Connect Your Classroom with the World
Skype in the ClassroomSet up a free Skype in the Classroom Account using your Microsoft or Office 365 account. Skype in the Classroom lets you connect your classroom in 5 different ways: Mystery Skype, Virtual Field Trips, Collaboration Projects, Guest Speakers, and Skype Lessons.
To get started, set up your Skype in the Classroom profile and set your availability. You can start searching for an expert speaker or another class to play Mystery Skype with by using the search. You can filter results by age, country, language, and subject. Mystery Skype is a fun game that teaches geography and culture through critical thinking, communication, and cooperation. Be sure to check out this wonderful resource for setting up your classroom and getting ready for your first experience. Skype a Scientist is another program that matches classrooms with a scientist twice a year to foster conversations between students and scientists. They have also launched a brand new tool that allows you to search for a specific type of scientist to meet your classroom's learning objectives. Skype a Scientist Live events are hosted several times a month and are open to anyone. |
EmpaticoEmpatico connects first through fifth grade classrooms through live video and meaningful lessons designed to foster empathy and empower global citizens. Empatico is an initiative of the Kind Foundation with a goal to connect 1 million classrooms by 2020. Empatico is and will always will be free! It is simple to use and everything you need to get started is provided.
Tips to get started: 1. Sign up for a free account. 2. Choose a few activities from the teacher designed lessons. The more you select the easier it will be to be matched quickly. 3. Select your available times that are best for scheduling interactions. 4. You will be automatically matched with another class that is 300 or more miles away. 5. You can chat with your teacher partner before your scheduled interaction. 6. Download the lesson plan. Each lesson has 3 parts: Prepare, Interact. and Reflect. 7. Run a Tech Test to ensure your video and audio are working properly. 8. Connect your classroom to the world! |
Streamable LearningStreamable Learning offers high quality live interactive webinars across the content areas via Zoom. Each 30-40 minute session allows your learners to travel to museums and science centers and ask questions.
You can browse their calendar to see what programs are being offered each month and register for an event with a simple click. You will be sent an e-mail with a link to join via Zoom. Learn about about fossils, geology, and earth science from The Museum of the Rockies, The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, and Cranbook Institute of Science. Go back in history and learn about Spies in the American Revolution at the Roper Mountain Science Center. Solve logic puzzle and math problems with Living Maths in South Africa and have the opportunity to compete in global math competitions. Streamable Learning offers content for wall grade levels in all content areas, so it is easy to find something for everyone! Streamable Learning is an annual subscription which is paid for by Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 for districts in Adams, York, and Franklin counties. Discovery Education is another subscription service that offers access to quality educational resources and webinars like a Virtual Trip to the NBA All-Star Game to learn how they use STEM and math in basketball. |
Putting it All Together: Ideas for Implementation
GLOBAL READ ALOUD PROJECT
Our vertical team (grades 4th through 6th) read Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed for Global Read Aloud 2019. Each week we got together with our vertical team to discuss the book using a Google Hyperdoc with questions, videos, and activities. The essential question and theme was: “What does it take to create change?” As we read the book, we participated in engaging events through global collaboration. We did a Mystery Skype event with another class who read the book. We Skyped with a teacher who is originally from Pakistan to learn about the culture. We experienced Pakistan through VR. Our 4th graders created Pennsylvania postcards to exchange with a class in each of the 50 states. We submitted questions to the author via Twitter and Google Forms. We solved an Amal Unbound Breakout Edu game. We hosted a chai and cookies to discuss the book and do a team Kahoot. As a culminating event, the author, Aisha Saeed Skyped with our whole team. We continue to develop our PBL related to creating change in our community by continuing to do good deeds and acts of kindness. |
EVERYDAY ENERGY IS EXCITING!
In addition to hands on activities such as building LED circuits, conducting investigations of series and parallel circuits, and making solar oven s'mores, learners are expected to learn about different energy forms. To spark excitement during our energy unit, learners participated in an Empatico Everyday Energy lesson. Learners prepared information to share about the ways they use mechanical, electrical, light, and heat energy with our partner class in Honduras. During our interaction, we shared with our partners and asked questions about their energy use. We also shared a science experiment with each other by demonstrating how to create a circuit with components. Giving learners a real audience to showcase their learning is powerful and memorable! Learners also created Educreations to share their knowledge of how circuits work! Another highlight of this unit, was having a very special guest visit our classroom. My father is a retired nuclear engineer from the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He shared about nuclear energy and brought this rather difficult concept to life for my class. Learners continued investigating different forms of energy and took a Google Earth Voyager tour to learn how wind becomes electricity. We also took virtual tours of solar energy, nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower. To demonstrate what they learned, learners used Discovery Education to create an interactive pros and cons board with different forms of energy. |