Second Graders Say “Hi” to Australian Friends Via Skype!

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

Today Ms. Fullerton’s class got to say a special “Aloha!” to Mr. Frost’s first and second graders in Australia! The word of the day was definitely “enthusiastic.” They were excited and we were excited 🙂 We will be Skyping with them again next week to share endemic and “pest” animals from Hawai’i and Australia.

Before Skyping with them we were very interested in seeing where they lived! We used Google Earth and started in Kea’au.
Then we soared through the sky and landed in Australia!  We used street view to see their school buildling. The name of their school is Malmsbury Primary School in Victoria, Australia.

Soon after that we saw them face to face and got to say “Aloha.”  (We were also practicing our “G’day’s”)  Here we are looking at them!

And here they are looking at us!

What a wonderful time we had meeting them.  We can’t wait to share our knowledge of Hawaiian animals the next time we Skype!

Posted in Second Grade, Thoughts | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Grade 3b Begins Collaboration with France!

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

I just have to tell you all how impressed I am with Ms. Manlinguis’ class!  Today I surprised them with two exciting collaborations that we are going to be a part of!

First, both third grade classes are going to be collaborating with two third grade classes from Iolani school in Honolulu!  Throughout the year we will share the differences and similarities of going to school in a rural vs. urban area.  Our first Skype with them is going to be in the next few weeks.  We will introduce ourselves and be able to see who our project partners are!

Secondly, I was happy to tell Ms. Manlinguis’ class that they will be collaborating with a school in France this year.  As many of you may know, our third graders do an in-depth study of Princess Pauahi.  This year they will be researching some of the places that Princess Pauahi visited on her travels around the world.  We are lucky that we will get to learn about France from French students!

Our first project with our friends from France is to create a video that introduces us and our school.  Boy did our third graders impress me when they went straight to work planning and practicing!  With just a few guidelines they used their creativity and got busy!  Here are some pics of them working together on their segment of the video!


 

And here is the finished video!

We hope our friends in France (and other places) enjoy watching it!


Aloha to our Friends in France! from Carmen Stack on Vimeo.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube!

Posted in Global Collaboration/Skype, Third Grade, Thoughts | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Fifth Graders Find Blogging Friends in Indiana!

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

Our fifth graders are very excited because soon they will be getting their very own blogs!  They have been busy thinking about the kinds of things they might want to blog about.

I am super excited about this because our fifth graders are going to be able to share their work, hopes, dreams, and ideas on their blogs!

I am also totally excited because we have found some other students who are blogging as well!  Mrs. Grayson’s class in Indiana is blogging!  We have teamed up with her class and we will be sharing our blogs with each other while communicating, collaborating, and learning along the way!

But, before we start creating our own blogs.  And before we start commenting on other students’ blogs we need to ask ourselves a few questions…

Why Blog? Watch the video below: I’m looking forward to hearing your reactions and questions…

Next question….
What is a blog? (You may think you know the answer to this one but watch the video anyway…)

Before we check out Mrs. Grayson’s students’ blogs, let’s see what Mr. Wolfe says about commenting…

Now, let’s check out some of Mrs. Grayson’s students’ blogs!

Posted in Fifth Grade | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

As all of our students know, as a kula we are making an effort to treat each other with kindness. After each technology class one of the things the keiki think about is how kind they were to others that day. All around our school we are looking for acts of kindness, people being kind to each other. Not just our students, but everyone!

So, I’d like to share some of the kind things that people have done for me these first few weeks of school:

Mrs. Debus, Ms. Shonnie, Mrs. Rosehill, Mrs. Chang, Mrs. Cordeiro, Kumu Crabbe, many other teachers, and many students all showed kindness to me by expressing well wishes for my son who had to have surgery. Knowing that I had the support of all these wonderful people made me feel so happy!

One morning last week when I was supposed to lead Morning Oli my car had to get towed away because it wouldn’t start!  I was late for school and Ms. Lee graciously covered my duties.   I was so appreciative of her kindness in helping me!

Last week two second graders went around at the end of class to make sure that everyone’s place was neat.  How nice it was of them to want to make sure the room was neat and ready for the next class!

Now, it’s your turn!  Describe one way you have shown or received kindness in these first few weeks of school.

Posted in Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Questions, Second Grade, Third Grade, Thoughts | Tagged | 45 Comments

Hi Around the World Project – First Grade

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

The first graders are participating in a very neat project with several other classrooms from different places around the world. The classrooms participating in the project are creating videos that showcase the different ways children greet each other in their culture.

Here is the video that our wonderful first graders helped put together!

Are you interested in learning about how children in other cultures greet each other? Check out this awesome internet site: Saying Hello to the World!

Posted in First Grade, Global Collaboration/Skype, Thoughts | 8 Comments

I’m Lucky I Live in…

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

Aloha Kākou!

Our second graders are working on a digital storytelling project they will be sharing with second graders who live outside of our beautiful state. We want to share all the wonderful reasons we are lucky to call Hawai’i our home.

Can you help inspire them with your own ideas?

Why are you lucky you live in Hawai’i?

And if you don’t live in Hawaii……where do you live and why are you lucky you live there?

I’ll go first…..

I’m lucky I live in Hawai’i because I get to listen to music by amazing Hawaiian musicians like Israel Kamakawiwo’ole!
Check out the video below!

Note: When typing your comment you will only have to fill in the name (first name only if you are a student), captcha code, and comment boxes.

If youtube is blocked you can click here: http://bit.ly/o2z9uK

Posted in Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Global Collaboration/Skype, Second Grade, Third Grade, Thoughts | 32 Comments

At Work in the Lab!

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

I happened upon a great web tool called Kizoa that allows you to make collages and slideshows with your digital pictures! There are a lot of neat special effects that you can add to your slideshow as well as animation, music, and cool transitions. For those of you who use animoto.com and imovie, Kizoa is kind of a cross between the two!

Enjoy seeing some pics of our keiki at work in the lab!

Posted in Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Second Grade, Third Grade, Thoughts, Useful Websites | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Say Something…

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

I saw this video and I knew I had to post it on my blog. Watch and see what happens when a megaphone was placed in the middle of a busy section of New York City.

After you watch, post one thing that you could infer about people. Think about the kinds of things that people chose to say…..

Why do you think they chose to say those things? They had an opportunity to speak to all the people around them. So, why did they choose to say the things they did? If you were the one speaking what would you say?

Posted in Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Third Grade, Thoughts | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Every Little Thing is Gonna be Alright!

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

I remember listening to this song growing up and I came across this version that I know both keiki and parents will love watching! A song like this is especially meaningful at the beginning of a new school year, when we are all getting back into the routine of fulfilling our responisbilities to ourselves and each other. So, if you feel like you are getting bogged down with stuff to do, just take a minute to watch this video. And remember that every little thing is gonna be alright!

Posted in Fifth Grade, First Grade, Kindergarten, Second Grade, Third Grade, Thoughts | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Check out the video I made with GoAnimate!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Carmen Richardson

Hey there! I have been fiddling with one of the tech tools our students will use this year. It’s called GoAnimate for Schools and it allows teachers and students to create animations. Check out the practice animation I made below!

GoAnimate4Schools.com: My First Video on GoAnimate! by Carmen Stack

Posted in Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade, Thoughts | Tagged | 11 Comments