After a brief introduction by Barbara the visit kicked off. Students eagerly waited for their turn to ask their pre-written questions. Highlights for the students included Barbara showing them the many drafts she writes for a book, her childhood artwork, and most of all the appearance of two of her dogs. The discussion plus the added extras made this a wonderful visit, and several students could be heard as they were heading back to class talking about how great it was to talk to the author.
Today the students had a fantastic visit with Barbara O'Connor. Like other Skype visits this visit was the culminating activity for their book club. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students read How to Steal a Dog and the Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester. They also visited Barbara's website to become more familiar with her and her other books.
After a brief introduction by Barbara the visit kicked off. Students eagerly waited for their turn to ask their pre-written questions. Highlights for the students included Barbara showing them the many drafts she writes for a book, her childhood artwork, and most of all the appearance of two of her dogs. The discussion plus the added extras made this a wonderful visit, and several students could be heard as they were heading back to class talking about how great it was to talk to the author.
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We had a wonderful Skype visit with Wendy Mass today. The students (about 30) were able to ask her questions about many of her books. Since Wendy has written so many books the questions bounced from 11 Birthdays, Finally 12, 13 Gifts, Candymakers, Every Soul a Star, and Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. Wendy graciously answered all of their questions. They were equally pleased with the visit from her cats, the tour of her house, and the mounds of snow she showed them outside her house. The students were so excited afterwards and left telling me just how wonderful they thought the visit was. A few even came up to me later when they saw me in the hall and told me how cool it was to get to ask the author questions. This was a great way to conclude their book club readings. Our primary grades (K-2) have been busy with research over the last couple of weeks. I have taught so many lessons that I lost my voice from non stop teaching from 7:30-2:30. All grades used Pebble Go, an outstanding encyclopedia for K-2 students, to gather their information. I so so impressed with how well all of the students did reading and recording their facts. Even though they are just "babies" they rocked at research and were so proud of their finished project. Kindergarten Kindergarteners researched the difference between the day and night sky. They used Pebble Go to find their information, then drew pictures in Kid Pix. Finally they recorded their voice. The finished product was then put together using Windows Movie Maker. First Grade First graders are learning about Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver. They used Pebble Go to research their topic, typed their information into a PowerPoint template, and then recorded their facts. The PowerPoint were then saved as a Windows Movie Maker. Samples of their finished projects will be posted in the next couple of weeks. Second Grade
Second graders are learning about Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King. They used Pebble Go to gather their facts and then choose a timeline template to type their facts into. |
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