Southern students compare notes with peers in Virginia

HIGHLANDTOWN I eat penguins; I have sharp teeth; I have blubber. What am I?

Southern Local Elementary first-graders learned the answer to that question and more Wednesday while sharing classroom time with students in Langley, Va.

As part of a nationwide "Read Around the Planet" program, students in Nancy Saling's class at Southern interacted via a videoconference with students in Kristen McLaughlin's class in Langley, learning a bit about each other's schools, communities and classroom assignments.

Sponsored by Polycom, the program is open to all students between kindergarten and 12th grade in both public and private schools, utilizing two-way interactive video equipment.

Each class was given time during the hourlong connection to offer a presentation, which could be seen from both ends via the telecommunications equipment.

The Virginia students have been studying the Polar Region and regaled their new Ohio friends with their knowledge about seals, walruses, penguins and caribou, posing descriptions of each and asking the Southern students to guess what animal was being described.

While the Ohio students fared well in guessing most of the animals, the description of a snowy owl stumped them, with guesses of a crow and even a hummingbird bringing laughter from the Virginia students.

Students were interested in the weather, with both sides asking about snow days and two-hour delays, which they found they had in common.

The Langley first-graders seemed surprised to learn the Southern students are studying geometry already, and the Ohio students learned that, despite the proximity of the White House to Virginia, President Barack Obama had not visited the Langley school as yet.

For their presentation, the Southern first-graders took turns reading from the book, "Corduroy," assisted by students in the fourth-year Spanish classes who translated each page into Spanish for the Langley students.

After the connection was ended, Southern students said they learned a lot from their new friends in Virginia and said they particularly liked presenting their program in Spanish and seeing the other school's surroundings, which looked like a castle.

Saling said her class was called to substitute for another class, giving them just six classroom days to prepare its presentation.