Using Virtual Reality, Merge Goggles & Balloons Over Broadway To Visit The Macy's Parade With Our 2nd Graders!

As we get ready for Thanksgiving break, our technology and library group are getting ready to kick off something super exciting and new at Van Meter!  

We now have Merge Goggles, along with devices, to use with our K-12 students. Yesterday as we were planning the upcoming AR/VR professional development session with our teachers, this got us thinking how we could find, integrate and use amazing resources right away.

Megan is going to use Quiver Vision with her 5th graders on Tuesday.  Jessica and I can't wait to go down to watch them use this one. 

And we will be using one from the Quiver Coloring pack, 

the super funny Turkey Mask, that you can find here, during our collaborative related arts project on Monday and Tuesday.

In the library this last week and several of the classrooms, we focused on the book, Balloons Over Braodway....The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet. 

In fact, this coming Monday, Staci Braun and her 2nd graders will be focusing on....

...Balloons Over Broadway, 

as we...

...listen to my friend Rocco read the book on KidLitTV.  

After Rocco reads the book, 

we will have look at and have a conversation about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by watching an old video of the parade and....

...visiting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade site as we get ready for the holiday and....

....for the actual day with all of the special events they have planned.  

We will be visiting the Studio Tour to get an eye-opening 360 degree backstage tour...with surprises around every corner. 

And just as the site states, 

Where a holiday tradition takes shape, this is a great place for our 2nd graders to start as they understand...

...The Design Room, The Production Room, The Workshop; Floats and The Paint & Balloons. 

When you click on any of these, the site takes you to the tours. 

You will find four amazing...

...360 view videos of the Macy's Parade hosted by tour guide John here.  

I had Hagan come down to check it all out. 

As he put the goggles on his head, he loved seeing how the floats were made...

...and the behind-the-scenes of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Hagan found all four of the tours to be awesome!

And he learned so much along the way! 

As Staci Braun and I use these videos with the Merge Googles and her 2nd graders on Monday, we want to make it as easy as possible to get to the videos from their headset especially since this is the first time using them. 

I created a Google Slide presentation that we will put up on the board in front of their classroom and we can also create a little poster to print off. This will make it easy for them to scan the QR code with their device before they put it into the Merge headset they will be using.  

You can get to the Google Presentation of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Tours here too. 

I will show them to look for the Google Cardboard icon, which means they will be set to view it with their headset. 

As we all use Balloons Over Broadway, don't forget to check out Melissa Sweet's website here. 

Also, on the RIF Literacy Central site, there is an amazing set of resources for Balloons Over Broadway too.  You will find them here.

There is an Educator's Guide, 

Extension Activities, and lots of other little activities and resources.

I also found a lot activities looking online, such as this fun STEAM activity, Balloon Float Pictures. 

We can't wait for Monday morning when we will do this special activity with our 2nd graders and others around the school community on Monday and Tuesday. 

We hope that you will take these and do something special with the story of Balloons Over Broadway and the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade too. 

Find out more about MERGE here.