All across the United States today people are celebrating Constitution Day. It was no different in our classroom. First, we had a discussion about what the Constitution is, when is was written, and who helped create it. Later, we watched the classic Schoolhouse Rock video about The Preamble of the Constitution. We talked about what each section of the Preamble means. I also issued each student a challenge. If a student can recite the Preamble to me or Mrs. Restivo before the school year is over, they will receive 10 extra credit points in Social Studies and their picture will go on the Wall of Fame! Our last activity for Constitution Day was writing the Constitution just like James Madison did in 1787. Each student got a brown paper sack, a feather, and some ink (tempura paint). Each student attempted to write the Preamble of the Constitution. Needless to say, I am sure the students are glad they live in the 21st Century!
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Today in class we had a fun and messy way to learn about finding averages. We participated in the Oreo Cookie Challenge. Each student was challenged to stack as many Oreo cookies as they could. The students collected the data using Google Drive. From there, we did a short lesson on how to find the mean or average of a set of data. The average height for our cookie stack was 18 cookies. We will continue to use the data to learn about mode, median, maximum, minimium, and range. After completing the lesson, the students made some sculptures using the Oreos. Students from all over the USA will be participating in the same project. Data from classes from all over the country will be collected and shared. All in all, it was a fun lesson. Today our class celebrated International Dot Day! International Dot Day is a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration. We started the day by reading The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”. What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe. After reading the book, we had a discussion about leaving your mark on the world and being a positive role model for someone. Each student created their own dot. Click here to download your own dot creation sheet. We were able to bring these dots to life using the colARmix app. We also watched a few videos that hopefully will inspire the children to go out and leave a positive mark on society. Kid President Caine's Arcade Tim's Diner We connected with the mountain west today! We did our fifth mystery Skype of the school year with Mr. Horan's 4th grade class at Freedom Elementary School in Highland, Utah. We learned that Utah has the best snow in the world! Mystery Skype #4 is in the books! We connected with Mr. Luke's 5th Grade Class in Irvine, California. We learned quite a bit about California. Mr. Luke's class were great teachers! Today we had our third Mystery Skype of the school year. Our class was able to connect with Mrs. Boucher's Class at Mallets Bay School in Colchester, Vermont. It took us a while to figure this one out! Did you know they go skiing in PE class!! Today we had our second Mystery Skype of the school year. Our class was able to connect with Mr. Bizan's 4th Grade Class at Lake George Elementary in Lake George, New York. It was SO COOL!! We are hoping to collaborate more with Mr. Bizan's class in the future! Today we had our very first Mystery Skype of the school year. Our class was able to connect with Mrs. Gibson's 4th Grade Class at Thorpe Creek Elementary in Fishers, Indiana. It was SO COOL!! Our goal is to Mystery Skype with a school from all 50 states. To learn more about Mystery Skype, click here. Genius Hour is based upon Google’s 20% policy. This policy says that with 20% of their time at work, employees can work on whatever project they would like as long as it advances the company in some way. Gmail, Google News, and Adsense all came from this time where the employees got to explore their interests. This school year, from 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the students will be given time to explore their interests and passions. The projects the students have chosen range anywhere from pillow making to teaching the class about fossils to paper art to a variety of science projects and many more. The students might need some help gathering resources to be able to work on the different projects in class. Once students complete their project, they will need some kind of presentation to show the class what they learned. Students could create a poster, a Powerpoint, a movie, a diorama, etc…. This is not a homework assignment, however many of the students are really pumped up about this and might want to work at home. The students are very excited about these passion projects and we can’t wait to share them with all of you. Keep checking back to see some updates! CHECK OUT EVAN'S DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MICHAEL JORDAN! CHECK OUT TUCKER'S DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MICHAEL JORDAN! Check out Callie's interview with her pottery instructor! Check out Logan's baseball documentaries! This year our class will be piloting our school district's 1 to 1 iPad Learning Initiative. Its only been two days of school and we have already jumped right in. We will be using the Everyday Math Digital Journal. It looks just like the traditional math journal, but it is all online. We will be using Showbie as our learning management system. We are going to try to go paperless and Showbie will be a great tool! Keep checking back for more updates on all of the amazing things these students will do! Recently, I was honored to win the Clyde U Phillips Distingushed Service Award from Pittsburg State University. This is such an honor! Click the link below to see the newspaper article from the Morning Sun.
AWARD ARTICLE We are learning about reflection and lines of symmetry during math class. Check out some of the reflections students created using a variety of polygons. For a few weeks in January, we were able to get an NAO Robot from Greenbush. During the time the NAO was with us, the students got to program the robot using the Choreographe software. It was a great experience for the students. Every morning after we recite the creed, my class does a morning greeting. We shout out "Good Day Sweet World!" I got this from the television show / podcast, The Starters on NBA TV. They basically recap and show highlights of the previous nights NBA basketball games You can see us say it here. I sent this video to the hosts of the show and they gave us a shout out on the air. The students were really pumped up about this, so I thought I would share.
You can see the video of the shout out from the show by clicking the link below! THE STARTERS SHOUT OUT! In Social Studies, the students are learning about the Midwest Region. The students learned about the landforms found in the Midwest as well as animals found in the Midwest. Students also learned about how the early settlers traveled across the Midwest in covered wagons. The student worked very hard on these art projects! This past week in Social Studies, students have researched a famous or historical figure from the state of Kansas. After the research was complete, students created movies about their person using Animoto. Check out the projects below! The students did a great job! Today in Science, we did our lesson a litle bit different. Throughout the school QR codes were placed. Students took their iPads and scanned the code using the app QRafter. This revealed a question to the students. When the students were ready to answer the question, they simply made a video of themselves answering the question. They then shared the video with me. This was a fun way to get out of our seats, move around, and learn about science! In Science, we are studying seeds, plants, and flowers. Today we dissected a flower to look for specific parts: sepals, stamen, pistils, petals, and pollen. We would like to thank Mr. Temaat for his donation of new magnifying glasses! SCIENCE!! What a great day! We learned so much and got to spend the day in a very unique place. We want to thank our volunteers, Miss Courtney and Miss Lisa, for spending the day with us. We also want to thank the Frontenac Education Foundation for sponsoring this trip. in Success for All Reading, the students pretended to be news reporters and wrote interviews with our story's main character, Rifka Nebrot. After writing the interviews, the students created podcasts using Garageband. This was the first time many of the students had used the program. I think they did a great job. Click the link below to access the podcasts. Letters from Rifka Podcasts Constitution Day 2013 was a big success! Students watched the classic Schoolhouse Rock video about the Constitution. We then had a discussion about why this document is so important and how it affects our daily lives. For our final activity, we practiced writing the Constitution just like James Madison did so many years ago. Each student got a feather, some paint, and some paper and tried their best to write the Preamble of the Constitution. It's pretty safe to say that the students are glad they live in the modern world! Check out the slide show below. If the students can learn the Preamble of the Constitution and recite to a teacher, they will get 10 extra credit points for Social Studies and their picture posted on the blog and the bulletin board! To learn the Preamble, watch the video below! Be sure to check out the iCivics Game - Do I Have a Right? It's a great way to test your knowledge of the Constitution!
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October 2016
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