We will be exchanging postcards with approx. 100 classes around the US and world!
This is set up over the Internet. Our class will be sending out 100 postcards too! I will
send several cards home with the students throughout the year. I thought this would be a
good way to get the parents involved. The parents will help the students write a message
on the card and then they will return it to be mailed.
Each day at calendar time, we will read and pass around one of the postcard we received.
We will find where the card came from on our big map of the US. I purchase little US
maps and laminate them for each child. Then each child points to the state and puts a
sticker on it.
Last year, I displayed the postcards on a bulletin board with a map on it. We connected a
string of yarn from the card to the state it came from. My students learned so much about
the US and the states from this activity!
When I start the exchange, I always introduce Virginia to the class first.(Since this is where we live) We do many things with the shape of Virginia. One is we sponge paint Virginia.
Another is that we fill the shape of Virginia with beans, macaroni, etc.
Traveling Bear and Patrick the Pirate
The Traveling Bear and Patrick the Pirate are two stuffed animals that will travel to
classrooms around the world. Each animal will spend some time in our classroom. The
animals also come with journals. Our class will write about what Patrick and the
Traveling Bear did with us on their visits. We are so lucky to be involved in these
projects. I will tell you more about this once we have hosted them. I will also include
pictures!
Here are some pictures of Patrick while he stayed with us!
Patrick went with us on a field trip to see the play, "Little Red and the Boy Who Cried Wolf".
Here is Patrick riding the school bus on the way to Longwood College to see the play!
Patrick fell asleep reading Charlotte's Web during rest time.
Here is Patrick with his Native American headband.
Patrick is making his Native American necklace.
Patrick at the Smokey the Bear Program.
Here is Patrick in front of our class tepee.
Spider Project
During our spider unit, we will be taking pictures of spiders with "spidercams" and putting them on the internet to exchange spider pictures with other classes. I know one class we will exchange with will be Addie Gaines' class in Seneca, Mo.
We are exchanging fall leaves with other classes around the United States and Canada. We put the leaves on the state on the map and then glue a leaf on our own individual maps.
To see the entire Leaf Exchange Project go to: Leaf Exchange
