Last week I found Voice Thread on the web 2.0 tools link. In our A Block, (Acceleration Block), I had read the students Bad Beginnings, By Lemony Snickets; I also read them Awful Ogres Awful Day, by Jack Prelutsky. Both of these use dark humor in a way the students can understand. We used this foundation to create "Awful Poems" of our own. The students used one class period (30 min) to write the poems, then we went to the lab. The students used a program called Pixie in the lab and typed up their poems and illustrated them. I then uploaded the poems onto voice thread and recorded their voices reading the poems.
We had a couple problems, 1. editing, it was hard for me to get to correct all the poems before uploading, so there are grammar errors. 2. with absences, some students were unable to record in time for sharing.
We shared this link with all the second grade classes as a gift for Halloween. We also shared with the parents. I think this is a wonderful way to share work with parents and in turn they can share with grandparents and so-on. Also, the students who were unable to record by Friday, will record their voices Monday and it will not effect the finished product.
