21st Century Skills
Using the 4 C's in our Lessons
Tuesday's Theme: the 4 C's for 21st Century Learning
As you think about your lesson plans for next week, here are a few suggestions to incorporate the 4 C's of 21st century skills, while respecting that many of you are preparing students for midterms. Remember, it's not just about the laptops - our visitors are looking for great instruction, high levels of student engagement, and that "buzz" that comes from student-centered classrooms.
Collaboration & Communication
Can You Hear the "Buzz"?
- Students work in teams to prepare their own study material Infographics to share with other class members or other teachers' classes (Try Piktochart)
- Pair classes in common content areas to create and play virtual games against each other using Jeopardy Labs, Quizizz or Socrative.
- Have students create a collaborative study guide using Google Docs to collaborate virtually with another teacher's class.
- Use student-led small groups to review key concepts in station-style rotations. Consider using Today's Meet for a backchannel or use Real Time Board for interactive whiteboards.
- Have students create newsletters to share with parents about what they've learned - practicing their synthesizing skills and using images to support (cited properly of course!). Try Smore.
- Set up a Mystery Skype or Google Hangout with another classroom in the district or an outside expert in your content area. Let students develop questions to ask related to their studies, or teach a lower level grade about topics they are "experts" in. Click here for more information on Connecting Outside the Classroom.
Creativity
Can you see the student empowerment and real-world audience connection?
- Give students a choice board of tools from our Cool Tools Library to create a product that shows what they've learned in the past 9 weeks. Create a virtual gallery walk using QR codes collected in a Google Presentation (See this template for a starting point)
- Have students create arcade style games using Sploder that incorporate review questions or skills.
- Create student-made tutorials using Educreations or the ShowMe App (you can have kids download the app on their phone, bring in their own iPads, or sign out a few from the Help Desk to use as a station).
- Give students time to work on their Google Sites digital portfolios to upload some of their favorite projects or work products from the first 9 weeks and write a reflection on what they've learned.
- Have students create tutorial or review videos with embedded quizzes using Zaption, Educanon, or EdPuzzle.
QR Code Gallery Crawl
Educreations Interactive Tutorials
Embedded Quizzes with EduCanon
Critical Thinking
Can you see the higher level thinking skills?
- Have students review their data from unit tests / quizzes / 4.5-Week to identify a study plan based on their weakest standards. Have them track their data points in Google Sheets and graph their progress to date.
- Use a carousel activity to have students brainstorm key points for various topics. Have them take pictures of the carousel sheets, post it on a Padlet and comment with additional study resources for the topics. Here are instructions on how to do a carousel brainstorm.
- Create a Thinglink Image Slam using a brainstorming app like Popplet to create the background, then add touchpoints that link to various study resources for those topics.
- Make a QR Convo Cube with essential questions from your standards. Students roll the cube, scan the code and work together to answer the question. Here are directions to make a QR Question Cube - you can make them ahead of time or have students create them on Tuesday.
- Create learning style stations where students review the concepts they most need in various formats. Use a self-paced Digital Resource such as Study Island or Shmoop at one, a teacher-directed Q&A at another, a writing/reading station using a Google Docs graphic organizer and material from ThinkCerca, and a student discussion station to keep students engaged.
- Let student pairs work together to curate study resources, helpful videos and tutorials and infographics using Pinterest, educlipper, Scoop It or Live Binders as an interactive digital notebook.
Let's Hangout!
Lesson Planning On-Demand Help
If these ideas have gotten your brain turning, let us help you flesh out your ideas. Stop by and chat with us today or Monday, or let us setup a Google Hangout so we can brainstorm together outside school's chaos. Your media and tech team would love the opportunity to help you bring the 4 C's into your classroom on Tuesday and every day!