Engaging students in learning about community helpers can be enhanced by integrating technology into various activities. Students can write and illustrate stories about community helpers, then record and compile them into digital stories.
Create a webquest teaching students about the different community helpers or have students create their own webquest.
Zunal
Interviews
Have students interview community helpers working in the community. Interviews would need to be prearranged and set up by teacher.
Skype
Educational Videos
Use educational videos to build background knowledge before beginning independent projects.
Brainpop.com
Teacher Tube
Discovery Streaming
Youtube.com
Wiki or Blog
Have students share what they know about community helpers and what they can find on the web about them. Students may edit each others entries and/or add their own information.
Wikispaces
Posters
Make a poster of a specific community helper to share in the classroom or on the web.
Glogster
Pixie
Talking Pictures
Create community helper pictures and have the talking picture explain their career.
Blabberize
Presentation
Have students create powerpoint of one or all of the community helpers explaining their jobs as well as adding picturs or media. Share with others via Slide Share.
Powerpoint & Slide Share
Create a Video
Have students dress up like a community helper, write a narrative, and record themselves pretending they are the community helper. They can show what they do or talk about it.
Cell Phone
Video Camera
Flip Camera
Mindmapping
Create a word wall of community helpers for brainstorming/writing, use to begin organizing a project, use to show background knowledge the class has of community helpers.
Mindomo
Gliffy
Podcasts
Create a podcast of either students pretending to be a community helper or have them pretend to interview a community helper with one asking questions and the other answering about community helpers. Post on blog to share with class, family and other classrooms.
Podomatic
Digital Story Telling
Have students write a story about a community helper. They can create their own pictures or use pictures off the computer. Have them record themselves and import the pictures to create a digital story.