New Lessons from "Old Tools" - 9/8/19

New Lessons...

After doing this lesson with my first class, I was excited to see if all my students would react the same way. So when my other third grade classes had the same reactions as the first one, I knew I was on to something.

So what was it about this activity that worked? 

The first thing I noticed was how engaged my students were by the video. The combination of music, graphics and hands-on instruction was just right. This past summer, I took Tony Vincent's Classy Videos class so as I watched this video, I couldn't help but identify ways he had used the components of the class.

The second thing that struck me was how my students continued to be engaged as they worked on the task. It required many different skills from them and students chose different paths to help them accomplish these tasks. Some students rewatched the video, some students worked collaboratively to problem solve, while other students chose to ask me and other students' questions to solve this task. It was amazing to watch in each third grade class, the students were engaged. They were making connections to other programs that they had used like Wixie. 

They were learning valuable skills as creators of content as they tried to replicate the Shapegrams' house. These skills would serve them well as we get ready to use Google Drawings to create our own Google Classroom banners.