Elementary+Ideas+and+Successes

If you are an elementary teacher who is using a wiki or considering using one, please share some ideas for ways you can use a wiki and why you believe this use could be an effective learning tool. Remember that TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through has some ideas to get you started. Return to TeachersFirst, the web site.

One of our (ACS Beirut, Lebanon) Grade 5 classes is putting their Book Reviews online for others to read. Read and Enjoy

I would like to create a grammar wiki with my fourth grade students. That sounds like a good idea.

I'm thinking about letting my 4th grade small groups take a "walk" around campus and find geometric figures, types of lines, and angles. Then we can post it here and learn to upload pictures. If all goes well, maybe the students can add to this by finding geometric concepts outside of the classroom!

We use wikis at my school so [|Carousel Day School] teachers can collaborate on lesson plans, notifiy each other of pending Student Assistant Team meetings, and discuss relevant topics such as reading fluency, the Three Tier Reading Model, and so forth.

Prepare students to take a tour of our school neighborhood. This tour might include a scheduled interview with a community service person. This might be a walking experience. Encourage students to take pictures. After a trip around the neighborhood or a section of the community, have students write a description about what they saw, heard, and felt about the the neighborhood. Add their digital photos to the descriptions. Descriptions can be in the form of poetry, short stories, and interviews.

My 5th grade classes were finishing their unit on Astronomy so I had them do an Astronomy Alphabetjust to get them used to the basics of a wiki. My next steps are to teach them to hyperlink from one of the words to write in information.

I can direct my students to certain sites, podcasts, etc.

Wikis can be used to engage the students and show them how to collaborate.

[|Podcast]

One of the teachers at my school (I am the media specialist) regularly has her third grade students participate in writing collaborative stories within the classroom. However, they all do it as a group activity and she has to type in the text as they dictate. I think this would be great for her to use with her students or with other students in the third grade for a broader spectrum of collaboration.

Using the message board is an effective tool for students to use when organizing ideas before writing their wikipage. As I write this wiki, seven third, fourth, and fifth grade students "wiki masters" are rotating around the classroom, gathering information from their peers about their topic, inputting it into the message board. Everyone will have access to these collective notes when crafting their individual final drafts, and when making changes to our wiki.

I plan to use my wiki both as a place for my Grade 2 students to publish their work, such as 2Create a Story or Photostory work. I also plan to use it as a parent info tool and publish my timetable, weekly spelling list etc.

I'm really interested in learning how to use my wiki with my fifth graders. I'm just not sure where to start. I teach Social Studies and Science with 3 different classes. Does anyone have any ideas I might be able to use?

I am currently developing a unit in which 5th grade students will individually create a wikipedia -like web page on a selected country. I plan to incorporate elements of good design as well as required info about the different countries, thereby enhancing their tech skills while uncovering content.

The unit for fifth grade about countries sounds great. I also teach fifth grade and have done web research projects on Volcanoes and Earthquakes that might lend themselves well to wikis. Students would be able to enter their research and cite web-sites for others to use and share. I am thinking about creating a wiki for elementary students to do book talks. Any ideas?

We have literature circles in groups of 5 with my 4th students. We conduct our literature discussions on our Wiki! -Pegah

I am interested in learning how to create a school-wide wiki of book reviews for our students and as a follow-up to professional development for our teachers. I don't know where to begin. Just trying to wrap my brain around how to create this tool and manage it. Any ideas?- Francine from Florida
 * Embed a google form in your wiki. The results are in a nice spreadsheet. Here's an example from a 5th grade teacher: Student Book Review

I use a wiki as a computer center. Just fill it with learning games and let the students explore: Monarch Centers Wiki

All of our English teachers are using wikis this year to provide resources for the students to use at home since many parents do not speak English. They can listen to stories, post videos about a topic or an author, post game sites to reinforce spelling or grammar points. The science teacher had each class do a wiki about animals. Each child had a page to post her report and pictures. We can use it to post Vokis and Glogs too. The Social Studies teacher is doing Glogs for Peruvian Independence Day and we will post the on the class wiki. THe second grade joined a wiki about weather that we saw on CLassroom2.0 which led to a video conference with a school in Pennsylvania.

These are all great ideas!

I'm thinking it would be pretty motivating for my third-graders to create a "Wiktionary." Each week they are supposed to find three or four "Juicy Words" from their "Just-Right" reading books. These are books that are not too hard and not too easy, and in which they should occasionally encounter unfamiliar vocabulary. They are asked to create a semantic map for one word and put that word and two others into sentences that show they know the meaning of the bankers life and casualty company word. It would be great if they could compile these into a class "Wiktionary" to share with each other, with their families and with posterity.

I think it might behoove me to get a parent involved with editing for clarity and appropriateness before it goes to publication.

I am interested in using the Wiki to collaborate teacher ideas. I am the only teacher of preschoolers with disabilities at my school. As a result I see the value in having a place to share ideas with my cohorts so that we can learn from each other rather than having to re-invent the wheel as individuals.

Last year I built a Solar systems webquest using a wiki (really easy). I set up 4 wikis for four groups to collaboratively add info on the solar system. It needs some modification but the kids loved it! I had more kids (all of them) involved in the project than I would have if they designed posters and dioramas. I hope to try it with some other lessons like [|Intensive Driving Courses London]. .

I plan to have my students collaborate on a particular topic within a small group. Once the wiki/topic is well researched and complete, I will have students present/teach them to the class.--Rhoda

Very good ideas.

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