Not the End of My Tale

  Since we are currently in Australia on our around the world virtual trip, I told this folktale to my students this past week. I even had one student who was able to retell the whole story to the group. Here is a rather similar version that I found on youtube. I prefer to orally tell the story before I share a link for a youtube version. Otherwise, they think the youtube verison is "the truth" and can get upset if the oral version is slightly different. If I tell it first, then I can explain how stories have been passed down and changed by each teller.  Here is the youtube version, which is just one of many if you search for it. You can use this stoy to discuss drought and weather. Or you can discuss greed and sharing. Here are a few discussion questions to get you started: Was it fair that the frog drank up all the water? How should the water be shared for the animals? How can you persuade someone else to do something? How can you make someone laugh?

  About a year ago I had another teacher ask me why I allowed my 3rd graders to “waste class time drawing pictures when they should be learning English”. I am not alone in believing that many children enhance their language learning through art activities such as drawing. Incorporating drawing in our virtual trip around the world this year, I draw together with my students as we visit each country. According to cambridgeenglish.org, there are quite a few other ways to use drawing and crafts to enhance language studies. These do not need to be reserved for preschool children but are effective in older children as well. The writing here can be done solely by the child or with help by having the teacher write the word first on the board and letting the student copy it. Here are a few tips to add drawing to your language teaching.  Students can… Label some of the things in the drawing with words, like sun and beach.  Write captions of what people in the drawing might be saying. Think of

 After making their collaborative film about their visit to New Zealand, the students have answered quiz questions together as a team. I found several great quizzes about New Zealand for free on baamboozle.com.   We tried these digitally, and it worked very well. The students picked the number of the next question and were allowed to discuss their answer with each other and with family members who might be present. I found it beneficial for the students to discuss together what they know or remember about New Zealand.  There are many pre-made quizzes from baamboozle, which are awesome, and I have already found my next one to use for Australia... about Australian animals. Yes, we are on our way to Australia after this on our Virtual Trip Around the World. 

 The second stop on our Around the World Virtual Tour was Hawaii. My students read and watched information from a native Hawaiian. They were especially fascinated to read about her favorite snack- dried plums and her favorite food-poi. Besides picking coconuts and using them, the students liked hearing about pineapple plantations. Food seemed to be the biggest interest in Hawaii, although some students wanted to swim or hike, too. The students were able to make a short video about their visit using adobe spark. This was done while online with me. I shared the page with the film and asked what picture they chose. Then they typed their text in the chat box, an I pasted it into the film. The students I still get to meet in person will make the audio recording for the whole film.  This week we are continuing our trip to New Zealand with a new host who shares quite a bit about the Maori people.