Curriculum+Examples

=Reading=
 * 1) ===[|The Great Kapok Tree] Students read the story by Lynne Cherry. For language study, students looked for past tense verbs. Next, they used an online encyclopedia to research a rain forest animal. Finally, students wrote a comment as if they //were// that rain forest animals. Great mix of fact and fantasy. Most students used html code to bold the factual information in their creative comment.===
 * 2) ===Biographical Bonanza During our unit on biographies, student used an online encyclopedia to research a famous person. Students then left a comment //as if there were that person//. "Famous people" were having conversations with one another in the comment section! Fun!===
 * 3) ===[|Please Share a Tradition] This post introduces a reading unit in the anthology called Celebrating Traditions. The post summarizes the first story in the unit, [|The Keeping Quilt], and gives the definition of the word **tradition**. For homework, students were asked to write a comment about a tradition celebrated by their family. The comment section is filled with outstanding student writing and even includes //several comments written by parents//.===
 * 4) ===[|Are You an Expert?] This post follows another story in our Celebrating Traditions unit. After reading [|Anthony Reynoso, Born to Rope], I published a summary of the story about this expert Mexican Rodeo roping family. For homework, students were asked to write a comment about a skill they have mastered. The comment section is fantastic, and even some parents wrote about being an expert in something.===
 * 5) ===[|Dazzling Dioramas] Students presented their book report dioramas on video. Students commented about the presentations.===
 * 6) ===[|Meet Louis Braille] Student biography report with video presentation. Students commented about the presentation.===
 * 7) ===[|Meet Senator Feinstein] Student biography report with video presentation. Students commented about the presentation.===

= = =Writing= =Digital Literacy=
 * 1) ===How to Write a Quality Paragraph This lesson documents the district's Step-Up-to Writing program. The color coded images help students and parents learn about this writing program.===
 * 2) ===Halloween, Who Are You? This project combined creating an appropriate online image and writing. Student submitted a picture of themselves in their Halloween costume. The idea was to create an image the "told a story" without revealing too much personal information. Students then used the images to write a creative story or poem.===
 * 3) ===How to Write a Compound Sentence Turn a classroom lesson into a blog post!===
 * 4) ===[|Halloween Stories] Each student wrote a Halloween story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Students commented to each other about high-level vocabulary words they noticed were used in a story and the story elements they enjoyed.===
 * 5) ===[|Collectors' Collections] This post follows another story in our Celebrating Traditions unit called [|The Keeping Quilt]. I wrote a summary of the story about Aunt Phoebe, a collector of life. She has a wonderful collection of souvenirs from her travels. For this post, each student took a photograph of their collection and sent it to me via email. (Many placed their collection in an array, a math word we recently learned!) In class, students wrote about their collection on their wireless AlphaSmart computers. Students commented to each other about which collection they liked reading about.===
 * 1) ===[|Winter Break Fun] This post won a Digital Voice Award. Students created photos that told a story, yet did not reveal too much personal information. Students wrote a descriptive paragraph using high level verbs.===
 * 2) ===[|Halloween, Who Are You?] Students created photos that told a story, yet did not reveal too much personal information. Students wrote a descriptive paragraph using high level verbs.===
 * 3) ===[|Explore Galore! Let's Get Commenting!] I joined an international blogging challenge to help students learn about other educational blogs. We focused on writing quality comments. Learning to navigate and participate in an online community is important.===

=Math= > 11. Reasonable Estimates > ===Check out the comments! Second and third graders have been challenging each other with some very creative questions using the concept of reasonable estimate.=== = = =Social Studies= =Science= 7. **[|Science Stop: Matter Matters]** High school students from Mr. JR's (@gochemonline) class teach my elementary students about math. GoogleHangout used. =Music=
 * 1) ===[|A New Shiny Penny] Students //asked// to research and write about the new Lincoln coins.===
 * 2) ===[|New Presidential Dollar Coin] Students //asked// to research and write about the new dollar coins.===
 * 3) ===[|Hip Hip Array!] Students located arrays on campus. Digital photos and multiplication equations.===
 * 4) ===[|Multiplication Game] Student explained the rules for a multiplication game and took digital photos to enhance the text.===
 * 5) ===[|Quadrilateral Queries] Students made video tutorials about parallelograms, rectangles, rhombi, and square.===
 * 6) ===[|Space Figures] Student created 3-d figures using clay and toothpicks.===
 * 7) ===[|Fractional Fun] We used our Flag Counter Gadget for a lesson on fractions.===
 * 8) ===Circular Circles Documented a circle lesson and then used PhotoPeach to add a quiz to the post. Students can revisit the learning and review the concepts via the quiz.===
 * 9) ===Google Earth Geometry Students look for 2 and 3-dimensional figures while touring Washington, D.C. on Google Earth.===
 * 10) ===Angle Quiz: Acute, Obtuse, or Right?===
 * 1) ===[|Native American Presentations] Student created posters and wrote reports about Native American tribes. Student wrote comments comparing and contrasting the tribes.===
 * 2) ===[|National Geographic Giant Traveling Map of Asia Video]===
 * 3) ===[|Cheerful Chumash Assembly]===
 * 4) ===[|Our New Global Friends]===
 * 5) ===Mystery Skype CallStudents ask yes or no questions to determine a mystery location. Excellent geography lesson!===
 * 1) ===Animals, Announce Your Adaptation!  The class was studying about animal adaptations. Each student used our online encyclopedia to research an animal. Next, they submitted a comment as if they //were// that animal. Great mix of creative writing and factual research. Many students used html code to make the factual information stand out from the fantasy.===
 * 2) ===[|Circling the Sun] Student asked to research and write about the sun.===
 * 3) ===[|Lovely Light] Students reported about translucent, transparent, and opaque. Digital photos enhanced the text.===
 * 4) ===[|See a Turkey Vulture and a Salamander]===
 * 5) ===[|Mobile Marine Lab]===
 * 6) ===[|VoiceThread Ocelots] Excellent use of VoiceThread by students from [|Mr. Salsich's Class]===
 * 1) ===[|The Hello Song] Students recorded this song for our new blogging buddies in Australia.===
 * 2) ===[|Happy Valentine's Day] Students recorded a Valentine's Day song.===
 * 3) ===Chay Chay Koo Lay Students share a new song. Lyrics published so anyone could sing along!===
 * 4) ===[|New School Spirit Song] Students recorded the new school song.===

=Internet Projects=
 * 1) ===[|World Math Day]===
 * 2) ===[|Internet Weather Project]===

=Student Generated Projects=
 * 1) ===[|Water Cycle Sculpture] A student created this water cycle sculpture after a science lesson. The student took the photo and wrote the text.===
 * 2) ===[|Visit - Washington, D. C.] Educational travel post about our nation's capital.===
 * 3) ===[|Visit - Lake Tahoe] Educational travel post about Lake Tahoe.===
 * 4) ===[|Visit - Palm Springs, California] Educational travel post and video created by a student and his father.===
 * 5) ===[|Community Service Project] This is a post by by one of my students about a group of boys who do community service outside of school.===