Skype in the Classroom Author Visit

Students had a unique experience today skyping with Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver the authors of the Here's Hank series.

For 30 minutes these 2 authors shared the adventure they go on as they write these very funny books based a lot on Henry Winkler's experiences. They both inspired us to have the courage to try and to accept who we are.

 Selfie time:

Henry and Lin:

"There are so many ways to get your ideas out there -- tell it to your parents or teacher and have them write it down. Record it with a tape recorder. Act it out! You could SING your story!" - HW


Henry and Lin:

"A friend introduced us and when I heard Henry's personal story and his struggles, we knew we had to write a book with a character like him who was funny, resourceful and amazing." - LO

One more thing: Roald Dahl’s Imaginormous Challenge has returned for 2018. Today, the search for five golden ticket winners begins. Students across the U.S. ,aged five to 12, are invited to submit 100-word stories for the chance to win prizes related to creative storytelling. Entries will be open for three months until 1st May 2018.

One golden ticket winner will see their story idea transformed into a Minecraft world, in partnership with Minecraft Education. They will be flown to Seattle with their parent or guardian and work with a team of Minecraft builders and Youtube creator Stacyplays, transforming their story idea into a playable Minecraft experience for anyone in the world to download and play.

Another golden ticket winner will be flown to Los Angeles and get to work with actor, producer, director and author Henry Winkler and his writing partner, Lin Oliver, to transform their story idea into their very own published short story. To enter, students simply submit their 100-word story idea at imaginormouschallenge.com.

Google Expeditions

Google Expeditions came to Proctor School and every student had the opportunity to take part in a virtual trip to some place or explored some thing. Students were amazed with all the "cool" experiences. Classes were held in both the library and the lab and students had enough room to move around their objects and explore them in greater depth.
"Imagine visiting the bottom of the sea, Buckingham Palace or even the surface of Mars all in an afternoon. With Google Expeditions, teachers can take their classes on immersive virtual journeys to bring their lessons to life." 

The day started with a training for teachers so they could become comfortable with the lesson. Teachers "ooh" and "ahh" as new sights came into view.

Classes had a 30 minute scheduled time slot with teachers as their "tour guides". the Google Expeditions provides guiding instructions as well as leveled questions for the teacher.

The Help Desk Crew had a special additional experience with Google Cardboard.

Take a peek inside

Volcano in action Click on the FlipGrid Link below to hear the students' reactions and reflections to this wonderful experience.
Many teachers made direct connections to the  McGraw-Hill science program when they chose the expedition for their class.
Tech Tip: This program is offered FREE to schools. I encourage you to apply. Application

Mystery Skype to Alaska

Mystery Skype

"The global guessing game that gets kids learning about geography, culture, and the similarities and differences of how children live all over the world."

Fourth Graders in Mrs. Highgas's Class took a Mystery trip today via Skype to Mr. Daniels Class at K-Beach School from Soldotna, Alaska.

After a quick rock, paper, scissors game both schools took turns trying to figure out where the other school was located. We played by asking Yes or No questions to narrow down our answers. They guessed us first but we soon after discovered where they were located as well. We hope to connect again and learn more about them.

K-Beach School is 4,721 miles from Proctor School. 

It was a short trip via skype but it would have taken 14 hours by airplane

Guest Blogger Delaney:

"Today we got to mystery skype with a 5th grade class from Alaska. We all got to ask some great "below the iceberg" questions. From all the questions we asked one of the students in our class guessed where they were and got it right. Some of the things we did well was ask region questions, location questions, and border questions. The class school was K-Beach elementary. There are 400 students and their mascot is the caribou. When we skyped it was 12:35pm in Topsfield, MA but it was 8:35am in Alaska. Overall we had a great skype visit."

Midwest Virtual Tour

When you combine the wonder of student research and the magic of green screen you get an incredible digital product.

Mrs. Kelleher's class researched tourist spots in their research and study of the Midwest.
Click on the map markers to take a virtual tour with her students.

Mrs. Gibbas's Class studied the Southeast Region. Click on her map to see the tourist attractions her students researched.

Weather Reports

Grade Three Students have been exploring the world of weather. After researching and conducting a number of experiments the students became meteorologists.

The module culminates with the students assuming the role of a meteorologist. They research the difference between the weather and the climate in a city, organize it in a chart, and forecast the weather to their class.

Mrs. Burke's and Mrs. Corliss' Classes used the app FlipGrid to present their weather reports!
Click on the links below to see these young meteorologists.

100th Day of School

Celebrating 100 Days of school is a BIG Event.
Classes celebrated in all different ways.
There were parades, counting, collections, writing, and so much more.

Let's celebrate together.
Help us gather 100 responses.
Click on the FlipGrid and leave a message.
Answer one of these questions:

I wish I had 100 ____
I wouldn't want 100 ____
If I had $100 ____
I can eat 100 ____


We are also celebrating with a padlet. Click on the plus + to add your own answer. In 100 years...

Twitter Challenge

During the month of January teachers were given a Twitter Challenge.

I hosted a Twitter Party in early January to get us started and helped encourage new users as well as experienced users.

We were off to a great start.

Throughout the month it was enjoyable as teachers shared the wonderful happenings in their classrooms on twitter. Be sure to check out their twitter feeds. Also check the #TTUCHAT.

Winners received a "sweet tweet"!

Grand Prize Winners Received a Home Made Lunch!

Stay tuned for our February/March Challenge!

Skype Visits Take Us to Minnesota

It is Super Bowl weekend! So 2 classes decided to take a trip to Minnesota for the BIG EVENT!
Using skype we traveled across the country to the Midwest region. We compared the Northeast to the Midwest with facts students had learned. Both classes had thoughtful questions and gave very detailed answers. Of course we asked who the Patriots fans were and were excited to see we had fans that will be cheering for the Patriots.

Mrs. Murphy's Fourth Grade Class visited Mrs. Mogilevsky's Class at Loring Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota today via skype.

Later in the day Mrs. Kelleher's Class visited Mrs. Ardinger's Class at Countryside Elementary School in Edina, Minnesota which is located 10 miles south of Minneapolis.

  

Tech Tip:

Two resources for finding skype classrooms are look at the skype in the classroom website and google schools in a specific location, search for a class that matches your requirements and send an email.

World Read Aloud Day 2018

"Every year World Read Aloud Day calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories."

Students at Steward School were very fortunate to visit with authors to help celebrate World Read Aloud Day. 

Talk about the author visit with your child—it’s a great way to encourage reading and writing in the classroom and at home.

Grade 1 students had a lovely skype visit with SueFliess. Sue is the author of over 20 books for children. She read her new book to us called MARY HAD A LITTLE LAB, and talked to us about being an author. We got to ask her questions too! The kids really enjoyed the visit and we hope to have more interactions like that in the future. If you’d like to read more about Sue and see her other books, please visit www.suefliess.com.

Grade 2 students listened to Kathy Erskine read her book Mama Africa the story of Miriam Makeba, South African civil rights activist and singer, published in 2017.

Grade 3 were enthralled with Lauren Magaziner as she shared a few pages from her new book Wizard Match. She shared her love of the writing process. She inspired us to think of our own 10 second Super Power.

Grade K loved listening to Michelle Edwards shared her book A Hat for Mrs. Goldman. We got to see her own lovely knitted hat and discussed her love of making pom poms. "They make everything look better."