• Title: Teddy on Tour

    Class Group: First Class

    Age Group:     6-7 years

    Project Partners:
  • Scoil Chríost Rí, Cloughleigh, Ennis
  • Holy Family Junior School, Station Road, Ennis

    Subject Area: English, Geography

    Project Description: Two school teddies were sent on holiday to a neighbouring school. A different child entertained the teddy each day. At school the following day, the child described teddy's adventures orally and in written form. At the end of each week e-mails were swapped to inform the participating schools of their own teddy's well being.

    Goals of the Project:
    1. That the children would develop an understanding of distance and place by sending their teddy to another school, just a few miles away - a place that they know exists and that they have seen.
    2. That the children's oral language would improve as they relay to their peers the adventures that teddy had on the day that they were with him.
    3. That these young children would become more fluent in writing about personal experiences.
    4. That the children write their stories for the benefits of others and thus the art of writing is embraced in a meaningful context.
    5. That the children enjoy communicating with their peers in another school.
    6. That the children understand the use and benefit of e-mail.

    Display:
  • E-mails with text and photos, which were printed and displayed on classroom notice boards.
  • Web site
  • Summary poster which is displayed in the computer room.

    Prerequisite learning
  • Basic reading and writing skills (First Class standard)
  • An ability to tell a story
  • Familiarity with a word processing package that both schools can work with.

    Prerequisite resources
  • A Teddy
  • Internet/e-mail access
  • A Digital camera
  • A computer
  • Storybookweaver Deluxe

    Management of the Project:
    The two teachers involved had a meeting to discuss a time line for the project. They also decided on
  • A Word Processing Package
  • Content of stories (visit of teddy to each child's home)
  • Use of digital camera

    The teachers then arranged an interim meeting to discuss how the project was progressing and to make any necessary adjustments to their outline.

    Organisation of the class
  • One child brought teddy home each night. He/she talked about and wrote his/her account of teddy's adventure in school the next day.
  • On each Friday of the 5 weeks the stories and digital photos were e-mailed to the partner school.

    Time Scale    : 5 weeks Oct./Nov.1999

    Support: The ICT Teacher assisted the class teacher with any technical difficulties.

    Training    : The children and their teacher learned simultaneously how to use the digital camera and school e-mail. The ICT Teacher supported them.

    Evaluation:
    Positive Aspects
  • The children thoroughly enjoyed hosting the visiting teddy and during his stay, he was the centre of classroom attention.
  • Children gained confidence in oral language and their writing skills, spelling and reading were put to meaningful use.
  • Teachers felt that the project content was highly relevant to the children's educational needs and as a result that it was worthwhile.
    Negative Aspects
  • The project demanded a lot of class time and teacher dedication in ensuring that e-mails were sent on time and that each child had equal opportunities.
Holy Family Junior School
SIP 058
Top of Page
Resources