Rachel

= www.kerpoof.com =

The Kerpoof website is created by Scholastic so it is immediately teacher friendly. You can log-on as a teacher or as a class. This site allows you to make movies, stories, greeting cards, etc. It is loaded with different graphics, sounds and fun facts that engage students and adults.

I would introduce this site to my students in our technology lab. I would have the students log-in on their computers and then gather them in front of the LCD projector and go through the activity I would like them to try. I would start with the "Make A Story" feature. I would instruct them to pick an interesting back drop for their story and show them how to add pictures and text. I would like to focus on each child including two characters with a problem. Their task will be to create a cartoon story, add characters and add text. If they are not ready to write, I will add their dictated text.

I think this could be integrated into just about any curricular area. The back drop could be chosen based on a classroom theme. Something like animals, winter, or nature all have backdrops that could be integrated. Of course, we are always working on writing as well as comprehension dealing with characters, setting, problem, events and solution. A quick assessment would be to have my students tell a partner the setting of the cartoon and who the main characters are. If there is a problem they could talk about that as well. The stories could be printed and I could check to make sure all the parts are included. I think the parents would love to see a cartoon written by their child so I would send them home as well.

This site is so totally engaging that learners of every level will love it. More able children will be able to type in the character conversations while I can help less able students by typing their dictation. It will build language in every child and amazingly, EVERY child seems to be able to add pictures and make a cartoon. It is so second nature to young children. I would not see any problems in having every child complete the picture.

I think the caution and advantage of using kerpoof will be finding out how the site works with 28 students logged on at one time. There will also be a great deal of talking and excitement when the kids want to show their friends what they have made. I will make sure there is a time set up for sharing.
 * 1) I loved seeing you all experiment with kerpoof. It gave me some new ideas for using it!###

= www.voki.com =

The voki website allows members to create a voki. A voki is an avatar of a person or creature. The voki can be put on a website or be used as a mascot on a webpage.

I would teach this Web 2.0 tool during center time in my new kindergarten classroom. I have had an unusual job change in the past week and switched grades and classrooms. I am just getting to know my new students. I set up a wiki for my families to help them get information about what is happening in our class. I would like to make a class photo page of the students vokis! I think my families will love to go to the wiki, find this page and see what the class avatars look like.

I would teach this Web 2.0 tool during center time. I would log in to the free voki site. I would call one student over at a time while the other students are working independently in centers. I would have my kids choose their background, character and if they would like, even record their voice. I think it would be cute if they would just say first names. I then would embed the vokis on our class wiki. Teaching this tool in a one on one situation will allow me to differentiate for my students. I can walk them through the steps and hopefully, if we use this site in the future for making book characters or something like that, they will be able to work more independently.

When I initially played with this website, I lost my voki! There is a bit of a learning curve in creating a saving this type of avatar. I would make one for myself and embed it on the web page before doing this activity with my class so that they do not have to wait for me to work out the kinks in class. The advantage of this tool is that it is free and really fun.
 * 1) A number of my students have had trouble with recording their voices over the phone. Not because it doesn't work well but because they don't listen carefully to instructions about hitting the right key at then end to save the recording. Your recommendation for the teacher to make one first is great!###

= Here is my updated chart from February 6, 2010 =

Blog, Wiki, SketchCast, BrainPop, RSS Feed, Kerpoof, Twitter, Ning, Del.icio.us, VoiceThreads, Flickr, Skype, Moodle, YouTube, TeacherTube, Wordle, PodCast, bubbleshare, toondo, ThinkFinity, FaceBook, GoogleDocs, Diigo, 2nd Life, animoto, bubbl.us, tikatok, KidsZone,
 * Take the terms listed below and place them in the correct column.**

I updated this after our class! WOW! That was a lot for 1 day!
 * Know (can explain) J ! || Have Seen the Term! || Never Heard of This? ||
 * Wiki || Blog ||  ||
 * Twitter || ThinkFinity ||  ||
 * Ning || RSS feed ||  ||
 * Del.icio.us || Bubbl.us ||  ||
 * VoiceThread || Moodle ||  ||
 * Fliker || tikatok ||  ||
 * Skype || bubbleshare ||  ||
 * YouTube ||  ||   ||
 * TeacherTube ||  ||   ||
 * Wordle ||  ||   ||
 * PodCast ||  ||   ||
 * GoogleDocs ||  ||   ||
 * animoto ||  ||   ||
 * Kerpoof ||  ||   ||
 * Toondo ||  ||   ||
 * FaceBook ||  ||   ||
 * Diigo ||  ||   ||
 * 2nd Life ||  ||   ||
 * SketchCast ||  ||   ||
 * KidZone ||  ||   ||
 * BrainPop ||  ||   ||