GiggleIT Project

GigglecritterGiggleIT - Starting the Student Program

Using the side menu bar go to the GiggleIT Project home page.

Scroll down the page and click on Step 3: The GiggleIT Project - Getting started.

Task 1 - Choosing your Gigglecritters that will be on your school pages. This exercise is an introduction to the site and the Gigglecriiters. It also provides the students with their first taste of autonomy - being in control. They vote for their Gigglecritters and learn some Maths along the way.

Task 2 - Choosing a partner. Again students practise voting. This time they create their voting slip by filling in a blank Gigglecritter (PDF). Younger participants may like to decorate these and personalise their Gigglecritter.

The voting slips are folded into quarters and placed into a large bin/container. These are then drawn out two at a time to create the first partnership for the project. When the partnerships are all completed, the critters go back into the bin to be used next time. These can be used at any time to create new partnerships.

You can navigate this page by using the back to page menu options or the scroll bar on the right-hand side of the page.

Task 3 - Green IT GiggleIT. In this section, students work with their partners to come up with some tips to keep their classroom environmentally friendly. Students add their suggestions to a class list. You can do this using either coloured paper with velcro on a display board, a smart board, a blackboard or sticky notes.

Teaching moment - how to match and collate information into categories.

When they have done this, decide as a class (vote) on 5 rules the students will follow to keep their classroom environmentally friendly for the rest of the year. Create a large chart and display for everyone to see.

Task 4 - Doing some research about you. This is where students establish their research process. They begin by working from the familiar to the unknown. In this section they work with their partner to find information about their:

  • country
  • city/town
  • school and
  • class

They use mindmaps to establish prior knowledge and what they need to find out. There is a word limit on this section of 300 words per section.

Teaching moment - how to write succinctly, use of bullet/dot points. There are also links to resources about copyright and Internet safety here.

Each team then writes up their best information as it will appear on their school pages of the GiggleIT website. Teams will then use the Assessment Recording Sheet [PDF or Word doc] to evaluate the efforts provided by the other teams.

Teams can use the feedback to refine their work. Display everyone's work and then the class decides which information will be included on the website. There is a link to the contact details for the project when they are ready to post off their finished product.

Task 5 - go back to the menu options at the top of the page and click on What do we find funny?

Gigglecritters

© IASL, All rights reserved

Last updated 29 July 2009 (KSB)