ipod Project
back to
Finch Elementary Learning Links page
| The 5th grade students at Finch Elementary were chosen by MISD to pilot a video ipod initiative for the district. The goal of the ipod initiative is to see how the use of the video ipod can enhance instruction and impact student achievement. MISD will evaluate the program at the end of the year and see how facets of the program, implemented on a small scale, can be replicated across the district. This page will document the steps of our journey. |
|
Timeline for Implementation of
the ipods |
| Activity 1: The teachers showed the first movie on their ipod to 5th grade students during a grade level meeting. They showed the video clip called "Escalator Temporarily Stairs" (2:02) from You Tube. It was converted to an mp4 on vixy.net and put it on the ipod. They used RCA cables to connect the ipod to show on the large screen TV in the classroom. They discussed how this year when they are faced with a problem we will emphasize how to become problem solvers. |
|
Activity 2: The LMS passed
out a student survey about the use of the ipod. You can download the
pdf of the survey. We will post the findings from the survey
when it is compiled. The teachers showed the video clip called "Penguins Flying" (2:15) from You Tube. We converted it to an mp4 on vixy.net and put it on the ipod. We used RCA cables to connect the ipod to show on the large screen TV in the classroom. This animated video clips has sound, but no words. As the students watch the situation unfold, they had to think about what words they could write to tell this story. The ending is a surprise and could result in writing and creating another episode. We discussed how we would use the videos on the ipod to enhance teaching in language arts, math, social studies and science. |
| Activity 3: Our Science teachers used a video from You Tube called Create a Lemon Battery(6:48)We converted it to an mp4 on vixy.net and put it on the ipod. We used RCA cables to connect the ipod to show on the large screen TV in the classroom. The teachers talked about how the students will be using the scientific method while conducting different investigations throughout the year. |
| Activity 4: Our science teachers used a movie from itunes called Understanding Food Labels. Since it was a movie and not a podcast, we had to convert it to an mp4 on vixy.net and put it on the ipod. We used RCA cables to connect the ipod to show on the large screen TV in the classroom. The teachers discussed how to read food labels, a tested objective in 5th grade science. |
| Activity 5: Our science teachers used the video clip "Japanese Penguin Goes Shopping" (2:16) from You Tube. We converted it to an mp4 on vixy.net and put it on the ipod. We used RCA cables to connect the ipod to show on the large screen TV in the classroom. The teachers talked about the different branches of science. |
| Activity 6: We began small group student training on the ipods during the 3rd week of school. The fifth graders were broken into small groups and they are mixed with English and bilingual students in each group. During our first session we learned how to turn the ipod on and off and how to use the dial to move around in the programs. We looked at the attachments that come with the ipods and learned how the ipod hooks up to the computer. |
| Activity 7: We continued with lesson two of small group training. Students learned how to navigate to the itunes store and how to download podcasts. They subscribed to the podcast CNN Student News. They watched the top news story of the day. |
|
Activity 8: Students
will use the ipods during language arts class throughout the week in
small group instruction. The following items will be loaded on the
ipods.
video from YouTube:
Flotsam (1:02) a preview of the new award winning Caldecott
book. |
|
Activity 9: Students continued with small group training. Students learned how to navigate to the itunes store and how to download podcasts. The subscribed to the podcast Wild Chronicles. They chose one of their favorite animals and viewed a podcast to learn about how that animal survives in the wild and interacts with their environment. |
| Activity 10: The science teachers began to implement using the ipods at science stations. The teachers used a video from United Streaming, Real World Science: Understanding Magnetism (16:04) The teacher only used three sections of the video, so we downloaded the segments and put them in a playlist. The teacher then printed off the sheet from United Streaming and circled the sections they wanted them to view. The students viewed the video segments on their ipod during small groups while the teacher was working with small groups. |
|
Activity 11: Students continued to use the ipods in science while studying about energy. We downloaded Real World Science: Electricity (17:50), Basics of Physics: Exploring Energy (40:48), Real World Science:Light (17:45),Real World Science:Sound (12:40). We made a playlist for each of the videos. The students used the clips in small groups, to fill out a chart on forms of energy. This was one of the stations for the lesson. One group used their science book, one group used books, and the third group used the ipods to conduct the research. The teacher was a facilitator of the group research. |
| Activity 12: During language arts the students did an author reflection on Eve Bunting. Podcast from itunes: Reading Rockets Interviews Videos, Meet Eve Bunting (11:34) |
| Activity 13: During language arts the students used a section from the United Streaming video Discovering Language Arts: Fiction (47:35) The used the section, Plot of a story (5:09) to understand how an author develops the plot of a story. The students then went to independent reading time to practice finding the elements of the plot in their book. The teacher worked with small groups in guided reading while the students worked on this activity. |