MITECS Creative Communicator
Autodraw is a new Artificial Intelligence program from the Google Labs. All you have to do is select the Autodraw tool and begin doodling a shape. The program will guess what you are drawing and you can then select what you were trying to draw and you will have a nice drawing instead of the doodle.
Book Creator is a simple and free online app that even very young students may use to make interactive multimedia-rich eBooks.
Disney’s Color and Play App allows students to color their favorite Disney characters and animate them or make them
Building a blendspace is a great way for students to demonstrate their understanding of learned concepts in any content area.
Students enjoy teaching others. In fact, research says that when students teach others their own learning increases. QR codes are a way for students to teach community members about their local community.
Thomas Edison is a famous inventor. His work with the telegraph and telephone led him to invent the phonograph, which recorded sound as indentations on a sheet of paraffin-coated paper. Students can listen to his first recordings at the NPS (National Park Services) archives. Students will learn how to create their own recordings at the Online Voice Recorder.
MyStoryBook is a user-friendly website that allows students to create their own stories. Tools are provided to help design and create stories. Once completed they can be saved.
Lucidchart is a visual platform for creating flowcharts and graphic organizers in real-time. Students under the guidance of teachers can use the free version.
A Google Slide Deck introduction to the MITECS competency Creative Communicator - Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.
Example: In ninth grade English classes, the students studied the elements of spoken word, a form of poetry, to addresses community or society issues. In teams, they watched several videos of examples as a form of author study. After researching their issue of choice, students composed their spoken word poetry in Google Docs. Their teams conducted two writer’s critique for each poem: the first was a live in-person discussion and the second was through using the Comment feature in Google Docs. Students presented their Spoken Word at a live event at a local cafe. This was recorded and posted on the classroom Youtube Channel. Students posted comments on the recordings to discuss the issues using prompts that supported positive and constructive dialog.
Questions for Reflection:
- How do the MITECS compliment core content?
- How might you and your colleagues develop cross-curricular experiences to support the MITECS?
- Which of the competencies are you most familiar with?
- Which competency is an area of growth for you, as an educator?
Easel.ly is a free online tool that allows students to turn any visual information into an infographic with simple drag and drop. Students are able to communicate their learning in a creative innovative way using limited text and graphics. If this is the first time creating infographics, it may take two class periods.
Students will tell a story that explains who they are using Educreations.
Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly. They are fun to create and students will be engaged in the creative process of presenting their information in an interactive visual form.
Garfield Comic Strip is an online tool or app where students can create a one or three panel comic strip based on the Garfield Comic. Once students are done, they can download, save it or print it.
Students will complete research about an animal of their choice using the San Diego Zoo Kids Zoo website. The students will create a SlideShow Presentation to share with the class teaching about their animal. The class will use given “clues” based on research to guess the student's animal.
An engaging way for students to learn about and make comparisons in history is to create remixes using photos and paintings from that time in history. Using the Library of Congress archives and Google images in the public domain, students can download the images and remix them using iPiccy to communicate about that time in history.
Go Formative is a web based tool that allows teachers to formatively assess students on the fly, or at the beginning and end of a lesson.
Flipgrid is a fantastic FREE Tool where students can create a video presence to support collaboration and their learning. Students will use FlipGrid to share information on any given topic of your choice. It is a platform where they can communicate ideas and eventually collaborate with others.
An infographic is a visual presentation of information in the form of a chart, graph, or other images accompanied by minimal text, intended to give an easily understood overview of a subject. They are very popular and frequently found on websites, newsprint, magazines, etc. Students may create infographics to share out research on any variety of topics, statistics generated from surveys, or a host of other options that cross the various content areas.
Students will use ABCYA Storymaker to create a published writing piece along with a digital artifact that demonstrates learning of a concept.
Using the Kids History website students will read about the American Revolution as it is broken down into segments. There are illustrations that lend well to the text. Extension worksheets are available.