Cinquain Poetry Assessment

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Here is my assessment for the end of learning about Cinquain Poetry. The object is for the second graders to drag and drop the puzzle pieces into the right spot to make the 1-2-3-2-1 layout of a cinquain poem. They will have to know the order you write in, and what type of words you have to use for each line.

Here is a screen shot of a game I made with my partner using classtools.net

This game can be used to teach the seasons of the year to first and second graders!

Ohio DL Schools

For an Ohio learner looking into an online education for K-12th grade there are five major choices:

Connections Academy
ECOT
k12
VCS
Virtual School House

I took the time to research into all of these possibilities as if I am a parent of a child looking into online education, and I would like to post my results here!

First I will discuss the choice I liked the least, ECOT. ECOT stands for the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. ECOT has more than ten years of experience as an E-School, making it one of ohio's oldest  E-schools. Students are expected to complete at least 25 hours of school work, just like a public school-- so there are no "lower standards" there. Students are also expected to pass the OGT to attain a high school diploma. ECOT is tuition free, and gives students free computers and broadband in the safety of their own home. Students can log on and complete their work 24 hours a day. Although all of this sounds great, ECOT's website does not talk about how students can still get in the community interactions with other children they need. Also, are there any extra-curricular activities my kids can get involved in so they can excel in things besides JUST academics?

Secondly I will discuss the choice I liked the most, Ohio Connections Academy. This school has just as strong an academic curriculum as ECOT or any of the other schools-- but it goes beyond that. OCA is the only Ohio E-School rated excellent! Growing up in Hilliard City Schools- who rated excellent my entire academic career, I wouldn't expect anything less for my kids! OCA also takes a huge interest in community and interactions with the students. Students will live-chat with students and teachers during class. Students get phone sessions with teachers. They offer many clubs and sports. And a strong PTA schedules fun educational field trips and events for students to partake in. 

Here is a QR code for my blog, thanks to http://goqr.me/ !!!

ORC Lesson Plan

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/composing-cinquain-poems-quick-51.html

This is a lesson plan I found on the ORC website that explores Cinquian poetry. The lesson teaches first and second graders how to write cinquian (pronounced cin-kain) poems on their own! Students will be expected to understand the concept of cinquian poetry, it's format, and how to write cinquians on their own. This lesson takes a look at the breakdown of the poem, in its one-two-three-two-one style. It also shows students what each line is dedicated to, and what they are supposed to write.

This is a screen shot of a graphic organizer I would use to help the kids learn Cinquain poems!

This lesson is meeting four of the academic standards for my future students. The first academic standard it meets is to "adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes". The second one the students meet is they can apply what they know about language structure, language conventions, media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, and discuss texts. The third standard is that students can participate in reflective, creative, and knowledgable literary outlets. The fourth and final standard is that students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes. In this case the students are learning to make cinquain poems -- they are learning to describe things in their life using poetry. 

I would implement this in my classroom during the language arts time. I think they would have a lot of fun picking a topic for their cinquain poems. I would share sample cinquains (seen above) with the class, either reading them myself or allowing students to read them out loud. Then on a smart board or chalk board I would outline a cinquain poem. 

The biggest problem I could see happening when trying to implement this is spelling/reading skills. This would be more likely for a second grade classroom than a first grade classroom. But overall I think this is a cute and fun way to learn a new form of poetry!

I chose to write a blog post about the Assistant Technologies used for Down Syndrome. According to the National Library of Medicine, Down Syndrome is what happens when a person is born with an extra copy of the Chromosome 21. This extra chromosome causes troubles with the way the body and brain develop. While there are many physical problems that come with Down Syndrome, the mental ones are the ones that affect their learning in the classroom. Down Syndrome causes impulsive behavior, poor judgement, short attention span, and slow learning. So when a normal student can complete 10 questions in a specific amount of time, a child with down syndrome may only complete 2. Children with down syndrome tend to be several years behind students their own age.
       

Their are a few electronic, and non-electronic assistive technologies that help students with down syndrome. The first AT used for kids with down syndrome is the ever-popular iPad. The iPad has apps that are used to simplify problems for kids with down syndrome. The iPad can take a word problem, and replace many of the words with symbols or pictures to help the child with reading. Also with a simple tap of the finger the iPad can read the problem to the child, so the child can focus on the problem and not so much on the reading. Another important AT for kids with down syndrome is slanted desks. Kids with down syndrome tend to have smaller hands, with stubbier fingers, and lowered thumbs. Also the wrist bones often do not form all the way in children with down syndrome, so the slanted desks alleviate pressure on the wrists, and help children write properly.
       

Another AT used for children with down syndrome is springed scissors. The act of opening and closing scissors is very difficult for kids with down syndrome. So the springed scissors automatically open after closing, thanks to a spring between the blades. This allows children with down syndrome to get used to the opening and closing motion, and work on their fine motor skills. The last assistive technology used for kids with down syndrome is smart boards. Smartboards allow kids with down syndrome to draw lines from place to another, and form letters. Another way smart boards help is allowing kids to connect letters to the sound they make.        


The field of technology has been making great progress in creating assistive technology for kids with down syndrome. And they continue to research new apps for the smart board and iPads that will help kids with down syndrome create letters, read, form sounds, and write. I am excited to see where this field will go over the next few years, and will help incorporate kids with down syndrome into the normal classroom!

This is my group project on Personality Variables. Personality Variables is the difference between how a person really is, and how they appear on the world wide web. Our examples we used was a weak "nerdy" guy who makes himself appear buff and handsome online. Our second example was a girl who in person is incredibly sweet and friendly, but online without the consequences she turns into someone who easily angers and speaks harshly. Our last example is a man who is very poor, who allows others to believe he is wealthy on the internet. We as a group worked well together. We designated certain group members to work on specific things, making sure everyone had a role to play. This worked out very well!