Using Skype for Pre-School Step Up Day

The Pre-School students at Howe Manning had a virtual Step Up Day with the Kindergarten students and teachers. Since we aren't physically in the same building, we used Skype to communicate and connect with each other.

The Pre-School students are a little nervous to go to Kindergarten.  They wrote some questions to ask the Kindergarten students and teachers.  They feel much better after having their questions answered.

Here are the questions:

1. How many colors do we need to use on projects?

2. What do you do in Kindergarten?

3. How long are we going to stay there?

4. Do we have rest time? 5. Do you have blocks in Kindergarten?

6. Do you have a schedule to look at?

7. How many toys do you have?

8. Do you have a job chart?

9. What color paints do you have?

10. Do you have a calendar?

We'd like to thank all of the teachers and students for taking the time to answer our questions.

Dr. Creeden Day in Middleton

Middleton Public Schools made June 13th "Dr. Creeden Day".  Dr. Bernard Creeden is the superintendent for the Tri-Town Schools, Middleton, Boxford, and Topsfield.  He has been in education for 36 years and it is now time for him to retire.

The students at Fuller Meadow and Howe Manning schools honored Dr. Creeden with gifts, songs, advice, and appreciation.

Watch the video below to view our celebration.




The staff and town employees created a video, "Taking Care of Business" to show our love for him.  Watch below.

Using Book Creator in 2nd Grade

Second graders have been very busy learning about the life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly.  In Mrs. Kennedy's class, her students used the iPad to take pictures of each stage that their butterflies went through.  Not only did they take pictures of each stage, they created poems, drawings, and a scrapbook to chronicle the event.  On a beautiful, sunny day, the students released their butterflies in our courtyard.  They were so excited to watch them fly to freedom.

After the butterflies were released, the students created their own storybook using the iPad app, "Book Creator".  They learned how to use the tools and imported many of their own pictures to portray the life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly.

Each video has been organized in the program, "Blendspace".  Simply click on the circle in each block to watch the video.





Click below to read and listen to the entire class book:

Total class butterfly book from Dierdre Baker on Vimeo.



In Mrs. Frey's class, students created a book using "Book Creator" to show Animal Adaptations.

Click the picture below to read the entire class book:

Digital Safety at Fuller Meadow School

Students in Kindergarten, First and Second grade had a fun time learning how to be safe when using digital devices.  They certainly learn this each time they are in their computer classes with Mrs. Pazdziorny as well as from their classroom teachers.  During our Team Time this week, we had another opportunity to discuss how to stay safe.

What is Digital Safety?

"Internet safety, sometimes referred to as digital safety, on-line safety or cyber safety, is a relatively new concept that has grown with advances in the Internet. There are many aspects to Internet safety. Broadly, the term refers to practices and precautions you should observe when using the Internet, so as to ensure that your personal information and your computer remain safe."  Source

Check out some of these great resources for Digital Safety...

• Bad Guy Patrol
• Computer safety—videos
• Surf Swell Island
• Clicky’s Quest—internet safety
• Clicky’s Web World—What to do
• Garfield—internet safety
• Internet Safety Site —Disney
• Looney Toons Teaches About the Internet
• My Online Neighborhood—video
• Princess who knew how to UYN—video
• Safe surfing ebook—read or read to you
• Webonauts
• Webville Outlaws—internet safety

Google Hangout from Fuller Meadow to Howe Manning

Mrs. Kennedy's class at Fuller Meadow School got to "Hangout" today with Mrs. Hobey's class at Howe Manning with the help of Google Hangouts.

Students in both classes had fun today trying to guess a three-digit number.  By asking Yes or No questions of each other, students could hone in on the "Mystery" number that each class chose.

The first and essential part of any video connections is to be respectful and use good manners when addressing each other.  Students introduced themselves by their first name, asked their question, then when it was time to answer, they were attentive and respectful.

Here's a peek at our lesson today...

Massachusetts and Common Core Standards for Math

2.NBT.A.1 Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. 

SL.2.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

The Power of the Penny

Second graders have found a secret power that they have inside of them with a little help from Abraham Lincoln (and Elaina Redmond).  My cousin Elaina Redmond is the author of The Power of the Penny.  This is an incredible book and I just had to share it with our students.

Click the picture to learn more about the book.

Here is some information about the book -

"The first half of the book shares character building, Abraham Lincoln, the vision of the Founding Fathers, liberty, faith, making a difference, and hope by examining a penny. The second half shares the Penny Practice, includes 8 themes and activity boxes. Themes teach making choices, self reliance, financial literacy, civics, philanthropy, kindness, and honesty.

Spiderman/Superman artist Scott Stewart's vibrant illustrations shine with electricity and beauty.

"The Power of The Penny" is a book to grow up with and read year and year again.

Written for ages 5-12 and readers of all ages who love Abraham Lincoln and the United States of America.

                                                                                                                                                                                            - "The Power of the Penny" will ignite a new generation of heroes modeled after Abraham Lincoln. After reading this book, you will never see the penny the same way again!" 

Source

I joined each 2nd grade class and read The Power of the Penny to them.  I gave each student a  penny and had them investigate some of it's features - the words "Liberty" and "E Pluribus Unum" as well as Abraham Lincoln, the Founding Fathers, honesty and being a hero.  

Throughout the book, we learned how the penny doesn't only represent money, but is a symbol for freedom, equality, and strength.  There are several "Penny Practices" that students can participate in. The students were so excited to discuss how they can be a "hero" and what choices they can make today that will build them into their best self.  We created a Padlet (online bulletin board) to share our Penny Practices, ideas, and questions for the author.  Feel free to add to it below.  Just double click on the board to type.

Created with Padlet

On Thursday we all gathered in the cafeteria and met the author.  Well, she was in Los Angeles, California, but through the technological power of Skype, we spent some time with Elaina.  She was amazing!  She told us about her book, what it was about, why she wrote the book, etc.  She inspired us because she said that when she was 8 years old she had the opportunity to cheat.  Then, she read about Abraham Lincoln and was inspired by him because she learned that his nickname was "Honest Abe" and the reasons he was called that.  Elaina realized that it feels better to be honest than to cheat.  Students had a chance to ask her questions as well.   She gave us a new task to write to the president about a cause that means something to us.  She wants us to feel inspired to use our civic right to have our voices heard.  

We tied this lesson into our "Coin Wars" challenge at our school.  Our PTO works so hard to bring in amazing enrichment opportunities for our students.  This month they are asking students to bring in coins to donate so they can bring in a special program.  The kids are excited to make a difference in our classes and our school.

Click HERE to learn more about our PTO and how you can help.

Connecting with an expert using Skype

First graders in Mrs. Scharffenberg's class have been learning about birds in their "Backyard Science" unit.  They set up some bird feeders outside of their classroom windows and observe the visiting birds everyday.  Students have also learned about characteristics and behaviors of birds.  They make bird treat with different types of seeds and proteins to see learn about eating habits and adaptations of the birds.  Habitats and nesting have also been discussed as the students investigate different nests in their classroom.

Exploring nests 

To make this "Backyard Science" unit more authentic, Mrs. Scharffenberg scheduled a Skype session with an expert on birds.  Lisa Hutchingson from Mass Audubon joined this class to answer questions that the students had about birds.  The students took turns asking Ms. Hutchingson questions such as: What is "Anting"?, How many birds are in the world? What are her favorite birds? Why do we not see as many birds at our feeder as we used to?  We even stumped her with a question about how many Jays there are in North America.

Check out the video from our Skype session: