Have you noticed some of the creative ways teachers have been using technology in their classrooms with their students? I have! Here are some really neat projects that you might want to check out too:

First Graders in Mrs. Dick’s Class at East Salem responded to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech with their own dreams. You can listen to their dreams at The Patriots’ Podcast. You will be amazed at how well these students did reading their dreams–they sound like professionals! You can also email them one of your dreams at patriotspodcast@gmail.com . I’m sure they would love to hear from you!

Fifth Graders in Mrs. Prettyman’s Language Arts class created and published two school newspapers! They included text, graphics, digital pictures, charts, graphs, and even their own puzzles and drawings! The amazing part to me, though, is that this project was totally student driven! As they put the paper together, I heard comments like, “But I’m not done yet, I need to do more research!” and “I’ll work on that at home tonight!” Talk about motivation!! To see the on-line version, check it out here. Way to go 5th graders for all your hard work, and way to go Miss Prettyman for really inspiring your students to learn!!

Mrs. Heltzel’s Fifth graders at G.W. Carver created a PowerPoint book review on the story, Morning Girl. Students used Max Show to create their slides which Mrs. Heltzel later combined into one big show using PowerPoint! After seeing all that hard work on the students’ part, it sure makes me want to go read the book!!

Miss Hall’s Fourth grade class at G.W. Carver wrote two podcasts based on the book, “Pochantas and the Stranger.” You can listen to their creative podcasts at The CarverCast . My favorite part about this project was how students stretched their writing skills by adding humor, stories, poetry, and jingles! Their use of “voice” was also exceptional, and they were really able to get in character and write from someone else’s point of view. Great job 4th grade!

All the students are very proud of their work, so be sure to give them a pat on the back when you get a chance! Many more projects are in the planning stages at both schools, so keep a lookout for more!