Content Provider Showcase: Math & Science

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Janine Lim

Tonight we are participating in another content provider showcase hosted by Macomb ISD.

First we connected to the St. Louis Zoo. The program started with a sampling of their “tour” programs. The tour programs show several of the exhibits at the zoo. First we saw a clip of the anteater video, followed by questions and answers. The zoo presenter asks the students questions about what they heard to see if they listened carefully. Next we did an activity learning about producers and consumers. Their programs include live animals shown on the screen as well. We saw a snake close up on the document camera. The programs are filled with various visuals and lots of conversation and interactive back and forth. We haven’t connected to the St. Louis Zoo yet, but I think we will be connecting there soon!

Next we connected to the International Wolf Center. The cool thing about the Wolf Center is that they have several cameras throughout the center that can be controlled by the presenter using a joystick. It’s fun to look around and see all the different wolves live. We experienced a bit of the Wolf Ecology program and discussed the various things that a wolf might eat.

Last, we connected to the Alaska Sea Life Center. We first learned about the geography of Alaska and how it compares to the rest of the lower 48. Next we experienced some of the activities from their programs, including practicing observation, made clay seals to learn about adaptations, and asked questions and interacted back and forth.

Three great content providers! Thank you to Macomb ISD for sharing yet another showcase with us.

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Visiting Peace River Alberta

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Janine Lim

After lots of work scheduling and coordination, the first of seven connections with Canada happened today. It’s been my dream for a while to get class to class connections for our Michigan students who study Canada. In these 7 connections we’ll be visiting Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick. The sessions with Peace River are the result of trading PD for projects, which is another model that seems to be working well for our kid to kid project videoconferences.

Today’s session started with Berrien Springs Middle School students listening to the Peace River students start their day with O Canada and announcements.

Next the Peace River students presented a PowerPoint with pictures of their town and school, some of their village history, a day in the life of a Hines Creek student, myths about Canada, and a presentation on each of the provinces.

Next the Berrien Springs Middle School students presented about the 6 regions of the United States and also about their local community.

Finally, the students asked each other questions. The questions started on topics and ideas that were presented by the two classes.  Towards the end, students asked questions about daily life, length of recess and bus rides, and favorite sports teams and more.

We look forward to more connections with Canadian students in the future.

Filed under: Collaborations, Professional Dev. | 1 Comment »

ASK Author: Bessie Smith and the Night Riders

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Janine Lim

Today TWICE is hosting a new ASK program with Sue Stauffacher on her new book, Bessie Smith and the Night Riders.

Sue is a wonderfully funny author and students really enjoy her books. One of my classes participating today was signed up for ASK Author: Donuthead in March, and the students enjoyed the book so much they wanted to read another of her books. So here they are today.

Here are some of the questions from today.

  • Bessie Smith is a blues singer. Are you a fan of the blues and who are your favorite blues singers?
  • In the book, Bessie is dressed up with fancy clothes. Did she really dress like that? Sue had great pictures to show when answering this question.
  • If you were a character in the book, would you be like the girl who stood behind Bessie or would you be like the boys who ran away?
  • Are the songs in the story real, and how did you choose them?
  • Are there other events in Bessie’s life that you considered writing a story about?
  • What was Bessie Smith’s favorite place to perform?

Sue Stauffacher loves the ASK program because of the depth of questions and discussion with the students.

By the way, there are still openings in the some TWICE ASK sessions with Sue in March if you want to join us!

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