Classroom Close-Up Showcase of Digital Citizenship on 12/7/11

Can you imagine taking a virtual field trip that spans three continents and going around the world in less than seven hours? Well, we did just that during our Classroom Close-Up showcase of "digital citizenship," via Skype! Ms. Adriana Verta-WPU student teacher, my amazing 3rd graders, and I were eager to begin our world tour.

The first leg of the journey took us to Europe for a Danish and English Christmas sing-a-long of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with Stefan Nielsen and his students at the Vonsild School, Denmark. Giselle Aguila, WPU-tutor, brightened our day with a "good morning song" in both Spanish and English. Micky Niego and Norman, the helping dog, joined us in welcoming Cherrie Mac Innes and her students in Brewer, Maine for a lesson about communities of caring.

We took a leap across continents to South America where Ms. Sharon Callimore and her students in Georgetown, Guyana were waiting to continue weekly lessons on diversity and the origins of the foods that we eat. Simultaneously, we completed a Googledoc to record reported data. The last leg of our journey took us to Hilo, HI. Carmen Stack and her students chanted a lovely Hawaiian greeting and described their tropical home. My students shared Paterson and NJ facts. Did you know that Paterson, NJ is the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution?

Lastly, we performed a rendition of "We Shall Overcome" while being accompanied by violinist, Mrs. Nadya Kourani-WPU tutor. What an ambitious undertaking that turned out to be! Our tour was quite enlightening and caused no jet-lag.