Fall II AT&T Cohort Session Begins

The second session of classes will begin in the AT&T Classroom the week of November 1st. Teachers Robyn Elia and Christine Lowden from Walls Elementary (Kent City Schools) will bring their fifth graders to do a unit integrating language arts and social studies with a focus on the Revolutionary War. From Highland Elementary (Stow-Munroe Falls City Schools), teacher Brandi Timberlake will be implementing a unit on wellness and body systems with her third graders.

Life Cycles

In their final two weeks in the AT&T Classroom, students from Walls & Longcoy studied life cycles. Students were introduced to this topic by watching a video from Discovery Education, Insects and Metamorphosis Life Cycle. The classes explored a number of websites to study the life cycle of a butterfly, a frog, and a chicken and then created Venn diagrams comparing the life cycles of a butterfly and a frog. Using Kerpoof Studio (free downloadable multimedia software) students further explored the metamorphosis of a butterfly and then created their own scene of the life cycle of a butterfly. For a final group project, students used their research findings to create claymations depicting the life cycle of a butterfly, frog, or chicken.

Create Your Own Classroom Blog

Many teachers are exploring the use of online spaces to create an interactive learning context where their students are able to publish posts, participate in discussions, and access assignments and resources. One of our AT&T Cohort Teachers, Kristin Peel, third grade teacher from Walls Elementary/Kent City Schools, created a classroom blog for her students using KidBlog. There is no charge to set-up a blog for your class on this site and students do not have to have email accounts to be registered. Teachers are able to monitor and control all publishing activity within their classroom blogging community. You can check out the site at http://kidblog.org.

Learning in 3-D

Students from Walls & Longcoy recently had the opportunity in the AT&T Classroom to experience learning using a 3-D stereoscopic image projection system. Building from their discussion on animal adaptations, students explored how we as humans have adaptations that help us to survive in our environment. Wearing specialized glasses, students viewed 3-D images of various anatomical structures and discussed the function of each structure as an adaptation. For example, students were able to view and rotate images of the brain and skull and discussed how the skull provides protection for the brain. They were able to see that the skull has many connected bones that grow together to form a protective case, an example of an adaptation that allows humans to have a large brain capable of thinking and problem solving. Similarly, the students also rotated 3-D images of the skeleton and were able to see how our skeletal system provides protection and support to various organs. Viewing 3-D images of the pelvis, spine, and legs allowed students to see how these structures allow us to walk upright, leading to a discussion of how walking upright is an adaptation that allows humans to move from place to place and leaves our hands free for obtaining food (hunting/gathering).

Animal Adaptations

Third graders from Walls & Longcoy started their week studying endangered and extinct animals and reasons that an animal becomes endangered or extinct. This led to an investigation of how adaptations help an animal to survive in their environment. Students used a variety of online sources to learn about physical and behavioral adaptations, including an online game on adaptations and one on camouflage. As a culminating project for this part of the unit, students selected a specific adaptation to research, searching online for information and images of the adaptation and animals that use the adaptation. Students also explored how the adaptation helps animals to survive in their environment. Using Glogster, students created their own glog (an online multimedia poster) to report their findings.

2010-2011 AT&T Classroom Cohort Begins

Welcome to the AT&T Classroom Blog, a space for teachers and students to share their learning and their work during their experience in the AT&T Classroom.

The AT&T Classroom kicked-off the 2010-2011 year hosting two third grade classes from Kent City Schools. Teachers Kristin Peel (Walls Elementary) & Kevin Draper (Longcoy Elementary) collaborated on the development of a science unit focused on interactions between living things and their environment. At the start of the unit, the classes investigated characteristics of living vs. non-living things, biomes, habitats, producers, consumers, herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Students have used online resources at Sheppard Software Kid’s Corner, National Geographic for Kids, Kids Planet, and EcoKids to study these concepts. Using Kerpoof Studio (free multimedia software) students created their own biome scene and inserted images of animals that would live in that habitat. The classes created a PowerPoint presentation to share each student’s research findings on a specific animal including the animal’s habitat/biome, food that it eats, prey/predators, and the animal’s adaptations for survival. Students have also investigated positive and negative changes to the environment including the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, its impact on the environment, and what would happen if there was an oil spill in Lake Erie. Most recently, students have been working in groups on a research project investigating endangered animals and they are using Audacity and Windows Live Movie Maker to create a video to share their findings. They learned more about endangered animals and the rainforest through a guest presentation from Kent State University professor Dr. Oscar Rocha. Stay tuned as the students continue their investigation of living things and the environment.