Introduction

(image retrieved from [|Mind Shift])

= = = = =**Introduction**=

I started this site while I was working on a project called Collaborating Globally with Language Arts. The project involves second grade language arts skills as well as Web 2.0 tools. This project allowed my second grade students to connect and collaborate with different students around the world. My students completed hands on assignments utilizing technology while learning, questioning and discovering about cultures and customs from another part of the world. I believe that collaboration and creativity should be a component in any lesson. The focus of my project was the importance of collaboration and connecting that helps student’s learn, question and discover.

Collaborating Globally with Language Arts was created and utilized in a second grade classroom to expose students to new and current Web 2.0 tools as well as another culture, and community. Students could correspond with students who are similar in age via the Internet to learn, question and discover. My students used Google Docs, Wikispaces, and VoiceThread as tools to correspond with the other students.

My rationale and reason for choosing this topic was to expose my students to different aspects of technology while integrating language arts skills. I believe that all students should have the option to express themselves creatively and also be exposed to other types of communities and customs. I wanted my students to have the opportunity to learn, question and discover about different cultures and share information about their own cultures while demonstrating skills from our language arts curriculum. I developed activities for my students to complete that involve nouns, verbs, adjectives, compare and contrasting, sequencing, and narrative writing skills. With each skill component there was a collaborative component involving students from another part of the world. I have included examples of ways to that we used Web 2.0 tools with second grade language arts skills. Feel free to add ways to utilize Web 2.0 tools while incorporating language arts skills and any resources that may be useful. Also please share and leave questions or comments about anything that has worked for you or has not worked.

Click for examples of ways to use Web 2.0 tools