I will admit that this is a homework assignment from a grad class. It was too good not to share though. I am totally and completely in love with it. Some days I wish I just had a class in my back pocket that I could test all these crazy ideas with. This post is from the POV of a class creating these rules and overall webpage.
Mission Statement and Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to connect with many other music classrooms from all over the globe in the spirit of music and sharing. Students will learn about each country they connect with, share traditional American folk songs with other students in other countries, and learn a traditional folk song from the visiting country. This project will promote connecting with others on a global scale through music and appreciation of cultures other than their own. The final product will be a Google Map showing all of the places we visit.
What everyone is saying:
- “The students are excited all day to get to music and connect with a new classroom, this is creating a buzz around school I’ve never heard before”
- “What a great way to collaborate and get the students learning about Geography and be really excited.”
- “This is showing students that there is a whole new world out there beyond the town they live in and it only takes a little motivation to go explore it”
How we are preparing it:
- Using the website Skype Classroom, we are connecting with classrooms from around the world who are looking to connect musically like us.
- We will also use our Twitter account
- Once we find a class to connect with we schedule a time that will be good for the both of us.
- Then we will go into our regular classroom and with the help of our classroom teacher, we will research more about the country our new friends are from.
- Taking the research we get from class we will pin it to our new map of all the countries we visit virtually.
- In music we will choose and learn a traditional American folk song that we will share with our friends when we Skype.
- We will also be sure to invite our school and district administration to come see us connect with our new friends.
On the day of our Skype:
- We will be sure to remind ourselves of our classroom rules and show respect to the class we are going to be talking with.
- We will remember to listen and know that we are representing our school and country.
- We know our teacher Ms. Dwinal will have tested the connection already so we don’t have to worry about technology problems.
- Our singing voices will be at our best.
- We will ask well thought out questions to our new friends, and give our best answers to theirs.
- We will be excited to meet kids like us from a different culture and share our music!
After the day of our Skype:
- We will add our new information about our friends to our map.
- Our class will reflect on how it went and what we learned for the future.
Songs we have learned during this project:
- Research about the country they will be Skyping with.
- Help to fill the map (linked above) with facts about the country
- Learn and practice an American Folk song
- Represent their country as they Skype and remember classroom rules.
- Reflect as a class and fill out the Student Response form with individual reflections.
The Celtic Novelist 