Berkley Students Skype with Peers at Gibbs

Pen pal communication entered a new realm in two New Milford second grade classes when students used Skype to meet their pen pals.

This project was originated several years back by Berkley School second grade teacher Jessica Stich and Gibbs School second grade teacher Lynda Woletz. Each year, students are paired up with a child from across town and they write letters throughout the second grade.  This year, with the help of the elementary media specialists, Berkley’s Dora Oliviero and Gibbs’ Stacy Noveshelski, students Skyped to see their pen pals live and ask them some questions.

In November, children were paired up with a student from the other elementary school. They sent letters to each other in which they shared likes and dislikes, hobbies, books they read and more. “The kids really enjoy this project,” said Stich. “Some of them realize for the first time that Gibbs is another school in their town! Or, they learn that other kids their age read the same books they do.”

On March 16, Stich’s class went to the Berkley Media Center and Woletz’s class went to the Gibbs Media Center. The media specialists created Skype accounts for each school, downloaded the software and set up the chat. Webcams were set up and the phone call was made to the appropriate web address. Each class gathered in front of the Smartboard and watched as their pen pals appeared on the screen in front of them.

To ease some of the children’s anxiety and help facilitate the meeting, the teachers gave them specific questions to ask their pen pals. Pair by pair, the pen pals went up to the webcam and greeted each other. The Berkley students asked the Gibbs pals what their favorite pets are; the Gibbs children asked what their pals’ favorite sports are.

“We are using 21st century educational technology skills (Web 2.0) to enhance and support instruction and student learning,” said Oliviero. “Skype is an excellent way to communicate with other students not only across town, but possibly for Berkley or Gibbs, one day across the country. We are trying to embrace our technology-driven world by incorporating it into the classroom.”

Stich and Woletz  seized another teaching opportunity by showing their students how to graph. As each pen pal pair spoke, the rest of the students listened to the answers and recorded them. The media specialists will take the project even further when these two classes create a class graph of their results using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet during future media classes.

The pen pals will continue to communicate through letters for the remainder of the school year. In June, they will come together for a face-to-face meeting and party.  They will interview one another, eat pizza and enjoy some good, old-fashioned playtime.

Upcoming Berkley Events:

• March 28 - April 1: Afterschool Drama Program. Rehearsals are Monday - Thursday from 3:20 - 5:20. Performance is Friday evening, April 1.
• March 29: Town budget hearing.
• April 11 -15: Incoming Kindergarten Audio-Visual Screenings.
• April 18 - 22: School closed for Spring Break.
• April 29: Berkley-a-Thon. (PTO sponsored walk-a-thon)
• May 13: D.J. Night.