Today, thanks to the Skype in the Classroom website, my class Skyped a torch bearer from the 2012 summer Olympics. Mr. Jon Tait was an excellent guest speaker who shared a lot of interesting information in a kid-friendly way. We even got to see the torch he carried, which was very exciting for my students!
As a shared writing activity after our Skype call, my students summarized their learning:
- Mr. Tait has his own torch that he carried for the London Olympics.
- He ran with the torch and he held the torch up high.
- The Olympic rings and the word “London” are on the torch.
- There were 8000 little holes in the torch. There was one hole for each person that carried the torch.
- There was 1 big hole in the torch for the gas to go in to light it.
- The torch is made of gold-colored aluminum.
- He felt very proud, happy, nervous and excited about carrying the torch.
- Mr. Tait was nervous because he didn’t want to drop the torch or fall with it.
- After he ran with the torch, he didn’t want to put it down because it was so special.
We really enjoyed Skyping with Mr. Tait. My students recommend that other classrooms should really watch the video of Mr. Tait carrying the torch or try to Skype him!