We recently read the book Recess at 20 Below by Ciny Lou Aillaud. As we read the book, we merged the experiences of the students from the story with our experiences and tracked our thinking. We realized we had many questions. Some of them were answered by further reading of the text, but many of our questions went beyond the text.
As we were reading the text, Mrs. Haney remembered a teacher she had met on Twitter during one of the live chats she participates in (#2ndgradechat.) Ms. Nairn and her students live in Canada where the temperatures had recently dipped down to -51 degrees Celsius with the windchill (-59 degrees Fahrenheit)
We contacted Ms. Nairn's class through Twitter and they agreed to Skype with us to answer some of our questions about what it was like to have recess when it was so cold outside.
During our Skype session, they showed us what their playground looked like. It was covered with so much snow that the swings rested on top of the snow. They talked about what it was like to build snow forts and play soccer on the snow. We also learned about the clothing they wear during the winter. They did think it was funny when we told them we were not allowed to go outside if the temperature fell below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius.)
We are so lucky to learn in a district that encourages us to reach out to others beyond our classroom walls. Being able to tweet and skype with our learning friends has proven to be highly engaging and enables us to explore concepts at a deeper level.
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