Activity IdeasAs digital pen pals picked up speed in our first year of connecting classes, I began to collect a list of ideas for classroom teachers to use in Seesaw as creative ways to communicate and collaborate beyond a written note or video message. Don't forget Seesaw goes well beyond uploading digital projects! This by far is not an exhaustive list (click on the blue links for original activities or more information):
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Activity Library
Seesaw's Activity Library makes connecting so much easier with ready made activities to assign. No more scouring online to find the perfect lesson or activity for your pen pal pairs! When assigned, each student in the pen pal pair receives their own copy, much like Google Classroom. We've used many of the published activities in the Activity Library for holiday activities or beginning of the year connections. Copying and editing an activity makes creating activities even easier! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this feature and use it often.
Seesaw's Activity Library makes connecting so much easier with ready made activities to assign. No more scouring online to find the perfect lesson or activity for your pen pal pairs! When assigned, each student in the pen pal pair receives their own copy, much like Google Classroom. We've used many of the published activities in the Activity Library for holiday activities or beginning of the year connections. Copying and editing an activity makes creating activities even easier! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this feature and use it often.
Chain Stories
In the note feature, student one writes the first paragraph. Student two opens the note in their Seesaw pen pals class folder and under the chain story note, click on the three dots (bottom right) to find the "edit item" choice. Student two writes their paragraph and submits in their shared folder (continue repeating until the story is finished). If both school divisions have whitelisted each other, try using a shared Google Doc which gives students font and color choices for text. Then, upload the final product into Seesaw. |
National Days
National Day Calendar is the most collective resource for those unique, unusual and fun National Days (Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Pig Day, National Send a Card to a Friend Day)! Plan ahead by checking out monthly listings so your pen pals can #CelebrateEveryDay. There is so much room for creative extensions with these fun days. How about using the note feature to list all the things you've eaten or want to eat on National Eat Something On a Stick Day? Or video messaging your pen pal and reading a poem in your best pirate voice on Talk Like a Pirate Day? How about sending your pen pal your favorite egg recipe on National Egg Day? Or drawing your favorite donut(s) in any app (not just the drawing feature in Seesaw) on National Donut Day?
How could you celebrate National Donald Duck Day (June 9th), National Dance Like a Chicken Day (May 14th) or National Rubber Eraser Day (April 15th)? I believe I could create a fun project two or three days a week from this website to share with my pen pal. Best news ever, we have our own day to celebrate...National Pen Pal Day is June 1!!
National Day Calendar is the most collective resource for those unique, unusual and fun National Days (Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Pig Day, National Send a Card to a Friend Day)! Plan ahead by checking out monthly listings so your pen pals can #CelebrateEveryDay. There is so much room for creative extensions with these fun days. How about using the note feature to list all the things you've eaten or want to eat on National Eat Something On a Stick Day? Or video messaging your pen pal and reading a poem in your best pirate voice on Talk Like a Pirate Day? How about sending your pen pal your favorite egg recipe on National Egg Day? Or drawing your favorite donut(s) in any app (not just the drawing feature in Seesaw) on National Donut Day?
How could you celebrate National Donald Duck Day (June 9th), National Dance Like a Chicken Day (May 14th) or National Rubber Eraser Day (April 15th)? I believe I could create a fun project two or three days a week from this website to share with my pen pal. Best news ever, we have our own day to celebrate...National Pen Pal Day is June 1!!
Book Challenge
Our first book challenge happened naturally during a video chat between two small reading groups. Each group had read a different book in the Reddy, Freddy series and met in a Google Hangout to discuss characters, plot, setting, and their favorite parts. At the end of the video chat, one reading group challenged the other to choose a different book in The Lunch Lady series and meet again to compare and contrast elements of the books. A book or reading challenge could easily be applied to digital pen pals, either from classroom to classroom or from pen pal to pen pal using a video chat (Hangouts, Skype, Zoom, etc.) or by using one of the six features in Seesaw.
Our first book challenge happened naturally during a video chat between two small reading groups. Each group had read a different book in the Reddy, Freddy series and met in a Google Hangout to discuss characters, plot, setting, and their favorite parts. At the end of the video chat, one reading group challenged the other to choose a different book in The Lunch Lady series and meet again to compare and contrast elements of the books. A book or reading challenge could easily be applied to digital pen pals, either from classroom to classroom or from pen pal to pen pal using a video chat (Hangouts, Skype, Zoom, etc.) or by using one of the six features in Seesaw.
The Global Read Aloud
The Global Read Aloud is an excellent way to begin digital pen pals. Kicking off in the beginning of each school year, students are invited to read the same book selection (books are nominated and selected the previous spring) and connect to discuss themes, characters, plot development, etc. Seesaw is the perfect platform to upload projects from Padlet, Book Creator, Adobe Spark or Page, Green Screen (and the list goes on) or to create with one of Seesaw's tools (note, video, drawing, photo).
The Global Read Aloud is an excellent way to begin digital pen pals. Kicking off in the beginning of each school year, students are invited to read the same book selection (books are nominated and selected the previous spring) and connect to discuss themes, characters, plot development, etc. Seesaw is the perfect platform to upload projects from Padlet, Book Creator, Adobe Spark or Page, Green Screen (and the list goes on) or to create with one of Seesaw's tools (note, video, drawing, photo).
Venn Diagrams
When pen pals classes have a video chat, it's often easy to discover similarities and differences between paired students. It can also be apparent, over time, to notice similarities and differences between schools, too. In the drawing feature in Seesaw, pen pal pairs create a venn diagram by drawing and then use the label feature to add text. Or, by using the photo feature, pen pals snap a photo of a paper venn diagram and add labels for text. Or, if a venn diagram is created in Google Slides, upload the jpeg file with the upload file feature and then use labels for text. Here are a few freebie venn diagrams (jpgs) for you to use: blue, yellow, pink.
When pen pals classes have a video chat, it's often easy to discover similarities and differences between paired students. It can also be apparent, over time, to notice similarities and differences between schools, too. In the drawing feature in Seesaw, pen pal pairs create a venn diagram by drawing and then use the label feature to add text. Or, by using the photo feature, pen pals snap a photo of a paper venn diagram and add labels for text. Or, if a venn diagram is created in Google Slides, upload the jpeg file with the upload file feature and then use labels for text. Here are a few freebie venn diagrams (jpgs) for you to use: blue, yellow, pink.
Virtual Valentines
Who doesn't love getting a valentine? The Virtual Valentines Project is an easy, free project designed to teach students geographical awareness and cultural understanding while connecting classrooms all around the world for Valentine's Day. Our pen pals were encouraged to use ideas from this website or to create their own for a virtual valentine this year; some classes used Greenscreen by DoInk, Doodle Buddy, or the drawing feature inside Seesaw. Valentines were delivered right on time!
Who doesn't love getting a valentine? The Virtual Valentines Project is an easy, free project designed to teach students geographical awareness and cultural understanding while connecting classrooms all around the world for Valentine's Day. Our pen pals were encouraged to use ideas from this website or to create their own for a virtual valentine this year; some classes used Greenscreen by DoInk, Doodle Buddy, or the drawing feature inside Seesaw. Valentines were delivered right on time!
Film a Reader's Theatre or a Poetry Reading
Record your performance on your iPad to share. What a fun way to practice your public speaking and/or acting skills! If you'd like to try some Reader's Theatre, check out Teaching Heart for a great selection of scripts for students in kindergarten through third grade . If you're a fourth or fifth grade teacher, you can find a fantastic selection of scripts from Dr. Chase Young on his classroom website. If you'd like to try a Poetry Reading, check out Poetry Out Loud, where you can learn tips to recite poetry and hear well known actors read a selection of poems.
Record your performance on your iPad to share. What a fun way to practice your public speaking and/or acting skills! If you'd like to try some Reader's Theatre, check out Teaching Heart for a great selection of scripts for students in kindergarten through third grade . If you're a fourth or fifth grade teacher, you can find a fantastic selection of scripts from Dr. Chase Young on his classroom website. If you'd like to try a Poetry Reading, check out Poetry Out Loud, where you can learn tips to recite poetry and hear well known actors read a selection of poems.
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Google My Maps
Use My Maps to create a shared map between your classes to pin videos, information, projects, questions, or to discover the world together in a collaborative project. Our first My Maps began by pinning 360 videos for our pen pals. Create a map where students pin their dream vacation or the city where they were born or the country in which their ancestors immigrated. What a perfect way to create and explore our world together. |
360 videos
The possibility of 360 media in our classrooms became reality in our division three years ago with the purchase of an Insta360 Nano, a Samsung Gear 360, and a Ricoh Theta S. Fast forward to today and the ease of sharing 360 images and videos is a dream! We house our photos on Google Photos, our videos on unlisted YouTube playlists, and our virtual field trips on Google Tour Creator. Our first experience with 360 came from our video chat with our fifth grade pen pals in California. We were asked what we enjoyed in PE and our students responded "using the parachute." Our pen pals were confused by how we used the parachute in PE and the rest is history. Our 360 camera was invited into the gym and our students, with the help of our PE teacher, filmed a few games.
Other 360s included a weather report (when it was snowing), a kindergarten Dr. Seuss video for National Read Across America Day, and a GoNoodle Amp Your Mannequin Challenge. It's been so much fun to create 360 photos or videos and send through Seesaw or pin in a Google My Maps. Today, you can embed your Google Tour Creators in Book Creator. SO MUCH FUN!!!!!
The possibility of 360 media in our classrooms became reality in our division three years ago with the purchase of an Insta360 Nano, a Samsung Gear 360, and a Ricoh Theta S. Fast forward to today and the ease of sharing 360 images and videos is a dream! We house our photos on Google Photos, our videos on unlisted YouTube playlists, and our virtual field trips on Google Tour Creator. Our first experience with 360 came from our video chat with our fifth grade pen pals in California. We were asked what we enjoyed in PE and our students responded "using the parachute." Our pen pals were confused by how we used the parachute in PE and the rest is history. Our 360 camera was invited into the gym and our students, with the help of our PE teacher, filmed a few games.
Other 360s included a weather report (when it was snowing), a kindergarten Dr. Seuss video for National Read Across America Day, and a GoNoodle Amp Your Mannequin Challenge. It's been so much fun to create 360 photos or videos and send through Seesaw or pin in a Google My Maps. Today, you can embed your Google Tour Creators in Book Creator. SO MUCH FUN!!!!!