As important as this topic is, I completely understand that it is not the most exciting topic for students. You can picture it now, in fact, almost HEAR it, "I know, I know," "This is so boring!" and the list could go on and on. Soooo, I knew I had to "fun it up" a bit in order for it to really hit home and leave an impact. I took a suggestion from the student evaluation from Camp Legend this summer chose a theme of sharks. I figured it would be a perfect topic to weave digital citizenship in, a variety of STEAM activities, and even some Science.
STEAM Activity
I created a choice board based on the book, Smart About Sharks. There were so many great facts and images in this book, that I knew it would be a perfect anchor text for our Choice Board. I was gifted this book by an amazing person in my PLN from my Shark Week Digital Citizenship Amazon Wish List and am so grateful that it made this learning activity come to life! Students were given the Choice Board and could choose any item as their starting point. I had brief descriptions and visuals on the front and more details on the back if anyone wanted more information. The students seemed to enjoy the activity and actually worked through the items pretty quickly. It is amazing the difference in their work when they are not in groups and constantly talking and sharing while they are building. It was one of the things I was hoping to observe as far as their natural collaboration and communication and what would happen when they were not in groups and the natural sharing and conversation was not one of the main parts of their learning. I learned many things today!