Kreeger Academy - Eiffel Tower

Gemma is helping me out with my EPIC Academy Quests this summer... 

My daughter is with me today at school and I am pretty much caught up on everything I need to do to finish up this school year.  I decided to get on Epic and complete this quest series that I started a while ago.  My daughter loves Paris, and my brother (her Uncle) is there right now visiting.  Last night, he and his fiance were able to go to the Eiffel Tower.  She asks me tons of questions about it, and so I thought this would be a good opportunity for her to learn all about it.  

First, I had her read a short book about the Eiffel Tower (she just finished up Kindergarten)  Then, I gave her some classroom supplies (straws, glue, scissors) and told her she could decorate the Eiffel Tower anyway she would like.  She decided to create a rainbow pattern.  Then we watched a short video about the Eiffel Tower (for kids)  and then I asked her to give her picture a title and write 2 facts she remembered either from the book or video.  The last thing we did was use Google Earth to pull up the coordinates for the Eiffel Tower.  I let her use the chromebook to type "Eiffel Tower."  She was delighted to see the computer zoom in to the place we were just learning about.  She figured out on her own how to change it to the street view and I showed her how to take a screenshot.  She was so excited about all of this and wanted me to take pictures to send to her Uncle.  

I was so proud to see how easy something like this was to do even with a Kindergartener and I can't wait to show the K-2 teachers how to use Google Earth.  I think this tool can be used with any grade level.  

See pics below ..... 

Teacher Mom

Sometimes being a teacher mom is hard...... but other days like today ..... it's easy! 

I wanted to take my daughter (who is my student this summer) to the Statue of Liberty.  I love being able to practice with her, and them implement these same lessons with my students.  We read a story in my class about immigrants who had to come through Ellis Island and I usually take this opportunity to teach my students a little about New York and I take them on a virtual field trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  

To get my daughter interested in the topic, I first allowed her to do something that she loves (art).  I found a kid friendly how to video for her to watch on how to draw the Statue of Liberty. She watched it several times, pausing along the way and eventually came up with a pencil sketch that she traced over with black sharpie.  Then we got the paint out and she painted her picture with blue skies and of course a light green Statue of Liberty (we had to talk about mixing paint to get the right color green)  

While the paint was drying, we read a short informational text passage about the Statue of Liberty together.  It was a little over her reading level, so we read it together.  She answered the comprehension questions by herself.  

We found a 360VR video on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYBAA23d85Y  She used the VR headset to take a virtual FT to the Statue of Liberty.  Her comments were "it's SOOO big!!!"  That was my exact same thought when I saw it in person in 2007.  I thought it was a really cool moment..... she said "Whoa there's a boat!"  In her reading passage they mentioned that people ride a "ferry" over to Liberty Island.  She has never been on a ferry and didn't understand what it meant.  I guess she thought they were talking about a "fairy."  Anyway, the VR experience helped her understand that vocabulary word.... which I think is awesome!  

I love how VR allows students to experience the world and see places they may never get the opportunity to see in person.  It is so much better than simply watching a video or seeing pictures.  Something about putting on the headset makes it feel like you can reach out and touch it.'

After the VR experience we ended the lesson with writing practice.  She had to write a paragraph about the Statue of Liberty using information from her reading passage.