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Matt’s Monday Morning Media Tips 9/19 Welcome Back to School!
Embedding an E-Reader Into A Writing Prompt
The bells are ringing and the classrooms are set. Welcome back to school! Now that the chalk is settled (can you still use that pun in today’s digital world?) I’m bringing back Matt’s Monday Media Tips and tricks!
Do you have any struggling readers in your classroom? Are you working with ELL students? Are you a Foreign Language Teacher? How about a teacher who is working with early readers? If you answered yes to any of the above than this tip and trick is custom made for you!
This year I thought I’d try a new format. Let me know what you think. In each issue I’ll try to include tips and tricks as they relate to the Discovery Education STREAMING, SCIENCE and the Discovery Educator Network Global Community. I will also update the tip sheet with our list of ongoing free webinars - make sure you take advantage of them - they are nothing short of awesome! From time to time you I may throw in a cool iPad tip or app, a story from the road, and of course I welcome your thoughts, tips and tricks as well. I love to brag about my friends - that’s you there reading this paragraph. If you have a hankering to share, please send your tips, tricks and/or stories to matt_monjan@discovery.com.
In this morning’s media tip I’m going to show you how you can use a free podcasting tool and embed it into a Discovery Education Writing Prompt, Assignment and/or Quiz Builder. Let’s start off by putting your any fear aside. These steps are easy. And since we’re buds - I’ve also taken all of the “scary stuff” out and replaced it with a soothing and easy-to-follow screen cast featuring none other, your’s truly. You can get this step-by-step video by logging into www.discoveryeducation.com and typing in “audiopal” into your search bar and then downloading the movie. You can also get it by clicking on this link. Don’t feel like downloading the movie? No problem, print these instructions out and follow along. Note: the steps for embedding an E-Reader are the same for the Assignment, Quiz and Writing Prompt Builder but we’re going to use the Writing Prompt Builder in this example. Step 1. Log into www.discoveryeducation.com Step 2. Find the Writing Prompt Builder in the My Builder Tools Step 3. Click on the Create New Writing Prompt link Step 4. Fill in all of the fields and click on the Save and Continue button
What is a DEN Star Member? Step 5. Save the Writing Prompt in your “My Content” (even better - create a new folder and place your Writing Prompt there). Step 6. Click on the Edit button in the first box and search for a video, image, article, etc to add to your prompt. Step 7. In the box below click on the Edit button and type in the text that you want your students to answer Step 8. Highlight your text and copy it
Discovery Education Webinar Schedule
Step 9. Open up a new window/tab in your web browser and go to www.audiopal.com
Dates
Time (EST)
Link
Step 10. Click on the “Get Yours its Free” Button
9/19
7pm 8pm
Discovery Education Science Middle School 101
9/19
7pm 8pm
Blogging Basics: Getting the most of your DE Blog
9/20
7pm 8pm
A Scientific Approach to Science and Engineering Education
9/20
7pm 8pm
Supporting Literacy with Digital Tools
Step 17. Click on the HTML button and then rightclick and choose paste in any white space.
9/20
Step 18. Click on the Finish Editing and the yellow Save and Continue button
7pm 8pm
Engaging Students through the Student Center
9/22
7pm 8pm
Have you Ever Wondered?!? Sparking Your and Your Students’ Curiosity
9/22
7pm 8pm
Back to School with Discovery Education: Maximizing Student Engagement Using Discovery Education
Step 11. Click on the “T” - Text to Speech button Step 12. Plop in our text and click on the “Say it” Step 13. Enter in your email address in the “Step 3” section Step 14. Go to your email and click on the link from Audiopal.com Step 15. Click on the red “Copy” button Step 16. Click back on your Writing Prompt window
button
Step 19. Assign your prompt! Step 20. Now hold your thumbs up and ask your self - “Who has two thumbs and can embed an EReader into a Writing Prompt?” Answer - This guy/ gal - that’s who. Note that you can choose a different native speaker to say your text aloud. That means that you can enter in Spanish, French, Japanese words and more and have Audiopal say them in a native accent great for Foreign Language instruction!
I found this article about Discovery Education Science - check out the great teacher examples! Exert from: Edutopia.org - Cooking Up a (Virtual) Laboratory: Discovery Education Science Delivers These digital resources, from interactive glossaries to lab simulations, help teachers engage students. In an ideal world, teachers would engage students one-on-one and foster a learning environment that's as dynamic and promising as the kids themselves. They would present lessons with panache, assess student comprehension along the way, and give kids a chance to apply their newfound knowledge immediately. Classes would inspire students at all levels to explore topics more deeply and allow them to pursue their curiosity independently. Some teachers say this Edutopia is now a little easier to implement in the classroom thanks to Discovery Education Science for Elementary, a digital service from the company behind the Discovery Channel. Tracie Belt, [DEN Star] a life science teacher at Shorecrest Preparatory School, in St. Petersburg, Florida, says Discovery Education Science's reading selections, image library, and video clips make it easier to do integrated curriculum projects that connect language arts, history, technology, and science. If her students are learning about American colonial times in history class, for example, she might assign readings and videos about diseases from that period. The students can then use the service's movie clips to make an Apple iMovie, read about the discovery of germs in articles and e-books, or write papers or give presentations based on what they've learned. "The new method of teaching is trying to get kids to think, and this is the best tool I've ever used for doing just that," Belt says.Discovery Education Science brings all of the digital resources together in one place so students can navigate through them at their own pace and make decisions about the information, images, or video clips they will incorporate into their work. Moreover, they can do all of this independently. "I think it is really important, because twenty-first-century teaching is all about collaboration," Belt explains. "I don't want collaboration to mean just group work; I need projects in which all students have a part, but they are individually accountable." You can read the full story by going here: