Not enough information?

09/19/2014 Roadrunners

We did further investigation and can tell you that we didn’t give enough information as to our location. With so many Rocky River schools we decided you would need to know the county since they all were in different counties. We are located in Union County. Warning…… Be careful though there is an Union County, North Carolina and South Carolina.

We are located in one of the 100 counties in North Carolina. Virginia is to the north, Tennessee is to the west and South Carolina is to the south. Georgia is the fourth state that borders us to the southwest.

More about our location.. Locate us on google maps. Hints…… Look for Monroe, North Carolina, Union County or Rocky River Elementary School

Did you find us?
What can you tell us about the area we live in from google maps?
Is it rural, suburban or urban? What do you see nearby?
Are we close to the ocean?

There are 3 regions Mountains, Piedmont and Coastal Plains. We are learning about the mountain region now. Can you find the answers to these questions? If so let us know.

How does our mountain region compare to other places in the world?
What can you do there?
What places can you see?
What are the names of our oldest river, highest mountain, and highest waterfall?
Why did the early settlers settle in the mountain region?
Where did they come from originally?
What makes the mountains of NC a tourist destination for world travelers?

Where Are You?`

09/16/2014 Roadrunners

We started our year off learning about where we fit into the world. Think about your relative location in the world, country or state and tell us how to locate you. First we started small

This is where we were at the moment….

In global studies in the computer lab/room.

But there was a problem with telling that to others.

They wouldn’t be able to find us just from this answer.

So we decided to think a little bigger. We decided that we were…….

2. At Rocky River Elementary School

Can you find us yet?

We decided to do a google search for Rocky River Elementary School.

Once again there was a problem. We found several Rocky River Schools. 3 of them were elementary schools and one high school so were decided to mark the high school one off. We started looking at addressess of each of the schools.

10505 Clear Creek Commerce Dr
Charlotte, NC

500 N Rocky River Rd
Monroe, NC

5454 Rocky River Rd
Concord, NC

Rocky River Elementary School
483 Rocky River Rd
Mooresville, NC 28115 (Iredell County)

We decided this wouldn’t help you know where we are.

What would help you figure out which one we are?

World Water Day -March 22nd

03/28/201403/28/2014 Roadrunners

Second grade recently taught the school all about Water and why it’s so important to everyone around the world. They made poster for the halls and did a movie for the morning broadcast.

Mystery Park IS….

03/21/2014 Roadrunners

Now what you’ve wondered about… the mystery park is located on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

School’s Out Again!

02/12/201402/12/2014 Roadrunners

Snow Falls Softly Throughout the Day

Once again we had an early dismissal on Tuesday at 10:30 because of snow coming. Then on Wednesday and now for Thursday no school. We are having a very hard time getting our planned projects done. Our Biome project , our Water project and our National Parks projects are having lots of interruptions with time out of class. Of course, the kids are excited about the snow. The weatherman said this is something that happens here every 10-20 years. We heard that with the Olympics in Russia that they don’t need to wear jackets and yet here in the southern USA we keep getting snow and/or ice and lower temperatures.

Water in Africa

02/07/2014 Roadrunners

Girls in Africa carry water a long way for school and home. This is a dam area where they can get some water. They must carry heavy containers and walk long distances at times. Mrs Kinjanui remembers doing this while she was in Kenya. She teaches kindergarten here at Rocky River.

Dam where you can get water

Water Project-

Where we get clean water

Missionaries help build well for clean water.

Gathering water

Girls Carrying Water in Kenya

Magazine Collaboration

02/03/2014 Roadrunners

Our blogging buddies from Upper Plenty have returned from their summer holidays. Right before their summer holidays and our winter break began we received our copy of a collaborative project. We were so excited to see our answers to the questionnaires included in this publication by Upper Plenty students , Ms. Crowther’s and Ms. Placek. The teachers had sent us questions to answer by email from the student groups to our teacher Mrs. Todd who then chose students to complete them from 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. A lot of collaboration was involved in completing the project around the world.

It was an absolute pleasure to receive a copy of Global UPdate fromMiss Crowther’s Class in Australia and we enjoyed looking at it when we returned. They had worked super-hard to meet their deadlines and publish their magazine. And what a very professional looking end product it is, too! We were so surprised by the awesome job they did with the publication to represent kids from all around the world. Some areas they focused on included school yard games, collections, literacy, math, music, teachers, and natural disasters.

The magazine was first introduced to students in Australia by the teachers at the beginning of Term 4. The magazine was to focus on similarities and differences of the lives of children from all around the world. After the students had all chosen a topic, they began their research. The research involved Skyping, blogging, emailing, interviewing and gathering information from books and the internet. The students spoke with students and teachers from all around the globe – from Japan, Monroe, NC, USA, China, India, Hong Kong, Germany, England and Canada.

The students said the project of “Writing our magazine has been a fun, rewarding and, at times, challenging task. It has involved a lot of hard work, dedication and enthusiasm to complete the magazine.” They had a launching party on December 18th, 2013 when they celebrated their hard work. A representative from the Red Cross came to speak with the students and thank them.

They sold the magazine and the money left over from having it published was donated to the Red Cross which helps kids around the world. We were happy to have had a part in this collaborative project and helping others at the same time! We look forward to more projects with students and classes around the world.

Water, Water Everywhere Part 2

01/28/201401/29/2014 Roadrunners

This week as we began our water unit we’ve had many friends share how water is used in different parts of the world. Francis and Rose Muncaster shared information and photographs with us. Venkat who runs the school day to day in India helped with the information on the previous post and comment. These pictures are from projects done in Tamil Nadu, South India through Friends of Mettupalayam.

We want to thank them for sharing their pictures so that we could learn more. All pictures belong to IRDT (Friends of Mettupalayam Trust) http://www.irdt.co.uk/ Pictures may not be used for other purposes.

This is the water filter that has been bought for the schoolchildren so that they can always have clean water to drink.

Indian people eat a lot of rice. In order to grow rice the fields have to be very wet. If the monsoon rain does not arrive the rice cannot be grown.

The taps in the school. the children use these to wash their hands before meals and also for drinking water which is put into a water filter before drinking. Children use pond as swimming pool.

Water, Water, Everywhere

01/20/201401/27/2014 Roadrunners

As we begin our new unit of study in 2nd grade we’d like your help. If possible can you answer a few questions so that we can compare water usage around the world.

Do you drink tap water in your country/town/city?
Do you clean it by boiling or filtering it?
What ways do you use water in one day?
Is water scarce or abundant where you live?
Is it free?
If not, how expensive is it?
What ways do you have of conserving water?
Where does your water come from?
Do you have water fountains at your school to drink from?
Do people in your country buy bottled water?
Add anything else that might help us answer our compelling questions

Why is water important around the world and what can I do to help ensure everyone has clean water? How can I make a difference?

Habit Six and Seven

01/20/2014 Roadrunners

Habit 6 — Synergize

Value other’s strengths
Learn from them.
Get along well with others, even people who are different than me.
Work well in groups
Seek other’s ideas to solve problems
Team work create better solutions
Together is Better!

Habit 7 — Sharpen The Saw

I……..

Eat right
Take care of body
Exercise
Get sleep
spend time with family and friends
Learn in lots of ways
Learn in lots of places not just school
Balance Feels Best
I find ways to help others that is meaningful

Have you practiced these habits lately?

Habit Four and Five

01/18/2014 Roadrunners

Habit Four- Think Win-Win – You can either choose a Win-Win situation and compromise so that both groups succeed or you can choose a Win-Lose where one is the winner and the other the loser or lose-lose where not one wins.

Habit Five- Seek first to Understand and then to be understood– Do you listen and figure out what the other person is saying before responding or do you only partially listen and then add a response?

Habits Two and Three

01/12/2014 Roadrunners

We each did a google drawing for the habits. If we were in Kindergarten and first grade Mrs. Todd typed what we said. If we were in second through fifth we typed our own so some words may be misspelled. We didn’t have time to add a picture. When we do these habits we look at our mission statement and vision and then we set our individual goals. For example if we can add numbers 1-10 we might then set our next goal to do numbers 10 – 20. Or if we are reading at a level 20 then we might set it to read at a level 24 next time. We are working on Begin with the End in Mind and knowing where we want to be in the future. Some of us are focused only on this year and some are looking at the far off future.

Habit Two

Begin with the End in Mind

What goals do you see for yourself in five years, ten years, even 20 years?

Set Goals

Plan– where do you want to be and what do you want to do in the future?

Habit Three

Put First Things First

I spend my time on things that are most important.
This means I say no to things I should not do.
I set priorities.
Make a schedule
Follow my plan.
I am organized
I get important things done.
I enjoy doing certain things to relax but I need to not do them to much.

Are you successful with Habit Three- Put First Things First

Habit One- BE PROACTIVE

01/09/201401/09/2014 Roadrunners

What does proactive mean to you?

We think it’s choosing our moods, attitudes and how we behave each day. We will take initiative and be responsible.

We will take care of ourselves at home by cleaning our rooms, packing our book bags on our own, we will dress ourselves and brush our teeth, do our homework and reading. At school we will pick the right thing to do even when no one is watching us. We will be responsible. We will make good choices and pick important things. We will use proactive language rather than reactive language.

I’ll do it I’ll try
I can do better than that That’s just how I am
Let’s look at our options There’s nothing I can do
I choose to I have to
There has to be a way I can’t
I’m not going to let your bad mood rub off on me You ruined my day

7 Habits -Leader in Me

01/03/2014 Roadrunners

Rocky River students and staff are learning all about the 7 habits and being leaders. Stay turned next week to see what the students think each habit means for kindergarten through fifth grade students. Each day we will explain one of the habits. See if you do these things in your daily lives.

Habit 1- Be Proactive

Habit 2- Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3- Put first things first

Habit 4- Think Win-Win

Habit 5- Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Habit 6- Synergize

Habit 7- Sharpen the Saw

If you are a leader in me school we’d love to hear from you also. There are Leader in Me schools around the world so let us know who you are.

Rocky River Elementary designated as International School in UCPS!

12/29/201312/29/2013 Roadrunners

We’re So Proud and Excited!

Recently at a principals meeting Union County Schools were recognized for their globalization efforts for 2012-2013 school year. The staff got the news that our school (Rocky River) was awarded the designation in Union County as an International School for 2012-2013 at a staff meeting and we are excited and proud of this accomplishment. In order to obtain this designation each school submitted a livebinder presentation showing their globalization efforts throughout the school year then a committee went through the rubric criteria and gave points which were then totaled up and schools were awarded designation for their work throughout the year. International School is the highest award a school can obtain. You needed above 85 points for this category. Rocky River exceeded that total with an average of 96 points. These are the categories awarded throughout the county. Just the year before we were a Global Partners School with 84 points.

UCPS International School 85+ points
UCPS Global Partners School 60-84 points
UCPS Global Affiliate School 45-59 points
UCPS Goodwill Ambassadors School 35-44 points
UCPS Global Education School 1-34 points

Throughout the county there were 19 elementary, middle and high schools in the International category. Our globalization committee is pictured above with the plaque we received. Below is the banner which is hanging proudly in our main hall.

Some areas to get points for included International Sister Schools (England and Australia), Cultural Awareness Projects (Irish Dancers and Jaars – Brazil presentation), Speakers ( Vietnam, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, and Colombia), 21st Century Technology ( Voice Threads, Google Docs, Skyping etc., 21st Century communication (Skyping, Blogging, emails, PowerPoint and Professional Development (globalization), classroom web pages, classroom activities highlighting focus countries for each grade, Environmental projects, Service Projects ( Heifer foundation/Beatrice’s Goat. Red Cross, Blood Drives, Relay for life and others), and the UCPS global teacher leaders program and Global gateway program with Professional Learning modules).

We couldn’t have done a lot of this without our ties with others in England and Australia and around the USA. A Room with a View (Middleham, England http://aroomwithaview.edublogs.org/ ) and Upper Plenty-http://upps45p.global2.vic.edu.au/ and Áine Murphy – Pt Lonsdale Primary School in Australia, along with Stephen in New Zealand were always eager and helpful in doing joint projects together. From Skyping to learn about a field trip to London, learning about holidays and customs in Australia and England, reading books and comparing our thoughts (The Boy Who Biked the World, Flat Stanley and Magic Tree Houses books and Julia Donaldson books) were enjoyed by students at Rocky River and our sister schools. We learned about Superstition Mountain and legends, we learned how to sign the Pledge of Allegiance with buddies in Arizona http://blogs.goaj.org/gfraher/

This year we are continuing our learning with other students around the world and we continue to enjoy this a lot. Thank you to everyone that continues to join us in our global learning experiences! Thank you to everyone who helped make this designation possible for our school both locally and internationally.

What do you do to be a global learner?

We are looking forward to 2014 and delving into some global issues around the world. If you have any projects you be interested in joining us on let me know. Water, poverty, environmental, hunger…….

Going Global at Rocky River

Collaborating with Others Around the World

School