For this lesson I am utilizing the help of a screencast to show students a website that they could utilize during research. For this project the students are researching a period in art history that interests them. This example researches the question, “Should graffiti be considered as a form of art?” This is not a student example, rather I am showing how the website, bubbl.us can help students during their research process.
Bubbl.us is a great tool for researching and organizing information. It is an online word mapping tool that has unlimited space for students to arrange their ideas. In the example provided I show the students what the website is, and how it is used. The instruction for the site is basic. It shows students how to create bubbles, type in words, past content from webpages, and save the material. This website can be saved and accessed at later dates so students can always make additions to the bubbles when need be. Again, this is why this tool is such a great asset for organizing thoughts when researching material.
To the students:
Go ahead and explore the site. It is easy to work with. You may change the color of the text boxes, size of the font, delete, and even connect the boxes after they have been created. To create a new bubble you can hover over one bubble and click on a new box. You may then form a new word bubble. You may also link bubbles by hovering over a bubble and clicking on the bubble with a line attached to it. This shows a direct relation to your original bubble. You can also connect bubbles with an arrow. To do this you hover over a bubble until you see the word “connect” in a tool menu (you should also see an arrow with it), then left click the arrow, holding down, and connect to your desired box. Good luck with the research and have some fun with the program!
Ms. Hall's Classroom 