Let Us Tell You What We Think with FlipGrid
Using Flipgrid Westside TK/kindergarten students will respond to questions telling their learning and opinions. In the progression of the project they will move from manipulating within Flipgrid with help, to creating their own video responses independently.
About Me
Name: Christine Bellucci
Grade: TK/Kindergarten
Site: Westside Elementary School
- EMPOWERED LEARNER - With guidance from an educator students explore a variety of technologies that will help them in their learning and begin to demonstrate an understanding of how knowledge can be transferred between tools. ISTE 1.d.
- KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTOR - With guidance from an educator students use digital tools and resources contained within a classroom platform or otherwise provided by the teacher to find information on topics of interest. ISTE 3.a.
- CREATIVE COMMUNICATOR - With guidance from an educator, students use digital tools to create original works that clearly communicate ideas. ISTE 6.b.
- Digital Citizen: Students practice responsible use of technology through teacher-guided online activities and interactions to understand how the digital space impacts their life
COMPUTER SKILLS and EMBEDDED CCSS
- I can turn on a computer and login.
- I can use a mouse or touch screen to click and manipulate objects.
- I can use icons to access and navigate within applications.
- I can locate content from media collection for specific purpose (RI 5, RI 7)
- I can watch online videos and use play, pause, rewind and forward buttons.
- I can create a video to clearly communicate my ideas.
- Using icons I can respond to the ideas of others.
ELA STANDARDS
- W.K.1 Writing- Text Types and Purposes - Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).
- W.K.2 - Writing - Text Types and Purposes - Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
- SK.K.6 - Speaking and Listening - Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas - Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
- L.K.6 - Vocabulary Acquisition and Use - Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
STUDENT TECH OUTCOMES
Students will access Flipgrid question independently.
Students will independently create a video using Flipgrid expressing their opinion on the question presented.
Students will take a picture of themselves and add objects.
Students will post their project on Flipgrid.
Students will independently view and will choose response icons to express their opinion of their
MATERIALS/TECHNOLOGY
- Computer
- Microphone
- lamp
- Access to Flipgrid questions
PROJECT
Activity 1
Students watched videos and were read stories that included characters that were reindeer and elves. The class created a chart “Elves vs. Reindeer” which listed the pros and cons of both. The class created a graph titled, “Would you rather be one of Santa’s elves or one of his reindeer?” With help the students then used Flipgrid to create a video response to the same question including their reasoning of why.
Results - The students created videos, however since they were creating them while learning was going on in the classroom, the projects were not the best quality as it was difficult to see some of them and hear them in their videos. I purchased a microphone and clamp lamps to help with the quality of the second project activity.
Activity 2
Students completed an author study where they were read several Dr. Seuss books, watched videos of Dr. Seuss , and completed activities related to the stories. We then graphed our favorite Dr. Seuss book on our SMART board. While discussing the graph we discussed the reasons students choose the particular story as their favorite. With help students created a video where they shared which was their favorite Dr. Seuss story that we read and why.
Results - With the additional use of a microphone and the clamp lamps the student videos were much better quality. One student that refused to create a video in the first Activity created a video for this activity.
Activity 3
In our differentiated reading groups we have been focusing on what strategies good readers use. My IT kindergarteners (students that have a higher understanding of tech processes and help other students with tech issues) will help other students in the class create a video response explaining what two reading strategies are that they like to use.
Results - In progress this week
Activity 4
Students will independently create “Advice for new kindergarteners next year” Flipgrid responses.
Results - This activity is the next step and has not been completed yet.
STUDENT WORK
Students use Symbaloo (a visual bookmark site) to access Flipgrid topics.
Reflection
When I first thought about my project, I wanted to do a project using green screen with my students. As I spent time designing my project I started to question my reasons for wanting to use that technology. I realized that I wanted my project to be a progression of tech skills that eventually empowered my students to create independently. While having a lot of "Wow" factor using green screen would require a tremendous amount of teacher direction and help. I did not feel that my students would be able to use the technology independently. I had already started using Flipgrid with my students and felt that this technology would be a much better choice for empowering my students to create their own projects independently. It was also perfect for students to view their projects, as well as view their classmates projects and leave feedback with icons. Overall, I feel that scaffolding the activities with students being give increasing responsibility in the manipulation of the program was extremely effective.