1. ENGAGING MINDS:
USING TECHNOLOGY TO SHOWCASE INQUIRY LEARNING
OUTCOMES IN THE PRIMARY GRADES.
Task:
Go to Buena Vista Libguide
(Google: Buena Vista Libguide or
elementarylibguides.spsd.sk.ca/buenavista)
Click on the TEACHNOLOGY tab
Click on the KIDBLOG
Explore & comment on two or more posts

2. Presenters:
Jaime Schroeder
– Teacher Librarian and Vice Principal, Buena Vista School
Bojana Dautbegovic- Krienke
– Grade 1&2 Teacher, Buena Vista School
Our Goal: to use blogging to facilitate and illustrate student
learning throughout the year in various subjects
The blogs are used to showcase writing
assignments, do reflections, for assessment and to
communicate with parents.
The students have received feedback from
grandparents, peers, older students and students
from other schools – the feedback is very
motivating for them to continue to share their
learning

3. Management Suggestions
Set up – computers:
- index cards for each student with username, password
and computer they will use
- give students all the same password to log in and for the
Kidblog
- set up Kidblog with students names or numbers at the
start of the year, play around so you get comfortable
using it before allowing students to use it
- inform parents why and how you will be using the
Kidblog

4. Management Suggestions
• Teaching Computers:
• use your TL and set up a regular, once a week time to work on
computer skills and projects
• use care partners, parent volunteers and older students to help
your students work on their projects
• the first day you will need a whole period just to log on and
maybe get onto the libguides
• slowly progress towards navigating the libguide, logging onto
their Kidblog, posting projects, using other internet resources;
word documents, clip art, etc.
• REMEMBER: your students can do all of these things but it’s a
process!

5. Management Suggestions
• Co-Teaching (you need a partner!)
• Plan what outcomes you want to accomplish
• Work together to brainstorm ideas of how to use technology to
enhance students learning
• Decide what programs and skills your students will need
• Plan for what needs to be pre-taught and what will be done in
the computer lab
• Plan how you will engage with the students and what roles each
will play during instruction time
• You are sharing these responsibilities and working together to
achieve the outcomes
• Meet at lunch, before/after school or prep time to make a plan;
less planning time will be needed as you get to know how to
work with each other and you become more comfortable

6. SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM
THE BLOG:
1. HIBERNATION INQUIRY
2. NUTRITION INQUIRY

7. Hibernation Inquiry Project
• OUTCOMES
• DS1.2 (grade 1)
• Inquire into the ways in which plants, animals, and humans adapt to daily
and seasonal changes by changing their appearance, behavior, and/or
location. [CP, DM, SI]
• AN2.1 (grade 2)
• Analyze the growth and development of familiar animals, including
birds, fish, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, during their life
cycles. [CP, SI]
• PLAN
1. Help students create questions, research non-fiction texts for specific
answers and synthesis the information to create knew knowledge.
2. Work as a class to research bears and then allow students choice to
research an animal that they are interested in.
3. Allow students to share their learning with a larger audience using photo
story.

8. GETTING STARTED
• I used Karma Wilson’s
book, Bear Snores
On, to introduce the
idea of hibernation.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=6hHdhhFpy3Y
• As a group we created
some questions about
how bears hibernate.
We researched the following
topics:
-winter habitat
-food that bears eat
-length of sleep
-what happens to the body
during hibernation
-interesting facts

9. RESEARCHING WITH GRADE 1 & 2
STUDENTS
1. Allow students time to
explore multiple
sources to find
information. Teach
them how to search the
web and how to use
books.
2. Give students choice in
what they want to use and
who they want to work
with. Provide them with
support from care
partners, teacher
librarian, parent
helpers, peers and
yourself.

10. GRAPHIC ORANIZERS
Gathering information
Synthesising information
and writing non-fiction
paragraphs.

11. OUTCOMES
• Students reached the science curriculum outcomes
outlined
• Students learned how to find answers to their
questions, read, listen and synthesis information learned
• Students learned how to utilize multiple sources to gather
information. They used books, online databases, photo
stories and images to support their learning
• Students had an authentic audience to share their
learning with
• Students are ENGAGED when they have choice and
freedom to explore topics of interest
• * go to our classroom blog to view the photo stories*

12. Nutrition Inquiry Project - Jaime
• TL Inquiry learning project:
– looked at desired outcomes
– worked through the inquiry process
– gave students options to choose how to
display their learning

13.  Students are able to explain
their eating habits and
whether they are
healthy/unhealthy. They will
also be able what makes it a
healthy/unhealthy choice.
(conversation with the
teacher)
 Students will demonstrate
the knowledge of how
healthy eating by presenting
a project to their peers.
(rubric set by
teacher/students)

14. Invitation: An opportunity
for students to interact with
healthy and unhealthy
foods and to hear what they
know and what they are
interested in.
Purpose:
“Formative assessments are
used to shape the nature of
instruction to better meet
the needs of students”
(Blanchard, 2010, p.579).

15.  After the initial invitation
I knew the kids were
interested in label reading.
I invited them to bring
some labels of foods they
liked. We weighed the
various amounts of sugar
in each snack and then put
them in order from least
to most sugar content. We
discovered that both
bologna and sun chips
had the same amount of
sugar. Which is healthier?

16. IDEAS, IDEAS, IDEAS STUDENTS CHOICE…
How can we teach the
school about healthy eating?
-magazine
-website
-movie
-video game
-commercials
-posters
-cooking show

17. Parent Engagement
The purpose of having a blog is to help families stay
connected to what their children are learning at school
and to encourage conversations about learning at home.
How to involve parents:
-send reminders to check the blog
-ask parents to comment
-encourage parents to view the blog with their child and to
engage in conversations with their child by looking at
pictures
-posting questions for parents to answer
-posting family activities or homework on the blog
-inviting parents to share the blog with other member of
their families
-inviting other classes to visit the blog

18. WHAT PARENTS ARE SAYING!!!
• I think it does a good job of showcasing projects
that students have completed.
• It helps if there is a link to the blog anytime we get
a reminder to check it, then I can go straight to the
blog, even if I'm on a different computer than usual.
• It helps me to frame questions. I can ask specific
questions instead of "how was school today?"

19. NEXT STEPS:
- Higher quality feedback from students when
posting on others blogs
- Getting more authentic feedback from a
larger audience
- Blog being a source of information parents
checking consistently
- family activity of the week – something to
work on posted on the blog
- Student Blogfolios – student led conferences

20. TIME TO EXPLORE THE
LIBGUIDE & BLOG
Questions?