Second graders learn about early Georgians during the 1st nine weeks. We start off with an easy two day project, that includes research and making a magazine cover from a template.

The first day they start off by using Pebble Go to find three facts about their person. They also include the year James Oglethorpe (one of the early Georgians they study) founded Savannah to include as their magazine date.

The second day they return to type their information on the magazine template. There are 3 magazine templates for them to choose from. Once they select the one they want to use they type their information into the template.


Working on their research using Pebble Go and typing into the template.

A few examples of the finished magazine covers. We have about 180 second graders at Gwin Oaks. The rest of the magazine covers will be added to the teacher web pages later in the year. Most of the teachers also print out their magazine covers to display in the hall outside their classroom.

I see the 5th graders for their technology special every 7 days. The first technology project 5th graders worked on was a Civil War research project. I wanted to have the students do a project that combined research and multiple technologies. Since Instagram as well as almost all social media is blocked we did a fake version of Instagram instead.

Day 1:
The project began with students being reintroduced to Encyclopedia Britannica. Students were given a research sheet and selected one of the 7 people they learn about during the Civil War to do their project about. Students started by gathering their facts and then reworded their information so it was in the correct voice and in 1st person.

Day 2:
The next time students focused on selecting a profile picture and a scene picture. The students would be putting themselves into the picture, so they selected their pictures with this in mind. Originally students were going to use Britannica Images but there were downloading issues so I ended up later downloading and adding the pictures to my webpage so students could select the pictures they wanted. 

The second half of the class was sent exploring the Civil War trunk. I contacted the Civil War Trust and was able to borrow a Civil War trunk that contained uniforms, soldier gear, pictures, and other artifacts. The students were able to rotate from table to table to explore the different items. I loved the conversations we had about the different items. 

Day 3
Now that students selected a picture they wanted for their scene we were ready to take their picture in front of the Green Screen. Since we still had the trunk for a few more days most of the classes were able to put on the clothing if they wanted a full body shot in their picture.  While I called students into the broadcast room one at a time to take their pictures in front of the green screen the rest of the students worked on typing their research information into the Instagram template.

Day 4:
The project is now winding down and coming together. Students learned how to use Coral Shop Pro (my county doesn't have Photoshop Elements in the elementary school). We went over how to zoom in and out, erase a background, and how saving as a .png file allowed a transparent background. The students did a fantastic job editing their photos. It was so great to see how focused they were to remove any unwanted background (or body) from their photo.

Day 5:
After 5 weeks the 5th graders were finally finished with their project. They merged their original Civil War scene with the edited picture of themselves.They then saved an added their picture to their Instagram template along with the profile picture they selected. 

The students were so proud and I was so pleased with how well they looked when completed. We will have about 175 of these completed when we are done and will load them on their teacher's webpages. Until then I have included a small sample of some of the finished ones below.

First, second, and fifth grade have started research projects. 

First graders are learning about Benjamin Franklin. So far they have learned about his life and his inventions. Once they have completed their research they will make their own Little Bird Tales book. Each students will load pictures of Benjamin Franklin and then record the facts they learned about him in their own book.

Second graders are learning about early Georgians and James Oglethorpe in particular. They used Pebble Go to locate their information. The next day they return to select a magazine template I created in PowerPoint and to type their facts. Their magazines are turning out great.

Fifth graders are learning about the Civil War and are working on an Fake Instagram. They used Encyclopedia Britannica to locate their information and Britannica Images to locate their picture. They are also adding themselves to the picture and using editing software to remove backgrounds. This is a more complex, s project and will take students about 5 visits to complete. A more detailed description will be posted once students finish their project in a few weeks. The students are working so hard on their projects.  I can't wait to see how they turn out once they are finished.

To go along with this project I contacted the Civil War Trust to borrow a trunk. The trunk included Civil War artifacts. The students loved trying on the uniforms and exploring the different artifacts. We also used the clothing to take pictures for our Instagram project. 

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.