Love is in the air and Valentine’s Day is around the corner! Have your students write an acrostic poem using the name of their Valentine. An acrostic poem is a poem which the first letter of each line spells out a word or a phrase.
Check out an example below:
Have feedback, comments, or suggestion for Voki? Send us an email at feedback@voki.com!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
This week we have an interview with Mrs. Stephanie Bullock. Mrs. Bullock is an academic technology teacher from The Lovett School in Atlanta, GA. She a Voki user since 2009! It was great that we have a chance to talk to Mrs. Bullock.
Here’s what Mrs. Bullock likes about Voki:
Mrs. Bullock created a Voki about how she used Voki in class. She and her third graders did a really great reading project by creating Voki characters to represents the characters from the books they read!
Q: What would you add to the Voki product?
A: I would add the ability to edit the student Vokis from the teacher account. My students were too young and my time with them was too limited to ask them to handle the audio conversions that were necessary, so I had to keep track of all their usernames and passwords in order to add the audio for them. It was time consuming.
Wider variety of acceptable voice and background formats. I’ve had to open students’ backgrounds using Preview and then export them as low-quality .jpgs in order for them to successfully be uploaded.
The ability to publish a Voki without having to add audio so that the students’ work during one computer class period will be saved for the next time they have class. I haven’t found a way to save their work before they are ready to add audio. (See my work-around below).
Q: Do you have any Voki tricks up your sleeve?
A: I use the application Audacity to convert audio files to the acceptable .mp3 format. My students only have access to the application Audio Recorder on their computer, producing an .m4a file that isn’t an acceptable file type.
To circumvent the publishing issue that I have, I usually type in a filler word like “test” in the audio component to Voki so that I am able to save students’ work from class period to class period.
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Mrs. Bullock runs a technology blog: http://techknowledgey.edublogs.org/
Follow Mrs. Bullock on Twitter: @srbullock
Want to be interviewed for the Voki blog? Send us an email at submit@voki.com!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
Lunar New Year is coming up! Lunar New Year is a very important holiday in Asia. To celebrate this upcoming holiday in Asia, we have prepared 3 new Lunar New Year lesson plans on Korea, China, and Vietnam.
Remember: You can use Voki lesson plans for a higher, or lower, grade than the one you teach. These Voki lesson plans can be adapted and customized to fit your unique style or your students’ abilities!
Chinese New Year – Students will learn about the legend behind Chinese New Year and the 12 animal zodiacs. They will look into the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated. Students will learn Chinese New Year greetings. They will create a Voki to compare and contrast New Year and Chinese New Year.
Korean New Year (Seollal) – This lesson will teach students the Koreans celebrate Lunar New Year. They will learn about traditional New Year’s food and how to play a traditional New Year’s game. Students will learn how to wish others Happy New Year in Korean.
Vietnamese New Year (Tet) – In this lesson, students will learn how the Chinese influenced Vietnamese culture. They will learn about the preparations before and during Tet. They will compare and contrast Vietnamese New Year (Tet) with their own holidays and holiday traditions. Students will split up into groups to research on 3 different aspects of Tet.
If you have a lesson plan that you want to share with us, send it to lessonplans@voki.com!
恭喜發財!
새해복많이 받으세요!
Chúc Mừng Nǎm Mới!
The Voki Team
It’s been a while since we had an interview with a teacher! This week we are featuring Angelyn Cheatham and her favorite Vokis! Angelyn is an elementary technology integration specialist for Garland ISD in Texas. She trains teachers and students on how to use technology tools.
Here are some of the reasons why Angelyn loves Voki:
If you can’t view Angelyn’s Prezi here, click the picture below to open the link!
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Angelyn runs a technology blog: Great ‘Tech’pectations.
Follow Angelyn on Twitter: @AngelynCheatham
Want to be interviewed for the Voki blog? Send us an email at submit@voki.com and we’ll get in touch!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
Are you planning to assign a book report? Why not add a twist with Voki! Instead of a traditional book report, have your students create a Voki about the latest book they read.
Check out our example here:
Send an email to feedback@voki.com if you have any questions, comments, or feedback!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
Recently we’ve had some Voki users asked us if their Voki can automatically play when you view them. The answer is yes! Here’s how:
Look in the top right-hand corner of the Voki editor and click on the small icon that looks like 3 gears. It is located on top of the Customize Your Character box.
It will bring up Scene Setting. To have your Voki play automatically, click the check box for Play audio automatically when Voki loads.
Now, when you open your Voki, it will play automatically!
If you have any feedback, comments, or questions, send an email to feedback@voki.com!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
Happy New Year everyone!
Let’s ring in the New Year with new Voki lesson plans! We have prepared 3 new ESL/ELL lesson plans for non-English speakers! Your students will enjoy learning about idioms, heteronyms, and writing about current events.
Idioms (Intermediate) – In this lesson, students will learn what idioms are and some of the most common idioms used in the United States. Idiom is an expression that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. The class will discuss the different idioms they have heard in the past. This lesson allows students to understand the proper usage of idioms and their meanings. Students will create their own Voki using the idioms taught.
Heteronyms (Beginner) – This lesson plan will teach students what heteronyms are and the different heteronym used. Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciation and meaning. Students will discuss about the different heteronym used and the definition of each words. They will be required to create a Voki using at least 5 different pairs of heteronyms in sentences.
Current Events (Intermediate) – Students will pick out an interesting news article to read. They will learn how to summarize the article, describe the article, and write about how they feel about the article. Students will be required to create a Voki presenting their article.
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 fit your needs. These Voki lesson plans can be adapted to fit your style or your students’ abilities!
Do you have lesson plan ideas that you want to share with us? Send it to us at lessonplans@voki.com!
Until Next Time,
The Voki Team
It’s a new year and after a long break, your students may have forgotten about the rules in the classroom and at school! Create a Voki to remind them of all the do’s and don’ts.
Check out the example here:
If you have any feedback, comments, or questions, send an email to feedback@voki.com!
Until next time,
The Voki Team
By Karen Nemeth
Have you ever read a word and assumed it was pronounced one way, and then you finally heard someone say the word and pronounce it differently? Then you realize you’ve been hearing it incorrectly in your head? When you read, it would be easy to think that though and through rhyme, but if that’s what you thought, then when your teacher asks you to write down another word for ‘toss’, you might write “through” instead of “throw”. Oral language is a very important component of early literacy. Young children need to say words and hear word sounds to build their vocabulary and to create a foundation for reading and writing. Technology can play a key role in supporting the connection between oral language and written language. That’s why voice recording and digital story-telling programs can be valuable tools for early literacy education. With fun and engaging activities, some serious learning can actually be taking place.
With digital storytelling, children can create their own stories and images and they can record their own voice saying the words. Think of this as an enhancement of the traditional preschool or kindergarten learning activity when a teacher reads a story to the children then asks them to retell the story in their own words. With a program such as Voki, children have to think ahead about what they will say and how they want to illustrate it. They have to practice pronouncing the words and then hearing them back as they play their recorded messages. That’s great oral language practice!.
Now consider how this activity could be a great support for young children who are just beginning to learn English as a new language. Children who are learning a second language can often be shy or embarrassed about pronouncing the new words. Rather than asking them to speak aloud in front of the whole class, it’s a good idea to use an app or website that allows them to record their own voice and listen back to the recording to hear how they sound to others. The teacher can even save the child’s recordings to document their progress. Another great use of Voki would be to have a parent, volunteer or other staff member record or trade messages with the new dual language learner (DLL) in their home language. What a welcoming and comforting experience that can be for a new DLL.
Language in the context of brief stories or meaningful interactions makes the strongest connections in a child’s brain. Rather than have the child practice with random vocabulary words, consider having them record Voki messages that will serve a purpose. Can they record a message to be shared with their parents? Can they record a message describing a pattern of beads for stringing and then share with a friend to see if they can duplicate the pattern? Can they record clues for a treasure hunt? Or can they let the pre- recorded message on Voki become part of a pretend play scheme? The possibilities are endless and the value of supporting oral language practices to support literacy and reading success is limitless!
These ideas and more can be found in my book, Digital Decisions: Choosing the Right Technology Tools for Early Childhood Education. You can share your teaching ideas on the Voki.com website.
Karen Nemeth is the author, with Fran Simon, of Digital Decisions: Choosing the Right Technology Tools for Early Childhood Education. Karen and Fran share lots of related resources on their website www.ecetech.net. Karen is also a nationally known speaker and author on teaching young children who are dual language learners.
Dear Educators,
I want to share a lesson that a 1st grade teacher and I did a little before Halloween last year. It worked quite well. As part of her curriculum, Mrs. Stasys gave students a binder that included poems that they would read throughout the year. They gathered together on the rug once a day and read the chosen poem aloud. For this poem they read it to the tune of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. They read the poem together every day for one week to hone their fluency and expression skills. Once their week of practice was up we took them to the computer lab to design their Voki character. They could choose to represent themselves any way they wanted. Some chose to make an exact cartoon replica of themselves, while others designed dogs, pumpkins, monsters and one student even chose a Santa Claus avatar! Since the image has no effect on their fluency we decided to let them have free reign. I would advise you to do the same since it helps them feel more ownership over the final product. The following day Mrs. Stasys stayed in the classroom and sent down students to the computer lab in groups of three. Using Firefox and Voki we recorded each student saying their poem. (If you do not have an extra adult who can assist you could always do this during reading centers. It may take several days to get them all recorded but it can be done!)
The kids loved this lesson and we got a kick out of listening to them practice their poems over and over so they could record it just right. By the end of the project our students were reading in a much more natural, fluent way with great expression. Even those who usually really struggle with reading and get frustrated were motivated and showed improvement over the duration of the assignment. Once they were recorded, we embedded their Vokis into my website and parents were given the link to listen to at home. They were also able forward the link to grandparents and other family members. The students loved their final products and were proud to show them off.
For our step-by-step lesson plan visit my site and click on the Voki link. Click here for the finished student products. To save yourself some time feel free to use these videos I made to teach students how to make their Vokis: Video 1, Video 2. On an aside, another 1st grade class used Vokis for the students to report three important facts about a research topic of their choosing. Click here for the final products.
Enjoy and let me know how it goes!
-Mandy
Mandy Nelson is a K-4 Technology Integration Specialist in River Forest, IL, near Chicago. She is always looking for ways to partner with other teachers across the world so email her at nelsonm@district90.org if you would like to collaborate.
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