Shauna Fisher

Assignment: Idea mapping in Gliffy (linked here)

Uses in Classroom: As always there are lots of ways to use this. I think the most effective way to use it would be to have the kids make their own. The interface wasn't too tricky and a simple timeline would be very easy for even third graders to create.

In Georgia, where I taught previously, each grade level was responsible for learning six to nine individuals who made an impact on Georgia and America in some way, as social studies lessons. Making a Gliffy for some of the people would help them visualize and map out the American Heroes, as they were called, and highlight the important aspects of their lives.

It would be a good finishing project to do following the WebQuests we learned worked on in EDU 590. My WebQuest was about one of the historical figures my third graders had to learn about. They had to take notes about the highlights of the person's life- their notes could be transferred onto a Gliffy so it shows the visual representation of what they learned from the WebQuest. This can be done with partners or alone and even turned into a presentation for the class.

Issues to Consider: Must have a previous lesson or tutorial on how to use Gliffy with the students. Their Gliffys will be mostly text based. The WebQuest will be designed before hand and can have pictures on it that the students can use for their Gliffy so copyright will be easy to monitor.

Copyright:

• Information for the Gliffy from PBS here and Cesar Chavez Foundation here.
• Pictures from Cesar Chavez Foundation here and United States Congress bio pages here.