Initially I was nervous to participate in a collaborative project where I was not meeting directly with my partner, however Google Slides made it easy to communicate. After discussion we decided to create a project that we would actually utilize in our 5th and 6th grade classrooms. We discussed general objectives that we shared and decided that making inferences was an area of need that all of our students shared. Inferential thinking doesn’t just apply to reading, it applies to our everyday lives. Making inferences is a powerful skill that we both felt needed to be reinforced in our classrooms.
On the Google Slides project we each created six slides and it was very much an equal amount of work. On our slides we defined inferences and strategies to make inferences. On each of our slides we embedded a link to a video or game. Some of the videos we included encompassed a song, Pixar video, a video on using text evidence, and a Kahoot game on making inferences. I felt the videos and game were very engaging for our grade level. My favorite part of our slide presentation is the Pixar video where students need to infer the character’s emotions. The video is for older students and you need to infer traits and humor. Also, the Kahoot game is a fun, energetic way to recap the lesson and can be used as an exit ticket for students. Also on the slides, I added two slides that showcased pictures where students needed to infer the meanings. I do believe that this Google Slides presentation can be used with grades 3-6. I plan on incorporating Google Slides more for my mini-lessons. It is a great, interactive visual for students. Teachers can also use Google Slides to help with time management. An area I struggle with is keeping the mini-lesson under 15 minutes. I will definitely be using Google Slides in the future!