Category Archives: Uncategorized

1st Semester Seminars and Competitions

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Sixth graders from across the district participated in the 23rd Annual McMillan Math Contest on November 7.  Teams of four competed in a team test as well as a quiz bowl.  Westside teams took home top medals in both competitions.  Way to go Westside Mathletes!

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On Tuesday, November 5, sixteen 4th-6th grade students participated in a Science Olympiad at ESU 3.  Each team competed in 5 events showcasing difference science concepts.  Check out how much fun we had!

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On Tuesday, October 15, twenty-eight 6th graders from all ten elementary buildings attended the Drawing From the Inside seminar at ESU 3.  Students unleashed their creativity and let their imaginations soar by literally drawing from several different angles.  Check out the pictures!

Watch a Drawing Video

Watch Another Drawing Video

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Strategy Seminar

Programming Resources-Check these out!

Henningsen Blog, Lusero Blog, Nordquist Blog, Sindt Blog, Spady Blog, Uncategorized

We have lots of kids who are super interested in programming, and I just know we have a few app developers in our midst!  How cool would that be?!

On the iPad…

1. Cargo-Bot: Free on iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cargo-bot/id519690804?mt=8
This app has students writing programs that control a robotic arm to move, sort, and stack colored crates.  The computer language is simple enough for younger kids, but challenging for even middle school kids.

2. Hopscotch: Free on iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-coding-for-kids/id617098629?mt=8
This app is a great introduction to programming for kids.

3. Move the Turtle: $2.99 on iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/move-turtle.-programming-for/id509013878?mt=8
Teaches students the basics of programming (actual coding)

4. Daisy the Dinosaur: Free on iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/daisy-the-dinosaur/id490514278?mt=8
Similar to Hopscotch

On the computer…

5. Scratch: Download for free at http://scratch.mit.edu/
Great programming environment for kids!  This is a must!

6. Codecademy: Learn programming on the web with interactive tutorials.  Create an account at http://www.codecademy.com/ and then choose from JavaScript, HTML/CSS, PHP, Phython, Ruby and APIs.  (note from Mrs Spady: I have done this with my 2nd and 4th grader, but I usually have to sit down next to them and help them through it.  It’s a little higher level, but doable.)

7. CODE.org: Another great online resource to learn programming.  http://code.org/learn

8. Khan Academy:  Yet another great online resource to learn about computer programming.
https://www.khanacademy.org/cs/programming

Rhyme Out

Spady Blog, Uncategorized

RhymeOutI found out about Rhyme Out from a colleague a few months ago and have enjoyed playing it with students of all ages.  Each card has 3 clues and the answers all rhyme.  For example:  Here are the clues…

  • Something you wear on your foot
  • What you do to get someone to open a door
  • Something that beats scissors but not paper

Remember, the answers all rhyme.  Think you’ve got it?  Scroll down to find out the answers.

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  • Sock
  • Knock
  • Rock

Some of the cards are trickier than others, but on almost every card, there’s an opportunity to discuss spelling, other rhyming words, or talk about homophones, etc.  For example, one of today’s cards had the answers of thigh, dye, and pie.  While all those words rhyme, they are not spelled with the same ending.

 

My 1st graders are still learning to spell so when we play Rhyme Out, we can easily extend it to a 30-minute lesson.  They love to write the answers on the white board.

One of the cards had Greece, piece, and geese as the answers.  We talked about the “ee” and “ea” combination of letters and the “ce” and “se” endings.  We also talked about Greece vs. grease and how “tease” may look like it rhymes with the others, but it doesn’t.

There are several ways to extend this game.  Here are a few ideas…

  1. Have students come up with their own Rhyme Out cad that has 3 clues with answers that rhyme.
  2. Younger Kids:  Talk about word families (here is one of many sites) and have them use each word in a sentence.  For a challenge, see if they can make a sentence that has 2-3 rhyming words.
  3. Older Kids:  Students can write limericks which require the use of rhyming words.

In the comments section, please leave 3 clues that have answers that all rhyme.  The students and I will try to figure out the answers!

November/December Notes

Lusero Blog, Uncategorized

The last couple months are a blur!  We have been so busy with Spelling Bees and Geography Bees in addition to our regular schedule.  It has been a little crazy!  I hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving break and are looking forward to the Winter break, which will be here before we know it.

In EY, we have moved on from the strategy theme and are on to communication.  We have been discussing several literary devices, enriching what they are also learning  in the classroom.  This involves the creative side of their brains, which is fun to see.  We have some that really are able to think outside the box, for others it is a bit of a stretch.  But it is always good to step outside of your comfort zone now and then.

All students are working on memorizing a poem for the last week before winter break.  We are planning a poetry cafe morning when all the EY students in each school would come together, share their poem and enjoy some refreshments as an end of the quarter celebration.  This activity is to prepare them for future Poetry Out Loud competitions in high school.  This allows them to explore this and decide if it is something  they would like to pursue.   I encourage you to check out the website for Poetry Out Loud and see all the benefits of this.   It is a wonderful opportunity to develop speaking skills and confidence.  I am anxious to see how it turns out.  If you haven’t heard them practicing their poem,  you may want to ask them how it is going.

We also completed our first Math Olympiad competition.  This is a test we take in class each month from November to March.  I was impressed with the scores and enjoyed listening to their strategies for solving the problems.  We will take the second one next week.

Wordly Wise is also an expectation that I am pleased to say is going well.  I have had very few late assignments and the quality of the work has been excellent for the most part.

Twenty-five years ago, my husband and I hosted an exchange student from Argentina.  He now has a daughter of his own and she will be visiting us for a couple of months.   She will arrive Dec. 20th and will be here until the end of February.  We are excited about her visit and I plan to have her visit my students and discuss the cultural differences.  It should be interesting!

That is all I have to share for now.  Once again, please contact me if you have questions or concerns.

Pigs Will Be Pigs

Spady Blog, Uncategorized

I love children’s books that teach math concepts!  One that I used today is called, Pigs will be Pigs by Amy Axelrod, pictures by Sharon McGinley-Nally.  I work with a couple 1st graders once a week and I found that using books like this provide a way for us to talk about vocabulary in addition to a math topic.  The topic in this book is money so I created a quick chart.  Here is a .pdf of the chart.

PwbPWe first wrote the name for each bill and coin.  Then, as I read the book, students kept track of the money the pigs found by making tally marks on the chart.  When I finished reading, the students counted their tally marks and we found the total.

There are several ways to extend this book.  Here are a few ideas…

  1. Talk about the presidents, monuments, and other items on each bill and coin.  Here’s a nice reference about coins in circulation.
  2. There is a nice interactive read-aloud on You Tube that poses questions throughout the book.
  3. The pigs go to a restaurant in the book and the menu is printed on two of the pages.  Have kids order a meal and calculate the total.  Or, give them a certain amount of money and have them order meals for their family.

What are some children’s books that you know of that teach math concepts?  Please share!

EY Updates

Uncategorized

Hello! This week we talked about our hero stores and how to develop interesting characters and vivid settings. With my grade 4/5 children, we did a short  speaker tag lesson. I will collect the rough drafts as they are ready. I will make suggestions and help with editing. I have asked for the students to type the stories. If you do not have a working printer at home, you may email a copy of the story to me at  jhenningsen@westside66.org.

Next week, the EY students grade 4-6 will complete the first Math Olympiad Contest Division E (grade 4-6)in our home bulidings. We will spend a session after the contest going over the questions and learn strategies for solving contest problems.

Grade 4-We learned more about fractions and decimals this week. There are several assignments on Khan for the students to work on at home at at school. Schedules are hectic, but if time allows please ask you child to spend 10-15 min a night working on math skills. We will continue to work on decimals next week. Unit 6 wordly wise is due next week.

Grade 5-wordly wise unit 7 is due next week

Grade 6- During math club we looked over the McMillian test problems and solved a few problems involving averages. These types of problems pop up during contests, and it was fun to work through a few. There are several different strategies for solving these types of challenges. We used guess and check, making an organized list, and  algebra to solve for the unknown number.

  Directions: The average of four numbers is 11. If three of the numbers are 7, 20 & 12, What is the fourth number?

Step 1.

x = unknown number

Step 2.

Step 3.

 

(Prairie Lane grade 6)- wordly wise unit 7 is due next week

One of the students showed me some of the  programming options available on Khan. So much to explore here! I will attach one of the options:

Programming is how we tell computers what we want them to do, like to build iPhone apps, video games, or websites like this one. At Khan Academy, you can use our programming environment to build graphics, animations, and interactive visualizations. If you’ve never programmed before, follow these tutorials to learn how!

https://www.khanacademy.org/cs/programming

Have a great weekend!

Jenny

 

 

Writing Contest

Henningsen Blog, Uncategorized

Hello!

We started a story map and brainstorming session for a writing contest. The students will work on this story during EY time next week. I will have them turn in rough drafts the week of Nov 11th.  The final drafts will need to be typed, so if your child would like to type the rough draft that would be great! This is a fun topic and it has been fun to hear about the heroes and the superpowers.

writing1

Click link below for writing contest guidelines

http://www.metroreadingcouncil.org/uploads/2/2/4/9/22493948/mrc_writing_contest_2013-2014.pdf

Math contest prep activities at Khan:

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/geometry/basic-geometry/perimeter_area_tutorial/v/interesting-perimeter-and-area-problems

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Jenny

 

 

 

A few announcements

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Here are a couple of announcements for you:

1)  There is Science Olympiad opportunity at ESU #3 on Nov. 5th.  If your child is interested in attending, please go to http://tinyurl.com/scienceolympiad13 and sign up. We are only able to take 16 students in grades 4-6,  so we will be randomly drawing students on Oct. 29th.  You will be notified if your child’s name is drawn.

2)  Classroom spelling bees will be held this week in grades 4-6.  The students will be taking a written exam consisting of 20 words.  These will be scored and the top 12-15 students will be asked to participate in the school bee.  Oakdale’s Bee will be held on November 6th at 9:15. Prairie Lane’s Bee will be  November 11th at 1:30. Swason’s Bee is on November 14th at 9:15. Family members of the contestants are welcome to attend.  Those students participating in the school level bee will be given practice materials.

3)  Fourth grade EY students will take a written math exam this week to determine the top 24 students that will attend the Marrs Magnet Math Competition.  When those students have been determined, they will be given some practice materials to use.  The Marrs Competition is on Monday, Nov. 18, there will be more information coming for those that are selected to attend.

4)  Sixth grade EY students will do a mini math contest this week to determine the teams that will attend the McMillian Math Competition.  When those students have been determined, I will give practice materials.  The Marrs Competition is on Thursday, Nov. 7. There will be more information coming for those that are selected to attend.

That is all for right now! :)   Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.  Thanks!