A class blog is an effective way to use technology in support of student learning. It’s also a great way to strengthen the relationship between the school and parents.
Armed with a digital camera, each student in a Grade one class took turns documenting, then narrating to others what the class learned that day. The teacher found the children had learned to communicate their ideas more effectively when they were asked to produce authentic work for a real audience.
Thursday, September 17
Today, in mathematics we filled a glass container with drops of water using the eyedropper. We estimated how many drops it would take to fill the container. I thought it would take 18 eyedroppers to fill it up. I was right. Other students had different estimates.
After recess and snack, we read a story called Swimmy. It was about a fish who can swim really fast. A big Tuna fish came and ate all of Swimmy’s friends. Swimmy was all alone and went looking for friends. He found a jellyfish, a lobster, and seaweed. I like to eat seaweed! Then he found more fish his size and made a school. We wrote about the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story.
After lunch, we wrote in our journals. I wrote lots of words about my friends. We practiced what we knew about the water cycle by acting out precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. Our grade 5-6 buddies came and I read a book with Zion.
It was a busy day and I am an awesome writer!
Day 180
Wednesday, June 23
It was really sunny today. It felt like freedom! It was 24 degrees which felt really hot.
Today we went to the Bow Habitat Station for our field trip. The Bow Habitat Station was built so that people could learn about water and the life around the the Bow River Habitat.
I (Kailynn) learned that fish are very smooth and they need fresh water. We got to feed the Rainbow Trout and touch a fish at the fish hatchery. It was kind of like owning a pet fish because when I used to have a pet fish, they felt the same as the Rainbow Trout. Almost 2 million fish are released from the hatchery every year. If fish don’t have clean water, they won’t live.
I (Sarah) didn’t know that fish lay a bunch of eggs at the same time. Sometimes the fish in the hatchery need help to lay their eggs. I saw a picture of a human’s hands squeezing the fish which helped get the eggs out in the fish hatchery.
In the afternoon, we went for a nature walk and a guide told us about the trees and the 
birds. He told us about a duck that layed her eggs in a tree and the chicks had to fly down from the nest. I (Sarah) felt the needles from a larch tree that were very soft. We went to a pond where we took a bucket of water. We took a fish net and got some mud from the pond. We looked through the mud for bugs and put them into a jar. Then we took a close look at them. I (Kailynn) caught a worm and a beetle (predacious diving beetle). We found a huge spider, a leech, and a caddisfly larvae. They were bugs (aquatic invertebrates) that lived in the water. They don’t have a skeleton like us. If people knew more about the bugs that live in the water, maybe they wouldn’t pollute the water. Bugs are really important to the life of the pond.
We recommend that people go to the Bow River Habitat Station.
At the end of the day, we got to take our boats home that we built!
It was an awesomely awesome day!
(As told by Sarah and Kailynn)
To see details of teacher planning and student work in a variety of subject areas and classrooms, see Classroom Examples.
