rest of the class about their tribe. All students used Keynote or Educreations since those were the easiest to create presentations. They were to use all categories we discussed about each tribe in their presentation.

Day 8/9:

Students, via the Apple TV, presented their tribe to the classroom. The students in the audience listened and took notes on their process grids. All students used visuals in order to enhance their presentations.

Technology Insight & Tips

Guidelines for expert groups and team tasks have to be demonstrated beforehand and time limits for the making of the expert group presentations need to be put in place. Students love expert groups and love teaching their peers about specifics topics, especially when they get to use technology to do it!