Thursday, July 17, 2008
Google Maps- Lesson Plan Idea
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My Lesson Plan:
I will be setting up a Global Scavenger Hunt for my second graders at Hiawatha Elementary School in Okemos. I will give each student his/her own "map" and then they will have to follow the directions on the map in order to see all of the sites in the scavenger hunt. Students' maps may not all look the same as they have choices for some of the destinations in the hunt. Here is an example of the map that each student will receive.
1.) Find our starting point on your google map: your school, Hiawatha Elementary in Okemos, Michigan.
2.) From Okemos bring your camera along and go take a picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France! Learn how to say "hello" in French while your here!!
3.) For your next destination, bundle up and go to a place where you think penguins live! Write about an interesting fact about penguins in your travel journal.
4.) After visiting with the penguins, put on some sunscreen and head over to any island in the world. How do you know that this place is an island?? What is the name of the place that you are at?
5.) Your last destination should be where you think you will find Pyramids. What do the pyramids look like? Draw a picture of what you see in your travel journal!
I think that this activity will be beneficial in that it allows for students to explore the geography of the world. They have the opportunity to choose their own countries to visit at times, but will also have to follow a few directions to arrive at a certain destination on the map, as well. This type of activity is helpful in allowing a child see how they fit in globally, and also to explore places they are interested about around the world. I also created lines on my map that show the direction from place to place. On the last trip from an island to the pyramids, I left the line off so that students can try and figure out the path on their own.
For gifted students I can ask them to tell me directions they traveled (east, west, south, north) or even give them prompts about latitude and longitude.
Students will all be able to follow my example map, but will then make a google map of their own. They will have a "travel journal" with them so that they can write down their experiences at each destination and also draw pictures of what they see.
Students that may struggle with this activity may use the Internet as a search guide. For example, if a student doesn't know what type of climate that penguins live in...they may use a search engine such as google to do some quick research in order to figure out where to travel for their scavenger hunt.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Inquiry 3 thoughts and today's activities
Today I was fortunate to attend some technology seminars put on by the Year 2 students here at Plymouth. They were great and very informative! Today I learned how to make an iPortfolio, how to incorporate gaming into my lessons, and also how to use Jive to do some screen capturing. Overall, it was a great day and I feel that I learned so much about different technologies that I can use in my classroom next year!
My thoughts about my inquiry #3 project are still in the process of developing fully, but I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what I want to do. I am focusing on the aspect of freedom within the UK culture compared to the US culture. I think its very interesting how some individuals in the UK that I've noticed have a seemingly carefree lifestyle; a seemingly large sense of freedom. The US is known as being "the land of the free" yet our lifestyles in America reflect that of regiment, routine, being quick-paced, and more restricted than of the UK lifestyle. This even seems apparent to me in the few schools that I observed. The schooling is reflected primarily on the students' choice (mostly in secondary school). There are numerous routes that a student can take if academics isn't for them, for example, they can always choose a vocational route in their schooling. I have also noticed other various activities, like tombstoning, teens are able to do these dangerous jumps without being reprimanded by their parents. It's a very interesting contrast to America where teens are seemingly constantly being monitored by their parents.
From what I've noticed, the UK has a more laid back lifestyle compared to the US. I'm anxious to look further into my experiences here on this trip to reflect on this concept for my project.
Cheers,
Tara
My thoughts about my inquiry #3 project are still in the process of developing fully, but I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what I want to do. I am focusing on the aspect of freedom within the UK culture compared to the US culture. I think its very interesting how some individuals in the UK that I've noticed have a seemingly carefree lifestyle; a seemingly large sense of freedom. The US is known as being "the land of the free" yet our lifestyles in America reflect that of regiment, routine, being quick-paced, and more restricted than of the UK lifestyle. This even seems apparent to me in the few schools that I observed. The schooling is reflected primarily on the students' choice (mostly in secondary school). There are numerous routes that a student can take if academics isn't for them, for example, they can always choose a vocational route in their schooling. I have also noticed other various activities, like tombstoning, teens are able to do these dangerous jumps without being reprimanded by their parents. It's a very interesting contrast to America where teens are seemingly constantly being monitored by their parents.
From what I've noticed, the UK has a more laid back lifestyle compared to the US. I'm anxious to look further into my experiences here on this trip to reflect on this concept for my project.
Cheers,
Tara
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Scavenger Hunt
The scavenger hunt that I did in London was a fun and interesting experience. I'm glad we had this activity to force ourselves to branch out of the "touristy" parts of London and see the other smaller areas. What I saw from this activity is that these smaller areas are just as important and interesting as the large more populated areas of London. Here is what I found:
1. Royalty: When asked to find something that represented royalty in London, I knew that the easy picture would be something related to Buckingham Palace. I actually saw what would be my picture on the "Original Bus Tour". It's a picture of a hotel that was once double in size than its current height. The reason why it is half as small now is because the Queen didn't want a hotel to be taller than her room in Buckingham Palace. So the men building the hotel made it smaller in order to satisfy the queen. What was interesting to me was that no one even questioned making the hotel smaller, because no one wanted to upset the Queen.
2. A couple hours in the park: I spent some time at a park in Westminster and sat on a bench to observe people in the park. I saw a variety of activities. Lots of families were picnicking (it was a perfect day for it) and spending time with each other. There were also many people reading and even taking naps on the benches. What I also found interesting was that there was a small stage set up inside of the park with lounge chairs all around it so that live music could be enjoyed by park goers. I took a picture of the bench that I was sitting on while I observed people.
3. Favorite Lunch: I had lunch at a small cafe within the park that I spent a couple hours at. It was a very cozy and scenic place. The backside of the cafe faced the Thames river while the inside was within the Westminster Park. Many people recommended this cafe for a relaxing lunch, and it definitely was. I especially enjoyed the feeling of being at "home" while I was there. Once I ordered my food (a "jacket potato") I was given a wooden spoon with a number on it. This was for the wait staff so they would know where to deliver my food. The wooden spoons gave me a feeling of being at home at my grandmother's house. I loved it. I took a picture of these spoons.
4. Children: From what I saw, the children in the London area aren't very different from the children in the US (as far as activities go). I took a picture of a group of children on a merry-go-round; a sort of "touristy" activity.
5. Class and Culture: I took a picture of a newspaper stand to depict what I saw of diversity in the city of Greenwich. The newspaper stand sold about 10 different newspapers all in a different language. I thought this was an excellent depiction of the mix of cultures within just one town.
6. Technology: I took a picture of a sign that read "Easy Internet Cafe" to show how technology was used in London. These Internet cafes were frequently found on the streets of London. I thought these were great as it allowed people who maybe don't have a computer to stay connected at these cafes.
Overall it was a great experience!!!
Cheers,
Tara
1. Royalty: When asked to find something that represented royalty in London, I knew that the easy picture would be something related to Buckingham Palace. I actually saw what would be my picture on the "Original Bus Tour". It's a picture of a hotel that was once double in size than its current height. The reason why it is half as small now is because the Queen didn't want a hotel to be taller than her room in Buckingham Palace. So the men building the hotel made it smaller in order to satisfy the queen. What was interesting to me was that no one even questioned making the hotel smaller, because no one wanted to upset the Queen.
2. A couple hours in the park: I spent some time at a park in Westminster and sat on a bench to observe people in the park. I saw a variety of activities. Lots of families were picnicking (it was a perfect day for it) and spending time with each other. There were also many people reading and even taking naps on the benches. What I also found interesting was that there was a small stage set up inside of the park with lounge chairs all around it so that live music could be enjoyed by park goers. I took a picture of the bench that I was sitting on while I observed people.
3. Favorite Lunch: I had lunch at a small cafe within the park that I spent a couple hours at. It was a very cozy and scenic place. The backside of the cafe faced the Thames river while the inside was within the Westminster Park. Many people recommended this cafe for a relaxing lunch, and it definitely was. I especially enjoyed the feeling of being at "home" while I was there. Once I ordered my food (a "jacket potato") I was given a wooden spoon with a number on it. This was for the wait staff so they would know where to deliver my food. The wooden spoons gave me a feeling of being at home at my grandmother's house. I loved it. I took a picture of these spoons.
4. Children: From what I saw, the children in the London area aren't very different from the children in the US (as far as activities go). I took a picture of a group of children on a merry-go-round; a sort of "touristy" activity.
5. Class and Culture: I took a picture of a newspaper stand to depict what I saw of diversity in the city of Greenwich. The newspaper stand sold about 10 different newspapers all in a different language. I thought this was an excellent depiction of the mix of cultures within just one town.
6. Technology: I took a picture of a sign that read "Easy Internet Cafe" to show how technology was used in London. These Internet cafes were frequently found on the streets of London. I thought these were great as it allowed people who maybe don't have a computer to stay connected at these cafes.
Overall it was a great experience!!!
Cheers,
Tara
London Weekend
My weekend here in London has been packed as I haven't had a lot of time to see everything. Needless to say though, London is completely amazing.
Today was probably the best day. I went inside the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels; which were SUPER impressive. After that I went to Abbey Road and actually walked down the crosswalk!! Just knowing that I was where the Beatles had been was enough to make me freak out and act like a total tourist. After Abbey Road....oh wait I forgot! In the morning today I saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. What a spectacle!!! I took lots of great videos and pictures, they should be posted here soon!
Tonight I saw Wicked- which was of course amazing. The show included a free two course meal at a really fancy restaurant, too! After the dinner and show some girls and I walked back down to see Big Ben on the Thames River one last time. Everything was lit up and Big Ben reminded me of the scene in Peter Pan when they all fly off to Neverland. We sat there on a bench in front of it and just took it all in. As we were sitting there I heard some girl singing with an acoustic guitar. She had an absolutely amazing voice. I ended up talking to her for a while and bought her CD. She's from Brazil and totally rocks. Her name is Carla Peccorelli. What a great souvenir, eh?
Tomorrow morning we only have a couple of hours before we have to catch a train back home so we're going to stay close by our dorm and finish up some souvenir shopping.Gosh, I've done so much this weekend its so hard to write it all down here!I
finally worked up the courage to ride the London Eye. The London Eye is a HUGE 450 foot tall ferris wheel that overlooks Big Ben and the Thames River. I took pictures from the top....from my seat... where I was clutching the arm rests until I had white knuckles. But alas- I survived to tell the tale here on my blog! Yay me!
I also rode one of those cool double decker tour buses. We sat on the top level (which is all open without a roof) and got a great tour of London. I got most of my pictures from this experience.
London is such an amazing city. It's SO diverse. We watched a bunch of people underneath the London Eye playing songs or juggling or breakdancing. The air is also so full of soot that it turns your white shirts grey. I also blew my nose today and found a lot of black boogies from the soot, yuck.
Alright, I should be getting to bed now. I have to wake up early again for a long journey back to Plymouth tomorrow.
Cheers,
Tara
Friday, July 11, 2008
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