Monday, February 25, 2013

Continuing Our Learning from the Warmth of Our Homes

So we have another snow day ahead of us tomorrow.  If you are tired of being home and want to continue our caves research, use the Padlet wall below to help you explore a virtual cave.  If you have trouble posting on the wall or can't remember how it works, view this screencast tutorial on Padlet:
http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cInOVKVoQS.  
Then come back to our wall here, on our D Day blog to share your thoughts and ideas.

After your child has a chance to view the screencast tutorial on Padlet  

Tour the virtual cave. This is my very favorite caves website.  There are many pictures of the different types of caves.  Click on the dark pink links to see them.  Be sure and enter the "Solution Cave."  Solution cave is another name for limestone caves.



Be safe, stay warm and enjoy your snow day!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Enhancing Our Learning with Technology


This week, the D Day students learned more about the four kinds of caves and how they form.  Ask your child to tell you a little about each kind of cave.  Today we learned about ice caves and lava tubes.  After viewing and discussing each type of cave, the students did a small illustration to help them remember the characteristics of each type.

Next, the students were introduced to using padlet.com   Padlet is like an online bulletin board.  I created the board and posted it here on our class blog.  I asked the students to share one thing they have learned about caves by posting it below on our board.  Before going to the computer, the students brainstormed ideas they have learned about caves and wrote a draft of their fact/s.

Next, we reviewed our Internet safety rules:
  • We use only first names.
  • We never post a photo of ourself along with our name.
  • We never share our person information.
     This includes:
  1. Our last name
  2. Our parents' names
  3. Our address or phone number
  4. The name of our home school, ball team, dance studio or scout troop number.
  5. We never share the personal information of any of our classmates or friends.
  6. We do not interact or "chat" with strangers on the Internet without the approval of our parents and/or teacher.
For some of our new students, this was their first introduction to staying safe on the Internet.  Keeping these rules in mind, the students made their first post on our Padlet page.

After lunch and recess and Spanish, we learned our next "Habit of Happy SAGE Kids," Listen with your ears, your eyes and your heart.  It is important to not only listen to someone's words, but also to be empathetic to their feelings too.

We ended our day working in the Problem Solver program.  Today's strategy was using a table to solve a problem.

Have a great week!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Sharing Our Learning

The students were introduced to padlet.com, an online sight that allows users to collaborate and share their ideas.  Ask your child what he/she has learned about caves.