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Classroom Connections

Getting Started in Scholar

Learning Module

Abstract

This learning module introduces Scholar to students from India who are learning English. They learn about representing their identity appropriately and safely in online environments as they create their Scholar avatar and blip. They also learn about navigating the Scholar Community discussion space and start a project in Creator.

Keywords

Internet Safety, Multimedia, Dictionary, Grammar, Interaction

1. My Avatar

For the Student

Learning Goal: To understand how our group can represent or show who we are through words and images.

Success Criteria:​

  • Set up our group's Scholar profile.
  • Comment.
Fig. 1: Diya's Crest

Think-Pair-Share:

  • I like......
  • I am good at .....
  • My favourite thing is .......

You can use this to help you write your sentence under your crest.

Comment: What have you learned today? You can write one or more group comments with different students in the group taking turns. You could start your sentence with:

I learned about .........

Comment on another group's comment that you agree with. Use the pull down menu and select the group's name.  That way they will know you are commenting on their comment.

You could write your own sentence or use one of these sentences:

  • I agree. 
  • I liked your comment. 
  • I learned that too.
  • That is interesting.
  • Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Vocabulary
English Hindi

like

good

favourite

agree

comment

learned

interesting

idea

goal

understand

represent

show

through

success

criteria

set up

profile

think

pair

share

use

help

under

different

another

pull

menu

select

way

पसंद

अच्छा

पसंदीदा

इस बात से सहमत

टिप्पणी

सीखा

दिलचस्प

विचार

लक्ष्य

समझना

का प्रतिनिधित्व

प्रदर्शन

के माध्यम से

सफलता

मानदंड

तैयार करना

रूपरेखा

सोच

जोड़ा

बँटना

उपयोग

मदद

नीचे

अलग

अन्य

खींचें

सूची

चुनते हैं

काम करने का तरीका/
रास्ता

For the Teacher

Overview of Learning Module

This learning module incorporates blended learning where groups of students interact face-to-face as well as in the online discussion forum, Community, in Scholar. It also involves a writing project in Creator in Scholar (see Update 4). Here groups interact by giving and receiving feedback using a structured rubric.

Structured language activities are also included to complement the online component in Scholar. 

Incorporate the home language of the students where appropriate and necessary to support student understanding. Make use of both languages together at first, and then move to English alone.

Learning Outcomes Class V (English)

The learner:

  • answers coherently(जुड़कर और तर्कसंगत तरीके से जवाब देता है) in written or oral form to questions in English based on day-to-day life experiences, unfamiliar (अंजान) story, poem heard or read.
  • acts according to instructions given in English, in games/sports, such as ‘Hit the ball!’ ‘Throw the ring.’ ‘Run to the finish line!’ etc.
  • uses meaningful grammatically correct sentences to describe and narrate (बयां करना) incidents, and for framing questions.

Update 1: My Avatar

Focus Group Work Tools Grammar Vocabulary

Identity (avatar and blip) in online spaces

The importance of being kind, respectful and safe

Think-Pair-Share

T : (Think) Teachers begin by asking a specific question. Students "think" about what they know or have learned about the topic.

P : (Pair) Each student should be "paired" with another student.

S : (Share) Students share their thinking with their partner. Emphasise active listening (eye contact, gestures, commenting).  The pair then share with another pair (optional). Teachers may expand the "share" into a whole-class discussion by asking 1-3 students to share what they talked about.

Simple Sentences

like(पसंद)

good(अच्छा)

favourite(पसंदीदा)

agree(इस बात से सहमत)

comment(टिप्पणी)

learned(सीखा)

interesting(दिलचस्प)

idea(विचार)

goal(लक्ष्य)

understand(समझना)

represent(का प्रतिनिधित्व)

show(प्रदर्शन)

through(के माध्यम से)

success(सफलता)

criteria(मानदंड)

set up(तैयार करना)

profile(रूपरेखा)

think(सोच)

pair(जोड़ा)

share(बँटना)

use(उपयोग)

help(मदद)

under(नीचे)

different(अलग)

another(अन्य)

pull(खींचें)

menu(सूची)

select(चुनते हैं)

way(काम करने का तरीका/
रास्ता)

Fig. 1e. Think-Pair Share

Activities

Crest

In pairs, students look at a crest (also called a coat of arms) where a student has used words and pictures to describe herself.

Think-Pair-Share: With a partner, students talk about what they learn about the person. What are their favourite things? What do they like to do? What are they good at? 

Then students talk about what they would include on their own crest.  They draw the shape of the crest with 4 - 6 boxes. Tell them not to write their names on it. Ask them to think about their interests, favourite things, and what they are good at. They draw 4 -6 pictures. Then write a sentence about themselves. Encourage them to use English words if they know them. Write the following sentence starters on the board:

  • I like......
  • I am good at .....
  • My favourite thing is ........

Display the crests in the classroom or lay them on desks. Then students walk around with their partner and see if they can work out who owns which ones.

Encourage students to be kind and respectful in how they talk about other students' crests. We are not all good at drawing! This is important as the crest represents the person - this is their identity. If we criticise it, then we are criticising the person.

Whole Class Discussion

We are going to be working in an online space, called Scholar. We will be working in groups and we be able to create our group's identity in this space through an avatar (picture) and words (blip). This will tell others in our learning community about who we are. Scholar looks a little like a social media space but it is also a space where we show our learning. 

When we work in online spaces our avatar tells others about the type of person we are. It is important to use pictures and words that are NOT violent or racist or cruel to anyone in any way.

Think-Pair-Share: Why is it important that we represent ourselves appropriately in online spaces? Why should we be kind and respectful when we comment in online spaces?

Then students work in their groups to decide on their group's name and avatar. They use their crests to share ideas they already have and talk about what they all have in common. This will help them to write their blip and decide on the image for their avatar.

Logging into Scholar

Students then set up their avatars  by selecting an image and writing a sentence. This sentence is called a 'blip' in Scholar. It only has 140 characters so the blip should say something about the group. For Example:

Name of Group: ANKS (first initials of each student in the group).

Blip: We love reading, cricket, playing with friends, and music (58 characters).

You will need to model how to search for and select a picture and download it to a folder on the computer. Students then select the picture when setting up their avatar.

Comments

In Scholar, each update on the learner/student side culminates in a comment. The focus of these comments is reflection on learning, metacognition and development of language and writing skills. 

Resources

Students may draw their own Crest or use this template.

Crest Template: 6 Boxes

Analytics

Set up the Analytics. Just focus on this learning module. You can change/add more to the Analytics when students start their next learning module. See the Help Tutorials on AnalyticsKnowledge MetricsFocus Metrics and Help Metrics.

2. Internet Safety

For the Student

Learning Goal: To learn about internet safety.

Success Criteria:

  • Watch video.
  • Comment on video.
  • Comment on Inner-Outer Circle activity.
  • Comment on 1-2 comments of other students.

In Scholar, our class community is safe. Only the teachers (admins) and students in our class (members) can see what we post. When you are on the internet, you always must practise internet safety. Watch the video about internet safety.

Media embedded June 14, 2019

Comment: What tip does your group think is most important in the video? What was one piece of safe information that you learned about another student in your class in the Inner-Outer Circle activity?  Make sure you only share safe information on the internet. Your group could write your own sentence or use one of these sentence starters:

The most important tip is ........

I learned that .......

Comment on another group's comment that you agree with. You can write more than one comment with other members of the group also adding comments. Use the pull down menu and select the group's name. That way they will know you are commenting on their comment.

Your group could write your own sentence or use one of these sentences:

  • I/we agree.
  • I/we liked your comment.
  • I/we learned that too.
  • That is interesting.
  • Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Vocabulary
English Hindi

safety

watch

inner

outer

activity

community

always

practise

important

piece

information

sure

own

सुरक्षा

घड़ी

भीतरी

बाहरी

गतिविधि

समुदाय

हमेशा

अभ्यास

जरूरी

टुकड़ा

जानकारी

ज़रूर

अपना

 

For the Teacher

Update 2: Internet Safety

Focus Group Work Tools Grammar Vocabulary

Interacting

Speaking

Listening

Internet Safety

Inner-Outer Circle

Students form two circles – one circle within the other - with students facing each other.

The teacher poses a question to the students or makes a statement and asks the students what they think about it. Allow them some thinking time. One student makes a statement or asks a question, and then the other student responds or builds on his/her ideas. Students in one of the circles then move one or more steps to the right or left. The teacher then poses the next question or statement, allowing time for thinking and sharing, before asking one of the circles to move again. Vary the activity by asking students to move and then share what they discussed in the previous rotation with their new partner.

Asking questions

Responding to questions

Common nouns

Proper nouns

 

safety(सुरक्षा)

watch(घड़ी)

inner(भीतरी)

outer(बाहरी)

activity(गतिविधि)

community(समुदाय)

always(हमेशा)

practise(अभ्यास)

important(जरूरी)

piece(टुकड़ा)

information(जानकारी)

sure(ज़रूर)

own(
अपना)

In the following activity, students share information about themselves with other members of the class. The questions and responses follow a pattern to build students' confidence to speak English.

Using the inner-outer circle, students face their partners.

Fig. 2: Inner-Outer Circle

The outer circle is called A.

The inner blue circle is called B.

Person A asks the first question and Person B replies.

Then B asks the same question and Person A replies.

Then move the circle: Person B could take 2 steps to the left. Then repeat the question and answer.

Then move the circle again. Person A could take 5 steps to the right. Repeat the question and answer.

This is repeated a number of times so students practise asking and answering questions. Both circles may be directed to move in any direction.

Examples of questions and answers:

Question Answer/Statement
What is you name? My name is ...........
How old are you? I am ... years.
Who is your friend? My friend is...............
What is your favourite colour? My favourite colour is ..................
What is your favourite sweet food? My favourite sweet food is .........
What is your favourite subject at school? My favourite subject is ...............
What is your favourite song? My favourite song is ...............
What is your favourite day of the week? My favourite day is ..................
Where do you live? I live ..........
Where is our school? Our school is ......

At the end of the activity, ask students what information that we shared would be safe to share in online spaces. What information should we not share? (where you live and where the school is).

 

3. Pictures and Videos

For the Student

Learning Goal: To use visuals (pictures and videos) in Scholar.

Success Criteria:

  • Select a picture and/or video to represent your group's interests.
  • Create an update in Scholar.
  • Add the picture and/or video.
  • Write 1-2 sentences about your group's interest.
  • Read other groups' updates and comment on 1-2.

Think-Pair-Share: With a partner, talk about some of your favourite things to do. It could be a playing a game or sport or reading or listening to music. 

Here is an example:

Our group likes reading. Here is a picture that shows our interest.

Fig. 3: Reading is fun!

You can also search for a short YouTube video about your group's favourite thing. Here is a video about our group's favourite books, Do You Want To Be My Friend? by Eric Carle.

Media embedded June 13, 2019

This story is about a mouse who asks many animals to be his friend. We like reading this book to young children because it is colourful and it is fun to guess what the animal will be.

Now choose your group's picture and/or video. You can do one or both.

Picture

Select and upload a picture to your Google Drive folder. Resize it - make it smaller. Then go to the pull down menu for our class community and select "Updates". Create your group's update and add your picture. Then write 1-2 sentences about your group's interest and why you like it.

YouTube Video

You can also add a video about your interest. Find you video and copy the link. Then go to the pull down menu for our class community and select "Updates". Create your update and select the icon which has a music symbol. Paste the link. Then write 1-2 sentences about your interest and why you like it.

Writing your Sentences

You can use these sentence starters to help you.

This picture/video is about ........

I like ........... because ............

Comment: What is has been your favourite activity so far? 

Comment on another group's update that you like. Open their update and add your comment to the comment box.

Your group could write your own sentence or use one of these sentences:

  • I agree.
  • I liked your comment.
  • That is interesting!
  • Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Vocabulary
English Hindi

listen

visuals

partner

show

search

short

here

young

fun

guess

choose

both

folder

resize

find

copy

symbol

paste

link 

far

सुनना

दृश्यों

साथी

प्रदर्शन

खोज

कम

यहाँ

जवान

मज़ा

अनुमान

चुनें

दोनों

पुस्तिका

आकार परिवर्तन

खोज

नकल

चिह्न

लगाना

संपर्क/कड़ी

दूर

 

For the Teacher

Update 3: Pictures and Videos

Focus Group Work Tools Grammar Vocabulary

Creating an update in Scholar

Selecting and uploading visuals in Scholar

Think-Pair-Share Adjectives

listen(सुनना)

visuals(दृश्यों)

partner(साथी)

show(प्रदर्शन)

search(खोज)

short(कम)

here(यहाँ)

young(जवान)

fun(मज़ा)

guess(अनुमान)

choose(चुनें)

both(दोनों)

folder(पुस्तिका)

resize(आकार परिवर्तन)

find(खोज)

copy(नकल)

symbol(चिह्न)

paste(लगाना)

link(संपर्क/कड़ी)

far(दूर)

Teaching Tips

See the Help tool for Creating an Update in Community.

4. Multimedia Dictionary Project

For the Student

Learning Goal: To start our group's Multimedia Dictionary Project and to use the rubric to identify what is important to include.

Success Criteria:

  • Start our group's Scholar project.
  • Change the title.
  • Add words.

Description: Create a Multimedia Dictionary that includes English sentences, phrases, words, meanings, and pronunciation, and that demonstrates your group's knowledge of English. Practise the pronunciation of each word in your dictionary.

Multimedia Dictionary

Word and Hindi Translation Picture Link to Pronunciation Word used in a sentence

Friend(फ्रैंड) = 
मित्र

Friends(फ्रैंड्स) = 
दोस्त

Friend

Friends

I like to play games with my friends.
       
       
       
       

Check the Work Request in your Notifications. Click on "Start a New Work" to open the "Untitled" in Creator. Then, change the title, and begin a first draft. Go to About This Work for more project information.

To look at the rubric,  go to Feedback.  Keep the Rubric open and refer to it as you write.

When you have 10-20 entries in your group dictionary, click “Submit Draft” below the work. This is the version of your work that will be sent to other group for review.

The Multimedia Dictionary is helpful with pronunciation. If you can access a phone, record yourself using the new words and sentences. Listen to the recordings. This will help you to notice your own mistakes in pronunciation. See online dictionaries for the English  pronunciation of the words.  You can also check by using tools such as Google Translate.

Comment: Share some of your group's words and sentences with the whole community. Comment on other groups' comments. Add any of their words and sentences that interest you to your Multimedia Dictionary.

Vocabulary
English Hindi

dictionary

project

rubric

identify

include

change

title

description

phrases

pronunciation

demonstrate

knowledge

practise

each 

translation

check

work

request

notifications

new

begin

draft

more

look

feedback

keep

refer

enteries

submit

below

version

sent

review

helpful

access

record

yourself

notice

mistakes

tools

such

whole

शब्दकोश

परियोजना

सरनामा

की पहचान

शामिल

परिवर्तन

शीर्षक

विवरण

वाक्यांशों

उच्चारण

दिखाना

ज्ञान

अभ्यास

प्रत्येक

अनुवाद

जांचना

काम

निवेदन

अधिसूचना

नया

शुरू

प्रारूप

अधिक

देखना

प्रतिपुष्टि

रखना

से संबद्ध करना

प्रविष्टियों

जमा करें

नीचे

अनुवाद रूप

भेज दिया

गुण-दोष निरूपण

उपयोगी

पहुंच

दर्ज करना

स्वयं

ध्यान

गलतियां

उपकरण

ऐसा

पूरा का पूरा

For the Teacher

Update 4: Multimedia Dictionary Project

Focus Group Work Tools

Grammar

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Feedback

Revision

Analytics

Inner-Outer Circle

Verbs

dictionary(शब्दकोश)

project(परियोजना)

rubric(सरनामा)

identify(की पहचान)

include(शामिल)

change(परिवर्तन)

title(शीर्षक)

description(विवरण)

phrases(वाक्यांशों)

pronunciation(उच्चारण)

demonstrate(दिखाना)

knowledge(ज्ञान)

practise(अभ्यास)

each(प्रत्येक)

translation(अनुवाद)

check(जांचना)

work(काम)

request(निवेदन)

notifications(अधिसूचना)

new(नया)

begin(शुरू)

draft(प्रारूप)

more(अधिक)

look(देखना)

feedback(प्रतिपुष्टि)

keep(रखना)

refer(से संबद्ध करना)

enteries(प्रविष्टियों)

submit(जमा करें)

below(नीचे)

version(अनुवाद रूप)

sent(भेज दिया)

review(गुण-दोष निरूपण)

helpful(उपयोगी)

access(पहुंच)

record(दर्ज करना)

yourself(स्वयं)

notice(ध्यान)

mistakes(गलतियां)

tools(उपकरण)

such(ऐसा)

whole(पूरा का पूरा)

Teaching Tips

Start the project from the learning module. This will take you to Publisher where you can insert dates for the peer review process.

Once groups have started their projects, direct them to the Analytics so they can see how they are progressing.

The survey can be used to check groups' understanding of the basic grammar that is covered in this learning module. When you start the survey, it will go the the activity stream of the class community where groups can complete it.

Acknowledgements

Title: (Source); Fig. 1a: Multimedia (Source); Figure 1b: Family (Source); Fig. 1c: White horse (Source); Fig. 1d: Children playing (Source);  1e: Think-Pair-Share (Source); Fig 2: Inner-Outer Circle (Source); Fig. 3: Girl reading (Source); Fig. 4. Happy children (Source).