All posts by lspady

Thomas Edison Invention Challenge

Learning Opportunities, Other Events & Contests

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6th-12 graders…Are you interested in a team-based, integrated/interdisciplinary, head and hands approach to learning?  Well the Thomas Edison Invention Challenge is for you!

Basic Rules:  

  • Get a team of 4 students
  • Register your team
  • Submit an essay or video answering the question: Who was Thomas Edison?
  • Receive a alternative energy kit and create a prototype
  • Document all your work
  • Present your work

The team registration is due by Dec. 8!  Click on the link below!

Deadline #1 – December 8, 2014 – http://edisoninventionchallenge.org/main/about/registration/

Deadline #2 – December 20, 2014 – Teams must electronically submit an essay, not to exceed 750 words OR a student created video. The essay/video topic will be “Who was Thomas Edison?”  NOTE:  3 minute Video submissions are preferred.

Deadline #3 – January 30, 2015 – Teams must submit electronic images of their design logs.  Powerpoint would be the preferred method to showcase your Notebook.

Mid February –  Teams receive an alternative energy kit

Deadline #4 – March 20, 2015 – Teams are to submit a PowerPoint presentation showing the build process.  See submission criteria included in this manual.

 Deadline #5 – April 10, 2015 – 50-60% marketing of your invention and its added value to society and 40-50% demo of a working model or explaining how you imagine it to work.

 Westside Community Schools does not sponsor or endorse the organization or activity described here.  The sharing of this information is provided as a community service.

My Brain Hurts!

Parents, Teachers

brain

Remind students that they “drive” their own brains,

and teach them useful learning strategies.

Check out this article about teaching students about their brains.

Memory talks are remembering to remember.

Check out this video about strengthening a child’s brain.

The prefrontal cortex is one of the areas of the brain that changes

the most dramatically during adolescence. 

Check out this video about the prefrontal cortex in adolescents.

Do you have any thoughts and/or resources related to brain development in children and adolescents?  Feel free to leave a comment below and share!

Geography Bee Details

Geography Bee

geobeelogo

One way to ease a little anxiety before competing in a school competition like the Geography Bee is to understand the format.  Here are some basic details:

Everyone will participate in the first 7 rounds.  Last year, the content for the first 4 rounds was:

  1. U.S. Geography (multiple choice)
  2. U.S. Cities (multiple choice)
  3. U.S. Historic Places (multiple choice)
  4. Continents (must say one of the 7 continents as the answer)

The top 5 or so scorers from the first 4 rounds will move to the final round.  In the finals, it’s double elimination so a contestant isn’t eliminated until they miss 2 questions.

The championship round will start when there are only 2 contestants left.

There isn’t a district Geography Bee.  The winner from each elementary building will take a written test sometime in late January/early February.  The top 100 contestants from Nebraska will be invited to take a test at UNO.

Hope this information helps!

Image Source: http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2014/03/24/top-geography-students-state-geographic-bees-april-4/

 

Sheep by Valerie Hobbs

Spady Blog

I am reading  Sheep by Valerie Hobbs with a group of 3rd graders from Westgate.  I hate to admit it, but this is actually the first reading group I’ve ever conducted during my 16 years of teaching.  Granted, I taught math for 9 years and did technology integration for 5 years, so it’s not like I’ve had many opportunities to facilitate a reading group.  Nonetheless, it’s never too late to try something new.  What I’ve learned so far?  I LOVE IT!

I know I could have “Googled” some ideas for a book group, but I thought I’d stretch myself and come up with some of my own ideas.  Feel free to comment and add suggestions to anything I have listed.

Students used Pic Collage on their iPads to document the different names for Jack throughout the book.  It was a great way to talk about the characters and the experiences Jack had with each of them.

NamesForJack

Today I read part of chapter 9 out loud.  As I read, students used Drawing Pad on their iPad to draw the scene.

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When we read about the Goat Man in chapters 3 and 4, I had the students write “Words of Wisdom” since the Goat Man was known for his Words of Wisdom cards.  Next time we meet, we’re going to make bookmarks with their Words of Wisdom and illustrations.  I’m hoping that I can send those to the author and have her autograph them.  🙂  Here are some of the Words of Wisdom the kids came up with…

  • Some people look for a great place.  Others make a place great.
  • Be who you are and say what you feel because those who matter don’t mind.
  • Stop hating yourself for everything you aren’t and start loving yourself for everything that you are.
  • Do what you love and stick with it.
  • Love and grief grow in the same garden.

What are some of your Words of Wisdom?  Leave a comment below!

2014-15 District Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee

On Friday, November 21, the top 31 spellers from Westside Community Schools gathered for the District Spelling Bee.  Two spellers from each of the ten elementary schools and eleven spellers from the middle school participated.  After spelling transcutaneous and camelopard correctly, 7th grader Reese P. was determined the winner.  Graham W., 6th grader from Swanson, was the runner-up.  Reese will attend the 89th Midwest Spelling Bee on March 15th at the Omaha Public School Teacher Administration Building.

Elementary Winners:  
3rd Place:  Zach G. from Loveland
2nd Place: Andrew L. from Rockbrook
1st Place: Graham W. from Swanson

District Winners:
3rd Place: Justin S. from WMS
2nd Place: Graham W. from Swanson
1st Place: Reese P. from WMS

EY Update

Sindt Blog

Hello!

Wow, is this year flying by!  From the “Choose Your Own Adventure” seminar, to the Spelling Bees, the Quiz Bowl and the Geography Bees, students have been taking advantage of a lot of great opportunities and we’ve been very busy!

Our big idea for the EY students this quarter is Current Events.  We spent some time checking out student-appropriate news websites the first couple of times we met this quarter.  More recently, I have introduced the project of the quarter.  For this project, students are looking at the current events from 10 years before they were born to the first 10 years of their lives.  For example, if they were born in 2003, their years are 1993 – 2013.  Students who were born in 2005 are doing the years 1995 – 2014, so they get off a little easier.  They will research and choose a local, national, and world current event and create a presentation.  I used Google Slides to create a fantastic model timeline I shared with them, covering the years 1962 – 1982.  To stretch them a little, we’re asking students to choose an event from those years and make a connection, saying how that event influenced their lives or personalities.  For example, I shared about the 1975 tornado that tore through Omaha.  I was only 3, but I have vivid memories of that day and the following days of viewing the destruction.  Those memories have forced me to become extra-cautious now when it gets stormy.  This project could lead to some interesting discussions at home.   Be sure to ask your students about the events the students are learning about.

For E/I times during the school day, I have different classrooms doing different activities.  I work with the classroom teachers to decide what’s best for their students, and E/I time activities are open to all.  Some students are involved in Battle of the Book clubs, some meet with me for math, and some are doing independent or group projects.

I wanted to inform you that I’m having  surgery December 3rd, so I will be out until after Winter Break.  Students will be set up with plenty to do through the weeks of December.  The timeline project outlined above will be due after Winter Break, so students have the month of December to work on it.  I will be an e-mail away from December 3rd through the 19th, and your students are more than welcome to e-mail me at home if they have any questions.  Also, please check out the other links on the EY websites – there are many great ideas!

Thanks!

Katie Sindt

 

 

Engineering Learning Center

Other Events & Contests, Parents

The Midwest is filled with innovation … why not allow the students who grow up here the opportunity to capture that and make something great?

Time for STEM provides opportunities for students who want to experience real life examples and projects in engineering.  Some programs include:

  • Electrical Engineer I & II
  • Aerospace Engineer
  • Social Media Engineer
  • Agricultural Engineer
  • Environmental Engineer

For more information, check out the website and course schedule.

Website:  http://www.timeforstem.com/home.html

Course Schedule:  http://www.timeforstem.com/course-schedule.html

Westside Community Schools does not sponsor or endorse the organization or activity described here.  The sharing of this information is provided as a community service.

Hour of Code

Other Events & Contests, Parents, Teachers

Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science!

Many classrooms have already started the adventure of exposing students to the world of computer science through coding.  Some students are making their own video games using Pixel Press Floors and Hopscotch.  Others are using the curriculum on code.org  and Khan Academy.  Scratch, Scratch Jr. and Tynker are other resources to check out if you’re interested in having your kids learn to code.  Leave a comment and let us know how your classroom and/or children are learning about computer science!

Make sure to check out the resources on the Hour of Code site at http://csedweek.org.

Also, check out the Computer Science Education Resource Guide @ http://www.smartscholar.com/computer-science-guide/