Category: Projects

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Projects, Roanoke County Schools, Writing

Blogging 5th Graders

Posted on by Tina Coffey

Mrs.  Hudson’s and Mrs. Graves 5th grade classes at Clearbrook Elementary are blogging!  I’m so proud of the hard work both the teachers and the students are putting into this project!  The kids are very excited, especially about comments they’ve received from some college students in Alabama.   They worked really hard on writing posts about instruments to go with the sound unit they are studied in Science, and they are working on entries about their visit to Apple Ridge Farms.  If you have a few minutes to leave them some comments, they would love it!  It’s so motivating for them to know that their writing is read by a “real” audience!

Here are their blogs:

Mrs. Hudson

Mrs. Graves

I’ll keep them linked to this blog (on the right) in case you want to check back on them later in the year!

Posted in Excel, Lessons, News, Projects, Roanoke County Schools

O.R.E.O.s

Posted on by Tina Coffey

First Grade classes around the county participated in an O.R.E.O. project, including Mrs. Chapman’s class, Mrs. Williams’ class, Mrs. Braun’s class,  and all of Oak Grove’s First Grade!   It was tons of fun, and it all centered around cookies!!

Students stacked cookies to see how tall of a tower they could make before it tumbled and tallied their results. Then, they entered results on a spreadsheet to find a class average and to view a graph.  They discussed the data using words like greather than, less than, and equal to (see example below). 

Oreo Project Example
Oreo Project Example

Click here for a  blank version of the spreadsheet.

Finally, they entered their data into a project database that included data from across the United States, and even a few other countries! To view the project results (including a map of all the participants), click here!  Globally, the class average for stacks was 18 cookies!

 

Here’s a few pictures from the event:
O.R.E.O. Project 2009 on PhotoPeach

http://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf

Oh…and just in case your wondering, we did NOT eat the ones we stacked! 😉

Posted in Fun, Geocaching, Ideas, Links, Projects, Roanoke County Schools, Web 2.0

Projects, Projects, Projects

Posted on by Tina Coffey
This article is a follow up to yesterday’s inservice at Clearbrook.  We discussed Global Projects, Using Skype, Wiki Ideas, and Geocaching and Geobugs.  Wow, that was a lot of stuff!
 
Shelia Terry from Virginia Beach was able to skype with us and talk a little about her use with Skype with her students there.  She gave us some great information about skype, and send us a link to more Skype info on her wiki!    

We also talked a lot about some existing global projects you can join.  One of the project places I highlighted was the site by Jen Wagner.  I love her projects!!
 
The other project I mentioned by name was the skype project called Mission 00 Rain about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  I remember that a few of you were interested in it as well.  It’s for grades 1-3, but you need to register by Oct. 10! 
 
Finally, we did some geocaching and talked about geobugs.  In case you all are interested in geocaching for fun, the geocaching site is www.geocaching.com.  You can create an account for free, and download the locations of caches to many types of gps units.  The newer ones for cars will even let you do this.  It’s tons of fun, and they are EVERYWHERE…so it’s also great for family trips or vacations. 
 
If you and your class want to track the Big Lick Geobug, here’s it’s story.
http://tcoffey.edublogs.org/2009/06/03/geobugs/
 
Finally, an Oliver K. Woodman Geobug will be leaving Roanoke in the next few weeks.  He’s heading to Redcrest, California.  If you’ve read the book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, you’ll know why!  Let me know if you want me to come to your class, show a geobug, and get your started following him too.  🙂
Posted in Projects

Fun Learning Projects (from Jen Wagner)

Posted on by Tina Coffey

I love Jennifer Wagner’s projects for elementary students. They are very project/themed based, and she always has a mix of “old favorite” and “new ideas” each year. When you participate in one of her projects, your students also have the chance to collaborate with other students around the world. I’ve had teachers participate in her Oreo project, Room with a View, and a Valentine Card Exchange. They loved them! Here are some exciting ones she will be offering this year:

Projects to Sign Up for Today

Guess the Wordle:

  • Open Ended start and finish (Do as little or as much as you want)
  • Great for grades 3-5, but could be used by any grade.
  • Helps with higher level thinking
  • Could be used as a welcome activity in the mornings

O.R.E.O. Project

  • Runs from Sept. 21-Oct. 16
  • Could be completed in 1 or 2 class periods, but includes enrichment ideas to take it further.
  • Entails stacking Oreo cookies and comparing results from around the world.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

  • Learn about weather, tall tales, and compare and contrast.
  • Runs from August 31 to September 18
  • Looks great for K-5

Upcoming Projects that Look Good

You’ll need to keep a watch on these projects so you can register for them.

Where the Wild Things Went

  • Runs from Oct. 12-Oct. 30 (Corresponds with movie version release)
  • Students will extend the story of “Where the Wild Things Went” using a wiki
  • Skype may be included for classroom reading

Holiday Card Exchange

  • Runs from Nov. 30-Dec. 18
  • Classrooms will participate with 24 other classrooms from around the world
  • Classes will mail one card to each class (so count on postage for 24 cards)
  • Google Earth will be used to map places
  • I’ve had third graders participate before in a similar Valentine’s Day project, and both teachers and students loved it!!

There are more projects too….to see a list of all projects, visit the Projects By Jen website!  Click here to see a description of all the projects she will offer this year.

And, if you decide to try one of these projects, please let me know!  I’d love to lend a helping hand!!

Posted in Geocaching, Projects, Salem City Schools

Geobugs!!!

Posted on by Tina Coffey

Last weekend, the Big Lick Geobug was sent on it’s way to Ms. Deyenberg’s Class in Alberta, Canada! If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, then read this article on geocaching.

http://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf
Sending the Big Lick Geobug on its way…. on PhotoPeach (Pictures by Meg Swecker)

Basically, the idea is that our Big Lick Geobug will travel from cache to cache with geocachers…all the way to Canada. It will be a slow process, possibly, since some caches aren’t found for weeks at a time….but hopefully some geocachers can take it long distances. Meanwhile, classes in Salem and Roanoke County (with Meg Swecker) will track it’s movements!

Ms. Deyenberg is doing the same thing too. Her 5th Grade class is sending Flop the Other Dorothy Dalgliesh Dolphin to us! You can read about the geobugs below (and follow them too)!

Big Lick Geobug
Flop the Other Dorothy Dalgliesh Dolphin

It’s a long way to Alberta, Canada, so they might not make it, but we are keeping our fingers crossed!! Following the geobugs as they travel will help our students practice map skills….and Math (as they calculate how far each bug has traveled). Here’s a map with their starting and ending points:

These bugs have the summer to travel, and hopefully will have moved some by the time we come back in the Fall. If you would like to follow along next year, let me know. I can come show your class how to geocache (even tie it with a topic you are teaching), and make sure you receive updates anytime one of the geobugs moves! I think we have some 2nd grade teachers already who will be following along!