Through blogging, we’ve been able to connect to so many other wonderful classes. We’ve conversed with teachers from Europe, Australia, and many right here in North America. One such class that we’ve been fortunate enough to get to know better has been Mrs. Watson and her 2/3 class. Mrs. Watson’s class is in Sointula, British Columbia. It’s on a small island, Malcolm Island, on the west coast of North America.
Sointula is about 3,500 miles (5632 km) from us here in Plympton, Massachusetts. That didn’t stop us from finding a way to connect with them and learn about the similarities and differences between our schools and our communities! Through the wonders of technology, we were able to Skype with them and share all sorts of interesting facts about our state of Massachusetts!
Thanks to our recorders, Ariel, Natalie, Kaylee and Rebecca, as well as the wonderful students of Mrs. Watson’s class, we were able to have great discussions about similarities and differences between the two classes.
Here are just a few things that we learned during our Skype chat:
- British Columbia has an area of about 586,500 miles (944,000 kilometers), while Massachusetts has an area of about 10,555 miles (16,986 kilometers).
- Even though British Columbia is much larger than Massachusetts, it has a smaller population. Massachusetts has about 6,500,000 people while BC has about 4,400,000 people. That means that Massachusetts has a greater population density than BC.
- Sointula has a population of 800. Plympton has a population of about 2,600.
- Our school has about 230 students in grades K-6. Their school has 45 students in grades K-7.
- Our principal is usually always at our school. Their principal visits their school 3 times a month.
- We live near the Atlantic Ocean. They live near the Pacific Ocean.
- Our state mammal is the right whale. They don’t have right whales but they do have orcas and humpback whales.
- Our state bird is the black-capped chickadee. Theirs is the Steller’s jay.
- Our state dog is the Boston terrier. They didn’t have a provincial dog.
- Our state tree is the American elm. Theirs is western red cedar.
While researching for our call. We also discovered other interesting facts about Massachusetts. We learned that our state muffin is the corn muffin. Our state beverage is cranberry juice. The state dessert is Boston creme pie. Our state cookie is the chocolate chip cookie. Mrs. Watson’s class realized that they didn’t have some of these symbols for their province. They created polls to help figure out what would make the best symbols for British Columbia. Click here to visit and vote for the symbol you think best fits their province!
Thank you so much to Mrs. Watson and her class for sharing so much great information with us. We hope to “see” them again soon!
*What was the largest difference between British Columbia and Massachusetts?*
*How were British Columbia and Massachusetts similar?*
*If we Skyped with Mrs. Watson’s class again, what other information about Massachusetts would you want to share?*
Dear Mr. Avery,
I think that skyping was a lot of fun! We skyped one day this year and it was fun. I hope we get to quad blog again this year.
Sincerely,
Jenna K.
Dear Mr Avery,
I didn’t even know that we had a state horse. And you know what is even more weird is that I have the state horse. It is a Morgan horse. I knew that we had a state cat and it is the Tabby Cat. I used to have one but it ran away then came back and ran away again. I was very sad. I think that skyping with Mrs. Watson’s class was fun. I got to ask two questions, well tell them. I got to say the sq. klilometers and the state horse. We might skype with Mrs. Watson’s class again and I am excited.
From,
Jenna
Hi,
My name is Natalie and i am in year 5 and i go to school at Roseville college in Australia, Sydney NSW. My teacher is Mrs. Thomas and we are learning about global connections and if i could ask you some questions like:
What school do you go to?
What year are you in?
How old are you?
What is your first name?
What is your teacher’s name?
Do you like your school?
If anyone could reply to this post by the 31st of March or earlier that would be great.
Thank you 🙂
Dear Nat,
Hi my name is Nat too! I am going to answer some of your questions:
We go to school at Dennett Elementary School. I am in fourth grade and my teacher’s name is Mr. Avery. Yes, I love my school! If it is very warm out, we have P.E outside. I have a few questions to ask you:
Do you like the college you go to?
What do you do in college?
Do you have gym?
Do you have recess?
Sincerely,
Nat S. ♥
P.S My real name is Natalie.
Dear Mr. Avery,
Our blog is famous! We have so many comments. We will be at one thousand comments in no time! We have over one hundred comments just on The BFG!
Sincerely,
Natalie S.
Dear Mr. Avery,
I never knew we had a state dessert! The state dessert is the Boston Cream pie. My mom is in love with Boston Cream pie. My opinion is that I don’t like Boston Cream pie.
Sincerely,
Natalie
Dear Mr. Avery,
I had fun Skyping with Mrs Watsons class. I learned that our state mammal is the right whale.
Sincerely,
Trey
Dear Trey,
I agree, skyping was really fun! My favorite part was learning about all of their state things like, the state color the state dog and more! 🙂 What was your favorite part about skyping?
Sincerely,
Natalie S.
Hello Mr Avery and class,
Your idea for skyping as a class is a brilliant idea because you get to communicate so much better with other classes around the world in one room. Our blog is from Australia and your blog is from the United States of America. Can you see a problem? We would like to catch up with your class if possible.
Goodbye from Zoe and Siennah from Global SPUDS
Dear Zoe,
I am going to answer your question. Yes, I do see the problem. Australia is really far away. I think there is a one hour different. I would like if we could Skype. Maybe your teacher can talk and we can do that.
Sincerely,
Natalie S.
Dear Mr. Avery and Class,
I was so interested to read about your Skype experience with Mrs. Watson and her class. We enjoyed Skyping with them as well, and it was our very first time using Skype as a class!
We learned about many similarities and differences between us just like you did. Of course, an obvious similarity is that we are also located the Pacific Coast and are located in the same time zone. One difference we noticed was, like yours, the population of our school is much larger than theirs.
@Natalie, you and I think alike! I would definitely be interested in Skyping with your class, and I know my class is eager to do that as well. Your teacher and I will have to set that up. We will have many facts to compare and contrast!
@Mr. Avery, thanks so much for your great comment as Oscar Opossum. My students loved it! Our favorite part was when you played dead!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ranney
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
We should Skype. I really enjoyed Skyping with Mrs. Watson! What is Oscar Opossum? Thank you for writing on the blog. 🙂
Sincerely,
Natalie
Mr. Avery’s fourth grade
Dear Mr. Avery,
I love our Skyping chat with Mrs. Watson and her class. If we Skyped with her class again, I would tell them about our school. I would like to Skype with Mrs. Ranney’s class next time! I would like to live on an island!
Sincerely,
Natalie S.
What fun! We love quad blogging now too because we found that it is a great way to share fun facts and activities with others. Mrs. Watson teaches in a small school and it is very interesting that her principal doesn’t visit very often. It sounds like a fun place, but very different from what we are used to. We have class friends in BC too – Huzzah and the Ripplers are from there.
Dear Mr. Miller,
Thank you for writing on our blog. I have a few questions to ask you.
Who are the Ripplers?
Are you a teacher?
What school do you teach at?
Sincerely,
Natalie S.