The Islamic Religion

I am addressing the 6th grade curriculum for Social studies,

Standard 1
Students will understand how ancient civilizations developed and how they contributed to the current state of the world.

Objective 2
Objective 2: Evaluate how religion has played a central role in human history from ancient times to today.

b Identify key tenets of the major world religions (i.e. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism).

I am doing a virtual tour on the holy cities of Islam. I chose this topic because the Muslim religion is so very foreign to me, so interesting, that it was something I would enjoy researching. I love the study of different cultures and there are so many rich and deep beliefs and traditions held in these cities--I wanted to do a tour this topic so I could see pictures, watch youtube videos, and "travel" to the places I have heard so much about, but never been able to see.

Google Earth is the best vehicle for teaching this curriculum because it is multimodal. Students can see, hear, and interact with the knowledge they are needing to learn. Students get to use technology and see the world, and where in the world these places are, and they can see pictures of buildings and people and watch videos and do fun activities like measuring distance, seeing the time and temperature differences, watching the sun rise---they get to do so many different activities in one spot that I couldn't offer them if I were to stand up in front of the class and lecture. Google Earth will keep students engaged. Google Earth is more efficient.

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Mecca	Click on "wikipedia" in layers to find out what the qibla is. Take the ruler and see how many miles it is from your house to Mecca.	Picture Information Page
2. Medina	Check "YouTube" in layers and watch at least 2 videos. write a brief description of what you learned.	Picture 1 Picture 2 Info page
3.Jerusalem	check "Panoramio" in layers and look at at least 5 pictures and write three questions you have after seeing these pictures.	YouTube Dome YouTube Mosque Info page
4. Kabala	check "terrain" in layers and click on the sun on the toolbar to get the temperature.	Picture YouTube Info Page

The most difficult challenge of implementing a digital storytelling project?

I think the most difficult challenge of implementing a digital story into the elementary curriculum is the motivation to take that time out of class to put together a fun, engaging story for your students. It would be a lot faster and easier not to bother and to stick to the core curriculum that you know your students are going to take government tests on. It takes hours to write the script and find all the pictures and music for a digital story. The story itself only lasts for a couple of minutes. So, I think the challenge is finding the motivation and time to put something like that together.

There are a couple other small challenges. It can be a challenge, or at least an inconvenience, to work around copyright laws. You have to be sure to cite everything. It really would be easier just to teach pure content. Also, you never know if you can rely on your technology. I experienced several technical difficulties while putting my photostory together.

Watching other photostories

I watched McKay, Shanna and Heidi's digital stories and made comments on their posts. I think that the music, sound effects and narrations in each were engaging and made it easy to keep my attention on the digital story. I especially liked the idea of using an ABC story on one topic. That way, you can get a lot of ideas about one topic in a fun, easy to remember way. My favorite was seeing the digital story used as a book trailer. What a great way to get the class excited to read their next assigned book! I think I will definitely use digital storytelling in my classroom.

WASHING HANDS PSA

Screen Caption of Photostory

Asynchronous Photo

Photostory

Content: This storyboard is for a PSA on washing your hands. With this PSA, we are full-filling the Utah State Core Curriculum for the First Grade Health Standards...

Utah Core: 1st Grade Health Standard 1 Students will develop a sense of self.
Objective 1 Describe and practice responsible behaviors for health and safety.
a. Practice appropriate personal hygiene (eg bathe, wash hands, clean clothes).

Script/Description (words said or written on page)

(Title Page)



Happy Body for Everybody Series

Part I: Washing Hands

(Happy girl holding toothbrush)
________________________________________________________________________________________

(Scene 1)

"We need to wash our hands because there are germs everywhere, especially on our hands that touch so many different surfaces!

(Cartoon Germs)



(Cartoon Germs on Hands)


________________________________________________________________________________________

What are germs? Check this out! Germs are tiny little organisms that can invade our bodies and make us sick!"

(Microscope Germ)


________________________________________________________________________________________

(Scene 2)

"No matter what we do, we will always come in contact with germs. There are germs on the telephone, germs on the light switch, germs on our desk and germs on the toilet handle.

(Telephone)



(Light Switch)






(Desk)



(Toilet)

________________________________________________________________________________________
(Scene 3)

"Germs need the type of environment provided by the human body to live and multiply, so their goal is to get inside of us. When we touch a surface, germs move from that surface to our hands. When we have an open cut, or touch our eyes, nose or mouth with our hands, we allow germs to get inside our body. When that happens, we get sick."

(Girl touching face with Hands)


________________________________________________________________________________________

(Scene 4)

"But don't worry! Washing our hands is one of the best ways to stop the spreading of germs."

"Cheers!"

(Soapy Hands)


________________________________________________________________________________________
"Use warm water to wet your hands. Lather soap and scrub for at least 15 seconds getting on top, bottom, in between fingers and especially under your fingernails. Then, rinse off your hands, turn off the water and dry!"

(Washing hand chart)


_______________________________________________________________________________________

THE END!



________________________________________________________________________________________
Credits
Images (in order of use):

*Happy girl holding tooth brush
o http://health.kaboose.com/img/images_234_175/guide_teeth.jpg

* Cartoon Germs
o http://wpbkids.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/germs.jpg

* Cartoon Germs on Hands
o http://www.harfordcountyhealth.com/WebImages/med22-germs.jpg

* Microscope Germ
http://www.karlloren.com/images/96500b.jpg

* Girl touching face with hands
http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/LA0057-001.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=11D6A58AF5B96465BF13FD747F48D0A96529E79887609E4F

* Telephone
o http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/LA5195-001.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=EDF6F2F4F969CEBDE22700280E3B21BDC4DB0C3AD95A1DC6B4C4C9DA9CA9933D

* Light Switch
o http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/light_switch.jpg
* Desk
o http://thespectrumnetwork.org/programs-and-services/employment/images/employment1_000.jpg
* Toilet Handle
o http://www.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/touchless-toilet-handle.jpg
* Soapy Hands
o http://www.ecolab.co.uk/resources/images/soapy-hands.jpg

*Washing hands
o http://dragon-con.pbworks.com/f/washing_hands.gif

* Washing Hand Chart
o http://putriima.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/washing_hands.jpg

* Germs on hands
o http://www.salmonellablog.com/2004/08/

Music (in order of use):

* Conspiracy (2:40) by Paul Andrews
* Legion (2:43) by Paul Andrews
* Dancing With A Droid (3:58) by Dean Barrett and Judy Whittaker
* The Escape Route (1:23) by Patrick Smith
* Here With You (3:48) by Marco Mastrocola
* A Walk in the Sun (2:00) by Pierre Langer and Scott P. Schreer
* Uptown Blues (2:03) by Doug Quinn and Scott P. Schreer

Voices (in order of use):

* Laila Samhouri
* Mary Ann Keller
* Cicely Chipman

Videos (in order of use)

Other Websites
http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/germs.html

____________________________________________________________________________________

A Digital Story will help in teaching this content because...

The representation of this content will help Students better understand how and why to wash their hands by giving them a visual. Students will see real germs that they wouldn't be able so see otherwise. Information is organized and combined into one spot making this a convenient and efficient learning experience (as seen by the hand-washing chart). This representation is more engaging than having the students read or listen to lecture. Students will remember the content because of the visual images they are given. The music and auditory voices and sound effects will keep students alert and aware. A Photostory is a fun, attention-grabbing/retaining tool to get out a PSA to students on how to wash their hands.

This representation is so much more effective for learning because it is MULTIMODAL. Students get to read text, see pictures, hear music and narrative. The visual, textual, auditory, dynamic representation of the content is much more effective when combined than it is alone.

TPACK

Teachers need to know the content they are to teach. They will pull up the UEN website to see the facts, concepts and skills their students must learn. But content knowledge (CK) is useless to a teacher without Pedagogical Knowledge (PK). Pedagogical knowledge is the "How To" when it comes to teaching children. As teachers, we first must know what to teach and then how to best teach that material to our students. We cannot effectively teach with one or the other--we must combine CK and PK to know ho to teach in specific content areas.
However, PCK is still not enough. We live in an era of technological discovery. Our students are digital learners. Our teaching and out students' learning will be more efficient if we are able to use technology in our teaching methods or specific content. That's where TPACK comes in.
TPACK combines the WHAT and HOW with TECHNOLOGY. When it comes to CK, students are able to use specific software to help them complete their projects was well as measure and interpret their findings. Technology is incorporated into the content the students are learning. Teachers can also incorporate technology into their pedagogy to help students learn. For example, technology may aid the students by giving them a visual of the content.
Teachers need to know TPACK because today's generation learns digitally--a generation who is so heavily stimulated, who has shorter attention spans, and who needs technology incorporated into their learning if they are going to see the learning experience as relevant to them. I think TPACK is most important because of its ability to hold the students attention and keep them engaged. If students are to really learn, teachers must be familiar with TPACK.

Skype

Wiki Experience

This week I created my first wiki. I was so excited to learn how to make a website that my students can see and have access to--it's incredible. I learned how to edit photos, embed Google maps, tutorial videos and documents. I think the most useful thing I learned to do this week was to create and embed a Google calender. I didn't even realize that this resource was so readily available. I think this is a wonderful way to keep my entire class on the same page. My students will have access to an updated class schedule. If students ever have a question of when things are due, they can get on my website and know whether or not they are on track. How convenient:)

Technology Background and Experience

I have never considered myself to be very computer savvy. I have always just used computers enough to get by. I know the basics of PowerPoint, Excel and Word. I know how to use the Internet. I am learning how to use Macs. I think my skills are sufficient, but I know I have a ton to learn. Basically, I know how to use my PC laptop and my cellphone, and when it comes to technology, that's about it. I have always just gotten help on computers when I needed it, but it would be cool to know how to figure things out on my own. I use computers everyday, but I perform very basic operations on them. Although I am not extremely confident in my skill with computers, I am confident in my ability to learn more.