Using Animoto To Feature Field Trips

Animoto is a wonderful online movie maker that does all the hard work for you. Simply upload pictures, select or upload music, maybe add some words of explanation, and Animoto will do the rest; It'll automatically match the pictures to the music and creates a theme. 

The free account only allows for a maximum 30 second slideshow, but there is an educational account that allows slideshows to be any length of time. The slideshow below shows off our 4th grade field trip to the Association For Craft Producers for our study in economics and business.

Our Morning Routine

This year I have a class that needs to move... a lot. So instead of having a traditional morning meeting where we gather in a circle and talk and share, I've adopted our "morning routine" from Brent Vasicek, and his routine he shared through his Scholastic blog last year. There are a few differences though. The first thing that our class does is respond to a Morning Message, usually through writing. Our dances have a morning dance leader, to help keep everyone focused. I also have included three of our class economy jobs into the routine: Fact Finder gives two facts every day. Class Clown gives two jokes a day. Our Morning Reporter gives a news report on Mondays and Thursdays.

UN Day Performances

This year our UN Day Elementary finale featured a lot of goodness. Below are two performances my students and I captured:

Change The World:



The Elementary Dance Club: