using wikispaces to promote independent reading

Using Wikispaces To Promote Independent

Reading

Friday May 1st, 2009

Janet Jundler ESL Teacher Marc Kopyto Teacher/Librarian Earl Haig Secondary School, TDSB

agenda • Definition --what is a wiki?

• Placemat activity

• Connections to the curriculum

• www.wikispaces.com

• Assignment description (what we did)

• White Pine resources (small group discussion)

• Discussion threads (what students wrote)

• Student survey – Student responses

• Parking lot (questions & answers)

What is a wiki anyway?

• wiki is the Hawaiian word for quick• webpage that is easy to create and edit • different companies offer free wiki hosting

• wikis are often used to create collaborative websites

• a collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is one of the best known wikis

user generated content &

web 2.0

Web 2.0

2006 Time Person Of The Year

Placemat Activity

What strategies do you use in your classroom to promote

independent reading?

What worked well?

“The popular culture of today is the academic culture of tomorrow.” – Paulo Coelho author of The Alchemist

Connections to the curriculum

Socio-Cultural Competence And Media Literacy

• Register (1.1) - use of appropriate language

• Study skills and strategies (3.2) - manage time efficiently

• Strategies for the cooperative classroom (3.3)- Listening (reading) actively - Constructive criticism

Connections to the curriculum

Reading

• Reading a variety of texts (1.1)• Demonstrating understanding (1.2)• Responding to and evaluating texts (1.3)

• Literary elements (1.5)

Reading Strategies (2.1)

•Teacher prompts“What types of questions do you ask yourself to help monitor your reading?”

•Text features (2.2)•Grammatical structures (2.4)•Vocabulary building strategies (3.1)

Connections to the curriculum

Writing –Writing for academic purposes (1.1)

–Personal purposes (1.2)

- Grammatical Structures (3.1)

Language Reference Chart

The role of technology in the classroom

"This is about how to get more kids engaged and graduating, about using technology that really supports learning in a way that kids want to learn.“

--Dave Walpole, director of program policy TDSB

Wikispaces.com

Free upgrade for k- 12 educators

tabs make navigation simple

students generate the content

students create the content for their book page

creating and editing pages

Recent Changes – Discussions

list of pages created by students

Recent Changes

RSS feeds allow you track changes easily

wiki widgets: built-in computer applications that allow users to create a dynamic web experience.

What we did

• Library visit at the beginning of the year

• Students went to the library to select books, create wikispaces account & learned how to create the wiki

• Assignment, rubric and expectations discussed in class

• Discussion about on-line Netiquette

• Book club questions

students work collaboratively and

individually

What we did --sustaining the wiki

•Model book talk•Daily silent reading + book club discussions

•Teacher involvement •Daily verbal and written reminders (wiki -talks)

•Feedback on the online discussion in class

•Library visits -book exchange•Wiki survey (metacognitive)

Evaluating student contribution

2 meaningful posts per week

Extrinsic motivation

– grades

Rubric

Formative and summative

assessment

Discussion threads (what the students wrote)

Discuss at your table…

- the depth of the content- the vocabulary and language used- adherence to proper etiquette- the breadth of the discussion- questions and responses- other observations?

The goals of the White Pine Award program are:

1) promote reading for enjoyment

2) make students aware of Canadian issues addressed in young adult books

3) provide opportunities for students to discuss the nominated titles in an authentic, academic manner

Ontario Library Association'sLiteracy Initiative

Student responses

“When you don’t feel the school and class environment, I think you feel more comfortable so you can share ideas easier.”

“ We need to use formal English… we can’t use MSN language or swearing words. And it can correct our bad habits.”

“I read more since I started this wiki because I want to finish the book faster soI can explain about the book.”

“It is a new kind of technology instead of writing book report and also helps us improve our language and writing skills.”

Student responses

Questions?

marc.kopyto@tel.tdsb.on.cajanet.jundler@tel.tdsb.on.ca