Fourth-grade students at James H. Boyd Intermediate School went “Around
New York State in 60 Minutes” during a collaborative videoconference
project on October 3, 6 and 7.
Facilitated by New York State BOCES Distance Learning Consortium,
fourth-grade students from western New York, central New York, the
Hudson River region and the New York City/Long Island region connected
through a four-way videoconference. In an effort to fulfill fourth-grade
social studies curricula, classes from each region conducted a 5-7
minute presentation which included visual clues and information related
to geography, history, economics, social/political, and current events
in relation to their region. The project also focuses on events in
history that occurred in the region and how they affected the
development of New York State.
During the presentations, students collaboratively researched
information on the Internet and transcribed clues to help decipher the
region of each participating class. After each class presented, classes
took turns to reveal their region, school district name and town/city.
“I think this opportunity is valuable to our fourth-grade students,”
Elwood’s instructional technology specialist Krista Albrecht said.
“Hearing about places and people from different regions helps prepare
our students for what lies ahead in the fourth-grade social studies
curriculum.”