From there, we used a Google form to make and review predictions. The other classes added their predictions to the form as well, so we could see what other classes were thinking.

Once we started reading, we used student and class blogs to respond to the reading. We met with each other using Google Hangout and learned about each other’s homes along the way.

            Once we finished the book we kept in touch with our buddy classes, meeting up on Google Hangout a few times during the year to talk about what we had been doing.

 

Objectives:

Objectives for this project were many and varied. Obviously, learning reading comprehension skills and strategies were foremost, but seeing how others interpreted the same reading, writing about our reading, providing evidence for claims, were just as important.

            Additionally, this project allowed students to reaching out beyond the walls of the school and learn about students in other states and countries as they developed a sense of a global community and appropriate inteactions 

Using Google Street View we were able to “visit” a town in Germany, a farming town in Iowa that has as many people as our school, a suburban school in Ottowa, Canada and another one in Ontario, Canada. I was able to show students that people live in similar ways all over the world, even though some of their traditions may be different. We even creatd interactive Thinglinks to illustrate and explain family holiday traditions. Thinglink Example

 

Future changes and improvements:

            This is a project I would love to continue using each year. It is a bit difficult because it begins in early October when I am still working on setting up routines. This year, however, one of the books is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. This book by Kate DiCamillo, is an awesome opportunity to explore how characters and settings chance over time. These are two of the first reading skills we discuss, so I likely will join in again.

            As I have been mulling this around in my head, I want to find other classrooms that have similar goals in mind. Last year we did not have specific goals in mind, so our discussions were all over the place, so it was hard to integrate it with what I needed to accomplish in class. It became rather burdensome, even though the students really enjoyed it.

            The rest I would probably keep the same, although it will be different since I am only teaching literacy as we begin team teaching. I am not sure how I will connect both of my classes. I have several ideas, but have not fleshed them out enough yet.

 

Connection to ISTE Standards 1D, 4D:

1D: Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

            Since this is a global project that uses Google Hangout, blogging, Google forms and so on, there is a clear connection to this standard. This entire project would not be able to happen without collaborating with other teachers and classes. It all begins on Edmodo where we make our first connections and moves on from there, depending on the needs and plans of the group.

 

4D: Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools.

            We made connections with classrooms in Canada, Germany, Iowa and Texas. We were able to take a short tour of each area to see where they lived and continued our connections periodically throughout the rest of the year. During those times we shared holiday traditions and other information about our cultures.