1.+IDEAS

Here are some comments that were sent to me already. Please add your thoughts here as well by clicking the edit tab above. __**Remember to select "Notify Me" for the ideas page and the discussion page**__. We are all too busy to remember to check in with this site. It will help us stay active and live. Perhaps we should start advertising the book districtwide now - would also be good to put it on the SOCSD weekly e-announcements (next week!) - not sure how We should notify the public libraries too (I can take care of that!). The 50 books the high school library received are processed and ready to be checked out! -- Lois

Patty writes:

How about creating a Penny Harvest at SOCSD? It would be similar to the one at Rockefeller Center. Check out this site by clicking on the photo below. This would be one amazing project and accomplishment.



Farah and Luke jump started an activity by reading the picture book "Listen to the Wind" and having the students research [|www.penniesforpeace.org] to understand the issues related to central Asia and an organization that helps with these issues. Now with their Middle East project, they are sending students off to become "little gregs" themselves. Students are selecting a country from the Mesopotamia areanand researching the current issues it faces today. They will also research foundations that try to alleviate these issues. Patty is going to help us connect with epals from that student's particular country so they can get firsthand knowledge as well.

Kerri (not using my photo - lol) writes: Big Idea: Generation C (Change) Caring, Capable Citizens Changing the World Essential Questions: 1.How does education change lives? 2.How does a country's culture, government, etc influence/impact education? 3. How can your pennies make the world a better place ?

Nora (we need your photo) writes: Essential Question: Do we believe that we, as teachers, can make a difference in a child's life? Storytelling is an ancient form of passing wisdom, the most ancient form of knowing. What wisdom does this story hold for us? Maria writes; I am very interested in reading Greg's book and getting involved in his effort to help bring about peace through education. I plan to read his picture book to my students next week in preparation for our "New Year Celebrations Around the World." I plan to connect this to our character education's word-or-the-month: //compassion//. I need to find out from Brian if we can go ahead and begin collecting pennies in our classroom. Do you envision this becoming a district project that we can contribute to? I hope to present this idea to the families of my students during our multicultural luncheon celebration on December 21st.

Lois writes: I was talking to George Brady at the tech meeting - we might try to do some kind of distance learning piece with this project (author?, Gregg Mortenson? another school? an Afghanistan school?)

Patty writes: What if we get Liam involved in this...District wide, collectively, have the students wear pedometers to accumulate enough miles to walk to the village in Pakistan. We could also then have penny sponsors similar to what they do for walk-a-thons and the like. This would promote global awareness, fitness, geographic awareness, community, 21st century skill of collaboration, meeting the needs of the diverse learner and uh I am sure you can continue this list!

Amy (we need your photo) writes: I've been reading __Three Cups of Tea__ at the pool in Florida and I'm hooked. Would there be a way to apply for a grant or funding to order enough books for my 9th grade world history sections next year to use this book as the basis for a humanities approach to the curriculum? The book covers geography and history of the Indus River, Buddhism, Islam, traditional versus market economies, etc? It would be a great way to teach reading across the curriculum and to entice students who don't see a connection between classical civilizations and the world today.

Anne writes: Marc and I sat down to do our year end contributions on Thursday. He knows how much I loved the book and decided to check out Greg's charity. It turns out it's rating on charity navigator website was quite high - 4 stars out of 4 stars for efficiency because the book, Greg's appearances and word of mouth are their main advertising schemes. - Excited to be a part of this endeavor. Will start reading the book as a read aloud to my kids next week.