All posts by lspady

April/May News!

Lusero Blog

Hello All!   It is hard to believe that we are winding down another school year.  We have accomplished a lot and  there have been some unique opportunities for students this year.  Please check out the main page of the EY Blog and click the “What’s New” button for some pictures and information about some of those happenings.  There is also a listing of summer opportunities for gifted students.

We are all busy working on our Mr. Peabody and Sherman scripts.  The students have a topic chosen and are researching to find facts that will be imbedded in their script.  Everyone has had a short lesson in script writing and puns.  I am anxious to see how they turn out!  Stay tuned!

We also are finishing up our vocabulary enrichment, “Wordly Wise”.  I have seen a lot of growth in this area.  I will encourage them to finish strong!  They may not see the value of this right now, but I think they will later.  🙂

Thanks so much to all the parents that helped with transportation to the Brownell-Talbot Math Contest for grades 5-6.  I really appreciate all the support!

That is all for now!  Now that is seems to be finally here, enjoy the spring weather!

 

 

 

May Day Fun

Uncategorized

 

Pizz

Over 160 slices of pizza were consumed Thursday morning at a Blind Taste Test at the Westside Community Conference Center.  Twenty 3rd-6th grade students had an opportunity to give their input on the pizza that will be served in Westside cafeterias next year.

IMG_5958

Later that day, over fifty 5th-6th grade students participated in the Brownell-Talbot Math Contest.  Students completed an individual and team contest in addition to several math challenge activities.  Congratulations to the following Westside students who brought home honors.

  • Ava from Oakdale placed 3rd in the 5th grade group
  • Gus from Rockbrook also placed 3rd in the 5th grade group
  • Chiharu from Loveland placed 5th in the 5th grade group
  • Graham from Swanson was a top scorer in the 5th grade group
  • Victoria from Loveland placed  1st in the 6th grade group
  • Kenan from Loveland placed 2nd in the 6th grade group
  • Theo from Paddock placed 3rd in the 6th grade group
  • Ashleigh from Paddock placed 4th in the 6th grade group
  • The Paddock team of Theo, Ashleigh, Emma, Cindy, and David scored 71 points and placed 2nd in the team contest.
  • The Loveland team of Victoria, Kenan, Korbin, Eleanor, and Bella scored 70 points and placed 3rd place in the team contest.

Congratulations to all students who competed!

 

Diff Tip: Post 1

Diff Tip, Diff Tips

Product Differentiation refers to culminating projects that allow students to demonstrate and extend what they have learned.

Differentiating the product allows students to use different methods to demonstrate their knowledge and it is motivating for all kids, especially high ability learners, to be offered a choice of product.  Solution?  There are hundreds of quality web-based technology tools that students can use!

Check out this page of web-based tools and then leave a comment and share a tool you’ve had students use before.

Explain Everything

Spady Blog

Although I like to recommend free apps, Explain Everything is one that I feel is well worth the money.  At $2.99, it allows students to explain their thinking as they are completing a variety of tasks.  As a former math teacher, I was good at having students complete problems on paper, but I didn’t have them EXPLAIN what they were doing.  Explain Everything is the perfect app to check for understanding as kids explain a process.

In the Fraction-Decimal-Percent Video, students are describing one method for converting a fraction to a decimal and percent.

FracDecPer Video

 

I also had my 1st graders use Explain Everything.  They typed a few rhyming words, made a sentence and then illustrated it.

 

 

What are some ideas you have for using Explain Everything?  Leave a comment!

 

The Chemistry of Cookies

Spady Blog, Uncategorized

Just when you thought science couldn’t get any more exciting!

cookies

This TEDEd video by Stephanie Warren explains basic chemistry principles through the process of baking cookies – from how the dough spreads out to how the oven temperatures kill salmonella.  Grab a glass of milk and a couple cookies and dive in to the science of cooking!

When you’re finished watching the video, complete the questions on the Google Form.

Video Link: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-chemistry-of-cookies-stephanie-warren

cookie picture taken from pdclipart.org

 

Worldmapper

Spady Blog

Screenshot 2014-04-01 11.41.02Worldmapper is a collection of world maps based on various subjects from meat imports to cholera deaths to absolute poverty.  As a young student, I remember looking up statistics about countries in various books.  However, without access to technology, much of this information was meaningless to me and it was difficult to make connections.  Today’s students have access to tools like Worldmapper and Google Earth, which brings the information to a whole new level!

I recently worked with some 4th graders and showed them various maps on Worldmapper.  After looking at each map, I had them write down a question about the map.  This led to some interesting discussions and connections.  Below are just a few of the maps we explored and the questions students wrote.  Check out Worldmapper and leave a comment about a map you found interesting!

Map # 1 Meat Imports: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=50

  • How do they choose the shape of the countries?

Map # 2: Fruit Imports: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=42

  • To be so big, how much fruit does Europe import?

Map # 3: Vegetables Consumed: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=124

  • What is the most eaten food in china?

Map # 4 Poor Water: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=186

  • What is the disease that is mostly caught through water?

Map # 5: Cholera Cases: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=231

  • What is the usual age one gets cholera?

Map # 6: Yellow Fever: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=236

  • Where would you get a yellow fever vaccination?
  • How much does it cost and how hard would it be to get to people in Northern Africa?

Map # 7: Absolute Poverty: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=180

  • What would you most likely buy when you live on two dollars a day?

Innovators at Westgate

Spady Blog, Uncategorized

Third quarter was full of innovation at Westgate!  On Feb. 22, a group of students participated in the 2014 Robotics Expo at Strategic Air and Space Museum.  The students competed in various events that required problem solving, teamwork, and critical thinking.  Fourth graders Alex and Caleb entered the documentation competition and earned first place for their innovative ideas.  Alex designed a customizable classroom chair and Caleb came up with an innovative way to keep his clothes organized.

Robotics  Documentation

In March, Westgate received grant funds from the Kids in Need Foundation.  We purchased nine Makey Makeys and the kids have been having a blast!  Check out the videos and pictures!

Makey Makey Video

Rock Band Makey Makey

IMG_5501 IMG_5497

Although we missed the deadline, Google hosts an annual competition called Doddle 4 Google and sixth grader Tera came up with a great design!

GoogleDoodle

First graders Abigail and Marin earned honors from the Metropolitan Reading Council for the stories they wrote about a new and unusual superhero.

SONY DSC

Great job Gators!  Continue to think creatively, be imaginative and innovative!

Math Curse

Spady Blog

Screen Shot 2014-03-31 at 10.54.51 AM

I’ve been reading The Math Curse by John Scieska + Lane Smith to my first grade group and I continue to be amazed at what their young minds can absorb!  If you’re not familiar with the book, here is a link to a video of the book being read.  Here is another link to a condensed version of the book (more in movie form).  I have read this book to all ages and there’s really something for everyone in here…no matter what your math background.  Here are the things I worked on with the 1st graders:

Fibonacci’s Sequence:  1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…

  • I put the sequence on the board and within a minute, the first graders were able to figure out the pattern.  What are the next 3 numbers in this sequence?  What would the first 10 terms in the sequence be if Fibonacci’s sequence started with 2 fours?

Gallons-Quarts-Pints-Cups

  • The graphic below is often used to teach volume conversions.  There are 4 quarts in a gallon, 2 pints in a quart, and 2 cups in a pint.  Having this visual makes it easy to answer other conversion questions.  How many pints are in a gallon?  How many cups in a gallon?  How many quarts are in a half gallon?

Screen Shot 2014-03-31 at 11.02.21 AM

Arrays

  • Instead of 24 kids in the class, the first graders helped figure out seating arrangements for 12 kids.  They easily came up with 1 row of 12, 2 rows of 6, and so on.  That made it really easy to introduce multiplication.  We also had fun counting how many ears, fingers, eyes, etc. in the classroom.  As an extension, I asked questions like: What is the number eyes in the classroom take away the number of noses?  What is the number of fingers in the classroom plus the number of arms?

Screen Shot 2014-03-31 at 11.16.52 AM

The students’ homework is to make up an everyday math problem so we can create a book similar to The Math Curse.  Leave a comment with a math problem that you made up and it just might make it into our book!