11 Tools, Post #5

As a music teacher, I see each child in the school for less than an hour, once a week.  So, many of the Web 2.0 tools used to create the products listed in Tool #5 aren't as easy to incorporate into my lessons and planning as a traditional classroom teacher, who can devote much more time to these projects. I found with this blog assignment that the tools requiring less time to create products fit better with my teaching timeline.

To think about how I could replace current files I use, I could use the Stupeflix Video creator to replace some of the powerpoints I use.  I created the following video to use as a part of my "set" to introduce the instrument families, before moving on to the online lesson I use via Carnegie Hall.  It's short, but showed me how I could start to edit pictures together that I can then narrate at the start of a lesson.  I hope the link works!

http://studio.stupeflix.com/v/9xFwzLFNu2/?autoplay=1

I also tried the Word Cloud generators and was pleased to find that using the ABCya! word cloud generator, I can create a wonderful graphic to embed in my Activ software to attract student attention to the primary vocabulary word of the day.  That then leads to the students discovering more and taking much more ownership of the concepts being presented.  The graphic included below is one I would use with kindergarten when introducing the word "Beat."  They point out the big word, we sound it out together, reviewing letters and phonics, and then act it out through musical games using the words around it to emphasize how the beat stays constant no matter what else changes.