In October, we began the Global Read Aloud...we reached out to different 5th grade classes across the globe. One of the classes to reach out was a class in Surrey, British Columbia in Canada. Here are some images of our first international Mystery Skype of the year!
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Cole was the blogger again for our second Mystery Skype with Mrs. Tyndall's class in Crandall, TX! It is 11:40 am, and our class is getting ready for our second Mystery Skype! I am so exited to see what the other team looks like or sounds like! It's starting! The screen is really glitchy right now. The other team has an accent, so I think that means that they might live in Texas. We asked the first question. I think our research team knows the state that they live in. We guessed their state! It's Texas! The other team still has not guessed our state, but I think they might be close. They don't have a map of Texas! They just guessed our state! They go to school at WA Martin School in Crandall, Texas. During our Mystery Skypes, a student will blog about what's going on. Here's Cole's account of our first Mystery Skype with Belle Terre Elementary School in Palm Coast, FL! We are getting ready for the Mystery Skype. The camera is set up, and everyone looks like their almost done. The research team is thinking of the first question their going to ask to the other team. The research team is saying that we only have a map of the U.S, so their saying that if the other team does not live in the U.S, then we can't track them down, but their wrong, because we could just use google maps to track them down, but that's a lot harder. We're about to start. The call has been made. The other team said the first question. We just figured out that the other team lives in the U.S, so the makes it a lot easier. Our research team is doing a GREAT job. Our research team eliminated A LOT of the U.S. Everyone else on our team is doing a GREAT job, too. The questioners are doing a great job questioning, the trackers doing a great job tracking, the camera man and the video taper are doing a great job, also. At this point, both of our teams guessed each others states. The other team does not have a map of New Jersey, so they can't go on, but luckily, we can. The other team will have to guess our town and school another day, so now we just have to keep on guessing the other teams town and school until we get it. The Mystery Skype is over now, but at least it was fun! Here are some photos from our Mystery Skype! As of today, the class of 2018 in Room 211 has spent one full school week together. So much has happened, and we've already learned so much! Here's a little of what we've done. Establishing RoutinesWe have been working hard on practicing how the classroom operates. The students' responsibilities start right when they walk in the door. It's been great to see the students helping each other remember to drop off their folders, put their chairs down, and make their lunch choices. We are also establishing the importance of how we start each day with our Morning Meeting and end with Closing Circle. We will continue to practice these routines, until they become automatic. Pretty soon, these fifth graders will be able to run the class themselves! Reading and Writing WorkshopLanguage arts instruction is already underway! The students have been learning how to check out books from the classroom library, and also learning about the importance of their thinking when they read. They are examining what powerful writing about reading looks like and incorporating those strategies to their own books. Writing workshop has centered around generating multiple entries in Writer's Notebooks, and what to do if you can't think of what to write in a given moment. Students are learning how to draw small moments from people, places, and things that have meaning to them as well as times they felt strong emotions and "turning points" in their lives...first times, last times, best times, worst times, and times they realized something. Establishing NormsOne of the most important activities the students have participated in over the first week has been establishing our classroom norms. While we have all accepted the CP Code of Conduct as rules that we should always follow, it's important for the class to work together to develop norms that we can all hold each other accountable to. The discussion begins with the students' hopes and goals for the year. We then start to brainstorm a list of ways we want the classroom to be, looking for common themes. Finally, we boil these ideas down to no more than five norms. This process provides a great deal of opportunities for conversation and peer feedback. Once we have our norms, we take a while to "practice" them, to see if they work. Finally, once we agree on a final list, we'll codify and sign them, and then begin living our norms! Instilling a Sense of Community (and Fun!)One of the most important things to be done in these opening days of school is to establish the importance of teamwork and community. We begin each day with a Morning Meeting, where we greet each other, play a quick game or activity, have a time to share news or things going on in our lives, and then we begin our day. Additionally, at the end of the day, we recap what we learned and accomplished, and also reflect on goals that we have set for our behavior and actions. We explore the idea of working together in a variety of ways, including partner activities, team challenges, and even games! It's been a full first week-plus! I can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring!
This year, in honor of Read Across America Day, I got the crazy idea to literally "read across America!" Since my students have already become adept at Mystery Skyping, I had the notion that we could share ideas about books with at least one classroom in each of the four time zones using Skype or Google Hangouts. While that idea eventually fell through, we did make contact with one other classroom, and we learned about a great new app called Appear.in! Appear.in is a free app that allows users to set up "chat rooms" where up to 8 devices can connect at a time. In a 1:1 classroom, this allows for more individualized conversations while eliminating the need for having multiple accounts on something like Skype. On desktops, Appear.in also has a Chrome extension that allows for screen sharing as well! Our Read Across America contact was Mrs. Nording's 5th grade class in Wisconsin, who introduced us to Appear.in. We were able to divide our classes into small groups that made for more intimate chats. Our students chatted for over 40 minutes, first talking about books, and then moving on to other topics! It's always great to find a new classroom to connect with as well as a new way to communicate! Appear.in has become another useful classroom tool...I've used it to connect to students who were out sick, and to maintain communication from our classroom to the computer lab with a student who was working on an independent project. I'm curious to hear if other teachers have used Appear.in...it appears to be a great way for multiple classrooms to interact simultaneously.
Here's Jesse's blog post on our Mystery Skype from February 8! By my count, it's the 11th, but if you count other Skype activities, it's the 13th!
Mystery Skype XIII
The Colonial Mystery Skype Hey! Welcome to Mystery Skype XIII! The Colonial Mystery Skype. We are now (unlike other mystery skypes) only asking questions on their colonial history. In my opinion, I like the other kind of mystery skype. Anyway, we already know they are in one of the original 13 states in the United States. Everyone is getting ready to do the real skype! Mr. Ullman just turned on the Apple TV on. The skype is about to start. We already have a lot of information on our colonial state. I don’t want to say what our state is right away. Now the skype is starting. For real. The skype just timed out. They’re using an outdated version of skype. We can hear them but we can’t see them. We now can see them. Yay!!!!!!! We are asking first. “Are you in the middle colonies?” “No.” They are not. “Did you grow wheat?” They ask “yes” We ask “ Are you in the Southern Colonies?” “ No” They ask ”Are you in the Southern Colonies?” “ No” “Were you a safe place for catholics in the colonial times?” “Maybe not.” “Did you have a big population in your colony?” The research team is working on it. We don’t know yet. They are clarifying their question. The research team is still working on it. “We don’t think so” is our answer. We ask: “Did your colony have religious freedom?” “No” They ask: “ Are you in the middle colonies?” “Yes” The research team is working on a question. Finally, we ask: “Are you in Massachusetts. I mean were you in the Massachusetts bay colony?” “Yes!!” They are guessing if we were in Delaware colony. No. “Is your colony New York colony?” “No” “Was your town founded in colonial times?” “Yes”. They ask: “Is your colony New Jersey? ¨ ¨Yes¨ We ask: ¨Are you in Boston¨ ¨No¨ ¨Are you in Trenton? ¨ ¨No¨. We ask: ¨Was your town founded before 1650? ¨ ¨Yes¨. ¨Do you live in a city? ¨ ¨No¨. We think theyŕe in Plymouth. ¨Was your town founded in 1630? ¨ ¨No¨. Plymouth was founded in 1620. ¨Was your town founded in colonial times? ¨ ¨Yes¨. ¨Were you founded after 1630?” ¨Yes¨. ¨Is your town near Atlantic City? ¨ ¨No¨ . ¨Are you in Concord? ¨ ¨No¨. The research team is confused? ¨Are you near NYC? ¨ Define near¨. ¨No¨. We are not near NYC. ¨Are you in Hingham?¨ We are getting clues. I need a break. I´m back! They still haven't answered your question. They are famous for clams and shellfish. We are thinking of a clue. We had a famous revolutionary battle. Getting warmer. Maybe clues wasn't a great idea. We're closing in on their town. We think they're in Dedham. They aren´t. Are we near Fort Nassau? Are we? Maybe yes, but we have to find out. We think they're in Essex. Do they know where we are? No they don´t. Are they in Essex? They are not in Essex. They’re in Essex county.Is your town. Are you in Englishtown? No way!!! The battle of Monmouth happened in Englishtown. We are still trying to guess their town. Are you in Princeton? Yes!!!!!!!!!! Where are they? I really don't know. They have the largest number of first Puritan Homes in America. Are you in Ipswich? Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their town was founded in 1634 they think. Ed Emberley lives in their town. Who is Ed Emberley? We found out that he’s an illustrator for children’s books. We told them that Our class has 15 kids and our school has about 300 kids Pre-K through 5. They are a public school, like us. They have kids K-5. They are all Patriots fans, so we told them congrats on the Super Bowl. They are 4th graders at Winthrop Elementary School.
Here are photos of this Mystery Skype, taken by Isaiah and Julia
Here is a video playlist of our Mystery Skype team in action, shot by Isaiah and Julia!
We've been a little behind on posting about our Mystery Skypes! Here's Oliver's guest post on our Skype from Jan. 11, 2017.
Mystery Skype 10
Let’s get ready, we're ready to get started with Mystery Skype 10. We are ready and here it comes...Wait! We have to wait another 5 minutes. Now they’re ready. Our first question is, “are you in the USA?” They say, “Yes.” Now it’s their turn. His name is Asher and his question is, “are you in the US?” We say “Yes”. Next it’s our turn which is, “ are you east of the Mississippi River?” Their turn...the questioner’s name is Megan and their question is, “Do you live west of the mississippi river?” It’s our turn. We are say, “Are you north of Tennessee.” and their answer is yes. Now it’s their turn and their question is, “does your state border another country?” and our answer is “No.” Now it’s our turn and it’s, “are you one of the original 13 colonies?” Now their answer is no. They are next and their question is does your state border an ocean and our answer is, “yes.” Wow this is so fast. Now it’s our question and it is “are you west of ohio.” They said yes. This is hard! Now it’s their turn and the question is, “are you part of the original 13 colonies?” and our answer is “Yes.” Now it’s our turn and it is “are you in Michigan?” That is no. Now it’s their turn and their question is...wait they’re still thinking. Wow finally a breather for me! Now their question is, “Does your state began with a vowel and our answer is no. Now it’s our turn and it’s are you in Illinois?” Now it’s their turn and it’s, “Are you north of Virginia?” Wow they're closing in. Now it’s our turn and it’s, “Are you in Wisconsin?” their answer is no. Now it’s their turn and it’s are you in maryland. Now it’s our turn and it’s are you in Indiana. Wow, we guessed their state! Now it’s their turn to guess our state and there question is, “Do you live north of massachusetts.” Our answer is no. Now it’s still there turn and it’s, “are you in New jersey.” Facts: They live in Indianapolis It’s home to the Indy 500 Debrief Jesse: We squeeze the country Julia:I think we research team worked well together Sayanti:I think the research team did well and We need more people Charlotte: I think that we got to the state quickly Mr.Ullman:I think that the research captain worked well being runner Isaiah: CJ and I did well Nikita I think the research team did really well with the squeeze method Sawyer:I think we did well in squeezing Elinor I think the research team did really well with coming up with question. Mr.Ullman I think that we need to respond less like mooing. We have to be less like robots. Photos from our Mystery SkypeVideos from our Mystery Skype
Here's Oliver's live blog of our latest Mystery Skype on December 21, 2016!
Reporting by Oliver
We’re ready and here it comes! The Mystery Skype has started! Their first question, are you landlocked? No is definitely our answer. Our question is: are you in the USA? Their reply...uhhh they didn’t hear us so we had to say it again and it’s yes. The question is coming...Do you border, We didn’t hear them so we asked them to repeat…the question is, are you west of the Mississippi? Our question: are you west of the Rocky Mountains? No is the answer from them. We’re ready for their question and their question is, are you in the central time zone? No is our answer from them. They’re ready for our question, which is: Are you landlocked? Their answer is Yes! It their turn and their question is...Are on you bordering the Atlantic Ocean? Our answer is yes. They’re ready for our question: are you north of Tennessee? Their answer is yes! We’re probably pretty close now time for us to start guessing. What next for them? Well, it’s are you in the northeast region? Uh oh! They're closing in to just a few states! Our answer is Yes. Now they’re ready for our question…are you west of the Mississippi River. Their answer...That’s a trick question for us they can’t say yes or no. Which means that we’re very, very close because there’s only a few states that aren’t east or west of the Mississippi. It’s their turn and hey! The next questioner is named Jesse! We also have a Jesse! His question is does your state have two words? Our answer is yes. They’re ready for our question and our question is… do you border Canada? Their answer...Yes! The next question is from Sofia and the question is does your state start with an N? Yes! Now our question: are you in Minnesota? Their answer is…YESSSS! We did it! We got their state! Now it’s their turn to ask…are you in NEW JERSEY? Our answer is YESS. Now we ask, do you want to guess our town? Let’s get the map of Minnesota so we can guess their town. They’re going to let us guess their region. So, does your region start with an N? Their answer is No! Their question is, are you north of Trenton? Our answer… That’s hard to guess we have to dig deep to get out answer. Our answer finally is Yes! We are north of the capital Trenton. We’re waiting for their question and that is...we need them to repeat the question, however they’re asking what do you mean by region because they don’t know what it means. What we tell them the area or part of a state. We have an issue with this. We have to clarify the issue. Their question, is your town along the coast. Now they’re ready for our next question…are you north of St. Paul, they needed a clarification. However, their answer is YES! Well that clears up a lot of confusion. Now we're ready for their question are you north of Washington, New Jersey? Well, that’s deep down hard for us. However, our answer is…we still have to wait. Now our answer is no. Now our question is, are you north of St. Cloud and their answer is no. Wow we narrowed our search by a lot. Now their question is does our town border NY? No is our answer. Our question is does route 212 go through their town. Their answer is No. Their next question is are you north of New Brunswick? We say no. Our next question is does route 12 run through your town their answer is...No is their answer. Now they’re asking what are good questions that they can ask. Now their question is, are you in Princeton? Our answer is YESS, they are soo happy that they got our town! Now it’s our turn to ask our question and that is does your town start with a p. Their answer is Yes. Then we ask, is your town Princeton? - yeah!! OMGOMGOMG THEY LIVE IN PRINCETON, TOO!!! Now they’re going to tell us some information their capital is St. Paul their state muffin is blueberry they are near the Mississippi. They also have the Mall of America. Debriefing What did we do well? CJ: All the jobs worked efficiently. All the questionnaires and research had a steady communication line. Ted: I think we worked well by giving a variety of questions Sawyer: I think that Nikita and I worked well together when we had question we asked each other. Erin: I think that the questioners spoke loudly so the other class could understand Elinor: I think that we did well trying to talk to the questioners Sayanti: I think that the research did well because not many people we at the map and we switched jobs. What do we need to improve on? Jesse: I think that we really that we need Mystery skypes to be less tiring. Mr. Ullman: We need to keep our energy up Charlotte: We need to be closer together. Ted: We need to rotate questioners around, like we’ve seen other classes do. Charlotte: Then the questioners will also double as a runner Sawyer: One thing that the media team needs to take more pictures Mr. Ullman We should upload the photos to Google Drive once in a while instead of at the end. Erin: The media team should be closer to the research team. Mr. Ullman: We have to be very careful on the questions they ask, we should think about the question together. We also should keep our look better, we also have to work on our “end game.” By the end of the mystery skype we were flopping around…we should be ready to give the other class some information about us.
Here are pics from our Skype!
And here's a playlist of videos!
CJ's guest blog on our Mystery Skype with Ms. Smith's class on Dec. 20:
So it’s getting started and the commotion in here is rising. They let us take the first question. Are they in the USA? Yes!
Then they guessed our same question. Then we asked: Are you east of 98 degrees longitude? Huh? I don’t know what that is. Oh it’s a Yes! They ask, “Are we the original colonies?” Yes, we are. Oh, no! Our turn, and we ask if they are in eastern time zone? Yes, they are. This Mystery Skype is going fast! They ask, are you from the confederacy? No we are not. That we a hard question. We ask, are they in the southeast region? Yes! They ask, are we landlocked? No. If you know where we are don’t tell them. Okay a break, they’re ready. Are they a landlocked state, no they aren’t. Does our state have the word “new” in it? No they’re getting closer, Are they north of 32 degrees latitude? They’re ready. Are you guys in New York? Nope. NOOOOOOO!!! We’re the Garden State and they said that!!!! But YESS!! We got their state. They’re in Virginia! But NOOO!!! They have our state! Some chips for me. Are they east of 78 degrees longitude? Yes!! I think we're winning. OMG!! Biggest break ever- they question, is our city major? I don’t know what that means maybe population or something else. Does their country start with the letters J - Y? Yes!! We are winning! Is our city larger than 18,000 population? No. Does their county start with J- O? I don’t know let's finds out! Yes. Is our town larger 9,000? Yes and no. Because, we actually used to be a township and a borough, but we merged a few years ago. Some population information we get will be wrong. Thanks for clearing that up, Mr. Ullman! Keep going! Does your county start from J-L? Yes. Are we near Success Lake? Within 10 miles? NO. Does your county start with J-K? No. Does your county start with the letters K-U? Yes. Is your second letter in their county O? Yes! They’re in Loudoun County. Yeaah… Our we near Princeton- ohno - Airport. Okay. Does their city start with A-N? Are we in Princeton William County? We don't think so, it was hard to hear that question. No. does their city start with R or M? No. We take our last guess...are they Stone Ridge? No...so close! Their town is Sterling, Virginia! What went well? Jobs went well...people did their jobs NO mass of people near map! What to do better next time? We got tired near the end Get a better “thinking” sign...their class had good “yes” and “no” signs, too!
Here are some photos from this Mystery Skype!
Here are some videos!
Here is CJ's guest post on our Mystery Skype from 12/13/16:
So we’re just getting started and everyone is excited. We’re introducing the other class...oh, they’re in the USA.
Oh what a break!! They asked the same thing! Now we ask, “Are you east of 98 degrees longitude?” NO. There was a mix-up...we’re up by 1 and we’re doing good. Their turn: Are we west of mississippi? NO. Our turn. Are you in the central USA time zone? Yes. It’s getting close to us. Are we in the Northeast region, oh no they got our region. We say, “Are you southeast region? That doesn’t make any sense, we already correctly answered to central time zone. They said are we east of the Hudson River? No Our turn… “Are you in the mid west region?” Things are getting hot, oh no they know that we border the ocean. Our turn, are you north of Iowa? Yes. Is you state name two words? Yes. Are you in Minnesota? NO. We’re getting closer to the jackpot. It must be Wisconsin...but our question failed. No, they found us! We ask, “Are you in Michigan?” Our turn again. Request of finding town failed. North Dakota and South Dakota...oh we got them! South Dakota! Info on De Smet, South Dakota Their school is real small and it is 203 students. Mascot: Bulldog 33 3rd graders. They have a really small town in their school they have 203 students Laura Ingalls Wilder who wrote Little House on the Prairie lived there. Debrief What we did good: We co-operated Researchers sharing ideas Tracking questions What we need to get better at: Before mystery skype stop goofing around. Runners stop and remember what the researchers say. Don't go your own way Questioners need to be louder Two research teams
Here are some photos from our Mystery Skype!
And here are some videos!
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Author5th grade teacher in Princeton, NJ. Passionate about education, technology, and the New York Giants! Archives
October 2017
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