How My 5th Graders Use Google Sites

My 5th Graders final LS ICT project for the year is doing a Digital Portfolio using Google Sites. Ideally, they feature their 5th grade life in all subjects.  They can include their most memorable test in Math, their Science Fair project or their most memorable performances in band class.  I also tell them to create an All About Me page where they share their favorite songs, movies, games and more. The idea is for them to refer back to it when they have moved on to Upper School or even beyond and see how much they have grown and changed. Below are some snapshots of the various Google Sites my students have created.

Over 50 Classroom Activities Your Students Can Do Using #GAFE

Once a Homeroom teacher, now a LS 3-5 ICT teacher, I see so many more possibilities to integrate curriculum with technology. So, I have compiled a list of over 50 classroom activities that covers all main subject areas from N-5, Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. Next, I matched them with a Google Apps for Education program that will further enhance each learning activity, specifically Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drawings. I plan to make this a collaborative effort with PLN across the globe. Please feel free to add on to my lists of suggested activities via comments, and I will add them. Furthermore, I will gladly share the link of the Google Sheets document I created this in. Just drop me a comment and we can coordinate from there. Let's get InTECHgratED!

       

Here's the link to the Google Sheets for viewing only. For those who would like a copy, please a comment below. Thank you! => Over 50 Classroom Activities Your Students Can Do Using #GAFE

Update:  I have started blogging about the different ways my students use #GAFE so that you can get a better picture of just a few of the samples here.  I will continue to update them as my PLN share ideas with me and when my students have completed more projects.  

Ways My LS 3-5 ICT Students Use Google Docs
Ways My LS 3-5 ICT Students Use Google Slides
Ways My LS 3-5 Students Use Google Drawing

Ways My LS 3-5 Students Use Google Slides

Google Slides is an amazing Google App for Education when you want to do presentations collaboratively.  Teachers at my school give echo workshops to the rest of our colleagues who didn't get to attend a conference.  Instead of finding a common time to meet up, discuss how we will present, I simply create a Google Slide, share with them, put in my bit and they do the same.  Just as simple as that.  My students also love doing presentations as they love to lay out and play around with animations.  For older grades or more advanced students, I challenge them to insert videos and gifs on their presentations. Let me show you some ways my LS 3-5 Students use Google Slides.

I often collaborate with the Homeroom Teachers and see how I can further enhance their core curriculum digitally.  I get their topics and think of projects they can do on the computer.  The 3rd Graders learn about the Solar System in Science.  While they are learning it in their respective classes, I, inturn, have them create presentations on it to further extend their knowledge on the topic.  They do research in my class and learn about citing sources, inserting images and adding animations. 

My 4th Graders learn about Heroes in their Social Studies classes.  I have them create Hero Presentations on Google Slides that they present in their Homeroom Classes.

My 5th Grade students create non-fiction story books that they read to Grade 2 schoolmates.  In my class they do a digital version of these books using Google Slides.

Another way I have taught my colleagues to use Google Slides is for Digital Storytelling, click on link to see how.  These are just some ways I have used Google Slides with my students, please share your ways with my via comments and I would love to feature you on my blog.  Thank you!

Ways My LS 3-5 ICT Students Use Google Docs

Google Docs is probably the most widely used Google App for Education.  It's my starting point when my 3rd graders come in from an iPad lab.  The best part for me this school year is the ability to be able to let my students research and insert images right from Google Docs.  Moreover, they are able to insert links immediately to credit their sources.  There are so many projects you can have your students do, here are just some of mine.  Please do share yours as well as I believe in the importance in sharing and learning from each other.  I shall be updating this regularly as my students finish projects.

My 4th Grade students study Body Systems in their Science classes.  In line with this, I have them create posters on the Body System of their choice.

My 3rd Grade students study inventors and their inventions.  They even have their own Invention Convention to showcase their own creations.  I have them choose their favorite inventor and create a poster about them.  

My 5th Grade students produce their own mini films for our Tech Week Program.  The theme is Fractured Fairy Tales.  Scriptwriting before Google Docs was a painful task of 2-3 sessions that included, drafting, editing and revising. Now, we collaboratively work on their scripts in real time and we get this task done in 30 minutes or just before the block ends. There is something about my face popping up on their screen asking them to make changes.  They immediately change it and hit Resolve!;-)

My 5th Graders normally use Google Drawing for this next sample as I have shown in my most recent blog post ->  Ways My LS 3-5 ICT Students Use Google Drawing, but here's a sample of how it looks when done in Google Docs.

My 5th Graders create a student version of a resume.  This is a step up from the usual All About Me Posters that they do in 4th Grade as it includes more shapes, layouting and segregating information in boxes.  

I will be updating regularly as my students finish more projects they are working on in Google Docs.  Please do share how you use Google Docs as well and I would love to feature you. 

Ways My LS 3-5 ICT Students Use Google Drawing

There are so many ways to use Google Drawing, a personal fave among the Google Apps for Education.  I am always looking for tutorials and ideas for my students, so if you have some to share, please send them my way.  I have set up a G+ community for my colleagues where I want to share All Things Google.  In this community, I share updates, tutorials, how-to use the apps in classrooms and so much more. Let me share some of the ways my students use Google Drawing...

My 5th grade students have a wonderful program that helps a less fortunate organization.  They make products to sell to our community and the proceeds go to the organization they have partnered up with.  In line with this, they create their own logos to showcase their products. 

Apart from the logos above, my 5th graders also create brochures that gives further details of their products.  They create 3 panels in Google Drawings to highlight materials/ingredients, steps to create their products, the benefits of buying what they sell and other important details about the event.  Some create 2 page brochures that we fold into a pamphlet. 

My 4th grade students study The Body System in their Science classes.  In line with this, I have them draw parts of the body system or an entire system itself.  They use shapes, lines and free hand.

Our school is a Christian School that focuses on a theme for the school year.  This year our Chapel Theme is Appreciate Our Diversity and Interdependence.  My grades 3-5 students discuss this and brainstorm ideas of how we can best interpret this theme through visuals.  I allow them to insert images but I also require them to draw most of it on Google Drawing.

When some of my students finish their ICT projects, I challenge them to create how-to's/flowcharts.  I laminate some of them and display it around the classroom for other students who are at the beginner level.  I find that students learn best from each other.

My colleagues sometimes ask me to let their students do their projects in digital form.  They give me a background of what they want and I suggest the app and how we can digitize it.  Here's an example of how 3rd grade students wrap up their book study using Google Drawings. They can clearly illustrate story elements like Cause and Effect, Summaries, Sequence of Events as illustrated below. 

These are just some ways you may have your students do in Google Drawings. I will continue to update this as my students come up with more projects using this Google App for Education.