iPad Literature Circles
  • Why ?
  • How?
  • eBook Whisperer
  • Literature Circles
    • Reader Response Logs
    • Roles >
      • Discussion Director
      • Passage Master
      • Artful Artist
      • Travel Tracer
      • Summarizer
      • Vocabulary Enricher
      • Investigator
      • Connector
      • Discussion Groups
    • Presentation
    • Using the Cloud
  • Resources & Management

Discussion Director

This role asks the student to develop questions that will guide a pending discussion group. Students are encouraged to look for concepts that embrace the "big ideas" behind a section of text. Typically, the discussion director opens literature group with their five key questions.

With the iPad, the director can create and share their questions before students meet. This gives their classmates time to ponder their questions and share their initial thoughts online. Collaborative learning spaces such as Edmodo, give students an opportunity to share ideas virtually. Additionally a Discussion Director can also create a PDF version of their questions and share them through a variety of cloud services. It is also possible to place question directly onto a note card within an electronic book, and then update with a wireless sync.

Mobile devices can create opportunities to make the questioning process immediate and social. Now the discussion director can post discussion questions to a virtual collaborative space, and stir up ideas before students meet face to face.


Many of the note taking apps that are useful for using as a reading response logs have excellent sharing capabilities. Those apps listed below have sharing capabilities and do not require email.




PaperPort Notes

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PaperPort Notes FREE!

  • Share questions with peers through PaperPort Anywhere and Dropbox
  • Create handwritten or typed questions
  • Export questions as a PDF
  • Import a PDF, PPT, TXT or image files
  • Speech to text
  • Dragon voice recognition
  • Create both typed and handwritten notes

Plain Text

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PlainText FREE

  • A distraction free app.
  • Syncs automatically with Dropbox accounts on classroom iPads
  • Fellow students can immediately view discussion questions and type a response.
  • Create student folders
  • Locate notes with keyword search

Chirp

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Chirp your photos, notes and links through the air.

  • Requires a network connection
  • FUN!

iCardSort

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iCardSort $5.99
With iCardSort the discussion director can create questions and then "Blast" them to peers in his or her reading group.
  • Settings allow for changes in the background image
  • Take a photo your own graphic organizer and use as a background.
  • Edit color and font used on cards
  • Copy and paste text from notes
  • Type longer questions in under notes
  • Import organizer in camera roll
  • "Blast" decisions to peers iPad or "Beam" ideas to just one iPad (shared WiFi)
  • Import decks from peers (shared WiFi)
  • Share deck through email or URL
  • Access public decks created by other teachers