By incorporating Bloom’s taxonomy of higher level thinking skills and Bloom’s digital version teachers can improve upon the lessons they teach. I am a Kindergarten teacher at Bethke Elementary school. As soon as I mention any form of technology in my room little eyes and ears are immediately focused on me and me alone! As soon as I introduce a new piece of technology to my kids they take off running with excitement. For example, I introduced the story telling app Puppet Pals to my kids this past year. It was the end of the day and we had some extra time so I showed them how to create a story. From then till the end of the year my children begged for a chance to
“play” on Puppet Pals. Below is a sample of a child creating a video during our Friday fun day! I wasn’t sure if Kindergarteners could use this app, but now I know they can! This coming school
year I will use Puppet Pals to enhance a writing lesson I teach on beginning, middle and end. Puppet Pals has several character themes you can choose from. For example, community workers, fairy tales, farm animals, monsters, pirates, Christmas, Wild West and American
history. I will begin by showing them all the possible characters and explain that they will be writing a story that has to have a beginning, middle and end. I would have introduced Puppet Pals prior to this lesson, so they would know how to manipulate the characters and create a video. I will start by giving them a copy of the all the characters in the theme they chose. This will give them a visual of the characters that can be in their story. I will give them paper with three boxes where they will draw pictures of what will happen at the beginning, middle and end of their story. Next, we would create a class rubric describing the expectations of their stories. They would then write their stories using their pictures as a guide to help them remember to include a beginning, middle and end to their story. I will be sure to read their stories when they finish and make suggestions or comments. Now they are ready to tell their story using the app Puppet Pals. They will not read their paper. They should know their story enough by now to create a spontaneous version of it using the characters on Puppet Pals. I will remind them to make sure their story has a beginning, middle and end. I will scan their stories onto the computer and put their written stories and the Puppet Pal videos up on our classroom website for parents and grandparents to see at their leisure. This lesson incorporates Blooms highest level of thinking, Creating! Some of the digital verbs accomplished throughout this lesson include planning, constructing, making, producing, and recording.
How could you use Puppet Pals in your classroom?
“play” on Puppet Pals. Below is a sample of a child creating a video during our Friday fun day! I wasn’t sure if Kindergarteners could use this app, but now I know they can! This coming school
year I will use Puppet Pals to enhance a writing lesson I teach on beginning, middle and end. Puppet Pals has several character themes you can choose from. For example, community workers, fairy tales, farm animals, monsters, pirates, Christmas, Wild West and American
history. I will begin by showing them all the possible characters and explain that they will be writing a story that has to have a beginning, middle and end. I would have introduced Puppet Pals prior to this lesson, so they would know how to manipulate the characters and create a video. I will start by giving them a copy of the all the characters in the theme they chose. This will give them a visual of the characters that can be in their story. I will give them paper with three boxes where they will draw pictures of what will happen at the beginning, middle and end of their story. Next, we would create a class rubric describing the expectations of their stories. They would then write their stories using their pictures as a guide to help them remember to include a beginning, middle and end to their story. I will be sure to read their stories when they finish and make suggestions or comments. Now they are ready to tell their story using the app Puppet Pals. They will not read their paper. They should know their story enough by now to create a spontaneous version of it using the characters on Puppet Pals. I will remind them to make sure their story has a beginning, middle and end. I will scan their stories onto the computer and put their written stories and the Puppet Pal videos up on our classroom website for parents and grandparents to see at their leisure. This lesson incorporates Blooms highest level of thinking, Creating! Some of the digital verbs accomplished throughout this lesson include planning, constructing, making, producing, and recording.
How could you use Puppet Pals in your classroom?