The Elementary Connected Classrooms project connects students from three elementary schools in different communities through technology. Students engage in lessons four times a week led by teachers with different areas of expertise. They also participate in weekly online forums to discuss current events, literature circles, and other topics. The goals are to enhance learning experiences, increase engagement, and build relationships between widely separated student groups. Technology like laptops, video conferencing, and online platforms allow for shared lessons and collaborative projects across many miles.

1. Elementary Connected Classrooms

2. Elementary Connected
 A project that started two years ago and is unique
to Gold Trail
 Was created to connect students within our district
who are geographically separated from each other
and create a larger peer group beyond the walls of
their classrooms, schools and communities
 Creates new learning partnerships between
students, teachers, and the larger communities
 Uses technology in a transformative way to
enhance the learning experiences for students,
increasing engagement and motivation

3. The three sites involved:
Aislinn Mulholland’s Grade 4/5 Class at Ashcroft Elementary

4. Brooke Haller’s Grade 6/7 Class at Lytton
Elementary

5. Errin Gregory’s 4/5 Class at Cayoosh
Elementary

6. In our classrooms…
 Class set of laptops (one for each student)
 Video conferencing equipment
 Desktop sharing software (Brigit)
 Ceiling-mounted Projectors and Smartboard
 Shared Connected Classrooms Moodle site
 Digital Cameras
 2 iPod Nanos for audiobooks, podcasts, photos,etc.
 Individual headphones and USB drives for saving
work

7. Connecting
 Students engage in four teacher-focused
instructional lessons a week
 Students also connect to share and explore new
Moodle forums weekly
 Students connect on Moodle at varying times
(at school and at home)
 Students meet three times a year (once at each
site) for Connected Classrooms gatherings
where the focus is networking and building
relationships
 Classes share a monthly news broadcast

8. Connected Classrooms Gatherings

10. What Connected Classrooms
 Each teacher has a teaching focus based on
individual strengths, passions, and expertise
 Lessons are skills-based, project-based and cross-
curricular
Teaching Focuses:
Aislinn Mulholland : Reading Power
Errin Gregory: Writing and Digital Photography
Brooke Haller: AVID Strategies (WICR)

11. MOODLE!!!
Our classroom Moodle site is a password-
protected website where teachers and students
can communicate content and share online.
This site is ONLY available to the students and
teachers within Connected Classrooms.
Our Moodle site contains a variety of weekly
forums and is where we work on our online
literature circles.

12. Weekly Current Events Forum
 Each week students engage in discussions
about current events. They are given a prompt
on a developing topic, and are posed a deep
thinking question.
 The core idea of this forum is that real-world
problems capture students' interest and lead to
serious thinking as the students acquire and
apply new knowledge in a problem-solving
context.

13. Reading Power Deep Thinking
 Each week students are posed a thought provoking
question that encourages critical and creative
thinking, as well as inferring skills.
 Students can reply to the question with their own
thoughts and opinions, or can take the discussion
further by asking their own question related to
Deep Thinking question of the week.
 Students are engaged in thinking through an
online conversation, strengthening their ability to
reason their way through a question or problem.

14. Math Logic Problem
 The Math and Logic problems challenge the
students each week in a different area of the
curriculum.
 The questions encourage critical thinking and
problem solving skills, and helps reinforce
some of the concepts covered in the Math
curriculum in a fun way.

15. Parent Section
 There is an section on our Moodle site that
provides information that supports the use of
technology in the 21st Century Classroom:
 Moodle criteria
 Online safety
 Laptop manual
 Technology performance standards
 Media content

16. Year Long Inquiry Project
 Students have chosen a topic based on their
own interests and engage in a weekly focused
lesson on the inquiry process.
 The goal for this project is for students to
become experts on their topic, and experience
deep learning.
 Students post questions, comments, and their
progress on our Moodle.
 Students will share their work at a Year End
Celebration of Learning.

17. Online Literature Circles
 Our goal for online literature circles is to
motivate students to engage in a variety of texts
and share this experience in an online
community of learners.
 These circles encourage and develop a joy of
reading, aid in reading comprehension, and
foster critical thinking skills.

18. Online Literature Circles Books
 Students are given a wide variety of books to
choose from based on a specific theme.
 Books include a variety of text: fiction, non-
fiction, picture books, First Nations Literature.
 This year, we have three themes: War, Social,
and Environment

19. Book Talks
 The book choices are introduced during Book
Talk Week.
 These book talks build background knowledge
and spark personal interest.
 Summaries of these talks are also posted on
Moodle for student’s reference.

20. Deep Thinking Forums
 The discussion forums and book talks are
moderated by teachers and principals; each
book leader takes a different book and poses a
weekly deep thinking question.
 Students read independently throughout the
week, and are responsible for posting weekly.

21. Connected Classrooms on the Web
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/news/av/video/2011/connected-
classrooms/