Posted in Geocaching, Google Earth, Projects, Roanoke County Schools, social studies

Oliver the Geobug Update

Just wanted to let you know that the Oliver K. Woodman Geobug is now in a travel bug hotel in Portland, Oregon!  He has already traveled 2254.5 miles!! 
A travel bug hotel is a geocache that is located near a highly traveled place–like an interstate.  This one is located outside a hotel near the Portland airport.  This allows lots of geobugs (travelbugs) to move in and out of the cache quickly and travel far.  We’ll cross our fingers that this will happen for Oliver!
The Oliver K. Woodman Wiki
The Oliver K. Woodman Wiki

I’ve updated the info on the Oliver K. Woodman wiki  and included the note the geocacher left too.  You can find it under Pictures and Videos.   

Ruler in Google Earth
Ruler in Google Earth
If you are following Oliver with your class, take a second to view his map on the wiki.  You’ll even see a link where you can open it in google earth.  Once in google earth, you can use the ruler tool to measure the distance he has traveled.  You can also measure how far he has left to go!
 
Posted in Instructions, Roanoke County Schools

Increasing “Writing” Time in Voicethread

Blenna Patterson just emailed me the solution to a problem that has been baffling me for awhile now…how to keep the writing from fading in Voicethread.  I am posting it here in case others have similiar problems.  The solution is so easy.  Here’s a Voicethread showing how:

http://voicethread.com/book.swf?b=711

Pretty much all you need to do is click the center button in the color palette before you start drawing!!

Voicethread Color Palette
Voicethread Color Palette

If you haven’t tried out Voicethread, it’s a wonderful online digital storytelling tool that can be used across subject areas!

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

Blogging 2nd Graders!

blogging girlYes, it’s true! Mrs. Allen’s and Mrs. Wiggington’s second graders at Oak Grove are blogging on their very own blogs! They would love to recieve comments, so be sure to check them out periodically. Soon they will be writing about things they are studying in their curriculum!

Here are their blogs:

Mrs. Allen
Mrs. Wiggington

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

(P.S. — Keep an eye out for one more blogging class of 2nd graders coming soon!)

Posted in Projects, Roanoke County Schools, Writing

Mission 00 Rain (A Skype Project)

A few weeks ago, students from Oak Grove, Glenvar, and Clearbrook Participated in a global project called Mission 00 Rain organized by Mrs. Henriquez-Santiago. After reading the book Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs by Jodi Barrett, students imagined that in addition to the town of Chewandsawallow the rest of the world has also been plagued by the unexplained appearance of giant food falling from the sky. They pretended that they were secret agents presented with the task of saving the world by writing clues and solving riddles about this curious type of “rain”. Students wrote and presented riddles about a food item that fell past “their ” classroom window using Skype (a free video conferencing tool). By solving the riddles, the classes saved the world!

Here’s some pictures from the event! (you can see even more on the Mission 00 Rain Wiki)

Mrs. Hushour’s and Mrs. DiNicola’s Classes

Mrs. Allen’s and Mrs. David’s Classes

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

 Mrs. Chamberlands’s and Mrs. Olivera’s Classes

Mission 00 Rain (Glenvar) on PhotoPeachhttp://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf

Posted in Geocaching, Roanoke County Schools, social studies

Hunting for Treasure with Kindergarten Pirates!

The Kindergarteners at Glenvar Elementary went treasure hunting on Friday to look for “pirate loot!” Using treasure maps and gps units, they found all sorts of goodies while practicing their map skills. They did this in full pirate attire, of course! Here’s some pictures of the event…it was a blast!!

Pirate Geocaching with Kindergarten! on PhotoPeachhttp://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf