Relative and absolute location are important geographical concepts for young children to understand. A great way to help children visually see these concepts is to use Google Earth.
After looking at a globe we turned to Google Earth, where the students and I discussed the seven continents and the oceans. Using the rotation tools, we looked at the poles, the oceans, and the placement of the continents on Earth. We discussed how we live on the continent of North America.
Next, we talked about the United States and the 48 contiguous states and the location of Alaska and Hawaii. We looked at our borders and discussed how Hawaii was formed. Of course, the students remarked that Hawaii is made up of a series of islands.
Next we flew to Florida and talked about the concept of a peninsula. The children were quick to notice the different shades of blue and knew it represented the different depths of the water.
Flying into Tampa Bay, we looked at another peninsula.
Finally, we flew to Shorecrest. The children were quick to notice this satellite picture must be old - the track is black not red. We spent some time talking about the perspective of bird's eye view before turning on Street View.
But the best part of class was the excitement and chatter as students flew to their own houses and viewed where they lived using both a bird's eye view and street view. If you have never used Google Earth, I encourage you to download the free software. It really is an amazing learning tool. There is also a free app available for mobile devices.
The second graders performed beautifully in their annual program, A Small Part of the World. Here is the alliteration slideshow students completed to showcase their countries and flags to their families. After a lesson on the differences and purposes of nouns, adjectives, and verbs, students used dictionaries to brainstorm a list of potential worlds based on the sound of the first letter of their first name. Students were challenged to use at least ten words in their alliterations as well as include a picture of their country's flag in their illustration. Enjoy!
Over the last two weeks, third grade students have been building and programming Lego models in the lab as an extension on their simple machines science unit. After building models using blueprints, the models are attached via USB to the computers and programmed using special software. Students are paired in teams of three and take turns as designers, builders, and recorders:
Designer: Uses the book or computer
and directs the builder on how to build the project. This person finds the
needed materials based on the blueprint and hands them to the Builder.
Builder: Follows instructions from
the designer. This person assembles the project and uses the WeDo software to
program the project.
Recorder: Takes notes about the
project in the journal. Answers reflection questions with input from the group.
This person also uses the digital/video camera to record the overall process.
Today, students had the opportunity to build kickers, goal keepers, and cheering fans. After the builds, students participated in math extensions. For example, kickers measured the distance of kicks with kicking leg programmed at various heights. When asked "Did the height of the kicking leg impact how far the ball travelled, " one team in Ms. LaDuke's class responded the following:
"If it was positioned low, the leg had less time to get momentum. When it was set high, it over kicked the ball. When it was medium, it had just enough time. The medium kickers had the highest average distance."
Students building goal keepers took turns scoring goals by 'flicking' styrofoam balls. They learned that "If you did it from closer, then you would be more likely to score. Also, the goalie moved in a pattern, so you could watch when he was opened."
Two teams in Mr. Wolfrath's class gathered together for a friendly competition to see who could score the most goals. One group built the kicker, while another group built cheering fans that would move up and down and cheer when goals were scored. The second build used a sensor, so when the ball passed through the goal, the fans were programmed to sense the ball and cheer.
Developing geographic skills such as reading maps and understanding the concept of relative location is essential to the second
graders continent study. After a lesson on different kinds of maps and
their purposes (physical, political, road, topographic, climate, road,
etc.), second graders enjoyed a virtual tour of South America via Google
Earth.
Facts for each country along with images representing the
geography, economy, and people were embedded within the tour. Students
were asked to read the facts at each tour stop. They also spent time
using the navigation bar to zoom in on landforms and cities. Students loved zooming in on the Amazon River and were amazed at its size. They were also surprised to learn that the country of Brazil alone makes up half of the continent.
Students
will continue to use the tour in their classrooms over the next few weeks. A follow up activity includes using a graphic organizer to record facts for each tour stop allowing students to practice taking notes.
I never thought the day would come. Weeks searching for applications and days for setup - but finally, the iPads have been launched in kindergarten. It was so wonderful to see months of work finally come together. I'm not sure who was more excited - me or the kids!
I was so fortunate to buy ten iPads for the kindergarten classroom. While the devices were introduced in the lab, they will be living in the kindergarten wing. The three classrooms will utilize the iPads during center rotations. They will also be used over the course of the year by Miss Diaz Leroy in her Music/Spanish classroom. Special connectors have been purchased to connect the iPads to the classroom projectors to facilitate instruction.
After their introduction, each class developed a class set of rules to follow. This list wasn't too difficult for the students to develop, especially since so many of them use these devices at home. Here were some of the student recommendations for Our iPad Rules:
Only use gentle fingers. Play with then nicely.
Make sure your hands are clean and dry.
Always carry with two hands.
Always make sure the iPad is in a safe place. Never leave it on the floor where someone might step on it.
Only get an iPad from the cart with an adult.
Always walk when you carry your iPad.
Only use the apps the teachers tell you to use.
Don't forget to turn it off when your turn is over.
Students used the program Frames to create digitally animated characters
of themselves reading important poems modeled after those in Margaret
Wise Brown’s book The Important Poem.
Characters were created by manipulating and layering shapes. Then, after
selecting a relevant background, students duplicated frames altering
mouths and eyes to animate their character. Finally, students edited
their frames so the length of the images matched the length of the
recordings. Timing mouth and eye movements with breaks in speech was
especially challenging! Check out their movies here.
The Internet is a wealth of information; unfortunately, helping young children find information that is developmentally appropriate can be a challenge.There are lots of great websites for children, but one of my favorites is World Book for Kids (WBK). This year marks the fourth year Shorecrest offers this online resource for our Lower Division students to use both at home and at school. This developmentally appropriate website offers:
• Simple search and navigation features • Easy-to-read articles with embedded multimedia • Thousands of images, illustrations, and videos • An Important People feature with several thousand biographies • A collection of age-appropriate science fair projects • Atlas, interactive maps, and outline maps and flags • A tool for exploring and comparing places and animals • Hyperlinks only link within the site • Educational games and activities
Second grade students were introduced to WBK in the lab this week. In addition to learning how to navigate the site, they were given instruction on how to read for information by taking short notes. Working with partners, students used graphic organizers to record facts about the continent of North America, their current unit of study. Students learned the technique of highlighting each sentence as they read to help them better focus on the content. This is an important navigational strategy to help children read and understand computer-based text. Next, they pulled the important fact(s) from each sentence. Students could record just one fact per circle on their web. Additionally, they had to figure out a way to write the fact with no more than five words. Learning how to take notes is difficult and one that requires lots of practice.
Every Monday morning at Town Meeting, our Lower Division students recite the motto "We respect ourselves, each other, and the environment." Every time I hear it, I can't help but think about the motto in respect to technology use. As the technologies encountered by young children continues to grow, it is essential we redefine the concept of citizenship to include digital citizenship, using technology appropriately and responsibly. In his book, Raising a Digital Child, Mike Ribble discusses the important role parents play in educating their child in this ever-changing digital world.
While most of you have already read through Shorecrest's Responsible Use Policy for Educational Technology (RUP) in the Lower Division handbook, I encourage you to place the policy below near your home computer and engage your child in conversation about how they use technology in their every day life. Students in third grade started the year reviewing S is for Safety. Fourth graders are learning to respect the digital identities and work of others as they log in to their keyboarding program, Type to Learn 4, share laptops with other students, and access the school's server to save files.
C•H•A•R•G•E•R•S Responsible Use Policy for Educational Technology
C is for Courtesy. I will treat others online as I would have them treat me. I will never send out mean or threatening messages nor will I respond to any such messages that are sent to me.
H is for Honesty. I understand that it is against the law to copy others’ ideas, words, and pictures and use them as my own. I will document all information obtained from web sources such as sites and photos in class work. I will not plagiarize the work of others. I understand that copying software or illegally obtained files (i.e. MP3 files) is against the law.
A is for Accountability. I will only use computers, technological devices, and the Internet for schoolwork. I understand I can only go to sites my teachers has approved. I will not enter chat rooms, play unapproved games, send chain letters, and download music (MP3) files. I will follow these same rules in all classrooms, in the computer lab, in aftercare and in the library.
R is for Responsibility. I will be a good digital citizen and not do anything that hurts other people or is against the law. I know the Internet is a useful tool, and I will always use it responsibly. I will report to an adult any email, messages, or pictures that make me feel uncomfortable. It is not my fault if I see something bad accidentally. If I do see something inappropriate, I will close the window and tell an adult immediately.
G is for Gift. Shorecrest has made and will continue to make a significant investment of time and money to bring technology into the classroom. Using computers and other technological devices at school is a privilege, not a right. I understand the importance of these privileges, and will follow all rules outlined in Shorecrest’s Responsible Use Policy for Educational Technology.
E is for Equipment. I will protect all equipment including computers, printers, cameras, clickers, and other hand-held devices. I will handle all equipment with care, following the rules given by my teachers. I may not install software to any campus computer without permission and proper supervision. I understand that I may not change any settings on the desktop, including control panels, preferences, system components, or configuration files or unplug any parts of the computers unless directly supervised by a teacher. I understand that I will not eat or drink near computers.
R is for Respect of Classmates. I will respect the computer identities of my peers. I will not log on as anyone else or use anyone else’s account. Except for my own schoolwork documents, I will not delete, change, or move files. I will not tamper with another person's files.
S is for Safety. I will never give out private information such as my last name, my address, my telephone number, my parents' work addresses or telephone numbers, or the name and location of my school without permission from an adult.
In my role as Instructional Technologist, I try to stay current on the newest technology trends. This isn't always so easy given the rapid pace with which technology develops. In fact, at any given time, I can have forty to fifty different online tools or websites on my investigation list. My latest discovery is Symbaloo, an online tool for bookmarking websites. I've heard about this site for about a year now, but when I saw my 7th grader using it to access his class links, I knew I had to finally give it a try. This online tool offers many features.
It's free.
You can create an online account that can be accessed from anywhere. This means you can take bookmarks with you from computer to computer.
It uses both a verbal and pictorial interface which makes creating bookmarks for non-readers easy.
It allows you to create different matrices to organize your bookmarks.
The site can be added as the opening page of your browser for easy access.
You can add up to 64 links on each matrix.
So, I setup my free account and created my first matrix in about half an hour. Here is a first look.
This tool is a great way for teachers to organize bookmarks for easy access for students both at home and at school. Also a great way for parents of young children to make their favorite websites easy to find.
If you are looking for a fun reading and writing activity for the summer, you must check out Follow that Peach! Inspired by the 50th anniversary of Roald Dahl's book James and the Giant Peach, kids can send a virtual peach to travel around the world or download a paper peach to send through the mail. First, kids send their peach to their chosen "peach pal". Then it is forwarded to another "peach pal". The goal is for your virtual or paper peach to complete its journey by reaching 50 people. The website has lots of fun activities to download too. An interactive map tracks the movements of launched peaches. As of today, 1,578 peaches have traveled 182,777 miles around the world.
Thanks to @shannonmmiller and @kellyhines for posting on Twitter.
I am so excited about the recent publication by Education Week Magazine of it's summer issue, Digital Directions: Trends and Advice for K-12 Technology Leaders. Check out the article E-Portfolios Evolve Thanks to Web 2.0 Tools highlighting the great work on portfolios at Shorecrest!
Whoever thinks teachers have it easy over the summer doesn't know me very well. While deadlines are a bit more relaxed in June and July, there is still several To Do piles stacked along my desk that need my attention. One of these piles called Investigations, is where I stack interesting articles, printouts of blog posts, my notes during the school year, etc. It is the pile where I put everything new and cool I would like to explore and learn about but have little time during the regular school year to pay attention to.
At the top of my pile is an article recently published in TechTrends entitled Digital Citizenship in K-12: It Takes a Village along with Mike Ribble's book Raising a Digital Child. These two resources will be beneficial as I prepare to speak on a panel at my alma mater in September entitled "Social Networking and Our Youth."
Next is a stack of notes and articles about iPad apps. As I will be helping teachers in Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten integrate these mobile tools into their classrooms in the fall, I am on a hunt to find great apps. Along with this I am reading the book Mobile Technology for Children: Designing for Interaction and Learning to find out how other teachers are doing it! This work is related to my current teaching practice but is also of great interest in my professional research. I continue working on my doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Educational Technology from the University of Florida. My current research path and possible dissertation topic is related to integration of touch technologies in the early childhood classroom.
Finally, I get to the fun stuff! I love taking pictures but find little time to do so. I was reading my Twitter feed yesterday and stumbled across The Daily Shoot. According to their site, "The Daily Shoot is a simple daily routine to motivate and inspire you to practice your photography, and share your results! It’s not a contest and there are no prizes. It's simply about encouraging you to pick up your camera and make photographs."
This is how it works. Each day you check into the website to find the challenge for the day. You then post your picture via Twitter for others to see. This was just the creative outlet I needed this summer. I can't wait to get started. Today's challenge:
For their last visit to the computer lab, first graders had fun using the website Build Your Wild Self (http://www.buildyourwildself.com/) sponsored by the New York Zoo. This creative website allows the kids to create a human character with their favorite animals parts. This is a fun way to learn about the characteristics of animals. It is also a great story starter. After creating their Wild Self, the students were challenged to write a creative story about how they turned into their animal character. Here is a wonderful example:
One time we went to the grocery store. My mom bought this bottle that said, "This drink will change your personality!" My mom didn't think that was true. But I did, so I had a drink. When we got back we saw a butterfly. It went on my finger. I grew butterfly wings. I flew home instead of driving. When we got home there was a cockroach on my floor. Then I grew antennas. I stayed like that forever.
The second grade students were so excited to finally receive their monsters from their partner schools across the United States. As always, I was delighted to watch each child's face as his or her monster was unveiled. After viewing their original monster along with their redrawn monster, students were challenged to reflect about their work and answer the following questions:
Do you think you partner did a good job redrawing your monster? Explain.
What did you learn about writing and the writing process by completing this project?
List at least two ways you could make your writing better.
What did you like best about the Monster Project? What did you not like about the project?
While writing a reflection about their work is challenging, the opportunity for reflection is a key component in helping students extend the writing lessons introduced in this project (pre-planning, writing with details, painting pictures with words, using adjectives, word choice) to future writing.
The end of the year is always so chaotic. Between finalizing student portfolios, wrapping up explorer movie projects, assessing keyboarding in 4th grade, and creating end of the year slide show, there is little time for blogging. I promise to write a lengthier post soon. In the mean time, I thought you would enjoy seeing "Everything We Learned We Learned in Kindergarten" slide show presented to the kindergarten families today at their program.
The Venn Diagram is a graphic organizer that enables students to record similarities and differences between two topics. Introduced by logician and philosopher John Venn in the late 19th century, the diagram consists of two overlapping circles. Students write details that tell how the subjects are different in the outer circles while details on how the subjects are alike are written in the middle where the two circles intersect. This tool can be used with any subject and provides students with a visual way of comparing and contrasting concepts.
Second grade students created Venn's using Kidspiration. Working with partners, each student was given an information sheet on countries in Africa. Students were asked to record at least three facts in each section of the Venn.
First graders enjoyed using clickers to review fun facts about Florida. Clickers are a wonderful way to engage every child in their learning as each has the opportunity to answer all questions about Florida's borders, state symbols, and landmarks with their remote.
While teaching basic computer skills is a core part of the lower division technology curriculum, instruction on the use of technology tools such as still cameras, video cameras, handheld GPS, scanners, document cameras and interactive white boards is also given. Kindergarten students were thrilled to use digital cameras today as they explored shapes in our school environment.
To kickoff the lesson, students were shown Tana Hoban's book Shapes, Shapes, Shapes and asked to identify the various shapes in the photographs. It was then explained that students were going to create their own shape photography books. Before embarking on the scavenger hunt, rules for appropriate camera use were discussed. These rules included:
• Keep your hands clean. • Keep the camera away from sand, dirt, and water. • Use the wrist strap at all times. • Always walk when holding the camera.
Finally, students were given a brief introduction in using the camera such as powering it on/off, learning how to focus and zoom, and holding the camera properly. Working with partners, students took Shape photos across campus.
During their next visit in two weeks, kindergartners will go an alphabet scavenger hunt to further develop their photographic eye.
First grade students participated in a shared writing experience with schools around the United States called the Progressive Story Project. Sponsored by Karen Ditzler, an Instructional Technologist in Pennsylvania, students are partnered with classes to write a story, create illustrations, and record the story in Voice Thread. Mrs. Owen's Class - The First Halloween
One scary dark Halloween night there was a vampire trick or treating with his friends. He was sharing his candy with his friends. When the vampire went home all of his candy was gone. He cried, “Boo Hoo!” He looked in his bag and there was a hole in his bag. Then he went outside and he saw a trail of candy. He followed the trail and he picked up some candy. He walked and walked.
He walked into a really spooky haunted house! First he saw a white ghost with red eyes. The vampire was scared and ran away fast. Next he saw a brown werewolf with yellow eyes. He ran away fast and the werewolf chased him. When he looked back he saw the werewolf and ghost behind him. They started shouting, "We just want to be your friend!"
The vampire stopped running in front of the haunted house. He turned around to find the ghost and werewolf standing in the door. They asked the vampire to be their friend. The vampire said “OK,” and they went off trick or treating together. When they set off, the vampire told them he didn’t have a bag because his had a hole in it. The ghost with the red eyes gave him a bat-shaped bucket to carry his candy. This was a very special bucket with magic powers.
The vampire was so surprised that he jumped up joyfully to give ghost a lovely hug. The three friends headed out to trick or treat in the foggy, dark night. While they were walking, it got darker and they started seeing lots of scary people dressed up as witches, goblins, and ghosts. The vampire whispered, "Oh my, I wish I had a bright light so I can see if these scary people are real!." Then all of a sudden a mysterious candle popped out of the bat-shaped bucket. That is when the vampire realized that the bat-shaped bucket has magic powers.
The light from the magic bat shaped bucket helped the vampire to see that the people trick or treating were half monsters and half people. He was very scared! He ran home with his eyes wide open and screaming loudly all the way! He quickly opened the door with his magic bucket. Next he ran into his house right into his bedroom. He hid under his blankets shivering. His friends’ werewolf and ghost came to help him and they told him to use his magic bucket to get rid of the monsters! All of a sudden a magician with a magic wand came out of the magic bucket and did a spell to get rid of the monsters! Vampire listened and all the monsters went away. Vampire and his friends were happy so they celebrated and ate some candy! Then they brushed their teeth to get rid of all their sugar bugs!
Mrs. Densa's Class - Spot Needs a New House
One day Spot the dog got tired of his little dog house. He decided to add on and make it bigger. Spot wanted a new kitchen and a bigger bedroom. He needed more room in the kitchen for his treats, bones, and meat. Spot wanted to get a HUGE new bed for his room. He needed to buy lots of materials to build a bigger house. So, Spot got in his car and went to Home Depot.
While at Home Depot, Spot buys lots of supplies. He grabs a cart and fills it with wood, nails, paint and paint brushes. Then, he goes to the kitchen section to buy a new refrigerator, stove, and pick out granite for his table. Finally, he buys blue striped wall paper for his living room. Spot takes all of the supplies to the cashier to check out and realizes he forgot his wallet.
Spot went outside to see if he left it in the car, then he looked on the ground. No, it wasn't in the car or on the ground. He scratched his head and went back into the store to check the aisles. Still he could not find his wallet. He asked the people at the store to please hold his items and went back home to see if he could find his wallet. He looked everywhere and still no wallet. Back at the store the clerks look at the tape from the hidden cameras, they found the problem. When Spot called the store to tell them to put his things back they told him what they saw on the tape. A big black and white cat had taken his wallet!
Spot asked the workers at Home Depot where he could find the cat. He quickly ran to his car, put on his seat belt and drove there. He asked the cat for his wallet back but she told him she used the money to buy a bigger house for herself. Spot was very sad. All of a sudden Spot started barking at the cat. The cat started running and Spot chased her around the house five times! Finally Spot stopped. The cat told Spot that he could live with her because her house is very big. Spot and the cat fall in love and get married and sometimes they still fight like cats and dogs do!
Mrs. Whitecage's Class - The Spooky Teacher Once upon a Hallows eve, there was a gloomy misty graveyard that was coming alive. Miss Brittinstein awakened from her deadly rest. As she awoke, she saw a ghostly figure coming across the graveyard. Boo the ghost shouted, “ Boo!” Miss Brittinstein laughed and was glad to see her old friend Boo. Boo the ghost and Miss Brittinstein meet every Hallows eve and try to stir up some mischief. Miss Brittinstein asked, “So what’s your devious plan this year? Scaring more children? Haunting more houses?” Boo the ghost replied, “No, I have been a watching a teacher that has been very naughty. I think we should pay him a visit.” On their way to the school, a car comes speeding around the corner and doesn’t see Miss Brittinstein and Boo crossing the street. The car runs right through Boo and he chuckled, “Lucky for me, I am already dead!” Miss Brittinstein laughed too and gave her good friend a hug. Boo and Miss Brittinstein continue to The Haunted High School. As they approach the window, Boo points to Mr. Wrinkles, the math teacher.
Mr. Wrinkles was evil and mean. Mr. Wrinkles had red hair and a red beard. He was a very tall man. He always assigns 50 pages of work to do. If you don`t finish your homework you must do 50 laps of the school. He was very bossy to his students and his friends. Mr Wrinkles was very wrinkly because he took baths for many hours. His skin was wrinkled all the time. When they looked in the window Mr Wrinkles was making his students do extra work. Mr Wrinkles was yelling at the students to get them to listen. He yelled to them to do 50 extra laps of the school. Mr Wrinkles was being mean and grouchy. The students were not listening, instead they were messing up the classroom. Mr Wrinkles yelled even louder, he was screaming for the students to stop. Boo and Miss B came in the window.
They couldn’t believe what they saw. How could a person that mean be a teacher. Boo says “Let’s scare Mr. Wrinkles away from the school so that he will never come back to the school again.” Miss Brittenstein says, “We should make him run 50 laps around the school and do 100 pieces of homework.” Boo started laughing in a haunted voice. Ha-Ha-Ha. “Let’s make a booby trap from a cage to catch him when he is setting at his desk. We can tie an invisible rope to an invisible cage and lower it down on top of him.” “Great idea, Boo” says Miss Brittenstein in a scary voice.
So off they go to Jody's Store to buy a cage, rope, and Angel's Invisible Spray Paint. Laughing all the way back to school, Miss Brittenstein and Boo sneak in a window to Mr. Wrinkle's classroom. They paint the cage and rope with the invisible spray paint and set up the booby trap. Boo and Miss Brittenstein hide in the closet but leave the door open just a crack so they can see what happens next. Mr. Wrinkles comes in the classroom with a grumpy face and slams the door closed. BOOM! Miss Brittenstein and Boo are so startled they start to twitch. Mr. Wrinkles starts to sit in his chair.
First grade students enjoyed working with partners to explore a new online tool, MakeBeliefsComix.com. Based on the topic of friendship, students were encouraged to write a dialogue between two characters using talk bubbles. Using this tool is a fun way for students to apply the dialogue skills they are practicing in Writer's Workshop.
Identifying patterns is an essential skill taught throughout the kindergarten year. This important skill transfers to every area of the curriculum. Patterns are found in math, reading, science, music, art, dance and poetry. A fun way to reinforce these skills is by having students draw their own patterns.
Kindergarten students listened to the funny story Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris. They were then challenged to create their own pattern fish using the drawing program Early Learning Toolkit. The students are very independent with the program using all the tools, selecting different templates, and printing to a selected printer.
This week, second grade students were introduced to the online program, Dance Mat Typing. Created by BBC schools, this program exposes children ages 7-11 to the concept of touch typing. While keyboarding skills take years to develop, it is important to expose students to proper posture along with hand placement. Student will proceed through lessons independently at their own pace during the school day in their classrooms. Skills will also be reviewed during lab lessons the rest of the year. The students are encouraged to practice at home too.
As a wrap up to their unit on space, first grade students had the opportunity to explore the online tool Google Earth. Learning about the concept of "birds eye view," students took a virtual field trip around the Earth from Shorecrest to their houses. In addition, students explored the Moon, the constellations in Sky mode, and some physical features of Mars. The first graders will continue to explore the program in their classrooms, and in a few weeks will take a tour of famous landmarks around the United States during their America unit.
On Monday, the kindergarten students were introduced to using the web browser Firefox. While many students are online at home visiting sites like Webkinz, Club Penguin, and PBS Kids, the purpose of the lesson was to demonstrate that the Internet can be used as a learning tool. In addition, I wanted to make sure every student could launch the browser, navigate multiple web sites using hyperlinks, use the back and forward buttons, and use the scroll bar.
Here is the link to the color scavenger hunt they completed today. Students used the individual color pages to identify an object, record the object on their scavenger hunt paper, and label their picture. This was a fun way to practice reading color words and a great way to introduce the children to the concept of reading for information.
I am so happy the second graders will again participate in The Monster Project. It is one of my favorite projects as students learn about adjectives and the important role they play in helping writers "paint pictures with words." Using monsters as a vehicle, students exchange written descriptions via a wiki, and then recreate their partner's monster without ever looking at the "real thing". The project is a bit involved, requiring coordination with forty schools, but it is well worth the effort. The kids have been partnered with the following schools:Mrs. Cameron - Miss Thaggard's 2nd graders - Calvary Day School, Savannah, GAMs. Graham - Mrs. Aspaas's 3rd graders - Lewis and Clark Elementary, Minot, NDMrs. McKenzie - Mrs. Mattes 2nd graders - Lincoln Elementary, Ottawa, ILMrs. O'Mullane - Mrs. Oro's 2nd graders - Saint Michael School, Cranford, NJ
Here is a general time line of the project. During week one, students listened to the story If You Were an Adjective by Michael Dahl. Next, they picked their favorite food and brainstormed at least ten adjectives to describe that food. They were challenged to move beyond simple adjectives such as good, fine, great, etc.
During week two, students were introduced to the project by viewing samples from last year's classes. We compared the original and redrawn monsters, focusing on the writing sent from our students. We looked at the different types of monsters drawn and discussed the importance of drawing monsters that could be described. Adding too many details may make writing the description very difficult. The students used Early Learning Toolkit to create their monsters and give them a name.
During week three (this week), students will create a Kidspiration web to brainstorm adjectives for their monsters. Back in the classroom, students will exchange webs and monsters with a classmate for additional adjective suggestions.
During weeks four, five and six, students will use Microsoft Word to type their written descriptions. The paragraphs will be reviewed by a peer as well as the teachers. These will then be sent to the partner school.
During week seven our students will recreate monsters from their partner school. These recreations will be added to the project wiki.
And then we wait. Hopefully, our partner schools will have our monsters back some time in early April. It will all depend on when their Spring Break falls. Stay tuned to future posts for project updates!
I am very excited to introduce a new addition to the third grade technology curriculum - WeDo Programming through Lego Education. The program allows students to work as scientists, engineers, mathematicians and writers while engaging in hands-on building projects. Science themes emphasized through this project-based program include motors and gears, levers, pulleys, motion, friction and sensors.
The WeDo Program enables students to:
Think creatively to make a working model.
Develop vocabulary and communication skills to explain how a model works.
Establish links between cause and effect.
Reflect on the building and learning process by keeping a journal.
Make systematic observations and measurements.
Make fair tests by changing one factor and observing or measuring the effect.
Display and communicate data using tables.
Follow 2D drawings to build a 3D model.
Think logically and create a program to produce a specific behavior.
Work cooperatively and in collaboration with a team.
Each class is organized into six teams, with members of each team acting in one of three roles. Students will rotate roles each class period to ensure all members of the team have equal opportunities.
Builder - The builder is responsible for using the bricks and other supplies to build the model.
Designer - The designer is responsible for reading the blueprint and guiding the builder. This person also finds the needed materials for each step of the process and controls the mouse when programming the model.
Recorder - The recorder takes careful notes documenting all steps of the project in the group journal including progress, findings, challenges and triumphs. The recorder also uses a digital camera to record the building process.
The first project in which the students are engaged is called "Dancing Birds". The first objective is to build and program two mechanical birds to move in the same direction using a pulley and belt drive system. The second objective will challenge students to change pulley and belt positions, reprogram the birds, and observe the effect on the speed and direction of the dancing birds. Results of this second observation will be recorded in a data table and group reflections will be added to the journal.
Here are a few short videos showing the students at work so far!
