I'm excited about launching a high interest end of year classroom collaborative project that's sure to be fun and engaging for students. This project has history for me since this will be my third go around, and I am inviting readers of this blog to join us for...
Living in the US Bring the Textbook to Life!
Living in the US Bring the Textbook to Life!
Project History
Round 1
The project is one I have used throughout my many years as a tech coach. Originally developed from an idea from the brilliant mind of Harla Hutchinson, the project was launched prior to 2008. We rounded up a handful of classrooms through ePals and GlobalSchool.net, collected information through email and built a mini Dreamweaver website for sharing. It was an exciting project, but it was also pretty slow and labor intensive. It was a great idea that was ahead of it's time.
Round 2
I was eager to launch the project again in January of 2010 when I discovered the power of Web 2.0. We used Wikispaces to introduce several web 2.0 tools to teachers and students. Students from across the US communicated through the discussion area and were drawn to the project. The learning was extended beyond the classroom walls and technology supported the learning well.
I would consider this round, Regions of the US! Bring the Textbook to Life, to have been a huge success. We had 42 participating classrooms across the US collaborating and, of course many of those classrooms were rounded up through Twitter so my PLN began to grow.
Round 3
Now we have launched this project again and I couldn't be more excited to power it with ThingLink EDU, a tool I've collaborated on and helped to build for education through suggestions and a whole lot of use! I see endless possibilities ahead.
About Living in the US - Bring the Textbook to Life!
The purpose of the project is to create interactive books about living in the The United States. For a period of 8 weeks, each Monday we will have a new question for your classroom, such as “What kinds of plants grow on your schoolyard?” or “What do you eat for breakfast?”.
ThingLink’s editorial team will collect each week’s submissions into an interactive book that reflects differences and similarities in the way we live and in different parts of the the US. In the end of the school year, ThingLink’s educational community manager Susan Oxnevad will compile an entire nation-wide Living in the US Interactive Bookfeaturing the content you and your classrooms have created. This resource can be shared with parents and school district administrators as well as used as a wonderfully engaging teaching resource in the classroom in the fall 2015!
Join Us
This project is one that will only get better with more participation, so we hope you will join us. Get started by exploring the interactive image below. Or, simply sign up for our mailing list today and we'll deliver the next steps to your inbox.
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