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When students realize that there is a real audience and an authentic purpose for the tasks they do in their learning environment they are motivated to read and write. They will be engrossed and focused on their writing as time slips away from them. You will have to remind them that class is over and it is time to move to the next activity.

Dear Mr. Matt and Mr. Dave,
I really like when you write to me. I wish I could write to you all of the time. Thursday July 25, 2996 is our last day of school. Hope I hear from you soon. JarrellI did not like summer school until I wrote to you men. I always wake up in the morning looking foreword to writing to you men. I would like to see you. If you are in Salisbury could you stop by North Salisbury School and ask for Jarrell Chandler. Well this is my last day writing to you. If I hear from you two I will be so happy. The feeling of not touching these keys again makes me sad. If I could give you something I would for writing back to me. Thank you for all of your letters. You did not have to write to me but you did. I just can't stop saying thank you.
Your friend,
Jarrell Chandler

Dear Mr. Matt and Mr. Dave
It looks like I'll be writing to you. I am so happy. This morning I walked in the classroom and ask the teacher did I get a reply from you. So how are you doing. I hope fine. Do you know this is the funniest thing I did. It make me feel happy. I wish you were down here so that I can talk to you. I am saving all your letters. If I never came to summer school I would not be talking to you today. But I do want to do good in school. This keeps me occupied. I like talk to you. My hand feel good touching these keys again.
Your friend,
Jarrell

Projects that motivate students to read and write:
  1. Adult mentors:
    1. Connecting from the Ice Antarctic Adventure - a year long project which brought two scientists to our school. Their second visit was on their way home from a "winter over" in Antarctica. The men were doing satellite tracking at McMurdo and wrote to our students during the whole school year and into the next.
    2. "Authors in Residence"
    3. Pacemaker - a year long project which supported a sixth grade science unit on the heart. A male nurse who programs pacemakers during operations for pacemaker patients wrote to our students and answered their questions about pacemakers and the heart.
  2. Writing in the Math classroom:
    1. Math Puzzles - a math project where students cleverly write math word problems without numbers for global partners to solve. Many content areas are also included as students do research to create and solve their puzzles. | Puzzles from South Africa |
    2. Kids@work: Math in the Cyberzone - Climb Into My Shadow. Students write a journal for a complete school day and compare notes.
    3. Math story problems from Botswana - solved by Delmar students
    4. Analyzing first grade career data - Grade 3 students move from data to information to insight.
    5. First graders describe their patterns. Combining an interactive online Pattern Blocks activity with writing.
    6. Interactive Math Sites
  3. Global Online Projects:
    1. Grandmother and Me - an ongoing project which encourages reading, writing and art
    2. Through Our Eyes - an annual Kidlink project that fosters collaborative writing describing a place where each class lives
    3. Who Am I? - an eight month program divided into six modules which have their own discussion questions and classroom activities
    4. I Have a Dream - a year long program that encourages students to act now on their dreams for a better world
Publishing Student Work:
  1. Building (Language) Bridges wwwboard - a place where students can post text and pictures for Kidlink projects
  2. KidSpace - a place for student work within Kidlink
How to begin your own Global Classroom
  1. A look inside the Global Classroom at Delmar Elementary - What does a global classroom look like?
  2. Finding global partners Students on the left sidebar are online friends of students at Delmar Elementary. Where and how did we meet them? - in Kidlink
  3. joining projects or designing your own - The choice is yours and depends on your curriculum needs.
Strategies and Organizers
  1. Strategies to improve writing and MSPAP scores


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Patti Weeg pweeg@comcast.net