Teaching with Technology

A few weeks ago, students from Oak Grove, Glenvar, and Clearbrook Participated in a global project called Mission 00 Rain organized by Mrs. Henriquez-Santiago. After reading the book Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs by Jodi Barrett, students imagined that in addition to the town of Chewandsawallow the rest of the world has also been plagued by the unexplained appearance of giant food falling from the sky. They pretended that they were secret agents presented with the task of saving the world by writing clues and solving riddles about this curious type of “rain”. Students wrote and presented riddles about a food item that fell past “their ” classroom window using Skype (a free video conferencing tool). By solving the riddles, the classes saved the world!

Here’s some pictures from the event! (you can see even more on the Mission 00 Rain Wiki)

Mrs. Hushour’s and Mrs. DiNicola’s Classes

Mrs. Allen’s and Mrs. David’s Classes

 Mrs. Chamberlands’s and Mrs. Olivera’s Classes

Mission 00 Rain (Glenvar) on PhotoPeach

Fourth Graders at Clearbrook Elementary are participating in a cross-state Virginia Regions project on the Regions of VA Wiki.   While Mrs. Schlosser’s Social Studies classes are participating in some of the projects on the wiki as a group, a few students decided to participate in the podcast project on their own.  During their free time, they created a song about the Regions of Virginia.  After practicing it, it’s been recorded and posted on the wiki.  I’m so impressed that these kids worked on this song on their own, and think they did a great job!  It’s a familiar tune…but after I listen to it, I walk around with their song in my head for hours.  In case you’d like to listen, here it is:

Regions of VA from Tina Coffey on Vimeo.

You can also find it on the Regions of VA Wiki under podcasts.  Nice job, ladies!

If you live in Virginia, there’s still time for your class to jump in an participate in SOME or ALL of the projects on the wiki. Please join us!!

Yes!  It CAN be done!!  Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Stancil’s classes geocached for the four seasons, and had a blast!  Here are a few really adorable pictures of the event:

Mrs. Vest’s class create a Voicethread on Batty Facts to go with their lesson on facts and opinions.  Creating voicethreads on a specific topic gives students a chance to write, practicing reading, and listen back to information, which helps them learn and remember it better. They are also a great way to practice fluency and oral speaking skills.  Students are always amazed the first time they hear themselves read, and I always give them the option to redo their reading if they don’t like it.  It’s neat to see how quickly their reading changes when they can hear themselves! Take a look at their project (and feel free to leave them some comments).