We Can See India: A Family Vacation

Over the Winter Break, one of the students (N.C.) from Bond Lake Public School in Ms. Babalis and Mrs. Ham's class travelled to India with her family.  There, they took a few photos to include in our "We Can See" Project.  

We are so excited to share this with all of you!

Now Ms. Babalis has added India to her extensive travel wish list.

Thank you to N.C.'s family for sending us these incredibly beautiful photographs and for being the first family to share what they saw while on their vacation.

We encourage more families to participate by sending photos saved with a description onto a usb stick.  It could be from a previous vacation or a community walk.  If you do not have access to a usb stick, I am in the process of planning to send one home as an extension to this project.  Stay tuned!

We Can See East 82nd Street: K-206 Manhattan New School P.S. 290

Our First 'We Can See' Book from Shelter Bay PS

I am happy to announce that Mississauga, Ontario now has TWO schools taking part in the 'We Can See' Project! Thank You to Ms. Fynes of Thornwood PS for introducing me to how exciting being part of a blog can be. I have been following this blog for awhile, but never really saw myself as someone who would be part of a blog. It is interesting how thing change!

As our first year together in Full-Day Kindergarten, we (the students, the DECE and myself) have been on a learning journey together. We are experimenting with new ways to engage the students in inquiry projects, are trying out new documentation methods, and now, thanks to the support of my new iPad, are taking learning to a whole new level! The students have been engaged in taking photos, writing about their experiences, and even picking things such as font and text colour. I truly am amazed at where this project is going, and am excited to see where it will lead us next!

After taking the pictures for our book, we read the story 'The Story Day' by Ezra Jack Keats. It was interesting to see the connections that the students made to our own snowy pictures, and the content in the book. This truly shows the importance  of authentic learning and literacy experiences. With the VERY cold weather this week, we have not spent much time outdoors, but the students have enjoyed revisiting the pictures we took to connect themselves back to the outdoors.

This is our classroom...will you show us yours?

A friend and colleague Kathy Cassidy @ kathycassidy posted a blog and video on her site
http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org/2013/01/16/this-is-our-classroom-will-you-show-us-yours/
She is welcoming classes to view her class video and then find a way to share what you see in your classroom. On of my students requested we do this way back in October, and I haven't put it on the front burner. So, this is my encouragement to share what we see in our classroom, not just outside our window. I'm certain there will be a lot of connections and comparisons between our classes.
Thanks to Kathy for sharing and learning more about this project.

Angie Harrison
@TechieAng

Connecting Classrooms

Since our classroom has been involved in the amazing "What Can You See?" project, we continue to look for new ways to interact with the participating classrooms and their educators! In particular, I think we have created a 21st Century version of the "pen pals" tradition! After our class read the "We Can See" book from our friends at Bond Lake Public School, we decided to share compliments through the form of a letter on their blog! If you haven't had a chance to check out their blog, you can click on the following link: http://myclassroomtransformation.blogspot.ca/2012/11/i-think-we-can-send-letter.html.

We continue to feel inspired by their classroom happenings, inquiries and daily discoveries and their educators certainly embrace every opportunity to make for meaningful and purposeful learning! We would like to dedicate this post to them and thank them for exploring and communicating with our class through the blogsphere! It has led to some wonderful connections, questions, and new learning!

After reading the response letter from our friends at Bond Lake Public School, our students have enjoyed expanding on their connections, answering their posed questions, and writing a reply!


Dear Bond Lake Public School,

Thank you for the letter. We liked reading about your connections to our book. We liked how you think clouds are fascinating. Thank you for sharing the "fancy" word. We want to answer your questions.

J.S. (SK): We have three teachers. Ms. Schmidt, Ms. Theis and Ms. N. They are all really nice and like to have fun.

S.M.: We have lots of signs because they protect us from danger. We see STOP signs, "bump" signs for bumps on the ground and school crossing signs so cars know when we are walking.

I.D.: We had frogs last year but we do not have any pets this year. We had two frogs and one was big and one was small. We got to feed them.

J.S. (JK): We want to send you our class picture. What do you look like?

R.L.: We know about Ninjagos. They fight into battles because the master tells them when the bad guys make traps.

A.M.: I only know that Ninjagos have swords. They are yellow.

Here are some new questions we have for you:

I.D.: Do you get snow in winter like us?

C.M.: I wonder if your teachers is nice or mean?

A.C.: You have a rabbit. What is its name? What does it eat?

L.D.: Where does your rabbit live?

We want to share what we are learning about with you:

S.M.: We have been making a big cloud. We made raindrops too.

E.S.: We are learning about clouds. We know how they make rain and read a book called "The Falling Raindrop." It taught us about the water cycle. It's cool.

G.B.: We liked being raindrops.

I.D.: We learned that a pumpkin floated in a lot of water. 

R.L.: We did a "Shape Rap." Sphere, Cylinders, Cubes and Cones were in it and we got to wear sunglasses in front of our school at the assembly. We would like to share our video with you.

J.S. (SK): We like magnets because they stick to things. Magnets also don't stick to things. We have fun experimenting. Magnets stick to Ms. Schmidt's boots because they have metal on it.

E.S.: Clouds do all sorts of things. We wonder how they make snow. I think its called a "snow cycle."

Thank you for your letter. We want you to write back more. We drew some pictures for you too. We hope you like them. Thank you for your pictures. They were pretty colours.

This is a bridge. W.F. and R.L. and me made it in the
building and constructing centre. It has a thing that
lifts up and down so boats can go by. - J.S. (SK)

Love,

Ms. Schmidt and Ms. Theis' Class from Lorna Jackson Public School. 


Ms. Schmidt and Ms. Theis were also wondering:

What inquiries are you exploring in your classroom? Can you write back and share some of your learning with us?

We hope that you enjoyed this post! We look forward to continuing to connect our classrooms and our learning through this social media and look forward to extending our learning through the use of our "What Can You See?" blogspace!

What can you see? A trip to Hamburg, Germany and Salzburg, Austria

Dear "What Can You See?" participants, schools, and students!

Over the holiday break, I had the wonderful pleasure of travelling to Hamburg, Germany and Salzburg, Austria! With the "What Can You See?" project expanding worldwide, I thought this trip would also be a perfect opportunity to take pictures of my new surroundings and create a new digital book for this amazing project!

Take a look at some of the sights from Hamburg, Germany and Salzburg, Austria - I hope these pictures leave room for lots of discussion, new questions, and wonderings! Here's to new learning!

Sincerely,
Ms. Schmidt
Lorna Jackson Public School
Woodbridge, Ontario

We can see Bond Lake community covered in snow!