Another ASK pilot program today. 5th grade students at E. P. Clarke Elementary are talking to a Colonial Craftsman from Historically Speaking… as a culmination to reading the book Roanoke, The Lost Colony and studying colonial times.

• What is the most difficult part of your job?
• If you could do it all over again, would you stay in England or would you come to the New World?
• How much money do you make in your job?
• How many apprentices do you usually have?
• Did you bring your family with you to the New World?

This program was a bit of a stretch from the book to the expert. But the presenter was excellent and it went well. We’ll see how the teachers evaluate the program and then we’ll decide if we do it this way next year.

Today we’re trying out our first ASK program on the book Ice Bear and Little Fox. E. P. Clarke Elementary and Countryside Academy 2nd grade students have read the book and prepared good questions. We started with 20 min. or so of the Indianapolis Zoo’s Polar Bear program, and the moved into the ASK question and answer portion. Here’s a sample of some of the questions:

• How often do polar bears have to eat?
• How many orcas would there be in a group that was hunting for food?
• Where else do polar bears live?
• What do polar bears eat besides seals?
• Why don’t polar bears drink water?
• How do seals make breathing holes in the ice?

This is an easy ASK program to do if you’re looking to start this program in your area. Just sign up for the polar bear program and ask them to give more time for students’ questions. Have the teacher follow the ASK process to prepare the students.

Polycom is sponsoring an ASK program with Jim Stovall on Monday, March 6 from 10:00-11:00 EST. This is similar to the program we did in December with Jim Stovall, on his book The Ultimate Gift. See my blog entry on the Dec. event.

VBrick is providing streaming for this event on Monday. Click this URL to view the stream. If you’re interested in the ASK process, definitely view this stream. Additional dates for this event are being scheduled for the 2006-2007 school year. Registration will be open with a few weeks and I’ll announce that here.

Today six classes from Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, and Virginia interviewed local World War II veterans in our Lest We Forget ASK program.

It was a wonderful experience. We started each session with introductions from each of the veterans participating in that session. Then Betty Bennett, who was part of the code-breakers, shared her experience and gave the students a code to work on. At the end we revealed the answer. Only one of the schools actually broke the code!
For most of the session we rotated through the participating schools taking two questions from each site. Between the two questions the veterans sharedpictures they had brought in such as the one shown.
Here is a sampling of the questions:

• Were you ever afraid?
• How did you feel about fighting in the war?
• If you were given a chance, would you serve again?
• What did you miss most overseas and why?
• What was life like when you returned?
• What feeling did you have knowing that you made it out just before the attack in Pearl Harbor?
• We know that being in the war was tough place to be, but did you have any fond memories?
• Did you ever feel that you were also fighting the war for a moral reason besides fighting for our country?
• What was your mind on while you were fighting?
• What was the scariest thing that happened when you were in the war?
• How were you treated in the countries in which you were fighting?
• Did any of you ever save the life of another soldier?

In the first session, the 112 students from Methacton High School gave our veterans a standing ovation. My eyes misted in that proud moment. As I told our veterans, they are an incredibly valuable primary source for students learning about our wars and understanding the contributions of our fathers and grandfathers to our freedom.

Today we piloted an ASK program on the book Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. Students read the book, journalled, and prepared quality questions following the ASK process. Then they interviewed a panel of former migrant workers at the Region 20 Education Service Center in San Antonio, Texas. We had local classes here and from Region 20 participate in the ASK program. A special thank you to Susan Altgelt and the bridging team at Region 20 for making this happen!

We had a wonderful discussion. Here is a sampling of some of the students’ questions:

• Describe your feelings about Cesar Chavez.
• How much do migrant workers make today?
• Have you had to deal with a drought and if so, what did you do?
• Describe the conditions at the camp where you worked and how long was your work day?
• Did you or a member of your family witness abuse or death?
• How have conditions changed since Chavez’s time? Is there someone who has stepped into Chavez’s shoes to lead migrant workers?
• What was a typical day like for you when working as a migrant worker?
• Why were some groups treated better than Mexicans?
• Are migrant workers only in America? And do other countries use migrant workers? Do you think technology will replace migrant workers?

Sometimes little glitches come along the way. Today it was a fire drill at Region 20 ESC half way through the program. So while we were waiting for the panel members to return, we did a round robin sharing. Students shared what they liked about the book, and then students shared experiences they had had similar to what they read in the book, or other historical events they knew of that were similar to what they read in the book.

Even with the little interruption, it was a wonderful program. Students understand better the experiences of migrant workers and have a broader understanding of the civil rights movement.

My VC friend and colleague, Sue Porter, just received letters for author Ethel Footman Smothers in response to the videoconference we did in November on her book The Hard Times Jar. Sue coordinated the program and is collecting all the letters from the participating schools to send to Ms. Smothers.

These letters are an incredible testimony to the power of ASK programs! Get out your Kleenex box!

Incredible! To read more about the ASK process, visit www.projectask.org. See also the ASK programs we’re doing in Berrien County, the ASK programs TWICE is running, and the ones that Polycom is sponsoring.

If you are coordinating distance learning for a large district or an educational service agency, you too can offer these types of programs to your schools. Start with the book list on the www.projectask.org website or with books suggested by your media specialists. Look for local authors or local specialists you can interview related to the books. Start with local presenters so that the cost is less than with nationally known authors. Your districts will greatly appreciate the service, and as you read above, with these programs you can make an astounding impact on student learning!

Today we’re doing an ASK program with author Jim Stovall on his book, The Ultimate Gift. This program is provided in partnership with several organizations as follows:

• Author coordination/liaison: Elaine Shuck, Polycom, Inc.
• Event coordination: Janine Lim, Berrien County ISD,
• Blog and Event Facilitation and Bridging: Jim Wenzloff and Arnie Comer, Macomb ISD.

In addition to reading this report, you may wish to review the Polycom Press Release on this program. We are delighted and thankful that Polycom is sponsoring this event and others like it!

We also thank Oklahoma State University for providing a videoconference room for Jim Stovall to connect to the students.

In preparation for this event, students have been writing responses and stories for the various gifts presented in the book. They also followed the ASK process in journaling and preparing quality questions for the event.

The classes participating in this session include:

• Algonquin Middle School, MI
• Bayless Intermediate School, MO
• Mad River Middle School, OH
• North Middle School, SD
• River Valley Middle School, MI

The program started with Jim Wenzloff, Macomb ISD, giving a welcome and reviewing the procedures for the program.

Following this, Jim Stovall began with a welcome message with his background and experiences with life and especially on writing books. Then we began with questions from each school, rotating with two questions from each school. Some questions included:

• If you had to pick one gift, which one would you pick and why?
• If you had to add another gift, what would it be?
• Have you thought about expanding each gift into its own book?
• What problems in your life inspired you to write?
• When you became a writer, was that your first dream, or did you have another dream before you wanted to be a writer?
• Do you think the lessons in the Ultimate Gift are directed toward a specific age group?
• In the book there is a blind man with a wonderful sense of humor. Is this character similar to you?
• In your movie, the Ultimate Gift, who would you like to play the character of Jason?
• When you were younger, did you have any books that were inspirational to your life?
• In the book we read about friendship. Do you have a friend who means a lot to you?
• In the book, Jason wrote about what he’d do on the last day of his life. What would you do on the last day of your life?
• Which gift do you think the world needs the most of?
• At the beginning of each chapter, you have a quote. Why did you choose to begin the chapter that way?
• Of all the characters you created, which character did you like the best & why?

What a wonderful interaction with the students and the author! It’s incredible how friendly and accessible he was to the students.

We are doing this event again, March 6, 2006, and we have room for one more class to participate! Details here.