There are lots of ways in which children can explore their ideas and existing knowledge around a topic using Clicker 7. Working with a talking partner, for example, might be a good introduction to learning about the weather.
Strand: To identify different types of weather
Objective: The children will learn about the different types of weather and make associations between the weather and seasons
- What types of weather can you name?
- What is the weather like today?
- Is the weather always the same?
- When does it change?
- Is there certain weather at certain times of the year?
- Why isn’t it hot in December?
- What changes when it is sunny, rainy, windy, cloudy?
- How does this weather change what you wear?
- What is your favorite type of weather? Can you draw it?
As a starting point, I used one of my favorite resources on LearningGrids, called ‘Interview Me’.
You’ll find over 800 ready-made resources here. These can all be used as they are, or can be very easily edited to suit your particular topic or needs. Don’t forget these are regularly added to by our own curriculum team, so it’s worth having a look to see what’s there to tie in with what you’re doing throughout the quarter!
I searched for ‘Interview Me’ and then opened it by clicking on ‘Run Now’.
This could be used by so many different grades in so many different subjects. But I decided to adapt it then save my version of it.
I clicked on ‘Edit Clicker Set’ (bottom left) and then selected the Sound and Video tab at the top. Clicking on one of the question marks allows me to type in alternative text that I’d like Clicker to say out loud.
I changed the first question from ‘What is your name?’ to ‘What is the weather like today?’. I then replaced all the other questions in this template with my own in the same way. The activity is now ready!
Children click on the question marks to hear each question, then click on the microphone icons to record their responses. They could work individually or in pairs. They have plenty of time (up to a minute for each recording) and can listen back and re-record at any point if they wish. Their recordings will be saved when the activity is saved.
My final question was ‘What is your favorite type of weather? Can you draw it?
Clicking on the paint brush icon will open Clicker Paint and enable students to illustrate their ideas without the inconvenience of having to go into another piece of paint software – they simply stay in Clicker!
In the next stage (or in another lesson), we can listen again to all the recordings and review the picture, before having a class brainstorm using Clicker Board, the new planning and graphic organizer area in Clicker 7. Just double-click anywhere on the Clicker Board area to create a text box. Then, just click in the box to start writing.
Many teachers have told me they love the way in which the whole class remains engaged as they see everyone’s contributions and suggestions instantly appearing on the whiteboard.
It’s a great way to use Clicker as a whole class teaching tool!