Social Networking Activities for Kindergarten Weather Unit
Weather Around the World Global Communication Activity
Objective:
Activity 1: The teacher will create a flickr account for the class. Students upload their favorite weather related photos onto this class flickr account. Students are to dictate a sentence describing their photo to an adult who will write it down for them. The children type the caption for ther group members to read. Please join our "Weather Around the World" group in order to view our class photos and share your children's work with our New Jersey classroom.
Once the photos are uploaded into the computer, students use VoiceThread in order to add audio to their photo gallery. The audio should contain the child's favorite season and an activity they enjoy doing during that season. Have students critique their work and edit their audio in order to communicate their thoughts fully. Teacher's need to create a free account to use this terrific web tool.
Once all children created their picture/audio creations, I ask that you join our Weather Around the World Wikispace and link your voicethread creations on our home page. Please make sure your school name and location is listed along with your students' presentations. This wiki space provides the children with a safe internet home in order to collaborate, comment, and communicate with classrooms around the world. You will need to create a free account first in order to share your students work with us. Discuss the process and comments frequently with your children to establish a real life connection with this global communication opportunity.
- Students gain an understanding of how to use Web 2.0 tools for uploading pictures, audio, and communication tools.
- Students collaborate with learners from around the world in order to discuss their favorite season.
- Students will gain geography skills and respect cultural differences.
- Students develop oral language skills while discussing a particular topic.
- Students practice keyboarding skills and letter recognition for communication purposes.
Activity 1: The teacher will create a flickr account for the class. Students upload their favorite weather related photos onto this class flickr account. Students are to dictate a sentence describing their photo to an adult who will write it down for them. The children type the caption for ther group members to read. Please join our "Weather Around the World" group in order to view our class photos and share your children's work with our New Jersey classroom.
Once the photos are uploaded into the computer, students use VoiceThread in order to add audio to their photo gallery. The audio should contain the child's favorite season and an activity they enjoy doing during that season. Have students critique their work and edit their audio in order to communicate their thoughts fully. Teacher's need to create a free account to use this terrific web tool.
Once all children created their picture/audio creations, I ask that you join our Weather Around the World Wikispace and link your voicethread creations on our home page. Please make sure your school name and location is listed along with your students' presentations. This wiki space provides the children with a safe internet home in order to collaborate, comment, and communicate with classrooms around the world. You will need to create a free account first in order to share your students work with us. Discuss the process and comments frequently with your children to establish a real life connection with this global communication opportunity.
What is the Weather Today?...From Our Class to Yours!
Objective:
Activity 2: The teacher will create a free classroom ePals account. The students will contribute to the thread, "What's the Weather Like in your country?" and read posts from around the world. Have the students compare and contrast weather conditions from selected country posts.
Read "On the Same Day in March" by Marilyn Singer. This book describes the weather condition and climate in countries around the world. Discuss how the weather changes throughout the world and show the students where the schools that they communicate with are located on the globe.
Have students collaborate in a shared writing experience with their classmates about what the weather conditions, temperature, and weather dress code for that day. The teacher should explain how e-mail works and create a word web chart of the students' ideas describing why e-mail is a useful communication tool. Encourage discussion and conversation.
The teacher will demonstrate how to access ePals in order to communicate with a classroom or two from different parts of the globe. Students should contact these schools twice a month and describe that day's weather conditions. This is done as a whole group or individual student, depending upon the academic readiness of your learners. The partner schools must be notified prior to the start of the project so that they can communicate with your class on the assigned day in order to have an accurate comparison of the weather conditions. Follow up this activity by using the internet to access the weather forecast for each classroom region. Discuss any similarities and differences. Encourage questioning and critical thinking.
Two weeks after the students shared their e-mails with their partner schools, students will participate in a Skype conference call with these same schools. Our Skype name is psmeyers so you will need to add us as a contact. The students will discuss the current weather conditions and what their favorite weather is. They can also share some favorite seasonal activities so they can compare interests of children in different parts of the world.
Students can create a class book in order to reflect on their learning process.
- Students contribute to a shared writing task using digital mail.
- Students learn to create e-mail and use video conferencing tools to communicate with others.
- Students learn about and have the ability to appreciate other cultures similarities and differences through direct global communication.
- Students build upon and use basic technology vocabulary.
- Students add to a class book with their original written and illustrated work.
Activity 2: The teacher will create a free classroom ePals account. The students will contribute to the thread, "What's the Weather Like in your country?" and read posts from around the world. Have the students compare and contrast weather conditions from selected country posts.
Read "On the Same Day in March" by Marilyn Singer. This book describes the weather condition and climate in countries around the world. Discuss how the weather changes throughout the world and show the students where the schools that they communicate with are located on the globe.
Have students collaborate in a shared writing experience with their classmates about what the weather conditions, temperature, and weather dress code for that day. The teacher should explain how e-mail works and create a word web chart of the students' ideas describing why e-mail is a useful communication tool. Encourage discussion and conversation.
The teacher will demonstrate how to access ePals in order to communicate with a classroom or two from different parts of the globe. Students should contact these schools twice a month and describe that day's weather conditions. This is done as a whole group or individual student, depending upon the academic readiness of your learners. The partner schools must be notified prior to the start of the project so that they can communicate with your class on the assigned day in order to have an accurate comparison of the weather conditions. Follow up this activity by using the internet to access the weather forecast for each classroom region. Discuss any similarities and differences. Encourage questioning and critical thinking.
Two weeks after the students shared their e-mails with their partner schools, students will participate in a Skype conference call with these same schools. Our Skype name is psmeyers so you will need to add us as a contact. The students will discuss the current weather conditions and what their favorite weather is. They can also share some favorite seasonal activities so they can compare interests of children in different parts of the world.
Students can create a class book in order to reflect on their learning process.
- The book can be titled, "Where in the World?".
- Each individual page can start with, "If I lived in (partnerschools country), I would like to....."
- Have the children write and illustrate one page to be added to this class book and let the children take turns bringing it home and sharing it with their families.