The days leading up to Winter Break, is a great time for students to dive into some non fiction reading and research how holidays are celebrated in other countries around the world. There is an opportunity for many great extension activities among a variety of content areas.
In early November, two 4th grade teachers approached me about converting a previously very lengthy paper packet to something digital. We explored a few options together and finally landed on Pages.
In Pages, the teachers and I created a mini booklet that contained some information regarding the celebrations, however students were welcome to research additional information in their groups. This also connected well to group discussions on how to safely search for photos, but how we respectfully use photos when being aware of copyrights.
Once the research was completed in Pages, students were then given a choice of how their group wanted to present their content. Most selected to use one of their new favorite resources, Apple Clips.
What made this project unique, is that two classrooms came together to jigsaw 17 countries. Each room completed roughly eight countries that they would present to each other. During the presentation process, students then completed their passport notes in Book Creator.
The students loved this project, and it was so great to see their smiling faces!
Teaching In Stride 