Our classes have official started planning for the T.E.E. (Terrace Environmental Expo) The T.E.E. will be May 18. We will have students presenting information in the library part of the day and again in the evening from 6-7pm for their parents and other community members. Each student has a T.E.E. project folder where they are taking their notes & writing reflections and setting goals for the next meeting. Students were also given a calendar with 3 important dates - their planning deadline, project deadline, and the T.E.E. Annie and I realized we needed to teach our students the steps in which you complete such a big project and we wanted to them to use their time efficiently so we gave them calendars.
We have been conferencing with students to help focus their ideas/passions. Time for Kids and National Geographic Explorer are wonderful resources of information and have really opened our eyes to problems of the world. Students have become so passionate about parrots and other endangered animals. During one class discussion about the California Condor my students couldn't believe everyone didn't care about saving them. I told them a lot of people just aren't aware this is a problem. Awareness is key to making change!
We laid out the expectations for T.E.E. and the process leading up to it, then posed the question to students "What are your passionate about? How are you going to share with others your passion?" We brainstormed a list of conservation topics, gave each student a netbook or iTouch, and they were off. Students discussed the list of topics with their partner did some research and came up with a topic. Students have made plans to bring awareness to their topic during the specific day(s) in April to the rest of the school. We spent last week gathering supplies, making posters, and getting boxes ready. Some students will start their projects this week others in the coming weeks.
Check back for pictures!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
T.E.E. - Planning
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Edmodo
Before we left for our much needed Spring Break I introduced my students to Edmodo. They loved it!! Annie has already been using this with her class and they love it as well. It looks like Facebook, so I think that is part of the appeal. After reading a Time for Kids article about California's Condors I posted an open ended discussion question on edmodo and students began to respond. I have to say that I have never seen students to eager to respond after reading a Time for Kids article before.
I decided to try using Edmodo with one of my reading groups. My Chasing Redbird reading group came down to the floor with their netbooks and we discussed the book. I through out questions and thoughts that I had while I read and they responded. I had to remind them to keep the discussion focused on the book. They did a great job and they really enjoyed discussing the book this way. All my other reading groups we clamoring to try Edmodo as well... I will definitely be using this as a way for students to respond to their reading. I think meeting and discussing the book is important this is a great tool for students who can't wait to meet to start discussing the book immediately or as they are reading the assigned chapters.
Some of our third grade teachers have used Edmodo with their study of plants and their students have really enjoyed using it outside of the school day. I shared my ideas for Edmodo and the first roadblock would be lack of laptops for students to use all at once. They would need to be in the computer lab which takes away from the immediate feedback/discussion. I realized how lucky my class is to have access to a class set netbooks at any given time...they could have easily written their reading response to the Time for Kids article in their reading journals, but I know I would not have gotten such a rich discussion of the article.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Texas Hero Project
Students researched a Texas Hero using the Netbooks every day for a week. The students created business cards with a Web 2.0 tool called Badge Maker. On the final day, students dressed as their Texas Hero and exchanged cards. I took a Netbook outside to the playground with us. I was able to play "Deep in the Heart of Texas" from www.youtube.com so the students could "Mingle to Music" and find partner to exchange with. Students orally told each other what they learned about their hero and placed the exchange card in a clear business card sheet. I was able to also take pictures with the Netbook with webcam. I loved that. All in one device!
