If you read my last post, you know how much I am in love with Google Classroom right now. With that, came my exploration of Google Docs. I wanted to share with you the first project we did using the Google Doc and another site called Tagxedo.In class, we have been discussing theme in children's literature. This isn't exactly the easiest of topics. In fact, it is something we tackle all year long through these lessons, but as we continue to discuss it, the kids really seem to glom on to the idea of what theme in literature really means (as opposed to main idea.)
This past week, we read the story Elephant in the Dark
by Mina Jahaverbin and discussed the underlying themes within the text. Together, we brainstormed what exactly the author was trying to teach us (as opposed to the main idea summary of the text). After much discussion, they all seemed to grasp at least one main theme for the text and I set them off to write a paragraph with the reasons and textual evidence of that theme embedded within. The students used this organizer to help them organize their thoughts.
Once the paragraphs were written, the students broke out a chrome book, logged on to their Google Doc account, and began typing away. They typed up the complete paragraph, which then was saved into their Google Drive.
The final products are not only rigorous academically (because, let's face it, writing a paragraph on the theme of a book with evidence isn't exactly a walk in the park) but looks amazing on the bulletin board!
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I love every single thing about this. Thank you so much for sharing what you have done!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kristen! :)
DeleteThis looks awesome! I would love to try it but I'm not sure how we would do it if Tagxedo doesn't work on Chrome. All we have to use are Chromebooks with Chrome as the browser.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely amazing!!! We are studying theme right now in our classroom and I love this idea! Thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for the theme graphic organizer freebie. It is soooo important for students to be able to back up their claim with evidence. I tell my fifth graders that anything can be the theme as long as they can find evidence to back it up. I love how you paired an important critical thinking activity (writing a theme paragraph) with a graphic representation/art project. So engaging!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this! I can't wait to use this idea in my classroom. = ) Have you had any issues using Tagxedo?
ReplyDeleteMs. Smith
Adventures of Ms. Smith
The only issue we encountered was that "Silverlight" wasn't installed on the computers initially. Once we got that on each of the desktops, Tagxedo worked splendidly.
DeleteMay I ask what grade you teach?
ReplyDelete