Week 8 Thing 19

Well, this was another activity I could spend hours on. I had such a good time looking at some of the places I have lived or visited. The only disappointing part is that the pictures were taken so long ago. I know I'm a nerd but I was hoping to see my car parked in front of my apartment but the Google Earth picture was taken in 2003. Enough about my nerdy depression:) We have pen pals in the United Kingdom so I looked up the town they are from. It was so cool to see the landscape and I love how you can clip on the little icons and pictures or videos pop up with information about the area. I can't wait to show this to my class. What an amazing learning experience that will be!

Back to Week 6 Thing 15

So I really didn't want to post the video that I made for our homework during week 6 thing 15 because I felt like a total nerd interviewing my grandma. It's one thing to show 6 year olds but not the whole world:) So, I thought I would post our latest creation instead. This is a video we made as a class to thank our pen pals in the United Kingdom for the pictures they sent us in the mail.

Week 8 Thing 18

Desert Habitat

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This Slideshare fits in perfectly with the new IB planner we are starting on Monday. We will be studying habitats starting with the desert. I think this will be a wonderful introduction for my class and the best part is I didn't have to create it:) This would be a cute summative assessment for the planner on habitats as well. Each student could pick their favorite habitat that we studied and create three slides for it. One slide could focus on what the habitat is, one for how the plants and animals had to adapt to live there, and one for how humans impact the habitat. I guess my only question is...how is this different from Power Point?

Week 7 Thing 17

The podcasts were fun but seemed like they were geared more toward an older audience. Of course I was only searching the free podcasts. I'm sure if I downloaded some there would be more to choose from. The read alouds were really cute because you could hear all of the distinct character voices. This could be a center in my room. I guess my class does need a lesson on listening skills. It really is sad how difficult it is for kids to just sit an listen. I am very intrigued by the idea that they can create their own pod cast. I have a group of five advanced first graders who work on research projects based on our curriculum's theme. Having them create a pod cast to present their project would be fun and different. Plus they could hear what they sound like while presenting and we could work on some simple public speaking skills.

Week 7 Thing 16

I love YouTube and have been using for my own personal enjoyment for quite some time now. Last year was the first year I really used it in the classroom. I chose this video because this is one that I showed my class last year and this year. Obviously, we are in the process of hatching chicks and this is a wonderful visual for the kids. I also showed them a short Little House on the Prairie YouTube clip last week because we are studying how families have changed over time. I know I said this before but I also love how you can embed the clip into your Blog so you don't have to deal with all of those sketchy advertisements that pop up.

Week 6 Thing 15

This assignment came at the perfect time. I know I have typed this a million times but the kids in my class had to interview a family member and ask questions about what school was like when they were six. I was in Texas over the weekend for a wedding so I got a chance to sit down with my grandma and tape a quick interview. I just showed it to my class today as an example of what their project can look like. They loved it! The best part is that this was so easy to do. I was also talking to a mom in my class and they have the same flip camera that they used for their daughters project.