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Wonderopolis Mini-grants

3 Posts tagged with the qr_codes tag
billp
2

My QR Wonderopolis Journey Begins

Posted by billp Feb 28, 2012

So I finally took the plunge, I've begun my mini-grant project, finally and I'm posting for my first time here at Thinkfinity.  My plan was always to start sooner, but things get in the way.  Namely a book video project with my 4th and 5th graders that took WAY, WAY too long and I was waiting to get my hands on a couple more iPads.  This week, I was finally able to put the book videos to rest and borrow a couple of iPads and away we go.

 

My plan is to create a data base of Wonders that support our curriculum, I'm starting with science and hope to move on to other areas in the future.  I started by discussing data bases with all 500 students, grades 1 - 5 at Bailey.  We compared my childhood data base, the World Book to their electronic data bases like Wonderopolis, PebbleGo, our library catalog system and the internet in general.  They were pretty good at figuring out that they are ahead of me due to the extent of the information and that it's kept current.

 

Next I explained my data base plan that they were going to help create.  File cards will be created, possibly color coded for different areas of science, that will have a QR code linking to the selected Wonder, the Wonder of the Day question and the three Wonder questions along with the standard covered by that Wonder. 

 

During the next rotation, we began searching the data base called Wonderopolis, and that has been an adventure!

379 Views 2 Comments Permalink Tags: science, ipad, qr_codes
mr_fines
0

We ventured into the second stage of learning at our Literacy Center and my kindergarteners simply can't get enough of Wonderopolis. The Literacy Center has become the most popular corner of the classroom for learning. I only open up the center in the morning, and once again in the afternoon. In the meantime I play border patrol, attempting to keep the kids from inching their way to Wonderopolis - not because I don't want them to, but mainly because I'd have a mob of kids in an area that comfortably fits only about 3 students. I wish my room was bigger.

 

So, phase 2 of the literacy center called for the kids to use the device to find the "Wonderful Word" using a quick response code - also known as a QRcode.  After they find the word - they use it in an I wonder, or I know  statement and write it in their journal. This is a simple way to blend using a technology tool to enhance a learning activity. It gets them away from the typical "watching" and "playing" of the device and actually using an app to gain access to something they need to complete the learning activity.  I was randomly choosing working vocabulary words until I figured out that the kids could easily use a word that was discussed when we visited the Wonder of the Day on Wonderopolis. You'll see in the video and some of the pictures I documented below how the kids did using the QRcode and journaling their learning. As expected, I modeled using the app to scan the QRcode and finding the Wonderful Word only once, and the kids pretty much said "Okay, we got it Mr. Fines...see ya!". 

 

Here are the steps I used to complete this Phase of Learning with our iPad:

  • I created a google document that is the home for the Wonderful word. It takes less than a minute to change the Wonderful Word each day.
  • I took the URL of the google document and created a QRcode using this QRcode generator.
  • I created a QR code book for  storing the codes we've generated - from popular wonders to favorite websites.
  • I downloaded this free scanner app to scan the Wonderful Word QRcode.

 

The kids were having so much fun I left this QRcode activity up for an extra week - and boy did I get an earful if I ever forgot to change the word of the day (and I did that a couple of times). The best part, as always, is engaging with the kids. I can see them growing their confidence of using  technology for learning as well as communicating their learning in the journals, or on video with me. They treat their Wonderopolis Journals like gold and have been producing some incredible work. I am so proud of them.

 

We've already transitioned into the next steps. For the next couple of weeks the kids will be using the iPad's camera and video to document different things in their learning environment.  Unless there is a change in direction, I'll keep you posted here on our progress in the coming weeks.  It's all shaping up to be an awful-lot of fun!  And to think...the fun has only just begun.

 

Thank you again - NCFL, Wonderopolis, and Better World Books - for this Wonderopolis opportunity!

 

 

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528 Views 0 Comments Permalink Tags: ipad, wonderoplis, qr_codes, wonderopolis_mini_grant, wonderopolis_literacy_center
maryleehahn
1

(Cross-posted at A Year of Reading.)

 

 

I promised in my "What's On My Wonderopolis iPad" post that I would tell about the little project I did with my students to show them the power of QR (Quick Response) codes.

 

What is a QR code? It's a little like a bar code, only it's square, and it contains a maze-like design of black and white cubes that are an information code. (more details here, on Wikipedia)

 

There are lots of QR code generators out there. I picked QRStuff.com.

 

 

The steps on the generator page are really straightforward and easy to follow. The type of data we used was plain text. (A QR code can also take you to a website, a YouTube video, etc.)
My students were going to be reading picture books with pretty obvious stated or implied themes. (See yesterday's post for the newest book in the theme tub in my classroom.) Their job was to write a very short summary of the book and identify what they determined to be the theme, and I wanted a fun way for them to share their writing and their thinking about themes.
After writing a draft in their writer's notebook, they went to the generator page, typed the book's title and author, their summary, the theme they identified, and their name. They downloaded the code, we printed it, and now the page with the code lives inside the front cover of the book.

Students love grabbing one of the iPods or iPads and scanning the code (before or after reading the book for themselves) to see what their friend wrote for the summary and what they thought the theme could be.

 

And now they are finding QR codes EVERYWHERE and bringing them in to scan! A QR code from a pizza advertisement took us to the company website. Another was found on the tag of an Annoying Orange toy. If you're not on the school's server, it takes you to some really annoying Annoying Orange videos. There's even one on the back of Melissa Sweet's BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY that takes you to her website.
This is a tiny little quickie project with QR codes. Check out this amazing project that Julie Johnson's  3rd graders did. It integrates their local history unit, video-making, and using QR codes to take their work to an authentic public audience! Thanks for ramping up my thinking, Julie!
228 Views 1 Comments Permalink Tags: literacy, technology, reading, ipad, theme, summaries, qr_codes, wonderopolis_mini_grant


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