~ Gwendolyn Best~ ilovechalkdust

1. Using Sound Recorder To Increase Student Achievement ~Gwendolyn Best~http://ilovechalkdust.com Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

2. Benefits • Sound Recorder is free and easy for teachers to demonstrate to students. • Other items are free, but not easy enough for primary students to use. • Using students’ voices avoids the dangers of using their images, yet allows room for creativity and higher level thinking. • SR is useful in any subject area. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

3. Science • From HYPOTHESIS to RESULTS students can use digital images and their voices to describe a class experiment from start to finish. • Consider also small group experiments where students plan and implement. • Use PhotoStory or PowerPoint to put it all together. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

4. Motivate Students to Write • Choose the “best three” stories or poems • Give all students a chance to give voice to their writings • Weekly paragraph assignments are a short and sweet way to get everyone involved on a regular basis • Students have to write before they record for most of the activities. They will learn those grammar skills IN CONTEXT. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

5. Reading ~ Upper Grades • Consider Reader’s Theatre. • http://busyteacherscafe.com/units/readers_theater.htm • Create your own plays based on scenes from the classroom novel you are reading. • Create Audio Diaries that summarize the events of a story from a character’s point of view • Book Reviews or Advertisements to encourage others to read certain titles. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

6. Reading ~ Upper Grades 2 Pretend you are a character in the story. Write two journal or diary entries that the character would have written. The first entry should be centered around an important even that took place at the beginning of the story. The second one should be one that the character would write at the end of the story or even after the story is over. These entries should reveal major events in the story, informationabout the characters personality, and information about the characters feelings towards events and other characters in the story.  Record the file and save it according to your teacher's instructions. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

7. Reading ~ Primary Grades • Get every student involved as they use the sound recorder to make digital stories about certain letters and sounds. • Share their predictions • React to stories~ if you could give Goldi Locks some advice, what would you tell her? If you could trade places with one of the characters, who would it be, and why? Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

8. Any Subject ~ A StudyCast • A study cast is a broadcast that is created to help students study. • It contains factual information • Question/Answer format works well. • One student (or the teacher) can record all the questions in one file. The other student, or various students from the class can provide answers in an individual sound file. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

9. Any Subject ~ Vocabulary • Every subject area has specialized vocabulary that students need to understand if they are to really master subject matter. • At the beginning of each unit, create or have the students create vocabulary words and definitions for students to use for studying outside of class. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

10. History ~ SR Brings It To Life • Have students write a biography of a historical figure. Turn it to an “auto- biography” when students read it into the sound recorder. Listeners test themselves to “guess who”. • Give them guidelines, essential knowledge, and a word bank around which to structure their writing. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

11. History ~ SR Brings It To Life 2 • Have students “interview” a historical figure. They can create the questions and answers based on essential knowledge. • One historical figure can be interviewed more than once. Students can focus on a different accomplishment or important event for each interview. • Settlers, explorers, slaves, Native Americans. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

12. History ~ SR Brings It To Life 3 • Have two or more students report a news story about one historical event. • Each report can show a different take or perspective. • Consider having students write and record interviews to show different perspectives of one historical event. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

13. History ~ SR Brings It To Life 4 • Have students pretend to write journal entries as they travel across the US into various regions (or across VA as they travel through the geographical regions) • This could also be done in the format of a “travel segment” • A narrator for the sessions can liven up the broadcast if you decide on having a series of broadcasts. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

14. Back to School • Introduce yourself in a sound file and post it to your website (consider grade level intro) • “Letter” to students and parents • Explain standard or “staple” assignments • Let last year’s students give advice on survival in 5th grade (or your grade level) • Have students introduce themselves on the first day. Use a questionnaire with blanks and take digital pictures. Focus on favorites and information that you can use later in the year. Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

15. Creating a Podcast • You can post sound files online with the help of your ITRT. • You might want to consider a classroom show or podcast. • Decide on your segments. • Tie in to the curriculum and SOL • Student created or scripted Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement

16. Parent & Community • Consider training parents and volunteers to use the sound recorder. • Ask volunteers to record fairy tales, nursery rhymes, or other public domain stories. • Create bedtime story CDs • Make recordings available online and on CD Using Sound Recorder to Increase Student Achievement