Virtual Fieldtrip 2009 Teacher Page

Thanks for joining me for the tenth virtual fieldtrip. For those that haven't, here is a quick overview of the premise of my virtual fieldtrips. I will be physically traveling to France. To get the students actively involved in this experience, students must read our biographies and itinerary. Virtual 2009 - France - Biographies and Itinerary This gives students a better idea of what interests Dr. Novak and I. WHY do they need this knowledge? Students will be suggesting places for us to visit during the trip. Knowledge of the itinerary is important since students cannot suggest a place for us to visit IF we are no longer there! How are students going to suggest places for us to visit? I will be blogging the whole experience while I am in France. While my student web page, Virtual Fieldtrip 2009 - France - Blogging with Mrs. Novak explains what blogging is and Internet safety, they do not explain how you can actually manage the blogging experience with your students. There are numerous ways for you to take advantage of this experience with your students. Here are a few. Reading the blog: 1.) Do a group reading of the blog from your classroom computer sometime during your school day. 2.) Print out the daily blog entries and have them available for students to read. The printing out of the daily blog entries can be assigned to a single student or group of students. In the past, students have loved doing this. 3.) Group read the blog entries during your scheduled or additional time in the computer lab or library. Blogging responses: 1.) Do a group classroom response to my blog. This is perhaps the simplest and quickest since you will be doing the typing. You and your students can do a group edit it. 2.) Set up several small groups of students that will work together as a team to create and edit a single blog response. This is an excellent approach but takes a little more time and management. Makes sure students understand that you should look at their blog entry before they press the submit button. YES, I can take inappropriate blog entries off the blog. 3.) Individual student respond to my blog. Using this approach, I suggest each student have an assigned partner for peer reviewing. Even with this step, you just might want to take a look at what students are posting before they press the submit button. Please relax and enjoy doing this. Blogging can be GREAT fun!
Instructions on using SharePoint Blogging: To log onto the SharePoint server : Click on the link on my webpage. A network log on box will appear. Type world\username then tab to password box and type in the password. You can use either your personal log on account or a lab account. Once at the Virtual Fieldtrip Blog you have two options to correspond with Mrs. Novak. You can either Comment OR Create a post. Usage of a Comment: I look upon 'comments' as one liners such as "WOW! I didn't now this." or "Sounds like fun!" or "We love the new pictures that you posted." Comments on this blog are not consider important nor necessary to do. I may not always answer them. To create a comment, you click on the blue underlined comments on the bottom right hand side below the posting. Keep in mind that Comments do not trigger an automatic email to Mrs. Novak to respond. Usage of Create a post: The 'meat' of the corresponding with Mrs. Novak is done on this blog via using "Creating a post". To the far right of the webpage below Photos you will see Admin Links. One word of caution, as I add photos the Admin Links will move further down the webpage and you may have to scroll down to find it. Click on “Create a post”. Click on “Create a post”. A new webpage will appear in your browser. In the yellow caution bar, it will tell you that content approval is turned on for this Blog. Please note that a red asterisk in next to Title. This means that ALL posting must have a Title. Enter your title. Now click on the body portion of the webpage. This will activate your HTML editing tools are very much like the tools you have in Word. ONE important tool is missing that might be important to some. THERE is no spell checking. I have a ‘work around’ for this but I will talk about this later. Type what you want to say into the body text box. Please make sure to sign your posting just like you would sign an email. You are almost done and ready to click on the “Save As Draft” button below. Below the text box is a field called Category. If you click on the drop down arrow, it will give you several options. The Category option is used to index the blog postings. You can decide yourself if you want to use this or not. I will be using this feature. You don’t have to. NOW you are ready to click on the “Save As Draft” button. Viola! You have created your first of many blog postings. Once you have created your posting, I will receive an email telling me that you have created a new posting. I will need to go to the blog and approve the posting. Because of the time zone differences, I may not get to this as soon as you post. Do not despair! I promise to get to it the next time I am on the Internet. Spell Checking "Work Around": As to the “work around” for spell checking, most of you may not need this but I know I do. You have two ways to do this. You can create your blog entries in Word and then copy and paste them in the text box. This is how I commonly do it when I am writing a long entry to the blog. Sadly, the HTML editor does not let you use the right mouse button to ‘paste’ so I copy my writing in Word using the right mouse button or highlight my text and using Crtl C (standard Microsoft keystrokes). When I get the body of the blog entry, I use Crtl V (standard Microsoft keystrokes) to paste the entry in. It is always good to know these keyboard shortcuts if your right mouse button is not working. The second way to spell check is another good to know general computer approach. All of the lab computers have the Google toolbar. Google allows you to turn on form spell checking. If you click on the icon that looks like a wrench, you can turn options on and off. Click on the tab “Tools” and you can turn Spell Checking on by clicking on the box before Spell Checking. I am not sure if the lab computers profile will ‘remember' this but it is VERY easy to turn on when you start out in the morning especially if you will be spending multiple periods blogging. Remember you do need to click the icon in the Google toolbar "ABC" to have it spell check since it doesn’t do it automatically like Word.
Strategies and examples for doing the Virtual Fieldtrip (once a week): Starting the Virtual Fieldtrip K-2 Websites for this activity are denoted on web pages with ** Explain that the class is virtually traveling to France with Mrs. Novak. Have a short discussion about 7 continents and show Talking Continents . Have students repeat the continent names. Ask students if they think it is the same time around the whole world. Show the web site http://www.timezonecheck.com/ Explain that Nashua, NH has the time zone as New York, NY. Show the time in Paris and have the students note that there is a six hour difference. You might want to have fun and type Nashua in the “Find a City” and show them that there are other Nashuas in the World. Click on Lonely Planet Maps of France or Rand McNally Classroom and show the map of France. Note that Mrs. Novak is landing in Paris and then flying to Toulouse, France (as per itinerary). Using Virtual2009 - Biographies and Itinerary show students pictures of Mrs. Novak, Dr. Novak and Gretchen. Scroll down to bottom of page and read the itinerary that lists all the places Mrs. Novak. Go to Virtual2009 Castle and click on La Cite de Carcassonne Show students the picture of the castle Mrs. Novak will be staying in. Let students play castle games at bottom of webpage or draw a castle in Paint It. Following Week Virtual Fieldtrip K – 2 Go to Virtual2009 - Blog and group read what posting Mrs. Novak has made. Look at the pictures and see if anything really interests the students. Do a group blog post to Mrs. Novak. Introduce students to French Language webpage. Have students pick out a French name. Write their choice down next to their name on a copy of your roster. Have students have students do French 4 Tots and in particular french4tots words first or BBC - Schools - Primary French. After they do this have them play the French games. Following Week Virtual Fieldtrip K - 2 Go to Virtual2009 - Blog and group read what posting Mrs. Novak has written. Look at the pictures and see if anything really interests the students. Do a group blog post to Mrs. Novak including some of the students French names. Before class, prepare cards or pieces of paper each letter of the alphabet with the letter written on it. Before class, copy empty PowerPoint slide and paste into student folders Slide 1. Hand alphabet cards out to your students and have them write their name on it. Follow instructions on the PowerPoint page. For students that have finished, let them do the French word games in particular Learn French Games ABC puzzle Another Week Virtual Fieldtrip K ~ 2 Go to Virtual2009 - Blog and group read what postings Mrs. Novak has written. Look at the pictures and see if anything really interests the students. Do a group blog post to Mrs. Novak including some of the students French names. Have students finish up their PowerPoint slide and for the ones that are done, give them another letter if you have not used all the letters in the alphabet. For students that have finished, let them go to some of the games that we have used. Final Week Virtual Fieldtrip K - 2 Go to Virtual2009 - Blog and group read what posting Mrs. Novak has written. There may not be anything new. You could write a posting about what the students enjoyed the most about the Virtual Fieldtrip as a group blog post. Working with the students, put all the slides together in one big slide presentation. As a group, you can decide on a background color OR just leave it plain. Show the slide show. Students can do any of the games or activities from the whole virtual fieldtrip. For Grades 3-5 You can pretty much follow the above sequence of activities BUT add the Learning Logs for the students. I would also spend more time on Castles on second or third week. The Castles webpage has some incredible activities including "Destroy the Castle" NOVA Online Medieval Siege Destroy the Castle were they get to design a trebuchet. As to the ABC book in PowerPoint and Grade Three. It is you call whether you do single class book or each student does a book. For Grade 4 and 5, each student should be able to complete a full book or a team of two or three students a full book. If things are going slowly, please give the students an extra week. You really want 95% to 100% completion of this project. Students will definitely need this skill as they move onto Middle School.
Putting PowerPoint Presentations together for Grades K-2 Open PowerPoint and create a new presentation saving it in the root directory of each teacher's folder. After completing the title slide, minimize your class PowerPoint. Go to each students folder and open the slide that they have completed. Go to the slide pane (far left), select the slide (single click) and right mouse click selecting copy from the menu. Close out the student PowerPoint. Click on PowerPoint in the task bar. Put your mouse below the last slide in the slide pane and paste the student slide in the presentation. Repeat this until all student slides are in one presentation. Putting slides in alphabetic order: Click on View in the Menu bar and select Slide Sorter. Put slides in order by dragging and dropping in the correct order. ****Remember: I recommend that you do the alphabetic order as a group activity on the big screen monitor or with Visions. Make it into a game and have the students help you put everything into ABC order!
Quick Activities ~ Learning Log are for Grades 3 -5	Multiple Period Activities
Learning Log Where We Are Going and Time Zones	Virtual Fieldtrip 2009 - Blogging with Mrs. Novak see modifications per grade level
Learning Log South of France	Virtual Fieldtrip 2009 - Your ABC Book See modifications per grade level
Learning Log for Brittany and Normandy	Virtual Fieldtrip 2009 - French Language to be used with Blogging with Mrs. Novak and Your ABC Book
Learning Log for Paris
Learning Log For Castles
Quick Activities - Grades K - 2
See above strategies.
Activities by Grades (Based Upon Skill Level) stands for information suitable but not activity * stands for activity suitable with noted modifications
Grade K-2	Grade Three
** Where We Are Going and Time Zones	Where We Are Going and Time Zones
** Blogging with Mrs. Novak	** Blogging with Mrs. Novak

* Castles	Castles
** Your ABC Book	French Language To be used with Blogging with Mrs. Novak and Your ABC Book
** French Language	Your ABC Book

Grade Four	Grade Five
Where We Are Going and Time Zones	Where We Are Going and Time Zones
Blogging with Mrs. Novak	Blogging with Mrs. Novak
Virtual South of France	Virtual South of France
Castles	Castles
Virtual Brittany and Normandy	Virtual Brittany and Normandy
Virtual Paris	Virtual Paris
French Language To be used with Blogging with Mrs. Novak and Your ABC Book	French Language To be used with Blogging with Mrs. Novak and Your ABC Book
Your ABC Book	Your ABC Book

Below you will see my lesson plans, other teacher lesson plans, grading rubrics and other useful information to help you along with this project. Yours, Claudia Novak
Science NetLinks Destroy the Castle	Generic Lesson Plan for Doing Learning Logs
EDSITEment - Cave Art Lesson Plan	Rubric on PowerPoint ABC Book on France
EDSITEment - La Vie en Cave! Lesson Plan	Learning Log Rubric
Lesson Plans - Paris Scope	Lesson Plan for Virtual Fieldtrip France 2009
Education World - Kids in Castle