Tom Brady: The Man, the Myth, the Legend.

The purpose of this post is to show the end result of combining voice and music in a podcast.
Link to podcast: Tom Brady article

Math Tutorial or "An Excel-lent formula to find the sum and average of numbers!"

MS Office Excel is a powerful application that can easily be tailored for 5^th grade students to use in math projects. There would have been another mini-lesson on the menu, toolbar, and functionality of the cursor prior to this lesson. This lesson would prepare students in using Excel for analysis and graphing of data.

Click on the link to check out the tutorial: 5th grade Excel Tutorial

Digital Flashcards

I think using digital flashcards is a great way for students to acquire academic language. I can already think of many uses for this tool across the curriculum that a teacher or student can create.

Louis' Tech Vocabulary Flashcards

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

I really liked the fact that e Blogger has a link with YouTube. I have always wanted to include video into my presentations but was always afraid to try. I used Wondershare to convert my American Revolution video and placed it into a PowerPoint presentation which I am so happy I was able to pull it off? I am using MS Office for Mac so I was nervous about the conversion but it worked like a charm.

I usually use animated icons in PowerPoint lessons for my students. having the capability of adding video now just opens up so many new avenues I can take in developing new or sprucing up (reboot?) old lessons.

American Revolution or "C'mon King George III, we're big kids now!"

Here is a brief introduction on the next unit of study of the American Revolution.

Let's use this as inspiration to create our own digital story or video about the American Revolution!

Math Assignment #1 or "IOW work with PPL to solve a math problem,OMG!"

E.T. Text Home!

Common Core Standards:

California Common Core 5^th Grade Math Standards: Numbers and Operations fractions.

5.NF 6. Solve real world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem.

Geometry 5.G 2. Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.

Lesson Introduction:

How can a person save money when they text?

How will you determine the price for each letter?

The phone company introduces a new pricing format. Students are responsible for collecting data to see if charging by the letter is more feasible. The phone company will set up three tiers for their pricing.

• Tier 1 no charge for 10 letters of the alphabet
• Tier 2 half price for 10 letters of the alphabet
• Tier 3 full price for the last 6 letters of the alphabet

Students are to collect data to determine which tier to place each letter. They will also determine how much to charge for letters in Tier 2 and 3.

 Students will make a presentation of their billing procedure in PowerPoint.

Task:

As a high-powered texting individual, you have been invited to join a consumer research group. Your input could determine the future costs of texting for all Americans.

Text 2 Text Connections has decided to change the way we bill consumers for texting. Rather than charge an expensive monthly fee, we have decided to charge by the letters used in texting. The alphabet will be divided into three categories:  Tier 1 will contain ten letters that will be free of charge.

Tier 2 will also contain ten letters but there will be a minimal charge for these letters.

Tier 3 will contain six letters and will be double the cost of Tier 2.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, would be to collect data to determine which category to place all letters of the alphabet and what charges should be applied to Tiers 1 and 2.

Remember, in these tough economic times all Americans are counting on you to make informed decisions and to keep their texting costs as low as possible

Students will complete the assignment by completing the following steps:

1. Collect and organize data and entered in MS Excel spreadsheet.
2. Make a prediction based on data collected written on a MS Word document.
3. Convert numbers from a fraction to decimal and percent using an Excel spreadsheet.
4. Display data in a frequency table and bar graph using an Excel spreadsheet.
5. Determine mean, mode, and median and which measure of central tendency is best suited for analyzing data presented this project.
6. Add and round decimals to the nearest hundredth using an Excel spreadsheet.    
7. Work collaboratively showing all seven “Character Traits” for the good of the group.
8. Use appropriate technology tools including a calculator, cell phone, and computer
9. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation.

Resources – List of technology resources needed to complete the task.

Microsoft Word- State your prediction based on data collected.

MS PowerPoint- This will serve to showcase your presentation.

MS Excel- Convert numbers from a fraction to decimal and percent, display data in a frequency table and bar graph, and add and round decimals to the nearest hundredth.

Internet- Research other data plans from other companies.

Cell phone- Review typical text messages sent and received in the past.

Process - Overview of how the task will be accomplished.

Students will be arranged into groups of 3 or 4 being mindful of special needs students and peer tutors. Additional assistance will be available through the use of Impact teacher, computer lab specialist, and peer tutors.

Peer tutors can also team up with EL students.

Special needs students may also have an assigned aide assist them as well.

Students will collaborate with their team to problem solve and be held accountable for their learning.

The teacher will be able to take on the role of facilitator once the project commences. Students will be encouraged to resolve their own differences before asking for assistance.

Assessment:

Oral Presentation-Interesting, well rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.

Workload- The workload is divided and shared equally by all team members.

Content- Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.

Organization- Content is well organized using headings or bulleted lists to group related material.

Conclusion:

Students will present their PowerPoint presentations to the class. The class will discuss and vote which group has the most viable plan to present to the phone company.

Relevant links to the lesson:

Here are some links to other text plans currently offered to consumers.

Verizon Text Messaging Plan

Cricket Text Messaging Plan

U.S. Cellular Plan

Credo Mobile Plan

Consumer Cellular Plan