Week 2: 1/29 Classroom Hands-on Activity 2

I recently came across a great website for kids in grades k-5. It is Kidspiration. The tool is designed to help learners create, organize and explain ideas using pictures, numbers, and concepts. As a literacy tutor, I am most interested in learning how it can help students strengthen their reading and writing skills.

In picture view, students can create maps for identifying characters using text and image as well create webs for main idea & details, and even diagrams for summaries. The image to the left shows a diagram created for Charlotte's Web. The web contains pictures and titles that identify character traits. When a student is working in integrated picture and writing views, they are able to explain their thinking as it relates to the images they have chosen.

I wanted to take my exploration a step further to see how I could use this tool for a grade 5 student I work with who needs some help identifying main idea vs. detail. I signed up for a free trial to test out the site. Using a narrative to identify the main idea, three key events (beginning, middle, end), and the solution, I chose the text, The Bully. A Fountas & Pinell Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) book, DRA, 28. The idea is to use a picture book first to help scaffold meaning. When the skill is mastered with a picture book, then this same exercise will be done with a chapter book. The images and descriptions below were created in about 5 minutes. There are several shapes or icons to choose from (I chose icons to see what was available). Knowing that this did not take me long to get the hang of, I think it is a tool worth trying with this particular student. Another nice feature is that work is automatically saved as you go.

Main Idea:  Cal is approached by a bully (in the school cafeteria) as he waits in line to by lunch.
Event #1:  A bully demands that Cal give him his lunch money
Event #2:  Cal says no and explains that he will not give in. Other students encourage and support Cal.
Event #3:  The bully is surprised and gives up walking away
Solution:  Cal stood up for himself by not giving the bully his lunch money and the bully gave up.

"CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5
Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.