Winter+07+Newsletter

Suzan Goldstein, Technology Staff Developer sgoldstein7@schools.nyc.gov Students are using PowerPoint to create electronic ABC books that allow the author to include clip art and/or handmade drawings and narrate the text that appears on each page. The final book can be printed in a hardbound cover and published on the project website so children's work can be heard and viewed by peers in other classes and by family at home and abroad. Students use PowerPoint to create electronic word walls that include clip art and/or handmade drawings, text and narration to support content understanding of vocabulary meaning and conventions for usage. Teachers create an archive of word walls that be used for differentiated instruction throughout the school term. The word walls can also be hosted on a website for student access 24/7.
 * Grades K and First Grade: Print ABC Books and Electronic Word Walls**

Suzan Goldstein, Technology Staff Developer sgoldstein7@schools.nyc.gov Classes are in the midst of writing a class nonfiction book about Honeybees. Best of all, the books will be published and many of them put on the Region 4 website for all to see and hear! All of our students will become a published author and teachers having been learning how to add the students’ voices. Outstanding Honeybee books have been completed at many schools. At P.S. 127 Mr. Autmann helped his colleagues scanned their class's honeybee illustrations. Ms. Conners completed an outstanding book with her class. At P.S. 84 Ms. Tskitkas, the computer teacher and Technology Liaison, helped her second grade classes complete their books. Students at P.S. 13 sure were busy bees. All second grade, ESL and Special Education classes completed their own versions of the Honeybee books. Keep an eye out for Ms. Centrone’s class book that will be added to the Region 4 website soon. Ms. Centrone is new to the grade and her class did an awesome job. P.S. 199 are beginning to work on their animal books. Way to GO!
 * Second Grade Classes are Busy as Bees**

Beth Richards, Technology Staff Developer brichar@schools.nyc.gov The 3rd Grade Project is challenging students to think about other places in the world while using interactive, online and global communication tools. On the Third Grade Project Blog, Ms. Capous, **PS 127Q,** writes, “We started today and the children are very excited! Today they were assigned to groups and they used the laptops to read about Chicago. On Friday they will learn how to post responses to their questions. Overall, I think this project will be a hit with my class.”
 * Third Graders Making Connections**
 * PS 116K**, located on Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn, is excelling in this project. Students are experts at logging into Think.com with their usernames and password. While researching Puerto Rico, students are making strong connections between Puerto Rico’s location and how its location affects its climate. On my visit to their class students were anxious to share their knowledge. Students are eager to continue their research and post their finding on the class’s Think.com group page.
 * Santa Fe** is looking super as Ms. Hannon from PS 89 and her class are researcing Santa Fe, New Mexico. I didn't know that Santa Fe is 7,000 feet above sea level. I am very glad I was not in Santa Fe the day the temperature rose to 122 degrees.
 * Hawaii Happening**-At PS 92 Q Ms. Dakis and her class are researching and enjoying the warm tropic breezes of Honolulu, Hawaii. Students learned that Honolulu is the captial of Hawaii. They also learned that Hawaii is part of the United States and their money is the US dollar. Did you know that the Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters?
 * Check out Chicago**-Ms. Capous and her class have a lot to say about the "Windy City". That is the nickname for Chicago, Illinois. We were amazed to find out that on St. Patrick's Day they turn the Chicago River green.

Kelly Longardino, Technology Staff Developer Klongar@schools.nyc.gov The goal of the 4th grade project is to have the students design a community website, which can be used as a resource for local information. Fourth grade classes are examining, exploring and studying a school's community, including the patterns of immigration, physical changes over time, and community development from past to present; to deepen students’ understandings and improve their non-fiction literacy skills. Students also use a variety of technology tools such as digital cameras, iPods, and video cameras to conduct effective interviews and capture pictures during neighborhood walking trips. Ms. O’Connell, from PS 116K, recently shared her students’ experiences while working on the 4th Grade Blog. She writes, “As a person who has grown up on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border, I have noticed the changes in the community first hand. I think the students will be surprised about the positive changes that have occurred in this section of Bushwick during the last 15 years… In the next two weeks, the students will be working on interviewing family members or people from the community that have lived in Bushwick for several years. I think the students will be surprised on how much the community has changed.” Way to go PS 116! Teachers involved in the project use the Region 4 Project Blog as an online communication forum.
 * 4th Grader Classes Designing Community Wiki—Websites**

Vincent Pilato, Project Manager vpilato@schools.nyc.gov Classes participating in Webplay this year are currently in the 3rd phase of the project. The classes have begun to study the different aspects of theater for preparation for classes writing, directing and acting out their own plays. Teachers and students had the opportunity to both watch and question a live children’s theater group at Theater in The Park, in February. The London-based Tamasha Theater Company worked with the Region 4 classes. Tamasha works closely in communities to uncover a rich and diverse range of stories and voices, which inspire their performances. The play, Child of the Divide, is a timeless tale of separation, loss & hope that will touch adults and children alike. The Webplay experience will culminate when the participating classes, from the US and England, start then process of writing and acting out their Webplays (based on their partners class’s culture) for publication on the WebPlay website. We can’t wait to see all the great plays.
 * Fifth Grade WebPlay Project**

Bond Ng, Technology Staff Developer bng3@schools.nyc.gov The 6th Grade project is an interdisciplinary study of the “Eastern Hemisphere” countries with technology. Students use print and electronic media to study how geography, topography, climate, weather, and natural resources affect the social, political, agricultural, economic, and cultural characteristics of world communities. Students and teachers are using a web-based software tool called Knowledge Community that facilitates online student/student and student/teacher interaction and collaboration. Within the software teachers can setup communities and forums that allow resources, websites and files to be stored and shared. Ms. Sarola, Grade 6 Social Studies teacher at IS 162 wrote on the region 4 blog, “the students like the idea of posting responses and being able to respond to other students’ comments in Knowledge Community. It can also be useful for the teachers because all of the students' postings are located in one community and can be easier monitor.” Ms. Flynn, 6th grade social studies teacher at IS 230 has been integrating Knowledge Community on a daily basis in her classroom, after attending just one workshop! It’s even more remarkable is that her students are using KC at home.
 * 6th Grade Project**

Debbie Olesh, Technology Staff Developer dolesh@schools.nyc.gov A WebQuest is a guided Internet research activity. WebQuests narrow the universe of the Internet for our students, providing a specific task or set of tasks, a roadmap to appropriate resources for information and a rubric detailing how the activity will be evaluated. Many teachers in Region 4 have learned how to search the Internet for Webquests, evaluate them, and use them in their instruction. We have provided training for our 7th grade Social Studies teachers on developing student and teacher WebQuests that incorporate Information Literacy Skills. 7th grade teachers worked with Alan November, International Information Literacy Specialist, on the development of these skills. Region 4 continues to offer training and in school professional development visits to Middle Schools to expand the use of WebQuests in the curriculum classroom.
 * 7th Grade WebQuest**

Carolyn Semet, Technology Staff Developer csemet@schools.nyc.gov The 8th Grade Digital Documentary project is well underway in Region 4. This is the first year we are implementing this project through the Title IID Grant. The training sessions are open to all schools across Region 4. Students are creating digital documentaries as part of their required exit projects. This option offers students an engaging approach to learning, by sharing and publishing their knowledge. Additionally, I have been visiting schools and providing in-house professional development to teachers that have attended our training sessions and to those that were unable to. The culminating activity for this project will be a Region 4 Film Festival this spring. Our theme is "Walls", physical or emotional. The students and teachers of winning submissions will be eligible for prizes. Ms. McManus’ students at IS 230, are currently working on a digital documentary showing the causes of World War I. I also had the pleasure to visit IS 349 and work with classes to facilitate the implementation of digital documentary projects. Additionally, many teachers from K-12 classes have attended our professional development sessions and are incorporating the digital documentary project into their classroom. Ms. Hernandez, P.S. 212, wrote on the [|Digital Documentary Blog], “... I introduced my 4th graders (to) the idea of making their own documentary. I used the Marco Torres’ student’s projects as examples. Students like the idea of making their own documentary.” One of her students, Michael, created an interesting documentary about the Statue of Liberty. Also, a student in Mr. DiGeorge’s class at P.S./I.S. 87, produced a 9/11 tribute that reflected research, content literacy, and sensitivity. I am looking forward to seeing the documentaries that are entered into our film festival.
 * 8th Grade Project**

Stephen Shapinsky, Technology Staff Developer sshapin@schools.nyc.gov The Office of Instructional Technology is committed to making robotics a part of our students' educational careers. Robotics provides an interdisciplinary, cooperative, problem-solving approach to learning that encompasses math, science, and computer programming. Moreover, robotics engages students of different ages, interests, and learning styles. Few activities meld technology with other content areas so effectively and enjoyably. In over forty Region 4 schools -(12 elementary, 20 middle and 10 high schools), students work collaboratively to design, build, and program robots to complete tasks and even compete in competitions. Professional development training is available to all schools in Region 4 in order to train Robotic Coaches to run this program. Although robotics started as an afternoon activity, many schools are now scheduling robotics into students regular schedules. Region 4 Schools recently competed in the Region 4 Robotics Tournament and the FIRST LEGO League Citywide Tournament. This March, several Region 4 high schools will compete at the FIRST Robotics Long Island Regional Event at Hofstra University. Region 4 will be hosting culminating events for robotics in the spring: The Region 4 Robotics Pentathlon for intermediate and elementary schools and The Region 4 Vex Challenge for high schools. These exciting events are a unique opportunity for Region 4 schools and help motivate robotics programs to excellence.
 * Engaging Student through Robotics**

Rachel Thompson, Technology Staff Developer rthomps7@schools.nyc.gov Mary Berger, JDL Technologies The Where Does the Water Go? project at Long Island City High School is an interdisciplinary, collaborative, student-directed study of the conditions of New York’s waterways. Through this project, our students will realize the importance of access to clean water in our lives and understand the critical water-related issues in our lives. Students in Science, Social Studies and English classes have identified a local body of water to research, in this case the East River, and are observing water-related problems from scientific, ecological, economic, historical and aesthetic perspectives. They will then develop an action plan to offer solutions to those problems. Our students use a blog to communicate and collaborate with schools across the nation to compare the impact of human beings on their local bodies of water, the causes of that impact and ways to decrease our negative effects on the environment. Mrs. Berger and Mrs. Thompson are currently working hands-on with 4 teachers at Long Island City high school. We push in to classes, work with students and provide support for both content and technology use.
 * Where Does the Water Go? Long Island City HS**

Michael D'Angelo, Technology Staff Developer mdangel@schools.nyc.gov Three Region 4 high schools, Long Island City, Arts and Business, and Information Technology, are embarking on a collaborative project that crosses subject content area as well as class room locality. Teachers from the High School of Arts & Business, Information Technology High School and Long Island City High Schools are designing, developing and implementing a content area specific project using on-line communication software and other web resources. The teachers will have their classes’ team up, discuss, and build the project in an on-line blog setting.
 * Collaborative HS Project**