Doris Clingman and I co-teach our Information and Communication Literacies (ICL) curriculum to our First and Second Grade students. We work to connect our lessons to the units of inquiry that the students study in their homeroom classes. The Second Graders recently studied museums to learn why we have them and how we use artifacts to help us learn.

Doris put together a project where each student brought in an object from home to display in the new library museum area that she put together. The students were prompted to think of a book they read to find an object represented in their book. They brought the objects in and then prepared a short description in print for the physical museum and one that they could read in their virtual museum. We invited parents to visit the physical and virtual museums as Doris went virtual with her plans.

We created a second museum online as Doris used VoiceThread to post images and have students record descriptions in Spanish or French, as Washington International is a dual language school. Family and friends can tour the exhibits and use the comment tool to share responses. Even if you don’t speak French or Spanish, take a look and listen to hear our students use their language skills. It is impressive work by the students and Doris.