It’s hard to believe that 2012 is coming to a close. In preparation for the New Year, have your students come up with some New Year’s resolutions and present them with Voki.
As a fun reminder, ask your students to listen to it again at the end of the school year!
See below for an example:
Happy New Year!
The Voki Team
It’s finally the last month of the year! December is a month filled with holiday cheers and joy! This month, different cultures around the world get together and celebrate the meaning of family, togetherness, and culture. We have three holiday lesson plans this month on three special holidays: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day!
Note: If you are looking for a Christmas lesson plan, check out our Holiday lesson plans post!
Hanukkah – This lesson plan will teach students about the origin of Hanukkah. They will learn the story behind Hanukkah. Students will discuss the traditional food and symbols of Hanukkah. They will be required to create a Voki to present a scene that represents Hanukkah from the Hanukah story.
Kwanzaa – Students will learn about the 7 principles of Kwanzaa. They will discuss about the different symbols that represent Kwanzaa and how Kwanzaa is celebrated. Students will learn how Kwanzaa began and the meaning of Kwanzaa. Students will write a story on one of the symbols or principles of Kwanzaa to share with the class.
Boxing Day – In this lesson plan, students will learn about the origination of Boxing Day, which countries celebrate it, and how it is celebrated. They will be required to research how people celebrate Boxing Day and Boxing Day traditions. Students will create a Voki to present their research on Boxing Day traditions.
Remember: The grade level assigned to each lesson plan is not set in stone. You can use Voki lesson plans for a higher, or lower, grade than the one you teach. These Voki lesson plans can be adapted to fit your style or your students’ abilities!
We would love to hear some of your lesson plan ideas for Voki! Just send us an email at lessonplans@voki.com!
Until Next Time,
The Voki Team
Last month, we introduced three lesson plans on Latin America. This month we are introducing 3 new lesson plans for our English speaking countries that your students will enjoy learning about: United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand! So let’s dive into the past with some famous historical figures from the United Kingdom, travel and explore the great continent of Australia, and test your hidden knowledge on New Zealand!
Remember: You can use Voki lesson plans for a higher, or lower, grade than the one you teach. Also, you can adapt Voki lesson plans to fit your style, or your students’ abilities!
Autobiography(United Kingdom) – In this lesson plan, students will learn about famous historical figures within the United Kingdom. In a 2 page autobiography, students will research about their lives and their influence on society. As an additional classroom activity, students will create Voki clues on the historical figure that they researched.
Australia Travel Brochure – Students will learn about the geography and the different territories of Australia. Students are assigned to one of the Australian territories and will be required to create a travel brochure for the territory. A Voki will be created to introduce the assigned territory with 3 interesting facts.
New Zealand Scavenger Hunt– Students will go on an internet scavenger hunt on New Zealand. They will learn to locate the islands, cities, and bodies of water located in New Zealand. You will play a Voki with scavenger hunt clues and students will research. Students will be required to create a scavenger hunt Voki to present to the class.
We would love to hear how you are using Voki in your class! If you have send it to us at lessonplans@voki.com!
Until Next Time,
The Voki Team
Looking for some great Voki activities for your students?
Well look no further! Tricia and Donna from 1001 Super Tools for Teachers made a great handout with Voki! As their Super Tool 991, they listed out some fun lesson Voki activities for different school subjects!
Reading/Language Arts
Did you just assign a great book to your students? Are you planning a poetry lesson? These fun lesson ideas would get your students to practice their reading and writing:
Science
Teaching a science lesson does not have to be boring! Your students will have a BLAST with these Voki science activities:
Social Studies
Learning about the Renaissance Era, the American Revolution, or the Meji Restoration? Having a great historical debate in class? Bring history back to life with these Voki history activities:
Math
Vokis can be used in all types of subjects. Even math! These great Voki math activities will be fun part of your math lesson:
Speech Therapy
Some of your students may have speech problem. These Voki activities will help them reach their language goal:
Foreign language
Voki offers 30 different languages! It’s a good way to start practicing your Japanese sentence structure, Spanish vocabulary, or Portuguese pronunciation!
Thank you Tricia and Donna for creating this amazing Voki handout!
If you have some great ideas or feedback that you want us to know, send us an email at feedback@voki.com!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
Storytelling is a very useful activity in the classroom. It can be used to and improve your students’ creative writing skills! Here’s an activity that you can do with your students: ask your students to tell their favorite Aesop’s Fable or write their own fable!
They can even record their own voices on the Voki! It’s also a great activity for your students to practice their public speaking!
Note: Instructions for recording with a microphone can be found on Voki Tip of the Week: Give your Voki a Human Voice with a Microphone.
Check out our example below!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
Welcome back to school! To kick off the school year, we have prepared 3 new lessons plans your students are sure to enjoy!
This month’s theme is Holidays! Do you think it’s too early to talk about holidays? Well the folks at Voki don’t! It’s never too early to start preparing lessons for the holiday season.
Remember: The grade level assigned to each lesson plan is not set in stone. You can use Voki lesson plans for a higher, or lower, grade than the one you teach. Feel free to customize the lesson plans to for your needs. These Voki lesson plans can be adapted to fit your unique style or your students’ abilities!
Halloween – Scary Stories (Middle School) – Students will learn about the history of Halloween, including the origin of trick or treating, costume wearing, and pumpkin carving. In this lesson, students will learn the elements that go into writing a scary story. Then they will learn how to write their own scary story and share it with the rest of the class.
Thanksgiving Poem (Primary School) – In this lesson, students will learn about the origin of Thanksgiving and how the first Thanksgiving was celebrated. They will discuss what they are thankful for and what it means to be thankful. Then, they will write special cinquain poem about what Thanksgiving means to them.
Christmas around the World (Middle School) – Students will learn about the different Christmas traditions and customs from different countries and how it is different from their own tradition. They will discuss about the legend of Santa Claus and the different symbols that represent Christmas.
Want to share your own lesson plans with us? Just send us an email at lessonplans@voki.com!
Until Next Time,
The Voki Team
Another year has come and gone and so has the winter vacation. Students may be coming back to class clinging onto the remaining visions of sugarplums and fairies; but instead of trying to overcome their rapacious imaginations, work with them! Now is the perfect time to engage your students in exercises that bring out their excitement and indulge their enthusiasm.
Below are a few Writing lesson plans that will enable students to write freely and use their imaginations with confidence. Many middle-schoolers consider writing a dreaded task, and tend to suffer from Writer’s Block. Too many times, students are required to write technical and analytic essays, at the expense of developing their creative writing skills with prose and short stories.
The lessons below are designed to help students gain confidence writing out their thoughts by using repetition and creative topics. Each exercise encourages individual perspective, unique ideas, and thought with little imaginative constraint. By introducing students into an atmosphere that is largely dictated by their free thought, writing will hopefully become an approachable subject that will enable students to handle writing assignments ease and fluidity, no matter what the topic.
Remember: The grade level we assign to each lesson plan is not a requirement – you can use Voki lesson plans from a higher, or lower, grade than the one you teach – if you think they fit! Also, remember that you can adapt Voki lesson plans to fit your style, or your students’ abilities.
Paragraph Practice (6th Grade Writing) – Students gain writing practice with a regularly scheduled, one paragraph writing exercise using Voki. By doing this exercise once a week, students will write in different styles and voices and will also be more accustomed to writing without preparation. At the end of the year, students will be able to listen to their paragraphs and evaluate their improvement in class.
Creative Writing Crunch (7th Grade Writing) – Students draw a prompt from a bag and have 15 minutes to write a creative narrative. Once the 15 minutes are over, students will use Voki to introduce their creative story and then take turns sharing their Voki and reading their work. This exercise will help students develop confidence in writing and technique. By using light-hearted prompts, students will have fun using their imagination.
Character Guess Who (8th Grade Writing) – Students will create a Voki and write a paragraph that describes their favorite book or movie character in detail. Students will be encouraged to write using imagery and descriptive details with the goal of painting a picture with their words. After each Voki presentation is given, the classmates will try to guess who the character is.
As always, we would love to hear how you are using Voki in class. If you have a lesson plan that uses Voki (or that can be adapted to incorporate Voki) and you would like to share, please email us at lessonplans@voki.com.
Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
The Voki Team
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