Dear Parent or Guardian, Throughout the course of the year in our classroom, your child will be involved in several

web-based projects. These projects are designed to enhance the ELA curriculum as well as to provide the students with learning opportunities based in Web 2.0 tools. Some of the potential projects include:

Establishing e-pals from another country (similar to a pen pal project) Collaborative editing with students from other classes Accessing Web 2.0 sites to enhance literature discussions, writing activities and comprehension (bubbl.us,
toondoo, wordle, widgetbox, voicethread, imagechef, etherpad) Creating an online portfolio of work (wikispaces, slideshare) The tools that the students will be using are free online applications. These applications often require individual e-mail accounts and usernames for the students to access them. In some cases, the sites indicate that students must be 13 to access them unless they have parental permission. In order for your child to successfully be able to participate in these classroom activities, we need them to create an e-mail account that they can utilize in order to log in to these applications. I have found a website for school email called Gaggle (www.gaggle.net) that I would like to use for this project. I can assign log-in names to each student and they will be able to send and receive email through their Gaggle email account. However, unlike other programs, I will be able to monitor everything they write. All messages can be screened by me if I feel that is necessary, and if students receive or send any inappropriate language, their email message will bounce to my account instead of being transmitted. As a parent, you will be able to monitor your childs email messages if youd like. I would be happy to provide you with the username and password at your request. This is a great opportunity for your child to learn about email in a safe, supervised, way. If you have any questions about this project, let me know. Please sign below to show me that you are aware of your childs participation in this project. Thanks! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and I look forward to a year filled with learning and discovery.

______________________________ Student Name

___________________________ Parent Signature