5th Grade Technology- 'Out of Eden Learn' Footstep #2

Below are the activities students participated in for Footstep #2: Create a Neighborhood Map

Part 1- Engage with Paul's Journey
     First students explored where Paul has walked so far since January 2013 by looking at the map room on the National Geographic Out of Eden Walk website.
     Next they explored 3 different Milestones of their choice from the Out of Eden Walk website.

Part 2- Create a Neighborhood Map
     Students were invited to think about their own relationship to a place and were given a chance to share more about themselves with other participants by sketching a map of their neighborhood as they see it their their eyes.
     They then wrote a true story to go with their map. Their story could have involved:

• The whole map or one special place that was featured on their map. 
• A memory of something that happened to them when they were younger in one of the places on their map. 
• A typical day in their life that featured places marked on their map. 
• A story about their neighborhood that they had heard from someone else – it could be a story that happened before they were born. 
• How their neighborhood had changed over time.

Part 3- Interact with Your Walking Partners
     They browsed through other people's maps and stories.

     They chose one person who was not from their class, looked at his/her map carefully and thought about: What catches your eye and makes you want to learn more? What is interesting or thought provoking about the map and its story? Then they wrote a response that involved "snipping"  that is, copying a phrase, sentence or section of what the person wrote that caught their attention and pasting it into the comment box. Then they asked a question about what they chose to snip, or said what they found interesting or important about it, making their comment as detailed as possible.
     Lastly, they returned to their own map and previous posts, responding to anyone who left a message for them last week, trying to carry on the conversation.

5th Grade Technology- September in Review

5th graders have had a very busy year so far in technology.  They have accomplished so much already!  They have read the "Technology Use Policy" and read and signed the "iPad Rules and Consequences" document.  They have completed their iPad 101 training and set up their iPads for the year, creating a folder for all of their google apps and setting up their BB&N Gmail accounts.  The students have also spent some time in the technology lab setting up google drive folders for all their subjects to organize their 5th grade work.  Lastly, they have begun their journey with the "Out of Eden Learn" project.

5th Grade Technology- 'Out of Eden Learn' Footstep #1

5th grade students have embarked on their "Out of Eden Learn" journey!
     5C are partnered with schools in: Listowel, Ontario, Canada; Buffalo Grove, Illinois, USA; Richmond, Virginia, USA; and Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
     5M is partnered with schools in: Listowel, Ontario, Canada; Buffalo Grove, Illinois, USA; Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA; Seattle, Washington, USA.

Below are the activities students participated in for footstep #1:

Footstep #1: Setting Off

Part 1- Engage with Paul’s Journey
     listened to a welcome message from Paul, recorded in Turkey in August, 2014.
     watched a video in which Paul explains why he is taking a 7-year walk around the world
     read an article, called a dispatch, by Paul on the National Geographic Out of Eden Walk website: Sole Brothers
     and responded to a quick survey, answering What caught your attention or interested you about Paul's article?  What questions or wonders do you now have?

Part 2- Setting Off
     picked an avatar
     and wrote a few sentences about themselves: Write a few lines about yourself and describe three things that you enjoy doing.  What's the story behind your choice of avatar?  What do you find most interesting or exciting about Paul's walk from what you have learned about it so far?  Is there anything in particular you would like Paul to look out for or pay attention to as he walks?

Part 3- Interact with your walking partners
     read others' posts
     left detailed comments and questions for three students who were not in their class
     responded to any comments or questions other students left for them

Summer Inspiration from HGSE

I took part in two learning opportunities at the Harvard Graduate School of Education this past summer that I would like to share with the BB&N community:

1) I was asked by a professor at the Ed School to help edit their updated Scratch "Creative Computing" Curriculum Guide, a design-based introduction to computational thinking.  Working closely with the Scratch curriculum guide gave me a new perspective on MIT's scratch programming language, particularly the value of reflection in the classroom.  Because of this experience, I have decided to modify my Scratch unit slightly and have my 6th grade students create a scratch design journal this year as well as make it a priority to give them more time in the classroom to think about and talk about their projects with one another.

2) I was extremely fortunate to be able to attend Project Zero's "Future of Learning" conference and while there became aware of their recent "Out of Eden Learn" project to accompany Paul Salopek's travels around the globe.  Learning about the "Out of Eden Learn" project was such an exciting end to my summer, as it brings together a number of experiences that I think are so important for our students in this day and age- students involved in the project are using technology to connect with people around the world, and they are communicating in meaningful ways.  For those of you who are not yet familiar with the "Out of Eden Learn" project, it is a platform created by Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero.  They partner schools with 4-6 other schools throughout the world in what are called "walking parties."  Every two weeks the waking parties take part in "walking steps," together completing six steps.  Along the journey, schools learn about Paul's experiences around the globe as he travels on his "Out of Eden Walk."  Stay tuned to hear more about the walking steps our 5th grade students take this year...