Mashups

Good afternoon 2nd grade students! Today we will be learning about our community, East Lansing, MI. Please start by choosing the "blue" placemark listed on "East Lansing." This will tell you how to navigate through the site. Enjoy!


View East Lansing Community in a larger map'>http://
View East Lansing Community in a larger map


This map is geared towards a 2nd grade classroom because this is about the time when students learn about their community and what types of goods and services are in their community.

This map will help students identify places in their East Lansing Community that provide goods and services. These goods and services consist of shopping malls (restaurants, grocery stores, fitness centers, toy stores, etc.), local parks, libraries, recycling centers, and the MSU campus. The MSU campus was included because of the large population and the fact that many people in the East Lansing community are students and faculty members. Many elementary schools visit MSU campus throughout the year; therefore, students will have an idea where the campus is as well as what the campus provides for the community.

When using this map with the students, I would project the map on a screen as a tool to help students follow directions and understand how to navigate through the site. I would use the cardinal directions and ask the students, "If you go northwest of MSU campus, what placemark will you find?" This will help with navigation skills as well as listening and following the directions. Once the students have gathered their information from the map, I would have lessons that address each placemark, in which students would fully grasp the importance of each placemark in relation to their community.

The information provided on the map is not only useful for the students, but for the parents, too. I would post this map on the class website for parents to view and to learn more about the places in their community as well as store office hours (Frandor Placemark), recycling, and when the events are held in East Lansing.

Classroom Calendar

Click here to view our classroom calendar!

Here is a tipsheet if you have any problems accessing our classroom calendar. Let me know if you have any further questions!

RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an easy and effective technological tool that teachers and students should definitely take advantage of in the classroom. Once students and teachers subscribe to a particular blog, RSS feeds allow for current, relevant information that can simply be accessed on one page. In a classroom setting, students can subscribe to their teacher's blog, in which they will have access to review current events that are happening inside and outside of the classroom. The teacher can post sites that are relevant to content material, in which students will be able to access the up-to-date information that is addressed in the blogs. Additionally, students can subscribe to the blogs of their peers, in which they will know when a new blog is posted for a school assignment. The student can then comment and respond to the blog. RSS feeds are also benefical for teachers due to the abundance of up-to-date educational resources that are added throughout the internet. This way, my planning and teaching can best fit current needs of my students.

Scrapblog

Check out my Scrapblog on Social Literacy!

Using Vidcast in the Classroom

Take a look at my vidcast!

Podcasting in the Classroom

Audio Podcast
Click the link below to hear my audio!

Audio

Properly Using Images in the Classroom

Photo Attribution:

Original Image: Rainbows Over Ring II
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liao/3255464679/
By:Bill Liao

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

• Providing images within the classroom is an essential tool for both educators and students. Many students are visual learners; therefore, it is important to provide visual images to accommodate the needs of these students. Images must be used within the curriculum because they serve as another instructional approach when addressing content material.

• Educators must not take advantage of how images are easily accessible on the internet, however. It is common that many school districts copy and paste images from various websites, textbooks, etc. Educators and students must be aware and, most importantly, be knowledgeable of how to properly borrow images from various resources. Educators and students must teach each other how to appreciate and to note the phenomenal members of society who distribute their works for the world to view.
  

Take a look at my Flickr page!