Category Archives: Uncategorized

CS Ed Week is December 6-12 and it is an annual event to inspire students to learn about computer science, advocate for equity, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners in the CS field. https://www.csedweek.org/

Scroll to the bottom of https://www.csedweek.org/ to learn about the computer science careers of a robotocist, laser designer, data scientist and more! Make a pic collage showing what you learned.
Check out the BAM! Bitsbox coder badge at the EY website. You can also code the Submarine Explorer app in Bitsbox using these instructions: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1at8h00BAjAFPCxigFrE2y6peUF2vN8ib/view?usp=sharing
Try poem art at Code.org ( https://code.org/poetry) or Hello World (https://code.org/helloworld)

If you want to save your progress:

1. Sign in with google @ code. org

2. Go to course catalog on the top left

3. Scroll down and click on hour of code view more choices.

4. Take a screenshot of your certificate when your project is complete.

Language Arts Mini Spark #66: How to use a the semicolon

November 2, 2021Reading Enrichment, Uncategorizedlspady

It may seem like the semicolon is struggling with an identity crisis. It looks like a comma combined with a period. Maybe that’s why we toss these punctuation marks around like grammatical confetti; we’re confused about how to use them properly. This lesson offers some clarity and best practices for using the semicolon.

Watch the video. Pause the video as needed to record notes. Pay special attention to any words that are new to you, rules, specific examples and sample sentences. These items should all be included in your final note taking page.
Write two sentences of your own and include them on the note taking page.
Share this work with your teacher to earn this mini spark.

Lesson video by Emma Bryce, animation by Karrot Entertainment.

2021-22 EY Challenge #3

September 26, 2021Current Challenge, Uncategorizedlspady

Prosthetic Hands

Please follow these steps to complete this challenge:

1. Read the article and answer the quiz questions.

Lower Elementary Article Upper Elementary Article

2. Watch the video on 3D Printed Prosthetic Hands

3. Create a product based on your learning. Below are a few tutorials if you need an idea. NOTE: Always ask for adult permission/supervision when using tools like hot glue guns, scissors, etc.

Make a video of your product and/or take pictures of it in use. Upload your project to your drive and make it sharable. Copy the link and paste it in the Google Submission Form: https://forms.gle/YDo6t5MDXW8vA1q58

This challenge closes October 15.

Language Arts Mini Spark #64 Modifiers: What are they? Where do they go?

September 15, 2021Reading Enrichment, Uncategorizedlspady

Modifiers are words, phrases, and clauses that add information about other parts of a sentence—which is usually helpful. But when modifiers aren’t linked clearly enough to the words they’re actually referring to, they can create unintentional ambiguity.

Incorrectly placed modifier: Perched up high on a tree branch, I yelled at the cat to leave the sparrow alone.

Meaning: I don’t tangle with a tabby unless I am perched 10 feet up in the air.

Correctly placed modifier: Seeing a sparrow perched up high on a tree branch, I yelled at the cat to leave him alone.

Meaning: ohhhh….the sparrow is up in the tree. Watch out little sparrow!

#1 Read this teaching page to look over some modifier examples.

#2 Watch this TED Ed video and take detailed notes about modifiers and their placement and navigate the sticky world of misplaced, dangling and squinting modifiers.

#3 Make a visual explaining modifiers with examples of how they are used. Also include your own sentence with a misplaced modifier and then correct the sentence so that the reader understands the meaning.

Challenge: Do more research about misplaced, dangling and squinting modifiers. Include what you learned in your visual.

2021-22 EY Challenge #2

September 13, 2021Current Challenge, Uncategorizedlspady

Another Bitsbox Challenge

Thank you to those of you who tried the first EY Challenge of the year. If you did, this challenge is an extension of that. If you didn’t do the first challenge, no worries. This video should help you get started. Also, here are some basic steps:

1. Draw a picture on paper or using an app on your iPad. Start with something simple like an animal. I drew this cow using Drawing Pad. Take a picture of your drawing or take a screenshot.

2. Go to Safari and type in bitsbox.com and in the upper right corner select “kids sign in” and use your Westside Google Account to sign in

3. From there, the video below should walk you through the steps.

This code is in the video, but here is another copy of what you’ll be typing in on Bitsbox.

Don’t forget to submit your work!

This challenge closes September 24

EY Submission Form Link: https://forms.gle/h4BNyDpTESYrSjRK8

NewzBrain Civics Challenge

August 26, 2021MS Learning Opportunities, Uncategorizedlspady

NewzBrain provides a weekly online Civics Challenge covering a wide variety of topics. Check out a sample NewzBrain Civics Challenge by clicking the link below to see if it’s something you’d be interested in doing. https://newzbrain.com/StudentWeb/OnlineLeague/Demo

If you would like a NewzBrain student account to participate in the Weekly Civics Challenge, email Dr. Spady.

Weekly leaders will be posted on our leaderboard at: https://ey.westside66.org/newzbrainleaderboard

Math Pre-Testing

August 11, 2021Uncategorizedlspady

Pre-Testing in Math

Pre-Testing in math is more than just a way to separate your students into two groups for a unit: those who already know it and those who don’t. The data collected from a pre-test should inform your instruction for the unit and help you to adjust your plans…move quicker, skip it, do a more creative activity, etc. For more information on quality pre-tests, check out Byrdseed Six Traits of Quality Pre-Assessments.

#85 Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD)

May 17, 2021Math Minute, Uncategorizedlspady

image taken from https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/mean-deviation.html

Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) is how far, on average, all data values are from the middle.

To find the MAD, you can follow 3 easy steps:

Find the mean of the values
Find the distance of each value from that mean (subtract the mean from each value, ignore minus signs which is also the absolute value)
Then find the mean of those distances

For this Math Mini Spark, you’ll be finding the MAD on a spreadsheet. Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Make a Copy of this Spreadsheet by clicking the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ndcgCZ1EeVcKausxtkmBkONVfCeilbQNE6ukdUCWYk8/copy

Step 2: Watch the video below and complete the steps shown in the video on your own spreadsheet.

Video: https://youtu.be/nGG2xq1COwE

NOTE: This mini-spark can be used as 1 spreadsheet lesson for the Spreadsheet Superstar Badge.