The 6th grade used Chromebooks and MacBooks to do research for non-fiction informational reports. We perused websites and articles, discussed credible websites, took notes and synthesized information. We also used EasyBib to generate bibliographies. This was a great project in which students were extremely engaged in doing research on topics of their choice. Learn about the myths and truths of sleepwalking from Natalia's essay.
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Sixth-grade students recently created “video poems” in Language Arts class. After choosing one of their own original poems, students selected appropriate images and music to fit the tone and subject matter of their poem. In addition to learning about the basics of video production, students were required to include titles and end credits that cited the sources of their images, reinforcing the digital literacy lessons they have been learning this year. Students were engaged in expressing their thoughts and feelings through images and words.
Students also practiced ethical use of others' creative work by providing appropriate credits for the images they used in their presentations. Locating and crediting sources of media are important skills that students are hoping to master by the end of the year. Students were motivated to create and present in this project because they had the freedom to choose a topic that excites them.
In addition to learning how to create attractive websites, the 7th graders learned the importance of making their sites easy-to-navigate and read. Students were motivated to create attractive sites that reflected their personality and style. Background images were required to have citations, reinforcing the information literacy lessons that have been a key component of the Middle School curriculum this year.
8th grade students recently set independent reading goals. Their language arts teacher encouraged them to think of a genre of books that they have never tried or that they want to read more. Next, students reflected on their reading habits during 7th grade to set a goal for this year. They took selfies of themselves with the genre and their goal and posted them to a shared Padlet page, which is embedded below. You can see how much fun students had thinking about books and making their photos great.
pieces of writing, and their reading blog continues to grow. This site will form the basis of their language arts reflection during the end of the year student led conferences.
Over Spring break 5th graders in language arts class had a Spring break reading challenge! To share our reading life and our vacations, students took a selfie of themselves reading, and wrote a one sentence book review of their good fit book to post on their class padlet page. We are doing lots of great reading in ELA 5th grade and remembering good readers create a BUZZZ about the books they love! Take a look!
recycling each day? This includes organic waste, aluminum, paper and plastic. We also generate about 27 kg of trash each day. Even though we recycle almost 4/5 of our waste, we want to do better. Consumption and waste directly contribute to global warming, arguably one of the most poignant issues facing the world today. After examining the results of the waste assessment and taking a tour of the campus to look at other ways we are consuming resources, groups of 3 or 4 students chose an issue to research more in depth. They developed driving questions such as: Is all plastic recyclable? How can ASFG reduce food waste? How can we reduce the amount of trash we generate? What is the environmental impact of our pool? Students interviewed maintenance about our water consumption, the cost of energy and the types of chemicals used in our pool. They interviewed the cafeteria staff about food waste. They researched the impact of extracting aluminum from the ground. Students also looked at waste data collected by other schools. The final product for each group was to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that focused on their issue. They used the data gathered at school, compared it to an outside source, and developed at least one solution to the problem. This project required students to integrate learning from science, math, language arts and technology to produce high quality, persuasive videos. Students were engaged throughout the process because they had many opportunities to pursue their personal interests and collaborate. See more PSAs on our YouTube playlist.
In 5th grade English Language Arts students are getting ready to publish fiction writing so they have started a class blog for reflection. Using the Google Classroom Stream, students respond to reflection prompts to think about the writing process and improve their confidence. Students will continue to reflect on their writing attitude as they draft and revise their stories in the coming weeks.
Students used a graphic organizer in a Google Doc to organize and revise their ideas. Then they used Keynote to create slides for a presentation. During their presentation, a classmate filmed them using PhotoBooth. After the presentation, the student who filmed,cAirDropped the video file to their classmate while the rest of the students emailed the presenter with their feedback on one thing they thought he/she did well and one thing he/she needs to do to improve. At the same time, the teacher shared and filled in a rubric on Google Docs with feedback and their grade.
The student who presented then went into the hallway to watch the video, read the emails from classmates and read the teacher’s feedback on the rubric. All students will write a reflection about what aspects of their presentation they were proud of, and they will set goals for what aspects they would like to improve for their next presentation. The reflection, as well as the video of their presentation will be posted in their Language Arts website portfolio, which students’ parents will be able to view. |
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