Martin Luther King Jr. Inspired Class TED Talks

We watched some short clips on Martin Luther King Jr. and had some class discussions on what his passions were or issues that were important to them. Afterwards, we watched some TED Talks given by kids. Finally, the students thought about something they wanted changed in the world. For a week, they practiced their speech, knowing they could have talking points, but not just reading a speech. They could also have images. Students presented them to the class as if they were giving a TED Talk, while students took turns introducing and filming. I was really proud of the students for having the courage to get up and speak in front of the class.

Rachel's TED Talk on Bullying
Kenzie's TED Talk on the Internet
Bella's TED Talk on Cancer
Reagan's TED Talk on Trading KC Royals Players
Emma's TED Talk on Recess
Alli's TED Talk on Bullying
Wil's TED Talk on Violence
Luke's TED Talk on Piano
Lincoln's TED Talk on Violence
Sydney's TED Talk on Littering
Peyton's TED Talk on Violence
Blake N.'s TED Talk on War
Preston's TED Talk on Littering
Ian's TED Talk on Crimes
Blake P.'s TED Talk on Gun Violence
Caroline's TED Talk on Poverty
Nick's TED Talk on Stress
Corbin's TED Talk on Violence
Alaina's TED Talk on Violence
Andrew's TED Talk on War
Kate's TED Talk on Violence
Olivia's TED Talk on Violence
Hannah's TED Talk on Littering

Third Grade International Festival

Our Third Grade International Festival was on January 29. It was a fun filled day of tasting foods from all the different countries and having two music performances. Students researched and studied their heritage, answering the question, "How does my heritage impact who I am today?" through an informative paper. Students dressed in their native clothing for the festival. It was a wonderful day!

For topic ten in math, each student worked on identifying a recipe, then changing the amount of the recipe based on how many people they had coming. Here is Wil's Prezi on his project.

 

 

Fraction Movies

For math, students pretest for every topic. If students test out, they receive extension projects to work. These extension groups searched for fractions around the school, identified them and then thought about their purpose. Finally, they made a movie using Movie Maker to present their findings.

By Wil and Andrew

 

By Luke and Preston

 

By: Hannah and Emma

 

Mystery Skype with Mrs. Hedjka's Class in Flint, Michigan

On Friday, we had a Mystery Skype with Mrs. Hedjka's Class in Flint, Michigan. We learned many valuable facts about Michigan.

Skype with Paul Reynolds, Wild Futures in the UK

 

On January 20, We had a chance to Skype with Paul Reynolds from Wild Futures in the UK. He answered questions students had with their genius hour projects on monkeys.

Mystery Skype with Mrs. Zambell's Class in Long Island, New York

We had a great Mystery Skype with Mrs. Zambell's class at East Hills Elementary in Long Island, New York. We learned a lot of great things about their school district.

Mystery Skype with Asia Pacific International School in South Korea

We had a wonderful Mystery Skype with a class in South Korea yesterday evening. They are 6, 476 miles from us, and 15 hours ahead of us, but it seemed like we were literally all in one room. As a parent said, "We are talking to the future." We learned a lot about Mrs. Becky Cyrus's Class and had a lot of fun with them.

 

 

 

Spelling Song Creation

Students have a choice board to use with their leveled spelling words each week. Students in this group are working on homophones and created a song to use with their words. Their creativity provided some great entertainment for the class.

Genius Hour Presentations

We had more genius hour presentations. Thank you to Mrs. Ptacek's fifth grade class for coming in and watching the presentations. The students enjoyed presented to older students.

Reagan presenting on dolphons

Hannah presenting on architecture

Caroline presenting on cheetahs

Alli presenting on dolphins

Corbin presenting on fossils

Bella presenting on dolphins

Crazy Hair Day

Students celebrated Spirit Week with Crazy Hair Day. They went all out and had lots of fun!

Preston is a huge Baylor fan is showing off his BU hairdo!

Social Studies Image Perspective Discussion

The students are working on speaking and listening skills. To tie this into our learning on perspectives and cultures, we had a social studies image discussion where students would look at a photo (photos of many things they may not have prior knowledge of) and have a discussion using the following prompts:
1) As you look at this photo, what thoughts are going through your head? Why?
2) How do you compare and contrast with this photo? Why?
3) How do you think you feel if you put yourselves in this person's shoes in the photo? Why?
4) What do you think happened in this photo? Why?

The students did a great job of leading the discussions, paying attention and really thinking critically. For homework, they reflected on the photos and wrote about which one impacted them the most, why it did and what awareness they would like to bring to it.

 

Buffalo Bill Center of the West Skype

We learned about the plains Indians and buffalo today with the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. It was great learning more about their culture.

Bullying Website Creation

After our counselor's bullying lesson, three of my students, Alli, Emma and Reagan were inspired to write a book and create a website on bullying. This was all written, designed and created by these three girls. They did a phenomenal job of wanting to make a difference.
http://bullyfreeeverywhere.weebly.com/

Alli, Emma and Reagan presenting their website

 

Globe Scavenger Hunt

Students learned more about a globe through their globe scavenger hunt. It became a fierce competition. Students did a wonderful job!