Build Your Wild Self!

WE ARE WILD THINGS! 2nd grade students got creative in making their "wild" images using the Build Your Wild Self web site from the NY Zoos and Aquariums. Then each student wrote about three things that they could do with their new animal parts. Danny wrote that he can hear well with bat ears and he is correct. The writing part of this project makes student think creatively and makes them think of the characteristics of animals that they already know. The web site can also be used as a reference to learn more about animals and find out what new skills they would have with their animal parts.

For this project, we saved the desktop image from the web site to a writing program. Then the students added and formatted their text.

Glogster Animal Reports

WHY WRITE A REPORT WHEN YOU CAN MAKE A GLOG? My 3rd grade students made some great glogs (online posters) using Glogster. First they researched an animal with the What's It Like Where You Live? web site. Then we learned how to make a glog. We changed the background (wall), added text boxes for each fact, and uploaded images and a citation. The students loved using Glogster and they were so creative. One student said, "I like writing like this." See some of our projects on our website at Evans Elementary.

A History of Toys and Games Timeline

FUN AND GAMES! During the holiday season that is about all that is on the minds of my students. So, my 4th grade students made a timeline showing when our top 10 favorite classic toys were invented.

First we used the Ideafinder: History of Toys and Games Web Site to research. Then we added the names of the toys and dates they were invented to our Timeliner program. Finally, we copied and pasted images of each toy invention into our timeline (and provided citations for the source of our information and images). After our projects were printed we shared the information that we had learned. Did you know that jigsaw puzzles were invented in 1767 by John Spilsbury? He was a teacher and wanted to help his students learn geography. That certainly was innovation for his time!