Jennifer's+Wiki

__Jennifer's Bio__
My name is Jennifer Souza and I teach fourth grade at Schofield School in Wellesley. I have been teaching fourth grade for the past five years and absolutely love it!

Currently, I use a lot of technology in my classroom. I have three laptops for kids to use and one desktop. Most of my students' writing is done on the computer. They each have a Neo, which is a word processor. Student do all their typing on their Neo. After they have finished a writing piece, it can be uploaded to one of the computers and then edited in Word or it can be directly printed from the class printer. My school also has a cart of laptops which teachers can sign out and use in their classrooms. There are enough so that each student can have his or her own laptop. I also use my Smartboard and ELMO each day! I don't know what I would do without them. I will be taking this class for credit and my hope is that I continue to incorporate new technology into my classroom. I use a class website (but need to get better at updating it!) and would love to add a homework wiki!

Assignment #2:

In fourth grade we study the regions of the United States as part of our social studies curriculum. While studying the regions, each student is given a state to research. Each child in the class receives a different state. The students are responsible for researching their state and writing a report. A great way to introduce my students to the fifty states would be to use a Google Squared tool to help kids learn the basics about each state. They can see what each state looks like, its capital and population, as well as the state motto, nickname, tree, animal, and flower. This tool is easily organized and allows for kids to quickly find their own state and read the information. Students could use this square to help them learn some of the fun facts for their state!

[|Google Squared]

Assignment #3: Excellent job embedding!

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Assignment #4:

http://www.raz-kids.com I use the Raz-Kids website since my school has a subscription. The Raz-Kids website helps my students (especially my lower readers) improve their reading skills. Students have a few options when using the website. Once students are logged in (they have their own password), students can listen to a book for modeled fluency, read for continued practice, record themselves reading, or check their understanding with quizzes. I can tailor each student's assignment, monitor progress with online assessment tools, and view reports. I can set up a class roster and pick my students' reading level. This allows me to make sure that my students are reading books that are at their level. Then I can monitor my students' progress.

For my low readers, I typically give them a "back pack" of books to read at home each week. Since subscribing to this website, I am able to provide my students with an electronic backpack. Each week, I choose the books that I want my students to read. I post a message with the student's assignment.Then monitor their progress by listening to them read a story and check their comprehension quizzes.

One way that I can use this website is to set up an assignment for one of my students. Since my student's reading level is already assigned, I can select the books that I want them to read over three days. For example, I would assign my student (Level N) __Coral Reefs, Elephants,__ and __The Buffalo Hunt.__ Then I would leave them a message so they know their assignment. Sample Message- //This week I would like you to record yourself reading one of your stories. Please read the story at least one time before recording. I would also like you take the quiz at the end of each story. Remember that you should read//

//the story several times before taking the quiz!// At the end of the week, I check in to see how my students did. I listen to their recording, to see how their oral fluency is progressing. Next, I can view their quizzes. Raz-Kids allows me to not only see my student's quiz score but what skills they may have missed on the quiz. For example, a student reading __Elephants__, got a 16 out of 20 on the quiz and I can see that they missed the skills of main idea and details, as well as recall. This allows me to focus more on those skills in guided reading groups in the classroom.

This website is extremely helpful in monitoring students' reading at home and the kids love it!

[[file:Example of student progress sheet.doc]]
Assignment #5:

1. http://www.bookshare.org __**Bookshare**__- I would definitely encourage this website for my students with reading disabilities. The website has a searchable online library, with 90,000 digital books. This is a great resource for my students who want to read what their peers are reading but the books are at too high of a level. Reading books off Bookshare would allow them to participate in reading discussions about grade level books as well as a reading source they can use during independent reading.

2. http://quizlet.com
 * __Quizlet-__** I would use this website for many different things. I would definitely use it for a fun and interactive way my students could study their states and capitals. I would also use if for weekly spelling tests. This is a fun way that my students could study.

3. http://www.awesomehighlighter.com
 * __Awesome Highlighter-__** I would use this for the research project that my students do each year. Each child is given a state to research and write a report on. They use both websites and books to find their information. This would be a great tool for kids who have difficulty reading through printed out information from the internet. This way students could just highlight the most important information and collect it. It would make reading through lots of information easier.

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