Virtual Field Trip: Myths and Misconceptions with Zoo Atlanta

Today, Mrs. Kulnig's class participated in a Virtual Field Trip to the Atlanta Zoo called Myths and Misconceptions.    

It’s that time of year when everything seems a bit spooky! Are your fears of spiders, snakes and other creepy-crawlies based on facts or fiction? Cozy up to some of Zoo Atlanta’s “creepiest” creatures to find out how you might be giving some of the world’s most important animals a bad rap.  

On the Virtual Field Trip today, we met Quincy the Eurasian eagle owl, Maize the corn snake and Georgette the Tarantula.    Our Roosevelt 4th graders did an awesome job asking questions and participating in the Virtual Field Trip.   I'm hoping that we'll be able to have a lot of classes participates in these Virtual Field Trips this school year.    If you'd like to see the field trip, watch the video above!

Up close and personal with Georgette, the tarantula at Zoo Atlanta.

"Hanging Out" with Quincy the Owl.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a safe (and dry) Halloween!   Click here or on the spooky family below for a fun Halloween video greeting!

A Spooky Halloween Family!

If you are interested in a free Storybots account for educators, click here to read my previous post about Storybots and how you can use it in your classroom for free!   Or you can access their You Tube Channel by clicking here.

Parody: A Great Video

I don't know if you are a fan of Showtime's hit show, Homeland, with Claire Danes, however, this parody is hysterical by Sesame Street.  My educational connection is below...

If you were going to teach your students about what a parody is, Sesame Street's You Tube Channel has a variety of parodies using their kid friendly and well recognized characters.    If you need help accessing You Tube in your classroom, please let Allison or myself know and we'll get you set up!

Have you ever wondered about using KidBlog?

Many teachers use Kidblog to blog with their students.  Do you know how easy it can be?  

What is Kidblog?

Kidblog is built by teachers, for teachers, so students can get the most out of the writing process. Our mission is to empower teachers to embrace the benefits of the coming digital revolution in education. As students become creators - not just consumers - of information, we recognize the crucial role of teachers as discussion moderators and content curators in the classroom. With Kidblog, teachers monitor and control all activity within their classroom blogging community.  

Kidblog is designed for K-12 teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog. Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts. 

Use Kidblog to:

• create classroom discussions

• learn digital citizenship

• practicing writing skills

• create an e-portfolio

• reflect on learning

• formatively assess writing

 - from Kidblog

Kidblog is also a safe way for students to share information with you, each other, or the world!  As the teacher you can set up the privacy settings however you wish as well as have control about the comments and posts in your classroom.  On Google +, I read about a 2nd grade teacher who was sharing her student's Arctic Habitat's with the world.   Click here to see her student's work - along with how she uses the blog on a daily basis to get students writing about a topic.   Click here to see her student's entries and awesome work.   Feel free to comment on their reports as well!  Imagine how cool it would be to be getting comments on your published work from people around the country - or the world!

The Water Cycle

I came across this awesome representation of the water cycle from the Google Science Fair.   Since I used to teach weather - and know it's a part of various grade level curriculums, I couldn't resist posting it.

Dogs are Great Examples of Coaches

At my conference this week, Jim Knight used a lot of videos to illustrate different points.  This was a great example of patient coaching... 

The Pandas Have Been Named!

I'm currently in Kansas at the Instructional Coaching Institute with Jim Knight - learning many tools to be a better instructional coach.  I can't wait to share these on the blog when I return!  However, I didn't want to let the excitement sneak by that the Atlanta Zoo pandas have been named!  I know people enjoyed the panda cam last week - which you can check up on the blog - however - here is what Amercia voted to name the pandas!

Enjoy!

Marzano's Kid Friendly Scale

I thought this was a great resource to share - and would make a great poster in your classroom!  :)   For printables, click here.   Thanks, Pinterest, for another great resource!

Movie Shorts and Reading Strategies

Some days I really love pinterest.   Today I found an awesome resource from a blog called, Technology Up to Speed.  A fifth grade teacher compiled a list of various movie shorts that are appropriate for kids in helping teaching reading strategies.

This first google doc link is to a list of animated shorts. She has included the youtube links and what reading strategies with which she believes they work the best. 

The second google doc link is to a list of graphic organizers to use with each short.  They are not specific to the short and can be used for any resource.  There is one graphic organizer for each reading strategy.  

This is a valuable resource that would also be great to use with the SMART Board!   If you need help using You Tube, just ask Allison or myself!

The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

I know many classrooms are studying fall and some classes are even heading to the pumpkin patch!  Check out this video of the life cycle of a pumpkin!

How the human body works...

Check out this stop-motion animation with cut paper showing how the human body works by Kelli Anderson for Tinybop’s Human Body App.   So amazing!

Panda Cam

Breaking News

Do you want to see some super cute baby pandas?   Check out Zoo Atlanta's Panda Cam, currently streaming video of their two baby pandas that were born on Monday, July 15th.   This link will show you their journey from their mom's pregnancy with the pandas, to them being born and their development.  Click here to see a slideshow of their development - this is so cool.   In keeping with the Chinese tradition followed with the naming of the three previous cubs born at Zoo Atlanta, the twins will be named when they are 100 days old.   That traditional ceremony will be happening shortly - and if you want you and/or your students can actually take part in the voting!  Let me know if you are interested and as soon as the link is published, I'll let you know!

Check out what the proposed names mean:

1. Mei Lun and Mei Hua
(Pronounced May Loon and May Hwaa)
In English, the names mean Lun Lun's twin cubs born in the USA.

2. Mei Lun and Mei Huan
(Pronounced May Loon and May Hwaan)
These names stem from an ancient Chinese idiom, "Mei Lun Mei Huan," which was used to describe constructed buildings that are tall and magnificent. It has come to mean something indescribably beautiful and magnificent.

3. Tian Lun and Tian Le
(Pronounced Tee-an loon and Tee-an luh)
These names come from the Chinese idiom, "Tian Lun Zhi Le," which means the joy of family life or family happiness. In this context, the cubs' names would mean, "Lun Lun and her twin cubs are enjoying heavenly gifted family happiness," according to the staff at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

4. Lan Tian and Bi Shui
(Pronounced Lan tee-an and Bee Shway)
The names, meaning blue sky and clear water, are derived from another the Chinese idiom, "Lan Tian Bi Shui," which is used to describe beautiful scenery.

5. Da Lan and Xiao Lan
(Pronounced Dah Lan and Sheow Lan)
The literal meaning of these names is bigger one ("Cub B") and smaller one ("Cub A") of the Atlanta-born twins. 

Class Timers

Are you looking for some fun alternatives for a classroom timer in your class?   Here's a great resource that will work on your SMART Boards or any classroom computers to time your students for transitions, Rocket Math, etc.

Check out the link here.

Have an awesome weekend!

Awesome Workshop Opportunity!

Last year I attended the workshop below (from the staff bulletin last week) on Formative Assessment. This was an amazing day spent reflecting on how we assess our students and use powerful instructional strategies in our teaching.    Please read the blurb below from Lori -as I would HIGHLY recommend going.   I do have the Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning book in my office if you'd like to sneak a peak - just let me know!   I hope you consider attending this awesome experience!!!  

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunity - Limited Space!

Formative Assessment: What is it? How can it make a difference?

In 2009, John Hattie wrote his groundbreaking book, Visible Learning. This book is a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses related to student achievement. In other words, Mr. Hattie reviewed all of the research related to different instructional strategies and then ranked the strategies in order of their impact on student learning. WOW!

Hattie’s research supports the work of other leaders in the field of education, including Marzano, Silver, Chappuis, Wiliam, and Knight. According to Hattie and others… One of the most powerful instructional strategies we can implement in the classroom is FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.

Formative assessment is one of several high-impact instructional strategies that have a significant positive effect on student learning. “The achievement gains realized by students whose teachers rely on formative assessment can range from 15 to 25 percentile points or two to four grade equivalents” (Black & Wiliam,1998). “Certain formative assessment practices greatly increase the achievement of low-performing students, in some cases to the point of approaching that of high-achieving students” (Chappuis, 2009).

Do you want to get started using formative assessment in your classroom? Are you looking for simple, easy-to-implement strategies that you can start using ASAP?

The Department for Student Learning is proud to host an upcoming workshop for District 64 teachers called “The Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning.” This full-day workshop will teach you about seven formative assessment strategies that can powerfully impact student achievement. These strategies maximize the power of your lessons and are appropriate for any teacher in any content area. All participants will receive a copy of Jan Chappuis’ book Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning.

The workshop will be held on Friday, October 25 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. at Jefferson (Plimpton). Space is limited so sign up soon via the link below if you are interested in participating. Registrations are due by Monday, October 21. Please do not secure a substitute for this workshop until your registration is confirmed by the Department for Student Learning.

*Registration Link: Formative Assessment Workshop

*If you are unable to attend on this date but are interested in this workshop, please send Lori Hinton an email. If there are enough interested people, we may be able to offer this workshop again at a later date.

The Poetry Foundation

Are you looking for a engaging way to incorporate poetry into your lessons?   The Poetry Foundation, which is located in Chicago, has an amazing website that is packed full of resources.   The one that especially caught my eye at the CAWP conference was that you can actually have authors read their poems to you!  When you go to their website, click on the "Poems & Poets".  You can browse by poems, poets, or season poems.   When you are browsing, you can search for poems that include audio and that are good for children.  How great to include a poem in a "bouquet" of texts you use in your close reading instruction, and then have the author read the poem to your students.   Be sure to check it out!

Reading Rewards

Are you looking for a more engaging way to hold your students accountable for their reading at home or at school?   I learned about a site called Reading Rewards at the conference I was at last Friday.   The best thing about this is free website has a lot to off teachers, parents, and librarians.  As a group administrator, you will be able to create and manage reading groups, set up reading incentives for your readers, and even log reading time yourself.

Creating a free account is quick and easy.  Once you create your account, your next step is to create a group for your classroom, and add your students as members.  Once you do that you'll be easily able to track students' reading progress, sharing reading lists, and even set up some customized reading rewards for them.  Talk about a great reading incentive!

Do you want more information specifically for teachers?  Click here for their teacher page or just ask me for help!

A little math humor to start your day...

For more, check out Spiked Math. 

Welcome to 82nd & Fifth: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

On Friday, I attended the Chicago Area Writing Project's (CAWP) Fall Conference.  I had the pleasure of listening to Carol Jago, literacy expert, discussing how to inspire our practice as teachers of literacy, even with the Common Core. She had a variety of amazing lessons, including "bouquets" of text to present lessons.  One of the ways she presented us with text was through an amazing video project through the Metropolitan Museum of Art called, Welcome to 82nd & Fifth.  

82nd & Fifth is the Met's address in New York City. It is also the intersection of art and ideas. We've invited 100 curators from across the Museum to talk about 100 works of art that changed the way they see the world, and eleven Museum photographers to interpret their vision: one work, one curator, two minutes at a time.

82nd & Fifth is a year-long series of 100 episodes. Throughout 2013, new releases will appear every Wednesday.

These short videos show how these curators view the pieces of art in the museum - two minutes of deep details about each piece of work is a great way to model how we want our students talking about reading.  These videos are great examples of digging deeper - a great way to engage students in conversation and a great way to model how we want kids thinking about what they read.   I encourage you to check it out!  

Roosevelt Recording Studio

As you may or may not know, last year Roosevelt School received a PTO grant for a Recording Studio to go along with our "green screen" wall in Room 310.  So far we've had a some classrooms take advantage of it to film commercials, record weather reports, readers theatre, and newscasts just to name a few things!    As a reminder - the Roosevelt Recording Studio is available for everyone to use!  In addition to the green screen we have a digital video camera, a tripod, a microphone, two digital cameras, and a computer for editing.   This is a great way for students to interact with material - so if you're interested in planning a fun project - please let me know!   Let's take learning to the next level!

Why is Ed Tech Important?

Today I read a great article on Edudemic about why ed tech is so important.  I thought the info graph below really had some great points.   We are always looking for ways to improve student learning - how can technology get us there?  I'd love to hear your comments!  Please feel free to comment below. 

What’s it like to visit Sesame Street all around the globe?

Today on Google+ I stumbled across an awesome resource from Google Maps.

You can follow Global Grover and visit several of Sesame Workshop’s co-productions through the faces, voices and stories of children from those countries all within Google Earth.

Start exploring at http://goo.gl/iARPu2