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Glenwood, West students video chat for assignment
[April 23, 2013]

Glenwood, West students video chat for assignment


Apr 24, 2013 (The McDowell News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Technology recently helped a group of second-graders visit students in another school without ever leaving their classroom.

Second-graders in Beth Silver's class at Glenwood Elementary recently used Facetime, a video chat program available on Apple products, to visit with student athletes at West McDowell Junior High for a project based on a book the class is reading.



The book, "Just Like Josh Gibson" by Angela Johnson, takes places in a time when women and African Americans were excluded from playing professional sports.

To build on comprehension skills associated with the story, Silver arranged the activity so students could compare and contrast modern athletes to those of the past.


With the help of West McDowell Health and P.E. teacher Scott Page, Silver planned the activity, which let students interview her daughter, Anna Silver, a JV softball players for McDowell High School; and Justin Burleson, a JV baseball player for McDowell High, during Page's class.

After getting approval from both schools' principals, Silver set up the interview, which would take place by using an iPhone and the class' iPad, which was purchased earlier in the year with Title One funding through McDowell County Schools.

During the interview, second-graders asked questions about the two sports and were able to find similarities and differences among them -- all done through cyberspace.

Second-graders took notes while both student-athletes answered questions about their individual sports. Those notes were later used to write a story comparing the two sports.

Silver was pleased with the success of this activity and thinks it is a shining example of how working together is key to a project's success.

"This is an example of how teachers in McDowell County Schools work collaboratively with each other," said Silver. "Also, anytime we can use these student-athletes as role models for our younger students, it is an asset to our school system." ___ (c)2013 The McDowell News (Marion, N.C.) Visit The McDowell News (Marion, N.C.) at www.mcdowellnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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