Inspiration, Imagination, Innovation!
Posts tagged Global Collaboration
Mail from Mr. Mannell
Apr 3rd
Today, the Techie Kids had a wonderful surprise! We received a package in the mail from the fabulous, Mr. Mannell (@RossMannell). He has been doing an amazing job of supporting my 3rd through 8th grade bloggers.
Here are the first comments that we shared on our Winter in Michigan post.
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Here are the links to additional posts that were kicked off by these comments. Please explore them! I’m sure you will love them as much as we have!
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We were thrilled when we opened the Australian package and found a book, Wombat’s Secret, a wombat figurine, and a token from Potoroo Palace, an animal sanctuary where Mr. Mannell took many of his incredible animal photographs.
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Here are some of the amazing images taken by Mr. Mannell that he shared with us and gave us permission to use.
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We found out that it took 14 days to travel from New South Wales, Australia to Michigan, USA. If the package could travel in a straight line, the total distance traveled would be about 9,600 miles.
View A Wombat’s Journey in a larger map
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Mrs. Moore is an Indiana Jones fan, so she was excited to share this Google Map, Treasure Map style! 
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Since Australian animals were a big focus of many comments and posts, we’d like to share some pictures of animals in our area with you. Click on the book cover below to read our Michigan Animals book.
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We are so excited that blogging has allowed us to connect with new friends around the world!
Thank you, Mr. Mannell, for all that you’ve shared with us!
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Please tell us something that you have learned from Mr. Mannell.
What animals live in your area or are unique to your area?
What animal is most interesting to you and why?
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Thank You!
Mar 6th
Blogging is simply amazing! Thank you for helping us learn about our world and how technology lets us make connections in ways that weren’t possible before.
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Our Winter in Michigan post received 86 comments. Our readers commented from 15 different locations, 6 different states in the U.S., 6 different countries, on 4 different continents.
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Mrs. Yollis shared information about the weather in Southern California with us on her class blog.
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Mr. Webb in New Zealand created 2 posts for us, 1 with a photo slideshow and 1 with weather report videos.
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Ross Mannell’s excellent comments and replies led to even more shared learning as he posted to his Extended Comments for Students blog.
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Here is a Google Map we created showing where each comment was written. We added some highlights about the weather in their area at the time of the post.
View World Wide Weather in a larger map
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Our students were amazed at the response and the facts that you shared! They were very excited to reply to you. We searched each state or country noted in the comments on Google Earth. Our classes were delighted to see the Earth spin and “fly to” each location. They loved seeing photographs taken in each area. We took note of landforms and compared and contrasted them to our own. Our classes are buzzing with adventure as they share places they want to visit and learn more about because of your comments.
A bajillion (yes, bajillion=considerably more than a million) thanks to all of you!
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We are excited to see what we will learn from you next!
Winter in Michigan
Feb 19th
As we have been discovering different blogs around the world, we began to notice a few things about the weather. Some of us were talking about the cold temperatures and all the snow we’ve been getting like, Mr. Avery’s class and Mr. Salsich’s class, and the snow we are hoping to get, Mrs. Watson’s class. But then, we noticed some blogs talking about warm weather, 4KM and 4KJ, and swimming, Mrs. McKenzie’s class.
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Our students decided they wanted to share some pictures of what it looks like in our area right now and invite others to compare. Here are some pictures that reflect our cold weather during our current season of Winter.
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Click here to see Snow Falling
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Will you help us learn about our world by sharing about life in your area?
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What season is it where you live and what seasonal activities do you currently enjoy?
Can you tell us what that season looks like where you live?
What are some of the characteristics of different seasons in your community?
Tongue Twisters
Mar 16th
One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is Fox in Socks. I just love the silly tongue twister tales. Let’s have some fun in the style of this awesome author by writing and reading some of our own. Many tongue twisters use alliteration. Alliteration is repeating a particular sound in the first syllables of a series of words or phrases. Try this strategy. Choose a letter to focus on for your alliteration. Brainstorm a list of 10-12 adjectives, nouns, verbs, and other parts of speech that begin with this letter. Try to create a short story using these words in a combination of simple and complex sentences. Share your tongue twister in a comment so we can try out your tricky tale.
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Here are 2 that Mrs. Moore tried.
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The bright, blue balloon broke loose from boy’s box.
Boy used broom to bring bright, blue balloon back to box.
Silly boy. Bright, blue balloons don’t go back in box.
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Skunk skipped to the Slippers and Shiny Shoes Store.
Skunk shouted when she spotted six, slick, slimy shoes.
Should she show the shoes to the shoppers or
Should she stop and sling the shoes into the sink?
She should stop.
Some shoes slipping. Some shoes sliding.
Skunk shook the slimy shoes ’til the strings swung into the sink
Slowly she stood on a stool, scooped up the shoes, and shoved them onto the shelf.
She began to shout and spout , “Now she can show me the shiny shoes!”
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Share one of your own tongue twister tales.
What’s a strategy we should use when writing with alliteration?
Skyping with Mr. Kruger’s Class!
Feb 29th
Today we were able to connect with Mr. Kruger’s 3rd grade class in Minnesota.
It is always fun to meet new friends. Both of our classes were ready to talk about our communities. Here is some of what we learned.
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For fun…
They visit the Minnesota Zoo or the Como Zoo. The Como Zoo is free!
The 3rd graders can go to the Mall of America, but this isn’t just any mall. It’s the biggest mall in the United States. They even have roller coasters inside called Nickelodeon Universe! Mrs. Moore has actually been there and can verify that it would take a long time to visit all of the stores and see everything there is to see.
Photo shared by jpellgen Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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Many students visit their cabins on the weekends.
Their community has the largest free fair in the state. It is held in August.
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Several of the students shared about some special jobs that their families have.
Gopher Sport makes athletic and fitness equipment.
Viracon-This company makes the glass and tints for windows. Their glass is being used in the new World Trade Center building in New York.
Construction and Insurance- This area provides insurance to many large companies.
Josten’s- They created the designs for the Super Bowl rings.
Mayo Clinic- This is a very special, well-known medical center that helps to diagnose and treat patients.
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Their community has about 25,000 people.
We discovered that our temperatures are very similar, which makes sense because we are very close in location. They are hoping to get some snow tonight!
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Thank you for helping us learn more about our world!
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Do you have any questions you did not have time to ask?
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Tell us a fun fact about the area you live in.
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Researching Michigan
Feb 13th
So many of our blogging buddies have created informational videos and posts about the area they live in. We are learning so much about our world through all that they’ve shared. It’s about time that we did the same thing. Today, our third graders will be starting to research important facts that we can share with all of you about our great state of Michigan. We will be using informational websites, Google Earth, United States apps, and a World Atlas text to find out more. When we are done, we will share our information with you on a Michigan page using tools like Prezi, Photo Story 3, and EduGlogster.
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Here are some examples of how our friends have shared information with others about their area.
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Mr. Salsich’s Class created a video about Stonington, Connecticut.
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Watch the video on The Local Environment in Sointula created by Mrs. Watson’s 2/3 Class.
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Here is a link to the 2/3’s Our Province page.
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Watch the PhotoPeach Mrs. McKenzie’s Class created to tell others about Reefton, New Zealand.
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Can you share any apps, tools, or websites that would help us with our research?
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Do you have any questions about Michigan?
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Stories Around the World
Nov 29th
Our class is participating in a global project called Stories Around the World. This is a group blog where 11 classes from around the world can share their stories all in one place.
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Our stories come from 5 countries across 3 continents in both the northern and southern hemispheres. We hope to use technology as tool to enrich student learning as we flatten our classroom walls.
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Here is a map showing the locations of all the participating classrooms.
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Even if your class is not creating posts for this blog, we still welcome and encourage you and your class to leave us a comment . Much thanks to everyone who has already supported us!
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Thank you for being a part of our learning!
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Have you taken part in a global project before? What was it about?
Do you have any tips to share with us on global collaboration?
Let’s Meet the Valdezians!
Nov 29th
The Techie Kids are Quad Blogging with three fabulous classes!
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Mrs. Webb-Scheers: The Classroom Connection
Mrs. Moore: Techie Kids
Mrs. Kistler: The 49’ers
Ms. Valdez: The Valdezians
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This is the fourth week of our collaborative project.
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Take a look at this post: Writing Boot Camp
Have you practiced Fractions?
Do you know any Vivid Verbs?
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Here is a peek at what it looks like near the Valdezians.
San Antonio Riverwalk Christmas Lights in USA
The Alamo Front in USA
Did you notice anything about the 360 degree pictures?
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