The Crazy 8s Math Club has been a huge success once again this year! Third and fourth graders had the opportunity to participate in the club this past fall. We had over 40 students sign up to be a part of it! Because the club is run by a non-profit organization (Bedtime Math), all of the supplies for it are donated for free, and we only get enough for 15 students to participate. These students are chosen through a lottery system. Over this winter and currently this spring, we have first and second graders participating in the club. Each week, we meet for about an hour and engage on exciting hands-on math projects and experiments. Students are constantly thinking, moving, and learning. We have created laser beam mazes, ninja stars, pixel, people, and much more. Each week there is a math theme such as fractions, geometry, ratio, and multiplication. The students absolutely love Crazy 8s! It is offered each year, so if your child has not had the opportunity to participate, try again next year!
Students in 2nd grade have been involved in a new science module this year through Project Lead the Way (PLTW). You may have read about this in the monthly newsletter that goes home. A few months ago there were some pictures of Mrs. Munz's class doing various activities. I wanted to include some pictures of Mrs. Esposito's class over the past few weeks. Currently, they have finished building their coolers (they needed to come up with a way to keep an ice pop frozen for 1 hour). Today, we are going to test out the coolers to see if they work! Take a look at some of the pictures below.
As exciting and fun as summer was, it is always exciting to be starting another school year in RSD 17! I am thrilled to once again be teaching classes at both Killingworth Elementary School and HK Middle School. Here is an overview of my roles at both schools:
Killingworth Elementary School 1. Math enrichment for grades 2, 3, and 4. 2. Identified TAG pullout for grades 3 and 4. 3. Maker Space liaison 4. Project Lead the Way LEAD teacher for grades K, 1, and 2 (PLTW) 5. School Wide Enrichment coordinator 6. Math Club Advisor *I am hoping to begin and after school Maker Space club this year. Stay tuned! HK Middle School 1. Identified TAG pullout for grades 5 and 6. As always, I am excited about all of my roles at both schools. I feel lucky that I get to work with so many students over so many grade levels while providing them with enrichment activities and opportunities in many forms. Please check back to my blog regularly as I will be updating it with lots of great information, links, pictures, announcements, etc. I think it is important to incorporate technology into project choices as much as possible. During the 3rd trimester at HKMS, one of the project choices was titled "Audio Books are Awesome!" For this project, students had to critique and analyze different audiobooks from the website Librivox. Once they did this, they were required to write a children's picture book using required story elements. The audience for these books is intended to be visually impaired children. Author's craft is important here, but so is vocal performance, vocal consistency, and pronunciation. Students who did this project recorded their stories using an iPad and the iMovie app. They turned out fantastic! Once I know how to download the stories here, I will. For now, below is a picture of 6th grader Leah Sosnowski recording her book on iMovie.
On Thursday, May 26th HKMS held it's Annual AAFA Show from 5-8 pm. Since this was my first year being a part of the show, I feel the need to blog about my thoughts and experiences during it. First of all, what a WONDERFUL night this is for all of the students, families, and AAFA teachers! It is such an amazing opportunity for everyone to see what goes on in the classrooms of electives such as Practical Arts, LEAP, gym, band, chorus, Tech ed, and many more. Most of my time spend at the middle school is in my own classroom. Because I am there for such a short block, I do not have the opportunity to see much. This night was an eye opener for me! I got to see all of the amazing projects and presentations from all of the different AAFA areas. I am truly amazed and proud of all HKMS has to offer its students. My own LEAP students were able to display a sampling of what they have worked on this year. As most of you know, I took a project-based approach to my teaching this year with a focus on Problem/Project Based Learning (PBL). Some of the projects that were on display (if you were not able to make it down to the Media Center) were Geometricity, Prime Putt-Putt, Spend One Million Dollars, The Roadkill Café, and YouVille. The students really enjoyed working on these authentic, real world projects and were very proud of their work. Way to go HKMS!
On April 28th, LEAP hosted the Annual K.E.S. Learning Fair. Over 30 students from grades K-4 participated in this exciting and fun event that was held from 6:00-7:00. Teachers, students, parents, grandparents, and neighbors all had a chance to roam around to see all the different learning that took place as a result of this event. Topics that students chose included dogs, chicks, the solar system, hockey, water pollution, Paris, and much much more. This event is always a big hit with all ages and is so rewarding for those who participate. All of the projects were on display in the hallway outside of the library for a week or so in order for students and staff who were not able to attend to check out the amazing projects. Below are a few pictures from the night. The bulletin board outside of the APR will display the other pictures that were taken that night. I am already looking forward to next year's Learning Fair!
The 6th grade LEAP students have been hard at work on a Miniature Golf project! In small groups, they are responsible for refurbishing 3 miniature golf holes that have gotten run down and are in need of a makeover. They have completed 4 challenges that have included the concepts of area, perimeter, circumference, and research just to name a few. They are currently working on their Final Presentation which is in the form of a Powerpoint presentation. This presentation will include all of the components of their completed challenges as well as additional information and ideas. I am excited to be able to see the results of their hard work!
5th Grade LEAP:
Students in the 5th grade LEAP classes have completed their magazine covers. Everyone worked very hard to come up with a final product that truly represented who they are. I hope to have these covers on display outside of our classroom soon. Currently, the students are working on a Project Based Learning (PBL) project called "Let's Party!" They are working in small groups for this project, and are taking on the role of being a catering company in charge of creating a party proposal for the parents of a 13 year old who want to hire someone to plan and run their child's birthday party. With a budget of $250, the proposal is for a party for 30 guests and the catering company must provide a budget spreadsheet, a written description of the party and events, a menu, a map of the party room, and an oral presentation at the culmination of the project. Everyone is very excited and motivated to be working on this project! I hope to share some more about it as it progresses, so check back often! |
About Mrs. WilliamsI have been a teacher is RSD 17 for 15 years! This is my 10th year as a L.E.A.P. teacher. I am excited to be working with the students at K.E.S. again this year, as well as HKMS for the first time! Archives
April 2017
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