Blogging Challenge - Week One

Hello Dear 6th Graders:

First, a few housekeeping issues.

If I don't have your Foreign Language choice from your parents yet, I will need to talk to you...

And if you didn't send me an Email last week, I need to check in with you and make sure you have an account set up, and it works for you.

Now... Today, we blog.

I have set up a 6th Grade Kidblog Account for our class, please link to it here:

http://kidblog.org/6thGrade-Morell/

I will write the default password I set for everyone on the board, and the first thing you will do is change it to the same password you use for Google.

Then, you may change the look of your blog.

And finally, your assignment for the day- and the first of many blogging challenges I will set for you throughout the year.

I would like you to tell me about 10 of your favorite things.

Using complete sentences. Wow me. Amaze me with your fabulous descriptive language.  Include photos if you'd like.  Please model it on  sample on our Kidblog account.

Welcome to 6th Grade Technology!

Welcome!

On Monday, we have such a very short class that I will only have time to do a few things.

Lets start with a quick Prezi



Your homework:

Send me a well-crafted Email telling me one thing you did this summer, and one thing you hope to accomplish in technology this year.

Remember to use the following guidelines:

(This is from one of my favorite blogs - Langwitches)

Mrs. Morell

When you finish Scantron testing...

You must be very, very quiet to let your classmates finish testing, so I suggest you:

finish the teacher surveys in the post below,

read the New York Times Learning Blog to learn something new and interesting,

play FreeRice 

or watch some of the cool videos below from TedEd:

Today, we will take the ADW Religion test

I will give you instructions, and you will take a religion test in class.

If you are finished, try to work out the four places I traveled last week:




Then continue to work on your National Park Project.

National Park Project

Hello Dear 6th Graders,

This week, I will be globetrotting, so you will have a sub.

The instructions for today are quite simple.

First, finish your research, using Noodletools.

The sub will have your worksheets, so please be sure that you have answered each question, and have five piles of notecards (or five notecards, if that is how you decided to organize yourself.)

The three best sources are:

Most of your information can be found on the National Park Service website:

http://www.nps.gov/index.htm

And the National Parks Conservation Association is another great resource:

http://www.npca.org/exploring-our-parks/parks/

And National Geographic has a great resources:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/


If you have finished, you may begin your Glog, Prezi or PowerPoint.

If you cannot remember your login information, the sub will have a sheet with all your logins...

the password for everyone is htsglog

The link to glogster is here:
http://edu.glogster.com/

and Prezi:

http://prezi.com

In your presentation, you must:

• A title or title slide
• Use at least 10 facts from your research (of your choice)
• Use at least 10 photos or videos to illustrate your research
• Everything must be spelled correctly (Yikes, you collectively had a ton of typos on those Prezis of yours!!)
• Put your name on your presentation (of course)

See you next week!

Mrs. Morell

National Parks Project

Now that you've explored the far reaches of the world with your Around the World project, we're going to turn our attention to some of the wonders of the United States.  Each of you will choose a National Park to research, then you will have a choice of formats to do a presentation:

PowerPoint
Glogster
Prezi or
Haiku Deck on an iPad
You must complete the research using NoodleTools and get it checked by me before you can begin your presentation!


To introduce you to a few of the National Parks, we'll start by watching this video from the National Parks and Conservation Assocation:




Last year, my students used Glogster, and here are a few of their masterpieces.

Name:

Name of Park:

National Park Glog

Student Research Sheet

This project will take most of the fourth quarter.  First, you must choose a National Park to research. A list can be found below.

You will be evaluated the following elements:

·         The research you complete using Noodletools.  You should have 5 piles of notecards: Location, Physical Characteristics, Plants, Animals, and History/Visitor Details 

·         A bibliography – or works cited page using Noodletools.

·         The final presentation of your research. 

Park Location	State: If you were to fly to your park, what is the closest airport? If you were to drive to your park, which States would you travel through?
Physical Characteristics	Size of the park (in acres): Climate (temp and weather): List and describe at least 3 interesting geologic features:
Park Plants	List and describe at least 3 interesting plants (trees, flowers, etc.): Why did you include these plants?
Park Animals	List and describe at least 5 interesting animals: Why did you include these animals?
History of the Park, and Visitor Details:	When was the park created? What was the park created to protect or preserve? Number of visitors each year: List and describe at least 3 of the most popular things to do or to visit: Why are these places and things popular?

Websites to use:

Most of your information can be found on the National Park Service website:

http://www.nps.gov/index.htm

And the National Parks Conservation Association is another great resource:

http://www.npca.org/exploring-our-parks/parks/

And National Geographic has a great resources:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/

The link to glogster is here:
http://edu.glogster.com/

and Prezi:

http://prezi.com

Choose your Park from the list below, and let Mrs. Morell know which one you'd like to use:

State	National Park	Year Established
Alaska (8)	Denali	1917
	Gates of the Arctic	1980
	Glacier Bay	1980
	Katmai	1980
	Kenai Fjords	1980
	Kobuk Valley	1980
	Lake Clark	1980
	Wrangell - St. Elias	1980
American Samoa	American Samoa	1988
Arizona (3)	Grand Canyon	1919
	Petrified Forest	1962
	Saguaro	1994
Arkansas	Hot Springs	1921
California (8)	Channel Islands	1980
	Death Valley	1994
	Joshua Tree	1994
	Kings Canyon	1940
	Lassen Volcanic	1916
	Redwood	1968
	Sequoia	1890
	Yosemite	1890
Colorado (4)	Black Canyon of the Gunnison	1999
	Great Sand Dunes	2004
	Mesa Verde	1906
	Rocky Mountain	1915
Florida (3)	Biscayne	1980
	Dry Tortugas	1992
	Everglades	1947
Hawaii (2)	Haleakala	1916
	Hawaii Volcanoes	1916
Idaho	Yellowstone	1872
Kentucky	Mammoth Cave	1941
Maine	Acadia	1919
Michigan	Isle Royale	1940
Minnesota	Voyageurs	1975
Montana (2)	Glacier	1910
	Yellowstone	1872
Nevada	Great Basin	1986
New Mexico	Carlsbad Caverns	1930
North Carolina	Great Smoky Mountains	1934
North Dakota	Theodore Roosevelt	1978
Ohio	Cuyahoga Valley	2000
Oregon	Crater Lake	1902
South Carolina	Congaree	2003
South Dakota (2)	Badlands	1978
	Wind Cave	1903
Tennessee	Great Smoky Mountains	1934
Texas (2)	Big Bend	1944
	Guadalupe Mountains	1966
U.S. Virgin Islands	Virgin Islands	1956
Utah (5)	Arches	1971
	Bryce Canyon	1928
	Capitol Reef	1971
	Canyonlands	1964
	Zion	1919
Virginia	Shenandoah	1935
Washington (3)	Mount Rainier	1899
	North Cascades	1968
	Olympic	1938
Wyoming (2)	Grand Teton	1929
	Yellowstone	1872

Chart thanks to:

http://www.nationalpark-adventures.com/united-states-national-parks.html

Amazing Prezis!!

Hi all,

I know many of you are still finishing your projects, but I wanted to share a few "Around the World: projects that have been particularly impressive.

Some things that I noted along the way help make a Prezi really work:

- Clean design, with good color choices, so that you can see the text on the background easily.
- Not too much text on each slide.
- Photo choices that illustrate the points you are making.
- Impressive research
- Personalizing the research by noting why you would like to visit each country.

Here are a few of my favorites so far... I'd love to add more as you finish:


Olivia's: 

http://prezi.com/l3qi9geqwvkr/present/?auth_key=o8r68tq&follow=zlyo8u8dx7yw&kw=present-l3qi9geqwvkr&rc=ref-4259356

Grant's:

http://prezi.com/edm4h-pjwlr5/around-the-world/?auth_key=56f70203fbf436c46f97325cfeb7d86dfa94b10e

JT's

http://prezi.com/2cwfi3lu2yoe/around-the-world/?auth_key=308b18034ffeefe4aecc776cbb5c1e76544be038&kw=view-2cwfi3lu2yoe&rc=ref-19718557

Maddie's

http://prezi.com/n0fa_jut-so9/around-the-world/?auth_key=30de40ee079db4de90faaf17d64bf260cf4394ed

Zoe's

http://prezi.com/pmm5sadr-gob/around-the-world/?auth_key=e7573e2982b9f4547bb2de606a80f23f8b6e5b65

Matt's

http://prezi.com/ff-dg3tcz4al/around-the-world-prezi/?auth_key=67219471e2dd7948dc357dd84ced01a74ffe88b9&kw=view-ff-dg3tcz4al&rc=ref-19094676

Those of you who have finished will have a chance to work with Haiku deck during class, while the rest finish your projects :)