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Elmo in the Classroom
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I use my Elmo every day, in every subject, and in a variety of ways. I can use it in whole class discovery for my third grade class. The students can use it to show their work and demonstrate their own understanding to the class. Images can be saved, just like a computer, and uploaded at a later time. It has become in inextricable part of my instructional strategies, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to give my students these experiences. The following are some examples of ways I have used my Elmo Document Camera in the classroom.
Science:
Using the Elmo in Science lessons has brought discovery to the children in a whole new way. For example, when we were studying life cycles, I bought mealworms and caterpillars for our classroom to watch the process of metamorphosis. Using the Elmo, I projected and magnified each stage of life. I placed the mealworm, the pupa, and the emerged beetle under the magnification of the Elmo, and projected them for the whole class to see. Instead of crowding around a class aquarium and hoping that each student could get a glimpse, every child was able to see the real life phases the size of their heads on the wall. They journaled about this experience, drew and labeled diagrams, and were able to compare and contrast in great detail.
We were even able to watch a pupa emerge into a beetle! The students were so excited to see the pupa flinching and shifting, and even began rooting for it and encouraging it. The Elmo made this lesson accessible and authentic for every student. In a similar capacity, the students were able to see different classifications of rocks—sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic—magnified and up close, as I pointed to the layers and shapes. In the past, I have passed around the rocks, but could only hope that they were able to make the connections without showing each child. I followed similar procedures with the exploration of states of matter, plant parts (we uprooted and examined several of our class plants), fossils, and sound vibrations. Frequently, other third grade classes would come into my classroom during these lessons to be a part of this important discovery process.
Math:
Effective math instruction can hinge on whether or not the students are really able to grasp the concept and procedures being taught. Third graders are still in the concrete operations stage of development, are not able to fully conceptualize an idea unless it is shown to them explicitly. Using the Elmo, I am able to model the use of manipulatives in a way that the students can actually see what I’m doing, solidifying their understanding of concepts.
For instance, when we were discussing volume of three dimensional objects, I modeled the use of unifix cubes through my Elmo Document Camera. The students were able to visualize the two dimensions that are perceived by the naked eye, but also that other dimensions exist when I shifted the formed figure around in my hand. The students were then able to experiment with volume using their own unifix cubes, but I felt confident in the fact that they knew what they were doing. The students then enjoyed coming up to the Elmo themselves to show off their own creations and model the proof that their conclusions were correct. It was not only an effective teaching technique, but gave the children a confidence boost in their ability to showcase their understanding. Tangrams, measurement tools, multiplication arrays, and fractional parts were also great topics with which to employ this strategy.
In addition to the modeling of manipulatives in mathematics, students were also able to examine and model their written work more effectively. Instead of coming to the board to show their work, which can be intimidating of confusing, the students were able to work comfortably at their seats until they felt they had reached a product that they wanted to show. In graphing, students were able to display the graphs they had worked on and get other students’ feedback on their product. In multiplication and division, the students were enabled to authentically discovery the commutative property through the work of their peers. They were able to draw their own conclusions and make their own connections, with me and the Elmo as facilitators. The authenticity of this method promotes deeper understanding and leads to a more permanent mathematical schema.
In working within the newly implemented Common Core State Standards for mathematics, we examined several Constructed Response Assessments in class. The students were able to work independently and explore their own solution paths to address the multi-step math problems. Then we all came together with the Elmo Document Camera to closely examine the work of the students. Some of the students came up with creative solutions that I might not have thought of and, best of all, were able to share them effectively with everyone. Students were able to compare their own work to that of their peers to help them explore other solution paths and determine the strategies that were most effective for them.
Social Studies:
In Social Studies instruction, I have found the Elmo Document Camera most useful in working with maps and charts. For instance, on a special purpose map of industries in different regions, I was able to point to the key, make markings in the workbook that everyone could see, and examine symbols with the students that would otherwise be hard to identify, all using the students’ own curriculum materials. I didn’t have to run off anything on a transparency or reference maps that did not look like what the children had in front of them. We were able to interact with the text simultaneously, as a team, and in a way that made clear the expectations of the lesson. The students have been able to make their own graphs and charts to display to the class. The students created their own set of questions to go along with the maps, enabling a higher order thinking lesson, designed by the children and authentically represented. This sort of reality-based learning experience really does drive home the points of the lessons.
English Language Arts:
The Elmo Document Camera is a great way to share texts with a whole group. The students are able to share their graphic organizers for their writing, which frequently models alternate organizational strategies that has proved to really help clarify concepts to a variety of learners.
The students are able to show off everything from their creative short stories to their expertly formed cursive letters. I can even share a read-aloud without the students craning to see the pictures. These read-alouds I have conducted through the Elmo have helped to model fluency and phonics, as well as develop interest in reading. I have been able to bring many informational texts to the classroom in a capacity in which the whole class could experience them in detail.
MrsTaylor on
Aug 24, 2014
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