Another Hampden Meadows Shout-Out

I've visited Hampden Meadows Elementary School in Barrington, Rhode Island, for many years.

They are without a doubt one of the BEST schools for an author to visit.

The kids are so well prepared.

They've read almost all of my books.

They've made fantastic art projects and posters about the books.

They decorate the hallway.

And best of all, they are as excited to meet me as I am to meet them.

You can see some of my past visits HERE.

But now I've moved down to North Carolina - too far to visit.

So we did the next best thing, thanks to teacher Mrs. Mitchell and media specialist Melanie Roy.

We Skyped.

 

And once again, I was absolutely blown away by the time and effort the kids put into my books.

Check out these great projects.

 

 

 And one student made an amazing stop motion video that I will post when it's available on YouTube.

Thank you, Hampden Meadows!!!

 

Shout Out to Kansas

Thanks to the sixth graders

from South Middle School

in Salina, Kansas

For hanging out with me today

 

Things I Love Thursday

I love this video of students at Pomperaug Elementary School in Southbury, CT. 

They discuss what they learned from their Skype session with me. Also included are some snippets of the Skype (starting at minute mark 2:51).

Special thanks to Ms. Martellino for sending me this. 

A great Skype visit

I had a great Skype visit with 4th-grade students at Fort Worth Academy.

This is what greeted me when I first logged on:

Love that!

They had great questions and one student showed me her amazing artwork:

 

Their teacher, Ms. Bonin, sent me these cool pictures of her students reading on the playground.

 

Thank you, Fort Worth Academy!

Things I Love Thursday

I love Skype days.

With students at Gwin Oaks Elementary in Gwinnett, GA

More Gwin Oaks students. Thank you, Ms. Amolo!

A teacher at Fort Worth Academy showed me her dog, Plato, posing like the cover of How to Steal a Dog. Go, Plato!

Two Things on Tuesday

Thing One

Look what I got!

 

Paperback edition of On the Road to Mr. Mineo's

Thing Two

 

Skyping with students in Ecuador.

Don't you love how Skype makes a big world smaller?

 

 

Coast to coast and back again

One day this week, I was visiting a school on the opposite coast. (They are on the West Coast. I am on the East Coast.)



Then I was at a school here in New England that made me feel so welcome. They posted this sign on every door and up and down the halls.

Travelling in my slippers

I've been doing quite a few Skype visits with schools recently.

It still seems amazing to me that I can chat with kids in faraway places right from my home.

I didn't even have to change out of my slippers to visit Georgia:

Or Texas:

Or Thailand:

Making a big world smaller

Tonight I am Skyping with the International School in Bangkok, Thailand.

Isn't it amazing to be talking to students in another part of the world while sitting at home in my jammies? (Okay, I might not have my jammies on.)

Here is the librarian's blog.

And this is what the teacher wrote to me:



Here is some background info about our class and our reading of Greetings From Nowhere:

Our class of 21 fifth graders represents 8 nationalities. Eight children are new to our school this year in Bangkok. I chose to read Greetings From Nowhere aloud to the class as it is such a great lead-in to our reading unit on "Characters", where we ask the question, "How can the people in stories be like me?"

We are discovering that characters, like real people, are complex and can change. As readers, we are talking about how we develop empathy for and connections to the characters in the story.

The class LOVED the story, start to finish, and they were quite disappointed to find out that it was NOT part of a series! I am continually amazed at how my groups of internationally diverse students relate to the small world of the Sleepy Time Motel.

I think they have discovered big life lessons in that small world. One boy said last week, "I can make a connection with Aggie, because I know that it is painful to leave a home that is familiar."

I love that!!

My Skype Visit

My Skype visit with the terrific students of Martin J. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, Florida.



Barbara O'Connor Skypes With 4th Grade from MJGDS Classrooms on Vimeo.

My Skype visit...

....with Dover Plains Middle School in Dover Plains, NY.