Bringing us together http://studentfriends.edublogs.org International student writers: friends since 2008 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:41:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 New keen bloggers wanted http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/11/08/new-keen-bloggers-wanted/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/11/08/new-keen-bloggers-wanted/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:51:04 +0000 Miss W. http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=93 As the student blogging challenge for the year 2009 is drawing to a close, we need some new keen bloggers and classroom teachers to add to the blogroll here.  Teachers will have a chance to nominate students they feel have improved throughout the challenge and also those students who have written interesting posts not necessarily just those from the challenge.

Some classes might like to join this blog and take a turn at writing the posts every week.  Check out the first few posts written by students – do you think you could do this?

 

Heroes from students in Argentina – included a poll

Podcasting with students in South Africa

Bushfires from a student in Australia

Around the world in 80 days by students in USA

Valentine’s Day by a student in Portugal

One wish by students in USA

What’s for a snack? by students in Canada

Original image: ‘Working Together Teamwork Puzzle Concept‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22177648@N06/2137737248
by: Scott Maxwell
Released under an Attribution-ShareAlike License
]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/11/08/new-keen-bloggers-wanted/feed/ 1 Congratulations http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/23/congratulations-2/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/23/congratulations-2/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:59:14 +0000 Miss W. http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=92 Congratulations to the readers and writers on this international blog.  We began this blog early in January 2009 in response to students who had taken part in the 2008 student blogging challenge. Since that time, we have had over 2500 visitors from 55 countries of the world.  We have written 35 posts – that is at least one every week and have received over 440 comments.

congratulations

Photo source

If you and your teacher or class would like to join us, please email Miss Wyatt (see image below).  Check out our pages on “About this blog” and “Who is involved” to find out more about the authors and classes.

 

Image of Email address

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/23/congratulations-2/feed/ 1 Triumph over Adversity http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/23/triumph-over-adversity/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/23/triumph-over-adversity/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:39:41 +0000 Miss W. http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=91 In my grade 6/7 and grade 8 history classes, we have been looking at what it means to triumph over adversity.

How to overcome challenges?

How to solve problems?

Some names mentioned have been Vivian Bullwinkel - nurse and Prisoner of War (Australia), Nelson Mandela (South Africa), Captain Cook or early sea explorers, Sam Cawthorn (local Tasmanian) and people with eating disorders. After researching some of these people students wrote their own posts and then created a wordle about the topic.

Is there someone in particular in your country

or your family who you feel has had to overcome adversity? 

Tell us a bit about them in a post on your blog or in a comment here on this post. Remember to be internet savvy and not mention full names if you feel they would not like it mentioned on the internet. If writing in your blog, make sure you add a link back to this post so we get a trackback to know where people are writing about this blog.

Image from Picasaweb  Photos by  Peta-de-Aztlan

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/23/triumph-over-adversity/feed/ 1 End of the school holidays in Cape Town, South Africa! http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/18/90/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/18/90/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:33:30 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=90 Well, here in Cape Town, South Africa, the school holidays are coming to a rapid end – the third term makes its presence felt on Monday 20th August! Thanks to this blog, our Grade 4&5 class got involved in some inspiring collaborative projects last term culminating in three-nation stories written between our Cape Town class, Miss Ale’s Grade 6 groups in Argentina and Mr Millward’s Intermediate class in Canada. I am going to put a couple of the stories below, along with a video Miss Ale made to say thank you for the collaboration. (I found this on her blog. Thank you Miss Ale!) Does anyone have any ideas for collaboration this coming term? It is something that is really enjoyed by both students and teachers alike.

Miss Ale’s video

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/07/18/90/feed/ 2 Collaborative stories across two countries http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/23/collaborative-stories-across-two-countries/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/23/collaborative-stories-across-two-countries/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:09:30 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=88 Miss Ale’s class in Argentina and my Grade 4/5 class in South Africa have been writing stories collaboratively in circle groups using Etherpad.  I have been looking around for ways of presenting these stories on blogs using a programme other than Empressr which downloads very slowly or sometimes not at all. I came across Slideboom.com and am eager to see if it opens up more easily. (Don’t forget to use the full screen button on the right bottom). There’s only one problem – anyone viewing can download the story as well. Do you think this is something that can be abused?

 

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/23/collaborative-stories-across-two-countries/feed/ 7 Podcasting http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/20/podcasting/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/20/podcasting/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:36:43 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=87 Have you ever thought of putting a podcast of an extract from a book on your blog? We have great fun this week reading into the microphone.  Listen to Gaiwhe (online name) from Grade 4/5 in Cape Town reading an extract from “George’s Marvelous Medicine” by Raold Dahl.

To listen to a few more extracts please visit our Grade 4/5 class blog at http://fionabeal.edublogs.org

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/20/podcasting/feed/ 7 More about collaborative writing http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/more-about-collaborative-writing/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/more-about-collaborative-writing/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:41:02 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=86 I think it is amazing that we can use blogging to do such fun-filled collaborative tasks! Miss Ale’s Grade 6 class in Argentina and my Grade 4/5 class in Cape Town have just written collaborative stories – we did all the Part 1’s using Etherpad, and they did all the Part 2’s. Exciting! (Miss Ale and I are just about to start three-way collaborative stories involving Mr Millward’s class in Canada). Does anyone have any other suggestions of programmes that can embed stories in blogs? ( 24th June: Initially the story was placed in this post using another programme that was slow to download, so I have redone it) Here is one of the collaborative stories:

The Locket and the Chest

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/more-about-collaborative-writing/feed/ 5 Collaborative writing http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/04/collaborative-writing/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/04/collaborative-writing/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:16:15 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=85 Hello from Cape Town again. After completing our exciting Senior Citizens project (http://fionabeal.edublogs.org), we were introduced to the wonderful writing progamme Etherpad, and decided to explore collaborative story writing in class. This has been great fun. We put the Etherpad stories into Powerpoint, illustrated them with one of our graphic progammes and then imported them (of late) using Slideboom.com. I am including one of our stories. Just wondering – what kinds of programmes do you use to illustrate and publish digital stories?

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/06/04/collaborative-writing/feed/ 9 What do you do in your holidays? http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/05/28/what-do-you-do-in-your-holidays/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/05/28/what-do-you-do-in-your-holidays/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 13:48:14 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=83

This is Fiona Beal from Cape Town writing again. Summer holidays are here for many of you in the northern hemisphere. Lucky you! We are wondering – what sorts of activities do you do in your holidays in your country? Do you find the holidays too long – or not long enough? This is a picture of Grade 4/5 B in Cape Town right at the top of Table Mountain, a very popular tourist site. Here is an idea for something to consider doing in your holidays. Miss Ale in Argentina (http://yearsixale.blogspot.com) directed me to this programme called Etherpad (Etherpad.com) for writing collaborative stories. It is really great. We have had such fun with it in class, writing collaborative stories with four in a group. Do you think it would be a useful tool to use to write stories with others in the holidays?

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/05/28/what-do-you-do-in-your-holidays/feed/ 8 Our Senior Citizens project in Cape Town, South Africa http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/05/18/our-senior-citizens-project-in-cape-town-south-africa/ http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/05/18/our-senior-citizens-project-in-cape-town-south-africa/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 14:04:14 +0000 fionabeal http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/?p=80 How much do we know about the early lives of our senior citizens? What can we learn from them? Our Gr4&5B class at Fish Hoek Primary found that we can learn to blog creatively by getting to know our senior citizens better. We also found that we could introduce our senior citizens to the wonderful world of blogging for themselves. But most of all we learned that we can bond through blogging. Please visit our classroom blog at http://fionabeal.edublogs.org and view our Senior citizen’s project. (Don’t forget to leave a comment). We have loved doing this project. We are very excited about finding a great way of being in contact with classes around the world. Could you let us know something about the senior citizens in your lives? What do they mean to you? Did they have any particularly interesting experiences in their youth? What words of wisdom can they pass on to you? Perhaps you could even try a similar project to ours and see how it goes.

]]> http://studentfriends.edublogs.org/2009/05/18/our-senior-citizens-project-in-cape-town-south-africa/feed/ 3