How Our Little Elves Became Authors

Sometime inspiration comes from the most unexpected places.  This time our inspiration to write came from sets of fun, lively, and colorful illustrations found on Storybird.  It's a site where you can choose a set of illustrations to use for your pictures in a book authored by you!  Each group worked with a group from Mrs. Budman's class in PA to write an original story.  First, we Skyped to choose our illustrations, next groups took turns switching the story back and forth digitally, last we Skyped to agree on a title.  Our favorite part was reading what the other group wrote.  Sometimes you think you know the direction the story is headed, but their were many surprises along the way.  Also, two groups used Andy McNally's illustrations and two groups used the art of shishir.  The groups came up with completely unique stories using the same set of pictures as another group.  During the final Skype call, students in both classes were wearing holiday headgear.... so they chose to author them accordingly.  Thank you to Mrs. Budman's class for collaborating with us! 

Will the Big Problem in Sillyville Be Solved? on Storybird

Mr. Ice Cream Man's Sweet Plan on Storybird

A Weird Problem is Brewing in Animal Corner on Storybird

Chester's Big Dream on Storybird

Connecting With Our Community

We've been learning about goods and services in Social Studies.  To make the concepts become more of a reality, we went on an adventure!  We visited various places in our Randolph, NY community.  At each stop students took turns interviewing and taking photos.  We created this VoiceThread to share our photos and information that we learned.  We reinacted the question and answer interview format.  This project also served two other purposes.  You may wonder why the students are seen wearing pink sunglasses in winter?  We received the Collaboreyes shades as part of a global project where students photograph and write about places that are meaningful to them.  You can find more about the project by visiting the Collaboreyes blog.  We also participated in the Community Connections wiki that shares about rural, urban, and suburban communities.  Please leave us a comment on the last page of the VoiceThread!  To view the VoiceThread larger click here.

Sketching Solids

We dove into the world of Google SketchUp this week to conclude our geometry unit. Each student created a cylinder or a rectangular prism. Then they turned it into an actual object. To share our shapes, we used the SMARTrecorder built into SMARTnotebook. This will be a repeat project for sure and has room for growth.  I'm so glad we jumped into this 3D world.  Thank you to Mr. Carls for getting us Sketching! 



Comparing Attributes

Our annual photo scavenger hunt was a success.  This year, students needed to take photos as a team of both plane and solid shapes.  Then, after we compiled all the photos from all the various cameras into the shared oceans folder, we created a glog using GlogsterEDU.  For the glog, students needed to pick two or more categories and sort the images, graphics, and labels accordingly.  They each chose their own attributes to sort by.  Some compared solid vs. plane, others triangles vs. circles.  Check out some of the finished projects below.