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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We reported on Fantasy Geopolitics in 8th grade earlier this year describing how it works to choose countries for a team and how scores are determined related to the amount of news for that country. Choosing a Fantasy Geopolitics team has been a tremendous success in all the civics classes with student engagement through the roof. Students are actively trading countries amongst each other or dropping and adding countries. To do this they must fill out a form and turn it in to their teacher. The form must describe why they want to drop a country, “there has been no news coming out of South Sudan for three days,” and why they want to add a certain country, “I want to add Chile because I read on the news last night that there was an earthquake off the coast of the country.”
Every Friday students complete an internet current events assignment. They find one major news story from each of the countries they drafted and complete a questionnaire that asks them to summarize, analyze, and reflect on each article. Finally, they have to look at the leader board (which countries are getting the most points via news articles) and explain why this is the case. They also have to look at their least performing country and assess why they think it is not being mentioned much in the news. For extra credit they can look at the Trends Map (a map on the site that shows where news is happening) and pick a country with no (zero) points, and find a recent news article about that country. Then they do the same thing as above- summarize, analyze, and reflect. Participating, and succeeding, in the game requires students to be constantly reviewing news websites. They are looking for trends, looking for news that will give them points if they grab that country. The competition and constant change engage and motivate students to stay current in worldwide news.
Keyboarding instruction and practice has been an important part of the fifth-grade curriculum during the fourth bimester. After an introduction to the features of the online keyboarding program, Typing Club (asfg-mx.typingclub.com), in-class instruction stressed the importance of correct hand position and posture. Instilling good habits in students while young can help them prevent repetitive motion injuries later in life. Students were reminded that for beginning typists, accuracy and form are much more important than speed. Students are being given regular keyboarding homework, with grading focused on practice and relative improvement rather than a words-per-minute score. Students seem highly motivated to improve their typing proficiency and enjoy the interface and self-pacing of Typing Club. As students improve their touch-typing skills, they will need to use less brain power for finding the letters so they can focus more on what they want to say.
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.
Recently, fifth graders in Spanish class created news podcasts detailing current events here at ASFG. The student journalists worked in teams to write and edit scripts. Then, using Garageband, they recorded themselves, edited the audio, and added “jingles” and sound effects to their podcasts. Some of the topics covered included the musical performance “Hairspray,” service learning, International Games Day, and visits by authors Pam Muñoz Ryan and Maria Garcia Esperon. Students were engaged in the process of writing and speaking because they had the opportunity to choose their topics and work with their friends. Check out the podcasts by Giselle & Alina or Esteban & Elisa & Ana or Santiago & Alejandro and learn more about what is happening at school!
Working in pairs, students scouted suitable locations in the virtual world, selected materials, and got to work. In addition to creating the bridge, the teams were required to document the process by taking screen shots of their creations, providing directional coordinates, and measuring the distance of the bridge span in meters. The students were also asked to reflect on challenges they faced and explain how they worked together to solve problems. Perhaps we will see a version of one of these bridges in the real world someday!
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.
Students in 7th grade social studies taught each other about the dynasties of China recently. Students collaborated in small groups to become experts in a specific dynasty. Then they created a Google Slide presentation and taught the rest of the class important aspects of that dynasty including social, political and technological characteristics.
Throughout this project, 7th graders practiced their information literacy skills by locating reliable websites and citing the sources of their information and images properly. They also practiced good presentation design using short statements and lots of images. Students were motivated to learn from their peers because after all the presentations were over, students created timelines about all of the dynasties using their notes. With an online tool, each student demonstrated what they learned by creating a timeline with information and images about each dynasty. This unique way of assessing learning required students to process what they learned and summarize it in their own words. Middle School students had a variety of opportunities to experience an Hour of Code this year. Students in Middle School got an introduction to computer programming during “The Hour of Code” week from December 7-13. Sponsored by code.org and occurring during Computer Science Education Week, “The Hour of Code” is meant to promote computer science and teach people the basics of coding. Mr. Wicks’ 6th grade science students used the Scratch programming platform to create animated versions of their names, and, in the process, learned about concepts such as loops, movement using a coordinate system, and conditional commands. See some name Animation examples by Diego, Olivia and Daniel Later in December, the students in Ms. Diana Boyle’s 7th grade math classes created programs in Scratch that would draw different geometric shapes at different scales. In addition to better understanding the mathematical concept of scale, students learned about many programming concepts, including operators and variables. They also designed programs that require user input to function. See scale factor examples by Jeong, Ana Luisa, Ricardo and Renata. In addition to these in-class experiences, students also had the opportunity to explore independently in the library during lunch. The new Little Bits kit was a favorite, but students also engaged in learning with Makey Makey, Arduino and online coding options. It was wonderful seeing middle school students so engrossed in learning and coding, and many of them discovered a talent for programming, circuit creation or debugging that they didn’t know they had!
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