Electrify Your Portfolio!
Pleasant Hill Elementary students in the second grade and L.D. resource program will develop a portfolio of language arts activities. Included will be graphic organizers, student writing projects, student artwork and class assigned activities. These will be used to asses the student's progress, show parents their child's work and give an overview of the student's school experience. Traditional manila folders become cumbersome to store and are not an interactive means of record keeping. All materials from the traditional folders can be placed into the Power Point program by using a digital camera, color scanner, and ClarisWorks for Kids. The student will be able to include voiced narratives, personal pictures, and other items of interest to them. Each student will have their own diskette showing their progress and accomplishments for the year. These computer portfolios may go home for viewing by family members as well as for viewing at conference time. A long range goal would be to add to these portfolios each school year. The use of computer generated portfolios eliminates excess paperwork, removes the need for space-consuming folders, and encourages a multimedia presentation of their school accomplishments. Many students find paper/pencil activities difficult and intimidating. Using the available programs will help with continuity and structure for the learning disabled students. The use of electric portfolios adds a new dimension to schoolwork for these students. A slide show presentation is a wonderful way to display their portfolios. Students are excited to use the newest technology and are even more excited to share it and teach it to others.
Goal of Project:
To keep accurate records of the student's progress throughout the year. To make available the newest and latest technology to early elementary students. To generate excitement in technology and language arts.
Lesson Plan: (Rough Overview - timetable -10-12 school days)
1. Introduction to Unit. (First template with student's picture and general information will be created by classroom teacher/L.D. teacher.)
2. Graphic organizer created on Power Point. (Teacher will choose appropriate template.)
3. Prewriting activities. Idea web will be placed into Power Point template.
4. Writing assignment completed on Claris for Kids then inserted into template.
5. Instruction on Power Point. Students will use teacher-made template for portfolio.
6. First writing assignment will be put into all class slide show for viewing. Class will comment and critique their work. (Using TV/LTV)
Specific Project Objectives:
Reading/Writing: Students create their work using Claris for Kids. Students will also be able to use a scanner to add their projects to Power Point. Projects utilize word processing, data and graphing materials, as well as computer drawings to complete assignments. With teacher assistance the students will create their own Electric Portfolio using Power Point & Claris for Kids. These projects could be added to school web page. (Downloading plug-ins would be necessary.)
Even though linking language arts with technology is the main focus of this project, connecting with other academic areas would be a beneficial feature. Other areas to expand this project to are:
Math: Students will generate graphs which further illustrate and clarify their assignments and their slide show. All school graphing/estimating projects could be combined into a school slide show or put on to the school web page.
Science/Social Studies: Students will create their research projects and add them to their slide show. This would broaden the use of technology and demonstrate to the parents the learning which has occurred.
Technology/Innovation: Students will create their own individual academic assessment to show projects. They will learn how to use the latest technology and how to incorporate it into their own project. These projects can easily be added to the school web page. Students will be linked to another class for language pen pals. They will use e-mail, traditional mail and video conferencing to communicate with them. (CU-SeeMe program for conferencing) These activities will be incorporated into their language arts writing program.
Teacher Tool: Using electronic portfolios will offer a new and exciting way to display and store each student's work. Paperwork will be kept to a minimum. Parents will see first hand the positive impact of technology in our school. This project will be displayed for School Computer Night. (Students will be in charge of demonstrating it to their parents and friends.)
Long Term Project: Electronic portfolios are an ongoing process. Teachers and students may add new items or projects to the portfolios. These will be updated quarterly.
Assessment:
1. Informal teacher/parent observation will assess the student's level of competence with the equipment and programs used.
2. The portfolios will be ready for viewing at the first parent conference and then updated quarterly. Parents will be invited quarterly to view their child's progress.
3. Each student's portfolio will be formally assessed by the teacher as an indicator of the student's progress.
Rationale and Purpose:
This project generates an interest in computer technology for students as well as parents. It also opens up new learning styles for each student. Using the latest technology creates a sense of excitement in the student's progress and provides for a variety of successes. It especially enables students who have difficulties in paper/pencil activities to use a less threatening mode. Electrifying your portfolio also allows the student to show their projects to their peers, parents, teachers and other family members. Using this project with various grade levels allows for collaboration between teachers, resource staff and parents volunteers.
Target Population and Need:
Pleasant Hill serves a very low income population. Currently, 75% of the students at Pleasant Hill come from low income families with less than 5% of the population having access to a computer outside of school. This project would make the latest technology available to 28 second graders, 26 learning disabled students (K-4 grade) and 2 classroom teachers.
Timetable:
This project would run throughout the school year. In September, the students would create their portfolio. In Unit 1, the students would begin their first writing assignment. I would assist the classroom teacher with rewriting activities. In small groups (1-3) I would instruct each group using Claris for Kids. After their writing assignment was completed the students would use Power Point to begin their portfolio. At conference time, each student's portfolio would be ready for viewing. New material and projects would be added each quarter, with at least one item per quarter mandated by the teacher. The student would be allowed to choose at least 2 additional works. (A total of 3 projects would be added each of the end, 3rd and 4th quarters.)