I will forward this to my 5th grade team.... we're in Indiana :) -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] on behalf of [email protected] Sent: Fri 6/19/2009 11:38 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] 5th Grade State Pals-Organization Darlene,
This is a great start with Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii (both islands of Oahu & Maui), Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, & Ohio participating! The last postcard activity I participated in (organized by another MOSAIC member) wasn't too cumbersome; the problem was that many teachers ended up not participating and we never received a postcard from certain states. My goal for this activity is comprehension-- understanding the other states through their own questioning and synthesizing. Our Hawai'i geography standard for 5th grade Soc. Studies states: Standard 7: Use geographic representations to organize, analyze, and present information on people, places, and environments and understand the nature and interaction of geographic regions and societies around the world. Before putting this out to our MOSAIC group, I was planning to pair up my students and assign them two (2) states to study by gathering information through literary resources as well as electronically. I wanted the students to formulate their own question survey based on the people, place, and environment of each respective state. I thought that writing to an elementary school within their assigned state would provide them a more intimate look into the state as a whole. For example, the school I teach at is the oldest on the island of O'ahu and started out as a school for the sugar plantation workers' children. To assess the meeting of our state standard above, I wanted each student to write a report using Pages or Slideshow. Again, this is what I thought I'd do before I opened up the idea to the MOSAIC group, so I am very open to suggestions. To the rest of the Pen Pal teachers, please read Darlene's suggestions below. I like her idea of using technology through a user template. I was also thinking about internet safety and protocol (we have a state DOE technology permission form that each parent completes), so I agree with Darlene that we need to set up some housekeeping in this area. I still am looking into SKPE and would like to try connecting at least with one school. I know the Hawai'i time difference (we're 5-6 hrs behind the east coast; 3-4 hours behind the west coast) will be a problem but hopefully it will work out. Thanks again to all. We're still looking for pen pals from the other 42 states!! Kathy In a message dated 6/19/09 2:41:46 AM, [email protected] writes: > Hi! > There is a Cyberbee postcard activity for teachers. We participated in it > last year. The problem was it ended up that we had to send out over 300 > cards since the group grew quite large. I've used PBWorks for writing > activities and collaboration and it might provide an easy format for this > since we > can even set up a user template. I'd be happy to create a mock up if you > are interested (it's free). I think we need to determine the goals for the > project, is it just sharing state info., or will students be able to add > replies. We also will need some ground rules for language, Internet safety > (no > last name/phone # .....) and the posting of pictures (what's OK.) Let me > know your thoughts. Thanks for getting this going. > ~Darlene > > On Thursday, June 18, 2009, at 11:38PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >We now have Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii (both islands of Oahu & Maui), > >Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, & Ohio! > > > >If you happen to have teacher relatives/friends in other states, please > fwd > >this. > >I'm not sure if we'll get all states covered on the Mosaic website alone? > >I'll make a spreadsheet soon and perhaps make a website on my mac.com > >account. > > > >I'm very open to suggestions as to how we all want to organize this (a > >survey/question form, a postcard, etc.). I participated in a state > postcard > >activity several years ago on this MOSAIC group but it didn't quite work > out. > >I posted your names and emails below. > > > >Thank you all, > >Kathy > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >------------------- > > > >Thank you all who have replied! Please add your name below and send to > >my email please at [email protected] > >(off-line of the Mosaic group so we don't crowd everyone's inboxes). > > > >This will be a great opportunity for our 5th graders to practice making > >connections > >and synthesizing! > > > > 1. Alaska > > 2. Alabama > > 3. Arkansas > > 4. Arizona > > 5. California > > 6. Colorado > > 7. Connecticut- MEG ([email protected]) > > 8. Delaware > > 9. Florida- TERRY S. ([email protected]) > > 10. Georgia > > 11. Hawaii- KATHY D. (O'ahu) ([email protected]) & > > CARMEN M. (Maui) > >([email protected]) > > 12. Iowa > > 13. Idaho > > 14. Illinois- DARLENE ([email protected]) > > 15. Indiana > > 16. Kansas > > 17. Kentucky > > 18. Louisiana > > 19. Massachusetts > > 20. Maryland- ELLEN S. ([email protected]) > > 21. Maine > > 22. Michigan- MELISSA B. ([email protected]) > > 23. Minnesota > > 24. Missouri > > 25. Mississippi > > 26. Montana > > 27. North Carolina > > 28. North Dakota > > 29. Nebraska > > 30. New Hampshire > > 31. New Jersey- MAURA S. ([email protected]) > > 32. New Mexico > > 33. Nevada > > 34. New York > > 35. Ohio- MINDY ([email protected]) > > 36. Oklahoma > > 37. Oregon > > 38. Pennsylvania > > 39. Rhode Island > > 40. South Carolina > > 41. South Dakota > > 42. Tennessee > > 43. Texas > > 44. Utah > > 45. Virginia > > 46. Vermont > > 47. Washington > > 48. Wisconsin > > 49. West Virginia > > 50. Wyoming > ************** Dell Inspiron 15: Now starting at $349 (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222435718x1201460505/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fad.doubleclick. net%2Fclk%3B215748553%3B38126199%3Bs) _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
