Character Trait Popplet

As we wind down Project Cornerstone for the year we used Popplet to review character trait words. I listed character trait words such as honest and helpful on the board. Pairs of students created a Popplet for the different words. Each Popplet had the character trait in the middle and then 4 bubbles around it giving a synonym, antonym, a picture showing the word in action, and the word used in a detailed sentence. Popplets can be emailed as either JPEG or PDF files. I prefer JPEG because then the Popplet is displayed in the body of the email so I don't have to open an attachment to see the work.

Project Cornerstone

Our school uses Project Cornerstone as a character building curriculum. During the year parents came and read 8 books with 8 related activities. Each book focused on an aspect of self-esteem, being kind, helping others, being an upstander, etc.

Today I asked students to create a "final project" that combined all the messages they remembered from the 8 books. Prior to starting we listed the books as a class and recalled key buzzwords.

I gave students a menu of apps to use for their project. The app choices were DrawingPad, Strip Design, SimpleMind+, Popplet, Educreations, SonicPic, and PuppetPals. They were all apps we had used at least twice.

At least one student chose each app, with SimpleMind+ being the most popular, something I would not have guessed. It just reminds me that it's great to give students the freedom of expression rather than assume what they would like to use as a means of expression.

"Who Would Win" Activity

Pairs of students read one of the Who Would Win books by Scholastic. Most of my students read grizzly bear v. polar bear. After reading they discussed the checklist at the back of the book and determined which animal would win in each category. They swapped partner and together with their new partner created the Pros and Cons template on the Tools4Students app. Prior to opening the app I asked them to talk to each other about what they had read and discovered with their initial partner. I asked them to write at the top right which animal would win. On the pro side I asked them to list reasons that the stronger animal would win. On the con side I asked them to list aspects of the weaker animal that gave it an advantage over the stronger animal.