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                 Julie Meyer-Houston Home        Learn More        Standards        Inspiration        About the Author


Navigation / Site Index
Julie Meyer-Houston Home

Learn More (This page!)
   - Navigation / Site Index
​   - Why Engage and Motivate
   - How We Blogged
   - Overview of Standards Used
   - Best Apps & Tools
​   - Social Media
  • Lessons
    • Sustained Silent Reading
    • TPACK-based Lesson Plan
    • Additional Resources for Lesson Planning
  • How-tos
    • Examples of Teacher Dashboard and Student Blog Posts
    • The A-B-Cs of How To . . .
  • References
    • Links
    • Resources for Teachers
    • More Tools & Apps
    • Curriculum Ideas
    • Videos
    • Recommended Reading / Books
  • Assessment
    • Sample Types of Assessments and How to Use Them
    • Sample Rubric
    • Sample Student Blog Assessment

​Standards and Competencies
  • Common Core
  • 21st Century Skills
  • TPACK

Inspiration
  • Research
    • Research Paper
    • Poster
    • Slideshow Presentation
    • Literature Review
  • Design Process
    • Progression
    • Motivation
    • Confusion
    • Analysis
    • My Logo
  • Next Steps & Support Thanks

About the Author
  • Teaching Philosophy Statement
  • Reflection about My TPAC​​K Journey
  • ​Lasting Learning

Why Engage and Motivate

Hasso (2016) asserted that because low reading engagement skills of English language learner (ELL) students are a barrier to academic and vocational progress, improving reading engagement in an academic setting can improve reading skills.

In addition, the findings of Schiefele, Stutz, and Schaffner (2016) suggested that even at early stages of learning to read, intrinsic reading motivation contributes to students’ development of reading competence.

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How We Blogged

To engage students in reading and motivate them as writers with the use of technology, I implemented the use of Edmodo (a web-based, threaded-discussion platform) in 2016 with my class of 32 fourth-graders in a suburban school with diverse demographics.  
  1. Students self-selected a book of their choice to read for pleasure during our 25-minute Sustained Silent Reading time in class.  
  2. Immediately after reading, students were given 10 minutes to use Edmodo to post their own reflections about what they just read.  
  3. The ELL students were provided with differentiated prompts/questions that they had the option to answer.  They were also invited to write how they felt about the book they were reading if they chose not to answer the prompts/questions.  
  4. As soon as all students completed their own personal reflections, they were encouraged to respond to any number of their classmates’ postings for the next 10 minutes.  
  5. The expectation for all posts during those 20 minutes was that they were required to use complete sentences and accurate grammar.​
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LESSONS
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HOW-TOs
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REFERENCES
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ASSESSMENT

Overview of Standards Addressed

  • ​The California English Language Development Standards 4th Grade Goal and Principles 
  • The California Common Core State Standards (CCCSS) for College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading notes that students should also acquire the habits of reading independently and closely, which are essential to their future success.  
  • We used the CCCSS for Grade Four
    • Reading
    • Writing and Language
    • Technology  
  • ​Prior to and throughout this Edmodo implementation to guide my teaching and student learning, I consulted the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards
    • for Students
    • for Educators​​

​Best Apps/Tools

Here are a few of the FREE apps/tools I use the most and how they have been used.
Note ==> Common Sense Media is the best resource for parents and students to learn about digital citizenship: safety on the Internet and about digital resources including reviews and rating of age-appropriate movies, books, apps, and games for kids!
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Remind - I use this communication tool the most with my students' parents, which is based on their email addresses and/or telephone numbers because it works on any device.  I can send attachments (scanned documents, photos, homework), due dates, short notes, and reminders quickly and conveniently from my device anytime for FREE!  I can choose the time frame to receive their messages, too, so we can all rest.

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Overdrive - To stimulate reading everywhere and anywhere, this app works on all devices.  Audiobooks, ebooks, and streaming videos can be checked-out from public libraries

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ClassDojo - For audio and visual classroom community building.  This app was mainly used during my action research to count time-on-task behaviors.  When students knew I was using ClassDojo, most students' behaviors improved because they liked being acknowledged for doing well! Parents could opt in to receive notifications of their child's participation; however, we did not use that function.

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Coggle - For mind mapping, taking and sharing organized notes, and brainstorming on ideas and topics.  Free simultaneous collaboration, which can be stored on Google Drive

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Google Drive - The BEST cloud-based tool for storage and back-up.  It allows multiple, simultaneous collaboration in creating, editing, uploading, and sharing documents, spreadsheets,  presentations, forms, and folders for organizing it all that can be used on computers, phones, and tablets.  I love that I can access documents anywhere and at anytime FOR FREE!

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Google Docs - For Word Processing, ex. Research Papers, Brochures, Resumes, Invitations, etc.  Simultaneously collaborate to create, edit, upload, and share for free!

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Google Slides - For Presentations and Posters.  Simultaneously collaborate to create, edit, upload, and share for free! 
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Google Sheets - For Spreadsheets. Simultaneously collaborate to create, edit, upload, and share for free!
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PictureGoogle Forms
Google Forms - For Data Collection and Analysis, ex. Surveys, Tests. Simultaneously collaborate to create, edit, upload, and share for free!


Social Media for Educational Use

Use of social media at the Elementary school level works best through teacher-created classroom pages that students (and parents) can collaborate on to strengthen the school-home connection while also requesting assistance for guest speakers, experts in the field, authentic audiences for students to present to, and to showcase student progress and final products.​​​
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Edmodo - Used in our classroom for posting personal reflections and responses to other students' writing about the books they read during Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) time.  Students requested to use it in lieu of the paper Reading Log for at-home reading!

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Twitter - I mainly use it to follow other edtech gurus and chatrooms such as #edchat, #edtech, #edutech.  Addtional edtech uses can be found HERE.

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Instagram - Showcase student work and to capture fieldtrip memories.  Additional edtech uses can be found HERE.

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Facebook - Create a private classroom page for students and parents to highlight students' accomplishments.  Additional edtech uses can be found HERE.

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