Tag Archives: Skypes

Posts that describe one of our Skype calls

Learning about Mardi Gras

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Today we learned about the celebration of Mardi Gras from Ms. Naugle’s 4th grade class in Louisiana.   Students worked in groups and each group told us about a different aspect of Mardi Gras.  We thought they looked great all decked out in their beads!

We invited the 2nd grade to join us for their very first Skype ever.  They were very excited and well behaved even though we were having a bit of trouble hearing the children due to audio problems.  My 3rd grade students were logged into Edmodo for a back channel chat with some of the Louisiana students during the call.

We saw the colorful masks that can be worn.  People on the floats throw beads, coins called doubloons, footballs, soccer balls and cups.  Coconuts are given out at the Zulu parade.  The crowd watching cheers, “Hey Mister, throw me something!”

We learned that the colors of Mardi Gras are: purple which stands for justice, green which stands for faith, and yellow which stands for power.  About 1 million people descend upon the city of New Orleans for this party and afterwards they collect 8 million pounds of trash!!  We also learned about the King’s cake that they eat.  Hidden inside each cake is a plastic baby.  Whoever gets the piece with the baby has good luck.  It is also up to that person to buy next year’s King cake.  Here is a Mardi Gras dance that they performed for us.  Thanks Ms. Naugle and class  for a great Skype!!

 

Skype with Florida

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Today we met Ms. Jeleniewski’s 4th grade class from Partin Elementary School which is located in the Sunshine State. They have about 750 students from K-5 in their school. We learned that Florida has hurricane season from June to November. Their weather can get well over 100 in the summer and their winters are usually warm but it does sometimes get down to 30. Their record low is minus 2 degrees which is very cold even for us Northerners! Florida is also sometimes called the Lightening Capital of the World.

Some famous places in their state are Wet and Wild and Busch Gardens. Actress Whoopi Goldberg was born there. Their state flower is the orange blossom. Some crops they grow are oranges, lettuce, tomateos, watermelon, squash, celery and more. They border Georgia, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Animals from their state include jack rabbits, armadillos, the red tailed deer and the endangered manatee.

One of their students was originally from Philadelphia and he was wearing a Phillies shirt during the Skype. He moved to Florida at the age of 5. We chatted about our favorite books and who we wanted to win the Super Bowl. Our class is split- half for Patriots and half for the Giants but most of their class is voting for the Giants, our rivals.

After the Skype we read a book called J.Rooker, Manatee by Jan Haley that our first grade teacher lent us to learn more about this endangered animal.

Mystery Skype with Indiana

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This past week we met Mrs. Stefanski’s 4th grade class from the Northview Elemetary School in Valparaiso, Indiana. Their school has 2 of every grade from Kindergarten to 5th grade. We learned that Indiana is called the Hoosier State and the cardinal is their state bird. Their state population is about 6.4 million and they border Lake Michigan. They have a beautiful park called the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the famous Indy 500 race takes place in their state. Michael Jackson was born in their state. They guessed us correctly on the 2nd try but it took us quite a few tries to guess their state correctly!

Skype with Brewer, Maine

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Today we met Mrs. Bryant’s 3rd grade class from their brand new Brewer Elementary School in Maine. There are over 1,000 students and teachers in their school which goes from Pre-K to 8th grade. It is the largest school in Maine. Some subjects they learn are spelling, reading, writer’s workshop, and art. They liked that we take Spanish at an early age because they don’t get it until middle school. They are making calendars for their parents for Christmas about the cycle of the moon. We learned that Maine is the only state that borders only one other state – New Hampshire. Their other borders are Canada and the Atlantic Ocean. Crops that grow in Maine are blueberries and lobsters. Their state bird is the chickadee. Their state animal is the moose. Maine is called the Pine Tree State.

Skype with California

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Today we met Mrs. Zwart’s 4th grade class for a mystery Skype.  They attend McKinley Elementary School which is located outside of Los Angelos and they live in a suburban area.  They have about 37 million in their state and over 39,000 in their town.  Their school has 720 students from K-5.  So all the way around, they are larger then us.  Some animals they see in the wild are black bear, bald eagle, and coyotes.  They even drew some very nice pictures of them to show us.  They have a mild climate in CA and it is extremely rare for them to see snow.  Actor Dwane Johnson was born in their state.  Crops grown in their state are strawberries, avocados, grapes and corn.  Famous places in their state include Lego Land, the Golden Gate Bridge and Sea World.  Their state nickname is the Golden State.  Their state borders the Pacific Ocean.  We had a great time meeting them and learning about California!

 

Illinois

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On November 8th, we talked to Mrs. Allen’s 3rd grade class from the Cathedral of St. Raymond School in Joilet, Illinois on Skype.  We chat with them in our Global Classroom Edmodo group and it was fun to speak to them in person too.   They have 48 students in 3rd grade.  They have fast food like Burger King and McDonalds for hot lunches.  They were very impressed to hear how big our playground was because they have recess in a parking lot.   Their favorite subjects are Computers and Science.   Their state nickname is the Prairie State.  The state rock is limestone.  They do sometimes experience tornados.  It is not scary for them because they are prepared for it.  Ronald Regan was born in their state and Abe Lincoln lived there for a while.  Their state bird was the cardinal.   They have a Six Flags Amusement Park near them too.   Because they live near Chicago they follow the Chicago sports teams.  The Bears beat the Eagles in football 2 days before our Skype.  Bummer!

First Mystery Skype

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Today we did our first Mystery Skype of the year! We met Ms. Cusson’s 3rd grade class from the Paseo Hills School in Arizona. They have over 1,000 students from K-8th grade. Their weather had just started cooling down so it was in the 60’s today, but last week it was 70’s and 80’s. They experience sandstorms, heat waves and monsoons. The Grand Canyon is located in Arizona so their nickname is the Grand Canyon State. Some of their crops are cotton, hay, honeydew and cantaloupe. They like to read some of the same books we do like Harry Potter and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They have some interesting animals like bobcats, rattle snakes and coyotes. They even showed us a movie about their school and state at the end. We had fun getting to know them!

Family Feud Face off Between 3rd Graders

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Over the summer I found a great post from Mrs. Moore on her Techie Kids blog showing 2 classes playing Family Feud against each other on Skype. I thought it was a fantastic idea and I knew my students would love.   It would also allow me to practice my newly learned knowledge of making forms on Google Docs. I put out a Tweet asking if someone wanted to try it and was answered by a technology teacher from the nearby Our Lady Help of Christians School. We developed the questions together. Some examples were name your favorite subject, favorite beach, favorite storybook character, etc. During the month of September, we had each class answer our survey and then I tallied the results. Yesterday, our 2 third grade classes participated in the Skype Family Feud Challenge.

We began each round with a Face Off question and students rang a bell if they had the correct answer.  The student who gave the highest answer won the ability for his/her team to play that round.  I gave several students jobs while we were playing.

 

Helena took photos while Nathan handled the video.

 

 

 

 

 

Liam and Emmet did a nice job of keeping score.

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the class watched and listened closely.

 

 

Our Lady Help of Christians was winning for most of the game but St. Ignatius won the last round and pulled off a win!  We are planning a rematch sometime next month with the remaining questions that were not used.

Skype with author Paul Owen Lewis

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Lewis 002Lewis 003Today we had the wonderful opportunity to do a free Skype with Paul Owen Lewis, author of Storm Boy. When asked when and why he started writing, Mr. Lewis told us that was inspired by another author who spoke to him when he was 27 years old. The author told Mr. Lewis to write stories for himself about things that mattered to him. Since Mr. Lewis lives on the San Juan Islands of Washington state, he likes to write about the killer whales that sees right outside of his window everyday. Storm Boy is a story about killer whales that come to life and speak to a little boy. It is adapted from a Nortwest coastal story. He also shared that a dream inspired him to write his first story about killer whales, Davy’s Dream. Mr. Lewis said that he often starts a story out by drawing it first. It might start with just one scene and he later adds the beginning and ending to it. It was neat to see the totem pole from Storm Boy in the room behind him as he talked to us. Thanks Mr. Lewis!

Skype with Korea

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It was Monday night at 8:20 pm for the students in Pennsylvania but it was 9:20 am on Tuesday for the students in Korea when we Skyped this week. My students were back on campus for a Spring concert and Art Fair so it was the perfect opportunity to meet Mr. Corben’s Year 5 (4th grade) class from the Seoul British Forgeign School in South Korea. I had a packed house since many parents and siblings decided to watch to see what our Skypes are all about. Mr. Corben started off by putting the webcam up to the window to give us a view of the city and their elevated playground. He then asked each student to introduce themselves and tell what country they are from. After my class did some introductions, the children asked questions about sports, subjects, favorite games, famous places in our area, etc. We ended the call with the Koren students saying goodbye in the many languages that they speak. It was an a wonderful experience for us. I am not sure who was more excited, the students or their parents!