Career Day

Our entire lower school participated in Career Day.  Students came to school dressed as a particular career of interest.  We had doctors, builders, pilots, teachers, artists, and so many more.  Teachers even participated. 

We incorporated Career Day in the computer lab by having first graders write about their future careers.  We encouraged students to write and draw with detail. 

 


I love their imaginations.

Dash Flash Mob

The holidays are a time I usually dread in the classroom.  The students are extra excited, and our schedules are often interrupted for parties, assemblies, holiday concerts and travel.  I needed to think of a project that would keep the students engaged during this crazy time of year. 

Dash and Xylo from Wonder Workshop would do the trick. 

Most of my students hadn't use the Xylo app yet so time was given for them to simply explore and create.   No rules, no directions, no limits.  After 15 minutes or so, I asked the students to compose Jingle Bells or Joy to the World.  Students added synchronized movements.

Like every famous musician, the students wanted to take their show on the road.   Our Dash robot flash mob visited our music teacher's classroom, Headmaster's office, and a senior class of digital design students. 

Our students were so proud of their creative coding.

One School-One Book

All of our students have required summer reading assignments, but never the teachers. But for the first time since I've been teaching in our school (18 years), our faculty had required summer reading and IT. WAS. WONDERFUL!

Our entire faculty was asked to read The Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff.  A young panhandler surviving on the streets meets a young business woman climbing the corporate ladder.  The young woman reaches out to help the young boy, and in return, he teaches her more than she could imagine.

An Invisible Thread shows how one person, Ms. Schroff, puts aside her individual wants, needs, and desires to focus her energy enriching the life of a young boy with no expectation for anything in return.  One small McDonald's meal turned into a lifelong friendship.

This is a story of grace, kindness, and compassionate. These are necessary when working with children in the classroom as well.

As the dust settles on the whirlwind first weeks of school we also need to realize that coworkers, support staff, substitutes, parents, coaches, and bus drivers also deserves our utmost grace, kindness, and compassionate,  We need to put aside our individual wants to focus on the larger picture; our students.

Thank you, Ms Schroff, for sharing your story and inspiring our faculty.

Animal Robots

We just completed our longterm robotics and coding project.  First, the students were introduced to various components (servo motors, LEDs, duo controllers, etc).  We learned how to code each component individually.

Students were asked to build an animal that incorporated movement, sound, and light into their project.  They used GarageBand to record facts about their animals and Snap! for coding.

Bot Building

The third graders had their first experience with building bots today.  This opened up great conversations about circuits, insulators/conductors, vibration, and friction.

We cut the head off toothbrushes, added batteries and vibrating motors, and off they went.  Spontaneously, the students created tracks from old cardboard.  They also used the chalk ledge to help give the bots direction.  We tried to have our bots vibrate through paint, but we concluded the paint was too thick.  Next time we will water down the paint and create bot masterpieces.

What a fun day!

Bicycle Safety

Our firsties created bicycle safety posters to hang throughout all hallways.  They've been learning the "rules of the road" during PE class.  Later this week the first graders will participate in the annual Bike Rodeo.  They will put their knowledge to the test as they navigate a variety of obstacles on their bicycles.

Robotics Challenge

Our class enjoyed a videoconference with the Museum of Flight located in Seattle, Washington.  We learned about the history of robotics, how robots are used in our everyday lives, and the future of robotics.  We were most impressed with learning how the rovers on Mars land safely and about the scientific research the rovers are conducting.  Who knows?  Maybe one of us will travel to Mars in our lifetime.

After the videoconference, we were faced with a robotics challenge.  The students had to build a robot that would move forward and backward, left and right, pick up an object, and be able to store that object onboard the robot.

We had such a great time designing and building our robots.  The students had to use critical thinking skills and troubleshooting when their robot did not work according to plan.

A big round of applause to the Museum of Flight for sparking curiosity with our fourth graders.

Grandparents' Day

We were so fortunate to spend the morning with our grandparents and special visitors.  We had a full agenda and quickly started our program with speeches about famous historical figures.  Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Harry Houdini, and Elizabeth Blackwell just to name a few.

We then surprised our grandparents will a quiz on our iPads about our speeches.  Can you believe some of our grandparents had never used an iPad before?  Since we are fourth grade tech experts we were able to lend them a helping hand.  

After that, we went head-to-head against our grandparents on a math speed drill.  How long does it take you to answer fifty multiplication or division facts?  Some of our guests were very fast and even beat us!  Way to go!

We are so fortunate our grandparents and guests spent the morning with us.  We are already looking forward to seeing them again.

Challenge Yourself

Like most schools, we have regularly scheduled faculty meetings.  And like most schools, we use this time for "housekeeping"- discuss upcoming special events, field trips, changes in our curriculum, etc.
A few days ago we had our faculty meeting and were asked to challenge ourselves.

Try something new.  Create a new lesson.  Read a new book.  Explore a new piece of technology.  Go outside your comfort zone and reach beyond.

Do. Not. Settle.

This discussion made me reflect on the school year thus far.  My professional goal this year was, and continues to be, to share my passions with my students and look beyond the curriculum.  We've learned to make soap and use a sewing machine.  I've already read more books aloud to my students than previous years.  We've connected internationally by participating in the Global Read Aloud and numerous Mystery Skypes lessons.   We are currently writing eBooks on our national parks.  We will soon start exploring digital photography.  The arts, reading, writing, and technology are all passions of mine. 

I firmly believe these "extra projects" have brought my students together as a class so nicely.   Their communication skills have improved, and they show one another more respect and compassion. 

Keep reaching.  Keeping challenging.  Keep growing.

Teeth Shine without Grime

A big thank you to Ms. Danielle and Ms. Bethany from Dr. Tilghman & Dr. Schwartz's office for visiting our school and teaching us about dental hygiene.  We learned some important tips on how to keep our teeth shiny and clean.

Tip #1
Brush twice a day for two minutes.  You should spend thirty seconds brushing each of the four quadrants of your mouth. Don't forget to brush your gums and tongue.

Tip #2
Always floss after brushing.  When your dental floss reaches your gums, make a "C" motion and come back up.  This will help scoop away any food and help keep your gums healthy.

Tip #3
Eating crunchy vegetables will also help clean your teeth.  Chewing on crunchy pencils, fingernails, or ice cubes will NOT help clean your teeth. They only cause damage.

Tip #4
Try to stay away from soda, candy or other acidic foods.  Acid can eat away your teeth and cause cavities.

Your student bloggers,
Class of 2023

Maker Day

"Wow"...

"Look what we made"...

"Can we do this again"...

"We figured it out"...

Maker Day- a day to celebrate innovation and creativity by emphasizing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math). 

 

All students in grades Pre-K through 12 spent the day problem solving, building, brainstorming, calculating, and collaborating.  Whether constructing greenhouses in our Upper School,  building wooden benches in Middle School, or making small boats in Lower School, the students worked together.  

Our fourth graders rotated through five different STEAM projects.  They made marble mazes, musical instruments using recycled materials, floating boats, electric circuits and contributed to a large art mural made with bottle caps.

Students were quite creative when they were presented with LEDs, battery pack, insulating playdough, and conductive playdough.  

Car with Working Headlights

Airplane with Lights

Octopus

Maryland Blue Crab

Days like this prove that you don't need textbooks and pencils to learn. 

Mystery Skype

Want an interactive, engaging, and exciting way to brush up on geography?  What about participating in a Mystery Skype session?

That's exactly what our fourth grade class did today. We connected with another fourth grade class on Skype and took turns with them asking yes/no questions to help determine each other's location.  Not only did we use our mapping skills but also deductive reasoning. 

Everyone in our class was assigned specific responsibilities during the Mystery Skype, and we took these duties seriously.  Some of our jobs were photographers, recorders, tweeters, question leader, mappers, welcomer, and closer. 

During the Mystery Skype two students recorded all the questions we asked and the questions that the other class asked us.  The recorders wrote these questions on the whiteboards so they were visible to everyone in our classroom.  This helped prevent us from repeating questions by accident. 

Questions the Other Class Asked Us

 

 

 

Questions We Asked the Other Class

Students were highly engaged during our Skype session and worked well together.  The students were able to determine the other school was in Iowa.  The Mystery Skype session lasted approximately 25 minutes.

We are already looking forward to our next Mystery Skype.

Mrs. Lynch

Book Tasting

The book fair visited our school this week, and books are definitely my weak spot.  I just can't say no and walked away with over thirty new books for our classroom library.  Parents and students also generously donated new books to our classroom.

Now I had a nice problem- how was I going to let the students preview all the books before adding them to the classroom library shelves?  An idea was born....a book tasting.  Students would have a chance to sample three of the new books for each of the courses (appetizer, entree, and dessert).

Front of Menu

Inside of Menu

While the students were in Art class, the classroom was quickly transformed into a restaurant for our book tasting.  Desks were covered with tablecloths. Flower centerpieces and small votive candles were an added touch.  Books were placed on pizza pans on each of the tables.

The students loved getting to 'taste' several new books.  Students wrote a short prediction/evaluation of the book based on reading a few pages and/or the back cover. They were actively engaged and had spontaneous group discussions at the tables about the books they sampled.  Interest and excitement were generated.  At the end of the book tasting the students quickly asked when we would do it again.  

It is always a nice feeling to hear students chattering about a day's lesson or project.  

Mrs. Lynch