Famous People Glogs

Mrs. McGee’s class has been working hard on Glog using Glogster EDU to demonstrate their understanding of the famous people they have studied.  After a quick tutorial on how to use the programs, Mrs. McGee and her students were off and running.  Here are a few examples of their hard work.  Click on the top right corner icon to see them full size.

You can see all the class’ glogs on this wiki: McGee’s Class

Sock Worms, Banana Split Milkshakes, and Homemade Pillows!

Need to know how to create a sock worm? Or banana split milkshakes? What about a pillow, potato woman, hamburger, or a friendship bracelet. Students in Mrs. Devlin’s class created videos to show you how!

In this project, they wrote step by step directions on storyboards, took pictures with digital camearas, and used photostory to record and create digital stories with step by step directions

.Sockworm Taking Pictures Recording

Take a look a few examples below, and check out all their stories on Mrs. Devlin’s Class wiki!

Stacking Oreos! (and graphing them too)

OreosA few weeks ago, students at Oak Grove and Clearbrook went Oreo crazy!  They brought in packages of the yummy cookies and tried to stack the tallest towers.  But it wasn’t just for fun…it was part of a global project with students all over the world participating!  You can learn more about the Oreo Project on Jen Wagner’s website.  This was the 12th year of the project, and this time 15,501 students participated from 719 different classes. 

 

 

 

IMG_0803After stacking oreos, different grade levels participated in different activities with the oreos, from science to math to writing.  Many classes created Excel Spreadsheets showing the average cookie stack, or the mode, median, mean, and range of the stacks.  They even used excel formulas for their calculations!  

 

 

 

 A few examples of their spreadsheets are shown below!

Mrs. Beir’s Class (Clearbrook — 3rd Grade)

Mrs. Hushour’s Class (Clearbrook — 3rd Grade)

Mrs. Bralley’s Class (Oak Grove — 3rd Grade)


 

Mrs. Sharp’s Block 1 Class (Oak Grove — 5th Grade)

 

 

Mrs. Sharp’s Block 2 Class (Oak Grove — 5th Grade)

 

Mrs. Mortez’s Block 1 Class (Oak Grove –5th Grade)

Mrs. Mortez’s Block 2 Class (Oak Grove — 5th Grade)

Mrs. Grave’s Class (Clearbrook — 5th Grade)

Mrs. Hudson’s Class (Clearbrook — 5th Grade)

StoryRobe Digital Stories by Third Graders

Storyrobe AppThird Graders went on a trip to Apple Ridge farms this month.  Despite camera difficulties, they were able to get enough photos to use for digital stories!  The day after the field trips, we loaded the pictures into the iPod Touches, grabbed some microphones, and had students quickly create a “What we learned videos” using the StoryRobe App. Here are all their stories, together in one video.  Check it out:

How To Stories…with a Digital Twist!

What do Purple Cows, Nachos, and 3-D Robots have in common? They’re all things YOU can learn how to make, just by watching a simple Digital Story! Yep, so easy even a Third Grader could do it…actually, they did! And they created these digital stories to show YOU just how easy it is! Here’s an example:

So, how did they do it?

First, Mrs. Devlin worked with her students on writing expository “How To” paragraphs. Students then used their paragraphs to create a storyboard for their digital stories. Then they brought in supplies and had “picture day.” During this time, students followed their storyboards and took pictures of the step-by-step process of making their creation. The digital pictures were loaded on the computers in the lab, and students then used PhotoStory to finish their projects. It was interesting to listen to their problem solving skills as they followed their own directions…and even as they created their Digital Stories. Lots of learning took place, and the end product turned out great!

Check out all the projects here:
Digital “How To” Stories

Third Grade Subtraction Voicethreads

Students in Mrs. Devlin’s Class have created these voicethreads to practice subtraction, teach others how to subtract, and see if anyone has a different way.  Check them out, and feel free to comment with your own method! 

Subtracting Numbers without Regrouping

 
Subtracting Numbers with One Regroup

Subtracting Numbers with More than One Regroup

Subtracting Numbers Across Zeros

Note:  We did realize that you could keep the writing from fading towards the end of the project.  To see how, read how to increase writing time in voicethread.

Online Testing Practice Sites

Just wanted to pass along a website that was mentioned for SOL practice in the 5th grade meeting yesterday.  It came from Mary Hollar at West Salem Elementary.  It’s called www.thatquiz.org, and it has online review problems for Math…including a way to practice with a protractor and a ruler (be careful, though, since the cm ruler on this site starts at the end of the ruler).

There is also an entire page of links that Pam and I have put together to allow you to practice for SOL tests using computers, including released practice tests from prior years (they don’t look exactly like the test, but they are still good practice).  Take a look when you have a chance.  To find it, go to Your school’s homepage>Students>Links for Kids>Your Grade Level>Online Testing Practice or click here.

If you know of anything else that should be added to this page, please, please let me know.  The more ideas and resources we have, the better!! :)

Third Graders Participate in a Global Penpal Project

Have you noticed Third Grade’s bulletin board in the upstairs hallway at G.W. Carver? If so, you might have noticed all the colorful cards, letters, and brochures from schools all around the globe! The students in Mrs. Naves, Ms. Pillis’, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Travitz’s classes have been participating in a global penpal project called, “From Me to You 2008” organized by Jennifer Wagner on the Technospud Project Website. Teachers from all over the world participated, from California to Maine, Canada to Hawaii, and even Australia! Each Third Grade class sent cards to 23 other classes (and to a Ronald McDonald House) and included a brochure (created by seven very creative third graders) that told the classes all about G.W. Carver and Salem, Virginia. In return, they are receiving cards from other classes, and learning all about places all over the United States and beyond. Students will even have a chance to view the location of all the classes on Google Earth (and learn how to use the ruler in Google Earth to measure distance)! If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at some of the things they have received, take a walk by Third Grade. If you want to learn more about this particular project, you can check out the project homepage here.

Also, if you think you might be interested in doing a global project, I highly recommend looking at some of the other ones on the Technospud Project Website. It looks like an exciting project for K-3 is about to start in March for St. Patrick’s Day (involving Lucky Charms and lots of Math) , one later in the Spring for grades 4-6 based on Prince Caspian (the 2nd book in the Narnia Series), and more! If you choose to do one, please let me know. I’d love to help!!