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Spotlight on the 2002 SIG/Tel Online Award Winners

Second Place Mary Glendening

Learning With Beatrix Potter Mary Glendening Target Audience: K–2

Jefferson Elementary
801 East 13th Street Pella, Iowa 50219
United States
641.628.8267
pcjemrg@pella.k12.ia.us

Project Summary

This is a reading, writing, communication project developed to excite the young learner about an author.

Objectives

This project was developed to give children the opportunity to hear and read many stories by Beatrix Potter, the chance to write using a variety of patterns, and the opportunity to interact with other children who have different backgrounds from across the U.S. and Canada

Necessary Telecommunications Resources

The computer and the digital camera were used for writing, illustrating and the communications with 13 other schools. A multi-media presentation is made using the work, pictures, and voices of the children. It is also made into a video so each child can have a copy to remember their first grade author study

Role of Telecommunications

The children in my first grade classroom were first introduced to 14 of the Beatrix Potter characters, in the form of stuffed animals, and their books. Their stories were read to the children, the children read stories to the characters, and time was given for the children to bond with the characters. After about three weeks the class took a field trip to the Post Office to mail the characters to their new classrooms. From then on communication has been weekly as these characters and their new classmates e-mail each other about things happening in their schools and in their community. Many pictures are e-mailed to each other so my all Caucasian students see the Native Americans in Ft. Vermilion, Canada, the Hispanics and Afro-Americans in New York City. Children pictured on farms and in rural settings are shared with city kids. Children from the South share about Mardi Gras while children from Alaska share about the Iditarod Race. One of the Potter characters asked the other participating classes to help her make a decision. This required that the children had heard her story, had comprehended her problem, and were able to communicate their feelings.

Curriculum Area(s) Involved

This project involves all areas of first grade curriculum. First they are involved in reading and listening to the stories. They repeatedly use the characters in different writing. Based on patterns by Margaret Wise Brown and Bruce McMillan they have written books which are then taken home at night and read to their parents. Math story problems involving the Potter characters have been written and illustrated by the students and later done as homework. Different classrooms were responsible for illustrating and writing sentences using different letters of the alphabet and together the classrooms made an ABC book about the Potter characters. Social Studies is involved as the children locate the other states and countries where the characters now live as well as learn about cultural differences. Science has been included as the children learn about weather in different places. One year one of the participating classes was in Australia so they learned about the different hemispheres, weather, and even school scheduling.

Grade Level(s) Targeted

Grade Levels/Age Groups Targeted: I have always done this project with first graders however, participating schools have ranged from Kindergarten to 2nd grade. This project certainly could be done at any level—just adapt the level of books and author.

Planning Requirements & Procedures

As a coordinator of this project, I must accept applications of interested participants and then choose classrooms each year. I decide on the author for the year and which books to use plus make or buy the stuffed animals. A local foundation has been generous and has funded the project many years. Once those decisions have been made the project runs fairly smoothly. I suggest activities that some classes participate in others don't. Some classes send many pictures and e-mail messages, others fewer. Early in the project I sent out questions of the week about the author. Children in various classes did research and answered them.

Print Materials Needed

We use our local Media Center to get all the books by the chosen author. My students often purchase other books or check them out from the local public library.

Class Management Strategies/Required Activities

Every child participates in the writing activities. All have written their own story about Peter Rabbit. Each child will have taken the character home at least two times and written in the journal about their time together. Most of the participating classes have shared frequently.

Suggested Class Time & Project Duration

In the past this was a second semester project—January through May. This year participating teachers asked that we start earlier so there was more time to share, make books together, and the character could become a class mascot. We started this year in October and will continue through May.

Method(s) for Evaluating Student Achievement of Objectives

Method(s) for Evaluating Student Achievement of Objectives: Although there are many projects that send stuffed animals around the U.S. and other countries this one is quite different. The children learn lots about the author and his/her characters. There is a close communication with other schools that lasts longer than the five days or one week that the stuffed animal visits a school and then moves on. Cooperative activities happen. Children in my class may write math story problems and children in New York City solve them. Activities like the Iditarod that my students would probably not hear anything about become meaningful as students from Alaska send pictures of dogs and mushers. The project is open-ended so I can’t plan exactly what the students will learn any particular year. However, I do have rubrics that help evaluate their writing.