Skype is a great way to connect with authors! Author and Educator, Kate Messner, has a great website where she lists authors that are willing to Skype for free. Or, you can contact authors through their websites to see if they are willing to visit with your students.
Last Spring, my kindergartners visited with author, Jennifer Ward, via Skype. I was excited for them to read her books because she has a great collection of fiction and non-fiction books. She talked about being an author, read one of her new books, and answered LOTS of questions.
Last Spring, my kindergartners visited with author, Jennifer Ward, via Skype. I was excited for them to read her books because she has a great collection of fiction and non-fiction books. She talked about being an author, read one of her new books, and answered LOTS of questions.
After visiting with Jennifer Ward, the students in Mrs. Meschke's class were inspired to write their own book. They followed the pattern of Ward's books and created a book titled, "There was an Old Farmer." They wanted to write a books about animals that live around North Dakota. So, they brainstormed all the animals they could think of and sorted them by size, to create the order of the story. Then, they did some math and art lessons. We printed pictures of all the animals and the students studied the pictures to find shapes they could use to recreate the image. They practiced a lot, then added color. Look at these great Kinder Artists!
The students researched each animal and added a fact page to the back of their book (just like Jennifer Ward does in many of her books). Lastly, the kids groups the animals together and thought of rhyming words to make the sentences. Their final product was adorable, and they were so excited to send it to Jennifer Ward.
The best part of this project was that the kids were so motivated and had complete ownership of the book. They did many rewrites and re-drawings, until they all were pleased. Along the way, they studied parts of a book, learned shapes, practiced rhyming words, researched, and became writers. At the end of the year, I asked the kids to write about their favorite thing about Kindergarten. Many students wrote "Meeting Jennifer Ward." This is a project they will remember!
To learn more about using Skype to connect with others, read this inspiring article by Shannon Miller. http://www.iste.org/explore/ArticleDetail?articleid=10
How can you use Skype in your classroom?
To learn more about using Skype to connect with others, read this inspiring article by Shannon Miller. http://www.iste.org/explore/ArticleDetail?articleid=10
How can you use Skype in your classroom?