Using "Kahoot!" to Review

Students in 6th grade had a fun time reviewing cell organelles using the review game "Kahoot!".

What is Kahoot!?

A Kahoot is a collection of questions on specific topics. Created by teachers, students, business-people and social users, they are asked in real-time, to an unlimited number of “players”, creating a social, fun and game-like learning environment.  Source

12 Ways to Use Kahoot! In your classroom.

"What a fun time showing what we know!" ~ Christian D.

"I want to play this everyday!" ~ Lily S.

"I didn't really know I knew all of this stuff."  ~ Liam G.

Next Generation Science Standards - 6th Grade - Cells

SC.6.L.14.2	Investigate and explain the components of the scientific theory of cells (cell theory); all organisms are composed of cells (single-celled or multi-cellular), all cells come from pre-existing cells, and cells are the basic unit of life.
SC.6.L.14.3	Recognize and explore how cells of all organisms undergo similar processes to maintain homeostasis, including extracting energy from food, getting rid of waste, and reproducing..
SC.6.L.14.4	Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells.  Including cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and vacuoles.

Digital Safety at Fuller Meadow

Children are spending time on the Internet at younger and younger ages.  It is important to teach them how to stay safe online and understand how to use the Internet.  At Fuller Meadow, students learn the basics of computers and how to use them to create and learn.  As children visit the online world, they need knowledge of how to do that safely, securely, and responsibly.

There are several programs that we use at Fuller Meadow.  Common Sense Media and Netsmartz are two excellent resources.

This week, students in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades had the opportunity to learn about Internet safety and had fun answering questions - game show style.


Essential Questions

What is a ‘digital citizen’?
How is being a citizen of the Internet the same/different than my home town?
What are the implications of digital citizenship in today’s world?


The objectives of this lesson are:

Understand that computers can be used to visit far-away places and learn new things.
Understand that staying safe online is similar to staying safe in the real world.
Describe how to travel safely on the Internet.

We watched "Router's Birthday Surprise" from Netsmatz Kids to help us learn about Internet safety and "netiquette".

Thank you Jacqui Murray, Ask a Tech Teacher for your resources for this lesson.

Visit videos that teach online safety (click the link or Google the name).

• Bad Guy Patrol
• Computer safety—videos
• Surf Swell Island
• Clicky’s Quest—internet safety
• Clicky’s Web World—What to do
• Garfield—internet safety
• Internet Safety Site —Disney
• Looney Toons Teaches About the Internet
• My Online Neighborhood—video
• Princess who knew how to UYN—video
• Safe surfing ebook—read or read to you
• Webonauts
• Webville Outlaws—internet safety

Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards K-2.CAS.a.4 Explain that a password helps protect the privacy of information. K-2.CAS.a.5 Identify safe and unsafe examples of online communications. K-2.CAS.a.6 Explain why we keep personal information (e.g., name, location, phone number, home address) private. K-2.CAS.a.7 Identify which personal information (e.g., user name or real name, school name or home address) should and should not be shared online and with whom. K-2.CAS.a.8 Explain why it is necessary to report inappropriate electronic content or contact.

Current Events Around the World

Students in Mrs. Bentley's 6th grade Social Studies class have been researching countries in the Middle East.  They were given the task of researching events that are currently happening in these countries.  Students used several internet resources along with articles from Time For Kids magazine to find out their information.

The students used Google Docs to write a summary and their opinion about the event.  Then, they were charged with being a reporter from their country to report on the news.

Using Green Screen by Do Ink app, students reported on their event.  They found an image to match their story.  Then, we used the app iMovie to make it into one video.

Watch their videos and learn about what is currently happening around the world.

Massachusetts Standards for Grade 6 Social Studies and Writing Western Asia (The Middle East) WA.1  and WA. 2 Locate the Middle Eastern countries on a world map. WA. 3 Explain how the five themes of geography and how they have influenced settlement and the economies of major Middle Eastern countries. W. 6.6  Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others. SL. 6.5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

Learning about Cells with a little help from Moby

Students in Mrs. Butler's science class have been learning about the functions of a cell and cell organelles.  To make the cell come to life, students created a life-size model of an animal cell where students were the organelles.

To start the lesson, students watched BrainPop video, "Cell Structures."  They took the Quiz and knew every answer.

Next, each student was assigned an organelle and acted out the function of it.  After two minutes of acting, they sat around the room and debriefed about their acting.  Other students had the opportunity to give advice to each other on how to improve their performance. Then, they re-created the live cell.

Students had a chance to use BrainPop's new feature, "Make-a-Movie" to create their own video for "Cell Structures."

Source

After all of the movies were made, we had a screening to watch them.  The students had so much fun and learned a lot!

Thanks to Moby and BrainPop for bringing FUN into the classroom!

Next Generation Science Standards - 6th Grade - Cells

SC.6.L.14.2	Investigate and explain the components of the scientific theory of cells (cell theory); all organisms are composed of cells (single-celled or multi-cellular), all cells come from pre-existing cells, and cells are the basic unit of life.
SC.6.L.14.3	Recognize and explore how cells of all organisms undergo similar processes to maintain homeostasis, including extracting energy from food, getting rid of waste, and reproducing..
SC.6.L.14.4	Compare and contrast the structure and function of major organelles of plant and animal cells.  Including cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and vacuoles.

Where's Moby?

Being a BrainPop Certified Teacher has proven to be so much fun!  The company sends me fun items and activities to share with my students.  BrainPop sent us a Moby bobblehead to explore all of the fun lessons in our classrooms.  They are running a #WheresMoby campaign on Twitter and Google+ to track Moby's adventures.

Moby's first adventure was with 4th graders in Mrs. Jones' class.  They are studying the Solar System and used BrainPop videos and activities to learn all about the planets.  Moby worked with them as they explored research topics for their projects.

Stay tuned for Moby's upcoming adventures!