Thursday, November 15, 2012

Saturday, November 10, 2012

http://iearnusa.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/the-wisest-use-of-technology-internationally/ We are so excited to be part of this global collaboration! We look forward to learning alongside others next week!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Caine's Arcade, Global Day of Play

Caine's Arcade: 
Because a small group of students and teachers were inspired by a 9 year old boy from Los Angeles and his cardboard arcade, it evolved into something big in Largo, Florida.  On Friday, October 5, our 4th and 5th graders participated in the Global Day of Play. Our students (and a few teachers) created their own arcade games made completely of cardboard! Fellow students, family members and people of the community were invited to come out and play our games!
"Come out and support our future scientists, engineers, and inventors."
It's free!  Donations are accepted to benefit similiar local charities. 


What is Caine's Arcade?
CDS Student Interview: 



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

El puente



El sol es hermoso detrás del puente.

El puente es un arco iris. 

Las montañas en la parte posterior.


Corey 





Friday, July 6, 2012

Country Day Kids in the News

Read all about our recent trip to Beijing featured today in The Patch!




Monday, June 25, 2012

Past, Present, and Future

"May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future."  Today's technology tools allow you to look at happenings of the time for both past dates and ones of the future.  Simply, type in the date and you will see information on pop culture, the environment, education, politics, and more!


Look to the past...

rewind logo

Take Me Back To

 


Or ahead to the future...


future timeline technology  humanity predictions 2020 2050 21st century21st century
An increasingly globalised humanity is faced with climate change,
dwindling resources, overpopulation and technological upheaval.
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Flat Classroom Pilot Project: Final Publication!

                                            A View from Our Windows
Please check out our contribution to the final publication for the K-2 Pilot Flat Classroom Project!  http://www.youblisher.com/p/348986-A-View-from-Our-Windows/

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Flat Classroom Teacher Summit



This Thursday, Flat Classroom teachers participated in a Teacher Summit to celebrate and share the reflections we have looking back on our Building Bridges to Tomorrow K-2 Project.  We loved sharing about our love of Montessori education and integration of technology into our program.  Here are some great photos of our students from Turkey and Florida creating and sharing through mail!





In celebration of our collaboration and co-creation, our groups created a Prezi sharing our Me on the Map experience.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Rock Our World Global Celebration




Last Friday, 3rd and 4th grade students joined in for a LIVE global celebration with students from around the world.  We were able to share our project and were featured on a live segment.  Creator, Carol Anne Maguire asked our students about their Rock Our World experience!  During the celebration, our students back channeled on Edmodo, communicating with the producers and other classes!  We danced, we sang, and we celebrated!  It "rocked!"

Global Games




During Flat Classroom with the 1st graders and Kindergarteners, we learned from our friends in Montana!  They created videos for us on games they enjoy at their school, then we tried!  Our favorites were WALL BALL and Sight Word Uno!  Thanks to our friends  in Miss Jolley's class!  Want to check out their videos? Click here: https://docs.google.com/a/countrydaylargo.com/presentation/d/1frPUZqzv-KqOZvWQ_-mdR1uCU_jqjxP4782pygPK4Mw/edit#slide=id.g30b675b_0_2

Sunday, May 20, 2012

We Can Make a Difference: R.O.W. Poetry Slam submission

Rock Our World – An International Collaboration


This spring, Country Day School 3rd and 4th graders participated in Rock Our World. Rock Our World is “an innovative, international and colaborative challenge-based learning project that connects students from all over the globe. Together we create original music, create movies, and celebrate in a world-wide webinar affectionately known as Family Night” (Carol-Anne McGuire, founder).




“Using Apple’s GarageBand, each country creates a 30 second drum beat.  Every Friday, that drum rotates to another country, where the bass guitar is added.  It keeps getting passed along, from country to country.  At each stop, one more instrument is added.  When it comes back to the original country, it has touched students from all over the world! While the music is moving, students have opportunities to meet each other in live video chats to discuss various topics of curriculum” (McGuire). Country Day School rocked under the guidance of teacher Mrs. Tave and skyped with a partner school in Pennsylvania, where even their class pet guinea pig met our guinea pig and llama! Amazing!

This spring, R.O.W. assigned the theme “We Can Make a Difference” and named the challenge-based project as a Poetry Slam.  Under the guidance of Mrs. Levine, CDS students collaboratively wrote an acrostic poem, wrote the music, played the music, and choreographed the video production. 


Finally, with the help of 8th grader, Jared Hirschfield, and Mrs. Siracusa, the video was produced in iMovie, and later sent back to R.O.W. for the Family Night Celebration on May 17 & 18.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yvTyJLgdzc


On Friday, May 18th at 2:00 p.m., CDS students and teachers gathered in Cottage 4 to simultaneously view  the Family Night celebration on the live webstream on our bigscreen. Third and fourth grade students used iPads and laptops to simultaneously “backchannel” on the social media website Edmodo while watching the program. Six students excitedly and anxiously awaited their turn to be broadcast live for their interview and video showing. When finally came their turn, our students articulated their words well, made Carol-Anne laugh, and we all participated in a simultaneous “dance party!” It was truly amazing!
Fellow “Rocker” teachers and guests on-hand in Cottage 4 included Mr. Gillette, Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Metka, Mr. Bosés, Mr. DiAngelus and Mrs. Siracusa. They were so excited to participate in the celebration, and were heard to comment:
“Such fun!”
“I cannot even begin to tell you how impressed I am with the final project.”
“My favorite part was the process and the collaboration between classes, teachers, and schools around the world!  Projects such as these are what truly "make a difference" in the lives of these students.”
“Many congrats!”

As soon as the Spring 2012 Family Night video is made available, we will provide a link here. Until then, “keep rockin’!”

For more information on this Country Day global project, please contact Mrs. Siracusa or Mrs. Williams. Also, check out the Rock Our World website at

Friday, May 11, 2012

Mi Viaje a China


lunes:
 Fui a China. Yo comí arroz y pollo.
martes: 
 Fui a Tianamen Square y Forbidden City. Nosotros visitamos Beijing Royal School. Nosotros jugamos basquetbol.
mièrcoles:
  Nosotros manejamos a la Gran Muralla China. Yo subí la Gran Muralla China. Nosotros visitamos Sun Village.
jueves:
 Nosotros caminamos Summer Palace. Yo montó un barco.
viernes:
 Nosotros manejamos Beijing Zoo. Yo mirè pandas. Nosotros caminamos el mercado.
sabado:
 Yo comprè una camisa en el mercado. 

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0nn42nnM7qI



My Experience

This is a trip I will never forget… China Trip 2012. What other middle school in the U.S. has been to China? One of my favorite parts was climbing The Great Wall of China. I have wanted to climb The Great Wall of China for so long. Once I got on the wall I was so excited, but a little scared. The higher you get the less crowded. At the beginning I held on the railing hoping not to fall off, but the higher you got the more comfortable you were. Once I got down I remembered whet our tour guide said: In China once you climb The Great Wall of China you are a hero. Then I felt really accomplished and realized we are heroes.
A.M.

Monday, May 7, 2012

A letter flied from Minnesota to Istanbul.




 We recived a letter from Minnesota Friends. We talk about their wonderful world project and we realize that all of us are a part of The World. :)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

The Great Wall by Sam

       Going to the Great Wall of China was the most memorable experience I have ever had. I will remember it as a experience with my friends and mom. The most  exhilarating part of the hike was the huge winds at the top in the little tower at the end of the wall. Although there was a terrifying view down it was gorgeous. The hike only took around one hour all together and at the end we were crowned heroes. 
        The steps were steep,but some were short which made it so much easier on the way down. The air pressure got higher and higher, but we had water when we needed it most. After a few thousand steps it was nice to have a long bus ride to our next destination to just sit back, rest and stretch out. All in all I think China was the most exotic place I have and ever will go to in  this lifetime.

Friday, May 4, 2012

China by wyatt williams

China By Wyatt Williams

China was a once-in-a-lifetime trip.  Well, for a 12 year old.  We had a great time, for example, we went to the Great Wall of China.  And we walked up to the highest point!  At least some of us did.  We went to other places also.  We went to The Jade factory, Sun Village,  A Tea factory, multiple markets, and many others.  So much others that I cant name them all.  My personal favorite place we went was the Forbidden City.  I liked it the most due to it being the home of emperors.  It had 9,999 rooms, because 10,000 would be equivalent to the number of rooms as the jade emperors palace.  If I had to pick a second, it would most likely be the Buddhist Temple.  I thought that was interesting because one of the statues held a world record.  To be exact, the record was the tallest Buddha statue standing today.  It was made completely made of one tree trunk, and it was 55 feet tall!  Some other things I did were ride a segway  on an Olympic track, eat chinese food for lunch and dinner for the hole trip, and have a great time!