Tag: Lesson Plans

Voki Teach: Making Lesson Planning Easier

Voki Teach: Making Lesson Planning Easier

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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It’s Sunday, but instead of being out and about, you’re perched over your screen opening new tab after new tab. You’re hoping that you’ll land on the site you’ve been looking for, and that your endless hours of research will prove fruitful. But as the clock hands fly in their circular orbit, the only answer you’ve arrived at is, “this is going nowhere.”

For a teacher, weekend lesson planning can quickly replace #SundayFunday with #teacherproblems. Hunting for the right activities to fill your curriculum likely includes a fact-checking process where too many marks are missed: standards aren’t met, technology isn’t integrated, methods are out of line with your teaching style.

But before you peg yourself as a lead-less investigative journalist, we have something that might just solve the problem. Our New Voki Teach Library hosts lessons, hooks, and tech projects all in one spot on voki.com. Voki Teach not only eliminates the blind search in the thicket of the World Wide Web, it allows you to specify what grade and subject area you are interested in. To make your selection process even easier, all of our content is rated by fellow teachers so you can curate the material that is liked by your peers.

Think about your potential school day using Voki Teach. Say it’s National Grammar Day. You can kick off your Language Arts lesson using the National Grammar Day hook and have your students create grammar superheroes that wield special powers and rescue sentence errors (our Voki avatar Fragment Eliminator and Comma Man will show you how it’s done). Having engaged your students with this activity, you can then transition into the other objectives you have prepared for the class.

Fourth period bell rings. Some students are cowering at the thought of learning new math techniques. Our Voki Teach Math lessons incorporate games into the lesson, so multiplying is not so meticulous.

Science time. Learning the states of matter can be confusing. How does a liquid transform into a gas again? Our Voki Teach tech project outlines how a teacher should demonstrate the different properties of matter, and prompts the student to recall what he knows by designing a Voki avatar at the end of the lesson that reiterates the material.

The Voki experience is everything but dull. Research shows that technology integration in your classroom boosts student performance, and talking avatars are proven to engage all types of learners across age groups. Voki activities get students hands-on with their work, customizing their own avatars to deliver the knowledge they’ve obtained.

Wouldn’t you rather hear a lesson from an avatar? Or better yet, have one give your answer?

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Catherine Alvino is the Digital Marketing Coordinator at Oddcast. She holds a BA in English Literature and a MBA with a concentration in Marketing. She loves to write and is proud to work for a company that adds value to learning.

Voki Teach: An Engaging Way to Teach Common Core

Voki Teach: An Engaging Way to Teach Common Core

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

 

Hello Voki Users!

I am practically bursting at the seams with excitement. Why? You ask.

Well, Voki.com has just released its newest product— drum roll please….

 

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Voki Teach

Voki Teach is a Common Core aligned, ready-to-teach curriculum, designed by teachers for teachers! 

Let’s face it, as a teacher you spend hours on the internet searching for content, followed by hours crafting your lesson plans and worksheets, followed by hours of wondering if your lessons are Common Core aligned. By the time you step in front of your students to teach, you are exhausted and drained.

We wanted to support teachers and provide students with the chance to engage with rigorous content in a positive, engaging, and meaningful way. And so, Voki Teach was born!

 

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Why Students Will Love It

Voki Teach is an academic experience. This experience allows students to interact with characters similar to the ones they admire on TV, but with a slight scholastic twist. In the classroom, the characters act as educators, mentors, and experts, taking students on scientific, literary, and analytical adventures.

 

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Why Teachers Will Love It

Engaging Common Core aligned content in ready -to-teach form is hard to come by. Voki Teach provides teachers with common core aligned lessons crafted by certified teachers. With Voki Teach, teachers will spend more time facilitating learning and less time preparing materials.

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Here’s How We Did It

Our team of teachers, certified in Literacy, ESL, General Education, and Special Education, studied the Core Knowledge curriculum and molded lessons that they believed would benefit their own students. By infusing instructional best practices, they were able to generate lessons that maximize engagement and foster effective teaching.grades lessons

 

Right now, we have two domains available for kindergarten through second grade. Our team of teachers is continuing to craft engaging lesson plans and presentations. Our goal is to provide teachers with a variety of themes and topics to choose from in grades K through 6th.

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There’s even more  good news! For a limited time, Voki Teach is available for free when you purchase Voki Presenter, or if you already have Voki Presenter!  Now is certainly the time to sign up for presenter if you haven’t already!

Click here to see a Voki Teach Lesson!

Let Us Know What You Think!

We would love to get your feedback! Please take some time to check out Voki Teach and please do not hesitate to share some of your suggestions.

Happy Teaching!

Until Next Time,

Heather 

HeatherBio: Heather is the Community Manager at Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast.  Before she joined the Voki team, she was a teacher for 7 years!  She has taught in charter, private, and public schools all across NYC. With her teacher hat on, she will create meaningful, engaging, and relevant content that can be implemented in your classrooms.  She is excited to partner with you to engage and educate your students! 

 

Voki Lesson Plans: ESL/ELL Lesson Plans

Voki Lesson Plans: ESL/ELL Lesson Plans

by Voki Blog ♥ 2 Comments

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

Voki Lesson Plans: December Holiday Lesson Plans

Voki Lesson Plans: December Holiday Lesson Plans

by Voki Blog ♥ 1 Comment

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

Financial Education Starts in the Classroom!

Financial Education Starts in the Classroom!

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Economics and Personal Finance are important topics for students of all ages and should be incorporated into the   standard k-12 curriculum. Educating kids about how to responsibly manage their finances not only improves their mathematical reasoning, but also provides them with meaningful life skills.

This week, we would like to share 3 new lesson plans based on Personal Finance. By introducing lessons that draw on the importance of saving and responsible spending, students will practice basic math, learn economic principles, and gain experience managing their finances.

Remember: The grade level we assign to each lesson plan to is not a requisite – feel free to use lesson plans from different grade levels than the one you teach, if you think they fit! Also, remember that you can adapt Voki lesson plans to fit your style, goals, or your students’ abilities.

Tooth Fairy Economics (Economics, Elementary) – Students learn about the value of currency and the cost of goods and services on a small scale. In this role play activity, the teacher will act as the “Tooth Fairy” and leave different amounts of change under each student’s pillow. Students will compare the amount of money they receive from the tooth fairy to the cost of the items that are available to purchase in the classroom. Next they will have to opportunity to exchange their money for an item within their Tooth Fairy budget. Students will create a Voki that explains how much money they received and what they could and could not purchase.

A Penny Saved (Economics, Middle School and High School) – In this lesson, students will learn about saving money by reading and discussing the comic book, “A Penny Saved,” published by the New York Federal Reserve Bank.  Students will learn how the choices they make with money can determine their quality of life. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will create a Voki that explains how saving money affects the economy and the importance of personal savings..

Let’s Buy a Car! (Economics, High School) – Students will look up cars online and calculate  which one is the best investment over an extended period of time.They will pick a car, consider different interest rates, and explain the costs over a 5 or 10 year period.

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), please email us at lessonplans@voki.com.

Sincerely,

The Voki Team

Healthy Living Lesson Plans with Voki

Healthy Living Lesson Plans with Voki

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Being healthy is a lifestyle habit that requires guidance beginning at a young age. With some schools serving lunch options  that are highly processed and lacking in nutritional value, students may be confused as to what “good food” actually is. In addition to the difficulties of making healthy eating decisions, students have to balance their personal life with school work, which is often the source of major stress.

In an effort to help students learn how to maintain a happy and healthy life, we have created 3 lesson plans that touch on important health topics. Middle School and High School students will learn techniques on how to cope with stress,  create realistic body image expectations, and understand the potentially harmful effects of some common consumer products.

Stress, unhealthy eating habits, and a lack of regular exercise are a combination that threaten the well-being of many students. These topics deserve much more attention in school than they currently receive, so open up the discussion in your class and let your students share their ideas with Voki!

Remember: The grade level we assign to each lesson plan is not a requisite – you can use most Voki lesson plans that were written for 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.

Coping with Stress (Health, High School) – Students explore the issue of stress in school and daily life, and understand that it is an issue many people have to cope with. Students make lists of things they have to do in the week and organize them in a way to try and reduce stress. The class discusses different ways to cope with stress and decrease it in daily life. The teacher will lead the students in a meditative yoga practice at the end of the lesson. Students will create a Voki that talks about how they plan to deal with stress in the future.

Body Image and its Influencers (Middle School, Health) – Students think about and discuss body image and where body image ideals come from. Students explore different body image influencers, such as the media, family, and culture, and compare and contrast these ideals with reality. Students will analyze their own perceptions and use Voki to talk about positive perceptions of their, and others’, appearance.

Voki Health PSA (Middle and High School, Health) – Students are assigned various popular consumer products and supplements to research and evaluate. After viewing examples of different health PSAs online, students will have the chance to create their own using Voki. Students will learn about how to maintain good health and the insider information on products that should be avoided or reduced. Students will think about healthier alternatives to the products they research.

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.

Sincerely,

The Voki Team

Get Creative with Voki – New Arts Lesson Plans!

Get Creative with Voki – New Arts Lesson Plans!

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Get out your paintbrushes, glue, and construction paper! Bring out the lights, your best smile, and a script! It’s time to have fun with Voki and Visual Arts! From color studies and collages to instructional videos and personal short films, you can use Voki to help bring out the artist in every student!

Ranging from 6th to 12th grade, these lesson plans are designed to help students explore art, contextualize its meanings, produce artwork of their own, and make connections with light, shadow, color and mood to create a certain effect.

Along with lesson plans that focus on visual arts, we have also included  two lessons regarding the art of film. Your students will be in charge of writing and producing their own short films and using their knowledge of basic art composition to create entertaining and visually interesting shorts.

(We went a little crazy with the art lesson plans; but hey, what kind of renowned art isn’t a little nutty?)

Remember: The grade level we assign to each lesson plan is not a requisite – you can use most 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.

Art Interpretations (6th Grade, Arts) –  Students are assigned one photocopy of a famous work of art. They research the background and context in which the work was created. Students then create a Voki that interprets the work’s significance at the time it was created, and follow up with a brief, impromptu personal opinion of the piece.

An Artist’s History (7th Grade, Arts) –  Students discover more about notable artists and create a brief presentation that showcases an artist’s information, famous pieces, and a student analysis of the work. Students use Voki to talk about how they feel about the art and what it means to them personally. By the end of the lesson, students will have constructed an artist database to refer to before tests.

Immediate Attraction (8th Grade, Arts) –  This is a quick exercise to help students discover their art preferences and interests. Students will have 45 seconds to flip through art books and find one piece that catches their attention. After they have gone through 3 books, students will analyze each of 3 pieces of art. Students will use Voki to describe the art, how it makes them feel, think, and what kind of reactions their chosen pieces evoke.

A New Family Tree (9th Grade, Arts) –  Students use copies of family photos and magazine clips to recreate a picture of their fantasy family tree. By using various mediums, students will make collages that use real life mixed with various aspects of their imagination to create an avant-garde piece of artwork. Students will then use Voki to describe the brief history of their made-up family.

The Meaning of Color (10th Grade, Arts) – Students work together, and alone, using color to convey a story. Students will be divided into two groups of warm and cool colors. As a team, students work together cutting out colored paper and “collaging” to create a group piece of art. After the group work is done, each student will create a Voki that tells a story that represents the artwork.

The Identity Project (11th Grade, Arts) –  Students use video to create a short film that explores their identity. Students are encouraged to use whatever they would like to make their video and have all creative freedom as long as they remain on topic or can justify any deviation from the topic. Students will then create a Voki that introduces the video to the class.

A Guide to What?! (12th Grade, Arts) – Students draw three cards from a bag that contains different words. Students then create an instructional video that somehow incorporates the three words into the activity or idea being taught. Students will create a Voki that begins the video presentation by explaining what words were drawn and what the instructional video is going to teach.

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.

Sincerely,

The Voki Team

Start Fresh: New Year’s Lesson Plans

Start Fresh: New Year’s Lesson Plans

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It’s 2012 and school is back in session! Instead of forgetting about the happy holiday moments you and your students  experienced, extend the joy just one more day and try out one of our informative and fun New Year’s lesson plans.

With this new set of lesson plans, you and your students can talk about class resolutions and make a pact to work towards your new goals and be supportive of each other. You can also learn about different calendars used around the world and their New Year’s day celebrations.

Remember: The grade level we assign to each lesson plan is not a requisite – 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.

What is your New Year’s Resolution? (Elementary, Public Speaking, Writing, Other) – A new year can bring a fresh start to your class. With this New Year’s lesson plan, you and your students can reflect on the last year in class and how this year can be better. Students will learn about resolutions and be introspective in order to bring out the best from within.

Calendars Around the World (Middle School, Social Studies, Other) – Students will learn about other calendars that exist in the world and about the cultures that observe different New Year’s days. Each student will create a Voki that teaches the class about the history of a different calendar. They will also use Voki to talk about when and how certain cultures celebrate their New Year.

Celebrating New Year’s Eve (High School, History, Geography, Social Studies, Other) – Students will discover more about the history and traditions associated with the New Year’s Eve celebrations in other parts of the world. In this interactive lesson, students gather into small groups and use Vokis to give an in depth oral presentation about the history of different culture’s New Year’s traditions. They will also do a show and tell with a visual that the students construct that represents the culture they studied. After the presentations are complete, the class can have their own New Year’s party using all of the customs and traditions they learned about.

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 2012!

Sincerely,

The Voki Team

Say Goodbye to Writer’s Block: Writing Lesson Plans

Say Goodbye to Writer’s Block: Writing Lesson Plans

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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

Season’s Greetings: Lesson Plans to Spread Cheer

Season’s Greetings: Lesson Plans to Spread Cheer

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

You can feel it in the air and see it in every shop window. The holidays are here and there is a lot to celebrate! Students are already itching for Winter break. Now is the perfect time to indulge in those happy thoughts and wishes, and learn a little along the way!

We have created three Voki lesson plans that can be used for any grade level. These lessons will give students a chance to discover the perfect winter wonderland in lands unknown, find out how different cultures celebrate Christmas, and learn about Chanukah customs and traditions.

Remember: The grade level we assign to each lesson plan is not a requisite – 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.

Christmas Around the World (Any Grade, Geography and Social Studies) – Students will research Christmas traditions in different countries. They will prepare a presentation for the class that will consist of an oral presentation, a PowerPoint and a Voki. This activity will give students a chance to learn more about different cultures from around the world and how they celebrate one of the most important days in the Christian religion.

The Story of Chanukah (Middle School, Social Studies) – Students will learn more about the customs and traditions associated with the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. Students will gather into groups and be assigned a Chanukah research topic. Once the groups have completed their research, students will make a group presentation using Voki.

The Best Winter Vacation Ever (Any Grade, Geography) – Students will write a paragraph that describes a book or movie character in detail.  After the paragraphs have been written, students will be able to design their Voki according to the description and present their Voki character description. Classmates will try to guess who the character is based on the description.

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 Holidays!

Sincerely,

The Voki Team