Mrs. Kaufman Gives Her 1st Graders a Virtual Tour of Mount Vernon

1st Graders received a virtual tour of Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.  The students have been studying George Washington and enjoyed touring it through the use of their computer.  There are many places you can visit virtually so let me know what you are studying and I can help find a virtual tour for you!

Mrs. Kaufman's 1st Graders Google HangOut with Flower Hill ES in Maryland

Mrs. Kaufman's 1st Graders Google HangOut with Flower Hill Elementary School's 1st graders in Maryland.  We looked at a map to visually see they are 18 hours from us!  We had to reschedule from the real World Read Aloud week because they had 3 snow days last week!  We enjoyed learning about their state, including their state bird, flower and state flag.  We co-read Dr. Seuss's "I Can Read with My Eyes Shut" for Dr Seuss's Birthday. If you have not used Google HangOut, it is very similar to Skype and FaceTime.  You only need a Google Plus account to sign up!  Let me know if you need help setting up an account.

1st Grade Skypes with author Tricia Springstubb for World Read Aloud Week

1st graders Skyped with author Tricia Springstubb for World Read Aloud day.  She read her book "Phoebe and Digger" to us as well as gave us a sneak peak to a book that is getting ready to be released!  The students were very engaged and enjoyed helping Tricia make the sounds in the book!

Mrs. Lehman's Kindergartners Skype with Mrs. Spencer's Class in Oskaloosa

Mrs. Lehman's Kindergarten class Skyped with HHS graduate Kelcie (Frey) Spencer's Kindergarten class at Oskaloosa Elementary school in Oskaloosa, Kansas.  We co-read "Green Eggs and Ham" to the students celebrating World Read Aloud Day and Dr. Seuss's Birthday week!  Students enjoyed connecting with one another!  Let me know if you would like to make a classroom or author connection for World Read Aloud Day 2016!

Miss Unruh's Kindergartners Skype with Author Jane Kohuth

World Read Aloud Week:
Miss Unruh's Kingergarten class Skyped with author Jane Kohuth (Massachusetts) who read her book, Duck Sock Hop.

HS Robotics Clean Sweep at Hillsboro!

Mrs. Lehman's & Mrs. Worcester's Kindergartners Skype with Author Julie Salamon

World Read Aloud Week Connection:
Mrs. Lehman's & Mrs. Worcester's Classes Skyped with author Julie Salamon, in New York who has written several books including "Cat in the City".  She read a little bit of our book to us and talked about how a book is published.  The Kindergartners asked very insightful questions to her, including: "What is your favorite book", "How many books have your written", and "How many cats do you have".  Julie was very impressed with our Kindergartners and enjoyed spending time with us for World Read Aloud Week!

Miss Dryton's Skype with one of our students

From Miss Dryton:

"Sam Bartel Skyped into his 1st hour World Geography class to share about his civil rights tour with Hesston College.  He was present at President Obama's speech in Selma, Alabama this weekend and is visiting all of the major sites for civil rights history. It was awesome to be able to hear about his trip and he was extremely excited to share about hearing the President speak."

What an incredible and exciting way to make connections to the real world!  Don't forgot how easy Skype, FaceTime or Google Hangout are to tear down your walls and bring anyone into your classroom.  Think about what you are studying...could there be an expert? A place for a virtual field trip? An author?  Another classroom? A student traveling or sick?  Let me know if I can help you make connections!

Miss Dryton's High School Geography QR Code Stations

Miss Dryton's High School Geography students have been studying WWII in Geography.  

Last week they completed a station rotation activity to learn about:

1. The Invasion of Poland

2. The Holocaust

3. D-day

4. The Nuremberg Trials

At each station there were QR code links to videos, photos, speeches, and articles that the students had to explore.  There were also pictures, primary source documents, and maps at each station.  They used these resources to answer questions and complete tasks in a WWII activity booklet she created for this project. 

Remember, QR Codes are an easy and efficient way to get resources to kids with mobile devices!  You can easily create them with a QR Code creator website such as qrstuff.com.

Miss Gaston's Fireside Chats Podcasts & Google Cultural Institue

Miss Gaston uses Google Classroom to communicate with her students. She had her high school U.S. History students use their Podcast app on their iPads to listen to FDR's Fireside Chats to get a feel for the president's tone and what these would have meant to them had they been an employed worker or a farmer. She also had a great reminder to her students about citing photos:

"Citing where you get your photos is just as important as sourcing written documents.

These Google searches will give you all good and unaltered photos."

http://images.google.com/hosted/life

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/life-photo-collection"

If you haven't heard of the Google Cultural Institute be sure and check it out!

"Discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world. Explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail, from hidden gems to masterpieces."

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home

HS FBLA: Digital Media

Students in Hesston High's FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) recently participated in events at districts and will be headed to State FBLA in Topeka with Mrs. Goevert, Mrs. Simpson and myself the week after Spring Break.  

Check out the High School Video Production's promotional FBLA video below and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and FaceBook.  Be sure to check back soon for State results!