What can you see? Fall 2014

We are a group of JK and SK students from Mount Albert, Ontario sharing what we can see at our brand new school: Robert Munsch Public School! As a class we have been working hard to also be "bucket fillers" to each other and to our friends and family at school and at home everyday. By saying nice things to each other and making good choices to fill each other's buckets is something we continue to practice each and every day. 

We have also been learning about "Superheroes" and talking about how they help other people. Some of our friends have made connections to heroes in our community such as fire fighters and police officers and sharing their thinking around how they help our community. 

We would love to know what you think! We hope you enjoy our first "What can you see?" video that captures our fall changes around our school yard. We welcome comments, questions and connections to be added to our post below. 

A new book from another K class in YRDSB

Hi,
Ms. Clark's class in York Region District School board created a book about what they can see in their schoolyard. There are now working on ways they can help others.

Please view the book/movie and provide comments.

First book for sharing- We Can See Construction

Our community is changing again. Here is a video of what we can see on the edge of our schoolyard. One way we have helped this year is by raising money for the Terry Fox Run. Our class participated in the run and raised money for the Terry Fox Foundation . We have also learned how to be bucket fillers. We are trying to help others in our classroom and on the yard by saying kind things to each other.

We are now thinking of other ways to help others.  We would like to hear about what you see outside your school and how you are finding ways to help others.

Time To Get Started!

I have created a Google Doc. The names are of those who have indicated in the comment section of the first blog post that they are interested in joining in with the project. Please check the list and add/edit as necessary. If you are not on the list, you are still welcome to join in by either adding your name to the list, commenting or tweeting a member.

I am going out to take photos with my students this week. It is my hope to have a project posted in the next few weeks. We will need to think of ways to share the projects. We can post YouTube links, blog links or share via Dropbox. We honor your starting points and will help you find a way that works for your learning style.

Please keep in mind the confidentially of students. I have found it best to take photos without children's faces as well as keeping identifying street names and school names out of photos. Always check with your school and ensure you are following your digital policies.

Google Doc list https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PexzaTpsl4DWS20njn7gcSqzNtLzrJ3ghtqsEFxdGwI/edit?usp=sharing

On behalf of Jocelyn and Heidi, we look forward to learning with you and your classes.

Angie Harrison
@Techieang

An invitation to play

What can you see? How can you help?

Last year, some teachers in our PLN engaged in a project titled What Can You See? Classes took photos of what they could see outside their windows and created a way to share their view. iBooks, Quicktime movies, Comics and blog posts displayed the things students could see within their schoolyard. Classes compared the photos and discussed the similarities. Over the course of the year, some classes engaged in SKYPE calls to further their questions and comparisons of schoolyards. As the seasons changed, students learned about the differences in a schoolyard in Ontario verses schoolyards in Mexico, Hawaii and other location. It was a rewarding project for both teachers and students. Teachers tweeted and blogged and students talked and shared their comparisons. Some of the interactions are posted on the We Can See Blog at http://wecanseeprojectsharingspace.blogspot.ca/

A reflection discussion occurred with Jocelyn Schmidt, Heidi Theis, Carmela Sita and myself, Angie Harrison. We reviewed how the project went and noted the benefits for our learners. We want to engage in the project again with our new group of students in the Fall. However, we feel a need to take this project one step further. We discussed ways to include a social justice lens that is appropriate for young learners.

Here is our                               Invitation to play for 2014-2015

Join us in a collaborative project that will engage your students and make a difference.

Details: At different points throughout the year, ask your students to create something that will show others what they see in their schoolyard. Use a format that works for your learners. eBooks, Quicktime Movies, Comics, picture books, audio files or any other method that is easily shared virtually.

Next, with your learners think of a way they can help. It can be as simple as helping people in your school or community. It might be participating in a food drive, helping in a seniors’ home or your class might be a part of a global project. One suggestion, your class could write picture books for your local Children’s Hospital. Your class might find an environmental issue to support or your class might respond to a crisis that is happening in your community or in the world.

A blog will be used to share what you see and ways you are helping. If you wish, you can connect with classes and SKYPE and talk about how you are helping others.

Classes could participate in this project once, or several times throughout the year. They could show progress of one way they are helping or they might show different ways they help throughout the year.

Our hope is this project will help students understand that we can all make a difference in the world. (no matter how old we are or where we live)

Here are some resources that might help launch the project.

Resources:

If Everybody Did by Jo Ann Stover

How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer

Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

Lily and the Paper Man by Rebecca Upjohn

Lots of other picture books and lessons listed at http://www.arteducators.org/news/national-convention/Sarah_Ryder_Using_Children%E2%80%99s_Literature_to_Teach_Ideas_of_Social_Justice.pdf

Resources for helping:

http://www.terryfox.org/

http://www.freethechildren.com/

Next Step:

Indicate on the blog that you are interested in participating. Use the blog post links to your class’ view of the schoolyard.

Tweet using the hashtag #WCYseehelp