Hi from Ohio, USA!

We are so excited to share our school with you! We are students from Evendale Elementary in Cincinnati, Ohio. We are learning about New Zealand as part of our “One World” track and field day, end of the school year event. Our school year starts in August and goes to June. This year we get out at the end of May. We have less than 2 weeks left in our school year. What months are you in school?

We are excited to share with you a few facts about the United States, our state (Ohio), and our school. We also are excited to be able to ask you a few questions about New Zealand see that your country is like. This is a map of the United States. 

We live in a corner of the state of Ohio, near Kentucky and Indiana, two other states. This is a map of Ohio. Do  you see Cincinnati? This is the city we live near; however, we do not actually live in the downtown part of the city. We live in a area called a “suburb” of Cincinnati. Our school is kind of small. We have a total of 250 students Kindergarten through 5th grade. That means the students range in age from 5 years old to 12 years old. 


Right now, the season in Ohio is Spring. The temperature is about 65 degrees and we are getting a lot of rain. What season is it in New Zealand?



We have been looking at maps and pictures of New Zealand. We found 2 great websites that we have used to see pictures and videos so that we can see how the United States is the same as New Zealand. Today, we looked at the similarities and differences of the flags of the two countries. We also made a few predictions on how many miles there are between Ohio and New Zealand. Can you guess how many miles or kilometers? We use miles to measure for distance. You can see a few of our predications in the picture below.

United States of America flag

The State of Ohio flag

This is our Venn Diagram comparing the New Zealand flag and the USA flag.

Here are a few things we wanted to let you know about us:
Jacob - My favorite foods are apples, Cheetos, yogurt, and cookies. Do you have these foods in New Zealand?
Kearia - My favorite foods are goldfish crackers, orange juice, Sprite, and strawberry chocolate chip ice cream. Do you like these foods too?
Kamaiya - I play soccer. Do you play soccer? What sport is your favorite sport?



Here are a few questions that we have about New Zealand:
Jacob - My favorite book is the Space Encyclopedia. What is your favorite book?
How did the New Zealand flag get the English flag on it?
Penguins are my favorite animals. Do you have penguins in New Zealand? If so, what kinds?

Kearia - What type of land do you have in New Zealand? Jungles? Do you have a zoo?
I like PBS Kids. I watch the Magic School Bus. What is your favorite TV show?
Kamaiya - We have lots of birds in Ohio. Our state bird is the cardinal (a red bird), but my favorite bird is a blue jay. What is your favorite bird?


And one last question from our other Kindergarten class.....
How did the kiwi bird get it's name?


Thank you so much for your time! We look forward to hearing from you and learning a little bit more about your school.


Thanks again!
Mrs. Broxterman's and Mrs. Broenner's classes

iPad Giveaway

A app review site, made up of a great "team" of app reviewers, Smart Apps for Kids is having an iPad giveaway. Check out the site to see how you can win. There is only about 12 hour left to enter, but figure it was worthy of a SHARE.

Best of Luck if you decide to enter!

~Melanie

Our Animal Projects

We have completed our animal projects with the help of some 5th grade tech buddies. The students chose the pictures and placements of the objects. The 5th grade tech buddies helped with some of the accessibility issues, spelling words, and navigating the school's "common drive" to obtain the pictures. It has been a great, collaborative project. I look forward to doing more of these projects next year! We will continue to talk about animals (food, habitat, environment) as we wrap up this school year.

We hope you enjoy our projects!If you have a second or 2, I know the students would love to receive comments! Thanks in advance!

Kamaiya's Elephant Glog created with the help of Joey from 5th grade.

Kearia's Giraffe Glog created with the help of Maggie from 5th grade.

Malone's Kangaroo Glog  created with the help of Jeffery from 5th grade.

Jacob's Emperor Penguin Glog created with the help of Lucas from 5th grade.

* For those of you checking out this blog for the first time, be sure to check out a few of the pages so you can see what the dynamics of our classroom looks like! Thanks for stopping by!!

Learning about the Zoo

Used with CC permission- Flickr user info

With the return from spring break, we will start with a Zoo theme. Here a list of web resources that we will be using during this theme as well as resources that may be of interest to students at home. I will also be posting some of the activities as we complete them in class. If you have any pictures from recent trips to the zoo, please send them in or email them to me. It would be a great way for us to begin discussing the zoo as well as help with generalizing of information.


The National Zoo
The Cincinnati Zoo
Auckland Zoo (New Zealand)
The San Diego Zoo
The Australian Zoo
Put Me in the Zoo webquest
School Zoo Adventure webquest
Dear Zoo webquest
Online Zoo Field Trips by Scholastic
National Geographic Kids - Creature Feature


A few You Tube Videos about the zoo (I have previewed the videos and at the time of post, they were appropriate for student viewing. Please be sure to supervise your child's online time as videos can be changed at anytime.)
The Kids ABC's At The Zoo
We Are Going to the Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo Tube - Cincinnati Zoo You Tube Channel
Emperor Penguins (BBC video)
African Elephant Family in Dessert
Kangaroos
Giraffe



SchoolTube Videos (To use when creating our Glog)
African Elephant
African Elephant
Emperor Penguin
Emperor Penguin BBC
Kangaroo - Katherine's Kangaroo project
My Pet Kangaroo
Mr. Giraffe poem
My Pet Giraffe
Giraffe


iPad apps
Amazing Zoo - interactive book
Peek-a-Zoo - great for cause/effect
Guess This Animal - animal facts and guessing game
Pocket Zoo
Photo Touch Zoo

Who’s New at the Zoo? - memory game
Curious George at the Zoo

FREE iBooks

100 Bug Facts
Baby Animals

Special Education Resources

I had the opportunity to host a Facebook chat as part of Technology in (SPL) Education's celebration of Autism Awareness Month. I hosted a discussion on special education while my Cleveland counterpart, Morgan Kolis (@room5friends), fielded questions and facilitated a discussion around IEPs.

Here are some resources mentioned throughout out discussions. Keep in mind these resources are posted for your information. They are not necessarily recommended my Morgan or myself. J

Discussion about IEPs:

- Re: a question about beginning writing with a child with CP who has limited hand control – Abilitations Integrations AbiliGrip Foam Holders

- Re: An IEP for a student with apraxia- “Apraxia-KIDS”

- Re: An IEP for a student with apraxia- “Working on Reading Comprehension…”

- Re: Questions about IDEA – Ohio’s Whose IDEA Is This? from June 2010

- Re: Conversation about transitions- “Everyone’s Favorite Part of an IEP Meeting: Continuum of Placement Options”

- Re: Conversation about transitions- “Transition to Middle School”

- Re: Conversation about transitions- “Transitioning a Child with Special Needs is Always Difficult”

- Re: Specially Designed Instruction – “Examples of Good IEP Content”

Discussion on Special Education:

- For SMART Board Users- SMART Exchange

- For Resources from Starfall- Make a Calendar

- For Starfall Apps- Starfall ABC, Starfall Gingerbread, Starfall Snowman

- For wording at an IEP meeting- iAdvocate App

- For great blogs- Broxterman’s Bugle

- For great technology in special education- Teaching with Technology 2.0

- For IEP Accommodations and Modifications- A List of Typical Special Ed. Accommodations

- For more accommodations and modifications- Effective Accommodations for IEPs

- For even more – Special Education Terminology

- For programs/products that help differentiate- Learning A-Z

- For inclusion resources- “Re-Imagining Inclusive Supports”

- ShowMe Interactive App for the iPad- ShowMe Tutorial

- More Inclusive Ideas- Include. Belong. Learn.

- For materials- Making Learning Fun and KidsSoup

- For more materials- Childcare Land and Pre-School Printables

- For an Awesome Web Browser just for our kiddos- ZAC Browser

- Free Teaching Resources- Learning Page

- For a Special Education Resource- TinSnips

- A great collection of resources for autism- Positively Autism

- The book Tuesday by David Weisner- Tuesday

- Another web site- ABCmouse

- More resources- File Folder Heaven

- UDL/ Differentiation – UDL Bookbuilder

- For info. about Puberty, etc.- Puberty, Sex Ed. and the Child with Special Needs

- Visual Recipes from Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs

- Another website – sqworl

- To use flash on the iPad- Use Rover.


*This list was used with permission from MKolis.