Fifth graders at Laburnum Elementary have been learning about the parts of a cell (SOL5.5) in science, and they have been working on their oral presentation skills (SOL5.2) and evaluating media messages (SOL5.3) in language arts. So today students in Ms. Satterfield’s class created instructional videos about cells using Pixiclip. Pixiclip is a webtool that allows you to record your webcam as you draw and write on a virtual whiteboard. First I gave the students a brief lesson on how to use the various tools, and we discussed good oral presentation skills, then they were able able to get started right away. As they drew the cell parts they described each one. When their videos were done we shared the links in Google classroom so they could evaluate and comment on each other’s videos. Take a look at some student examples here.

Fourth graders at Davis Elementary have been learning about force, motion, and energy in science (SOL4.2) and narrative elements in language arts (SOL4.5). So today students in Ms. Bennett’s class created comics about potential and kinetic energy using StoryboardThat. First they logged into their Google accounts, which allowed them to log into StoryboardThat with just a few clicks. We discussed narrative elements like characters, setting, problem, and solution. I showed them how to add different characters and settings to their comics and customize them. Next we brainstormed different problem-solution situations that would illustrate potential and kinetic energy. We talked about ways to increase potential energy (pulling back, squatting down, rotating, etc). Now the students were ready to create their 3-panel comics showing how a character solved a problem using potential and kinetic energy. When they were finished, they posted the links to their comics on Google classroom so they could see each others’ and add comments. Check out some students examples here.