Language Arts Integrated Ideas

1. For my language arts unit, my topic is Shakespeare. One final product that the students will create is a podcast. Their podcast will be of a reader's theater of a Shakespearian play. There will be at least four students in a group and all their voices will be heard. They will also have to incorporate music into their podcast. They will also add pictures of them acting out scenes of the play they are reading. A reader's theater will get them involved in the lanugage and creating a podcast will let them share their presentation.

2. Connecting students to other students in another part of the world will help them learn about that area in a personable manner. The class will choice an area they would like to research. They will then use search engines to find a classroom in that area. They will create a blog that will ask questions about what they want to know about that area. They will be able to correspond with the other class via blog posts. This will help them to communicate with another area and find out information through personal contact. They will also be practicing their writing by posting blogs.

3. Students will choose a "how to" book. They will chose the book based on their interests. After reading it, they will create an iMovie. Their iMovie will be a lesson on what they learned to do. They will use the movie to teach the class a lesson. They will use partners to film each other and edit the footage on iMovie. We will then have a movie share where we will practice what the students have taught. This activity will get students to use what they have read and to become a teacher themselves.

4. Students will choice a historical or popular figure. They will do some online research and work in the library to find the history of their person. They will then create a multimedia project to present what they have learned. Some tools that students can use are Media Blender, Inspiration, Power Point, Frames, iMovie, and iTunes. This project will get students to be creative and to present information in a non-traditional way.

5. Student will make an online portfolio on books that they are reading. In their portfolio they must include a summery, an evaluation, and provide links to other books that the author has written and other related books. They will be able to share their sites with other kids in the class. Students will be able to get other kids involved in what they are reading and will help other students choice other books.