HOTS Integration in 2nd grade

Students in 2nd grade can be introduced to blogs as a way to develop their creative thinking.  One way I would use blogs with second grade students would be to post divergent questions that prompted them to come up with a variety of answers that they could all share and learn from.  Posting blog entries is not just writing, it requires reflecting on topics and analyzing information which is excellent for students.  Another good way to use blogs is to post upcoming topics on lessons that will be covered so that students can begin to post what they know on the subject.  Blogs provide them with opportunities to organize their ideas in their own way which requires higher level thinking.  Blogs also promote a community of learners where everyone gets to participate, even those students who are not comfortable with the idea of speaking in public.  I think students in all grade levels can benefit from using blogs.  Laughlin's Witty Writers is a very interesting blog that contains several posts by students about the disaster in Haiti.  Another good one is Mighty Writers from Room 12 blog.  These students wrote a book made up of their best articles from their blogs. 

Great poster for elementary classrooms

Voice Threads In The Classroom

Voice threads can supplement all types of lessons and curriculum projects. This new technology provides a great way for students to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. They provide a new type of instruction that engages students. I listened to one from Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog where students were using voice threads to talk about their daily rituals.  This is a very creative way for students to express themselves. I especially like how they can use voice threads to teach each other math concepts. Sometimes there are different ways to solve the same math problems and voice threads allow students to share their knowledge with each other. I think they should be used as often as possible in the classroom. I found a lot of useful information about voice threads for first time users along with examples at Voice Thread 4 Education.  This is a very good resource because it gives teachers ideas on how to develop lessons with voice threads in all subject areas.

Google Docs

I think Google docs should be a part of every classroom. It contains excellent features for both teachers and students. It is perfect for group projects because it allows students to contribute to assignments and to help each other. It is great for math classrooms because of the many kinds of diagrams, charts, and graphs students can create. Everything is done and seen by others in real time and this eliminates the need to keep others waiting to edit your work. It also eliminates the trouble of having to consolidate files. Best of all, information is saved and there is less risk of losing important work. Teachers should introduce every student to Google docs because of its many benefits. I would like to use Google docs during field basing with first grade. They love to get assignments that require them to draw so I think they would really enjoy working with Google docs.

My TIE Plan

This is my TIE plan.