Binary Holiday Ornaments

The students in grade 3 and 4 learned about binary, bits, and bytes in December.  In addition, each student learned to write his/her name in binary numbers as well as a holiday word!

Then the students took the holiday/winter word and strung beads to represent the O and 1s. 

The idea came from this awesome blog - Little Bins for Little Hands.

I created a SWAY (version of power point with 2 videos, the project, and over 45 holiday words)
BINARY SWAY.

Half the students did the learning and writing name/holiday word in binary in one lesson and the second lesson was the beads.

The other half due to snow delays had to do the lesson in one class period.  This was rushed and less effective (and less fun).

Here are some pictures of the students at work and some final projects!

Pros - learn new computer terms, learn how to write binary, put together technology and art
Cons - beads, beads, beads - keeping color separated during clean up was a challenge

Take aways and changes for next year:
Tables for students to work on with beads in the center to choose from
More time to do the project (stretch to 3 weeks?)
Plan for students who missed part 1 to catch them up easier
Pre-buy beads in bulk - 200 students used about 6000 beads - colors on the last day were limited!

Gingerbread Men

In STEAM, most of the students in kindergarten and first grades had a chance to read "The Library Gingerbreadman" and make a gingerbread man decorated with  RECYCLED materials.  The students could use scraps of paper from our bookmark basket as well as left overs from the bone bridges (straws, pipe cleaners, and q-tips).  Ms. Sally was able to use the die cut machine in our building which was a huge time saver.  We wanted them to resemble ornaments for the holidays so each gingerbread man got a tiny hole in the head with a loop of string.  In addition to the recycled materials, students also go to use crayons, glue sticks, and scissors.  Again, the two challenges were using glue sticks for some objects DOES NOT WORK.  However, the students in STEAM work on carpet with out tables, so white school glue is not a good idea for clean up.  This was a fun, messy project that ties to literacy and science standards!

 Dottie Enderle AUTHOR

In library, the Kindergarten and First grade students read "Christmas Tree Memories" and then created a holiday tree as a book extension activity. 

In Library, students in second grade finished up learning to use dictionaries!  These students defined the words avalanche and blizzard.  The students in third grade defined four words in the dictionary the first week and in the second week learned to use a paper encyclopedia.  The additional two words were from the science curriculum which were earthquake and tsunami.  After the holidays, the same papers will be used in STEAM to show how to use the online version of these books.  In addition, students had fun reading two winter books.  After Snowflake Bentley, many of the students got to make a cool black paper/chalk snow picture!

It has been a busy fun time in STEAM and Library! 

STEAM and LIBRARY UPDATES

So what have the students been doing in STEAM in November?

K and 1 finished up "PICTURE STEM" which is put together as a graduate project by Purdue University.  The project is six weeks of test paper, learning about rocks, science experiments on paper strength and finally a basket project.  The students enjoyed the six picture books for the activity.  I loved that it was all laid out for us.  Ms. Sally had a blast with the science experiment and basket project. Pictures are limited.

Here is a link to learn more about it:
PICTURE STEM

Another fun activity was using the LakeShore kit to read "The Three Little Pigs" then build a structure for the pigs!

Here is a link to the STEM kits at LakeShore Learning - Fairy Tales Kits

What are students doing in Library?

In Library, grade 2, 3, and 4 worked a variety of Genre Webs.  The template was found on a blog. 
Genre Web

Students in those grades also read one of the PA YOUNG READERS CHOICE books for this year called "Blizzard" by John Rocco.

Students also learned the valuable skill of how to read a dictionary.  Then I just found this awesome idea called the Dictionary Project.  I have a goal to start this either this school or next school year with my students.

Check it out - Dictionary Project

Here is a link to a local school district who is already offering this opportunity
Penncrest School District

What do you think of this idea? 

Holiday books

It is that time of year to bring out snowmen stories, Christmas stories, Gingerbread man stories, Hanukkah stories, etc...

So I am trying some new ways to inspire the readers in my library and my home.

At school, Ms. Sally is busy finding all of the "winter" books and putting a bright blue WINTER sticker on the spine. 

Secondly, the fourth graders are searching the shelves for tons of books that fit this theme.  Then Ms. Sally covered an extra book cart with red snowflake paper (and I picking up some fun oversize snowflakes) to create a display for all of these books!  Look for pictures when completed on Monday!

Third, at home, I created a small bin of our WINTER and CHRISTMAS books.  Every night for homework, my third grader has to read for homework.  So this gives him new and different choices to pick from.  One classic that was a favorite was The Witch's Christmas by Norman Bridwell.  I am hoping to find more books from the basement storage to keep adding to our bin.

 

Finally, at home, we read a book every night at dinner to go with our "chocolate calendars".  It is a fun way to focus on our faith and slip a little reading into our hectic evenings of parties, cookies, trees, etc... The one that we are reading this year is called Advent Storybook.  The other one that we have read in other years is called  A Child in Winter.  

How do keep the children reading at school and home during this busy holiday season?

Happy Thanksgiving

I feel like a Thanksgiving post is necessary today!

So what am I thankful for???
Health, family, work, and so much more...

What are you thankful for???

Add it to my padlet, share my post to social media, etc...

Let us create a "padlet" of thankfulness - click on the + sign and create a post it note on my board!



Computer Coding in Elementary School

My students in STEAM are going to begin learning the basics of computer coding.  What they are really learning is a new concept called "computational thinking".  What is computational thinking?




Jeanette Wing explains it as "Computational thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solution(s) in such a way that a computer—human or machine—can effectively carry out."

Here is a link to one of her articles: Jeannette Wing




 Students in STEAM read Hello Ruby...now we are doing two thinking activities to start thinking logically.  With the help of two college students, we made a human maze to practice coding.  Students took turns being the "robot" and being the programmers - Floor coding blog

The other students were working on coding a Lego maze.  The students were to cover the grey areas in Legos.  The second step was to take the direction cards and figure out how to get from START to END.  The students had to work collaboratively and creatively to get through this activity.  The links to the documents are in this article - Coding a Lego Maze








 

Students are going to be taking simple directions of forward, turn right, turn left and working through the 40 FREE levels of Kodable. 


 
Look for more information on students progress on this topic!
Here is a great article from my curriculum director to read on this topic :)
Should All Students Learn Coding?

Local Artist Feature - Hillary Barboni

My principal, Hillary Barboni, is also an AUTHOR and ILLUSTRATOR!

She has taken her love and passion for animals especially  weimaraners (a breed of dogs) to write and illustrate two children's books.

Her first book was Joshua Finds a Home which is based on a true story.  Her second story is  My Lucky Penny.  I have heard her read both to students at our school.  I value these special times for the students to see and know an author.   I can't pick a favorite because they both has equally touching stories. 

Her books are available are available on Amazon in paperback or kindle.  Mrs. Barboni donates part of the profits support animal shelters as well.

Joshua Finds a Home

My Lucky Penny

Want to learn more about weimaraners?

Waimaraner Information

Book Fairs Companies

So let us talk book fairs...pros and cons as well as alternatives.  If you click on each company name, it should take you to the company's webpage!

Scholastic Bookfairs
PROS:
   Industry favorite
   Chairperson support - free signage, free table clothes, fancy cases for books, bags for merchandise,  clip art and fair files
   Online shopping
   Registers that take credit cards are provided
   50% profit or more in Scholastic Dollars (based on last years sales - this would be $3000 in  STEAM products for the new makerspace in the library)

CONS:
   Prices of books
   Excessive amount of non-book items available at a book fair - Klutz kits, expensive pens, diaries, etc...
   Big corporation - staff are continually changing so notes and requests are lost/overlooked - I am on at least my 4th home office representative in 9 years
   Focus on pop topics for books not award winning books

Reading Warehouse:
PROS:
   Large selection of non-fiction titles
   Just books and pencils
   $3 paper backs, $5 hard back books, and small selection of premium books
  Credit cards taken online only
  Small company
  Great customer service
  30% profit depending on size of fair (Last year I made $1100 from this fair)

CONS:
  No signage, table clothes, cases - just boxes of books
  Self set up - need lots of tables
  Must run a traditional cash box
  Slower re-stocks than some companies


Werner Books: (only available in Erie and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania)
PROS:
   Set-up assistance including signage
   3 for $5 books as well as selected regular priced merchandise
  All new books
  Small, local company
  25% if taken in books - 20% if taken as a cash out option

CONS:
   No credit processing unless representative is present
   No non-book items
   Local only
   Traditional cash box only
   Limited restocks
  

  I have used Scholastic for 9 years, Reading Warehouse for 2 year, and will be trying Werner books in May/June for the first time.

  Each has its pros and cons!

What companies do you use for book fairs?  What other options am I missing?

Scholastic Book Fair

This week, my educational aide and I have been busy preparing for our Scholastic Book Fair. The theme was "Bookaneer - Where Books are the Treasures".  Basically, a really fun PIRATE THEME!

 

So we went all out and had fun!  My educational aide read these fun two pirate books to the students.



In addition, she did pirate activities to decorate the outside of the library for the book fair.  Kindergarten and First grades did paper plate pirates complete with an eye patch.  The Second, Third, and Fourth graders made jolly rogers our of popsicle sticks or craft sticks.  This allowed us to upcycle the popsicle sticks pieces left over from the bone bridges!  Nothing goes to waste.

Fun paper plate pirate

Paper plate pirate before the eye patch

Another pirate

Jolly Rogers out of craft stick, paint, and foam skull/crossbones

4th graders hard at work

View of whole book fair

TREASURE A GOOD BOOK door decor

More Jolly Rogers, the book fair goal chart!

Pirate plates hanging in the tree

More pirates in the tree

In addition, the teacher wish list buckets have pirate themed pictures.  Look for more updates next week on our profits and what cool things STEAM is getting from book fair profits!

Halloween fun

 TRUNK OR TREATING

Yesterday, our local elementary school had a TRUNK OR TREAT event.  Think of it as trick or treating in a parking lot with cool decorated trunks!  My kids were able to go around together with minimal adult support. 

Well, after some late night Pinterest searching, my family decided to skip all of the usual ideas.  We picked "Curl Up With a Good Book" as our theme!

My 9, 6, and 4 year old did 90% of the decorating and set up.  I made the big blue sign.  It looked awesome with all of the stuffed animals, blankets, pillows and books.  In addition, I handed out book marks to all of the participants as well as SMARTIES! 

 

Trunk or Treat 2016

 

Partner reading

 

More animals reading

 

 COSTUME FUN

Another fun activity is our yearly "special area" costume extravaganza.   We have done the SUPER TEACHERS, TEENAGER MUTANT TURTLES, SEASONS with Mother Nature, and 2016....the FIVE SENSES!
We love our job and seeing the 500 surprised student faces each year
What should we dress up as next year????

Year 4 as the FIVE SENSES
Art teacher was sight
Music teacher was hearing
Physical education teacher was the "runny nose" for scent
Librarian was the touch (the back has a sensory board)
Life Skills teacher was taste

 

 

Myself as the sense of touch

Sensory board with all different textures

Year 1 as SUPER TEACHERS
2013

 

Year 2 as the Teenage Mutant Turtles

2014

 

Year 3 as the Seasons and Mother Nature 

2015

Bone Bridges and Day of the Dead

I am trying to tie my lessons together between library and STEAM.  I want to be a librarian with a STEAM classroom which is very different than a STEAM classroom in the library.

Literacy is a key piece to my programs this year.  Miss Sally read Funny Bones: Posada and his Day of the Dead Calavaras with many of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders.  From personal connections, she was able to tie in additional information and culture!  In STEAM, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders made "BONE BRIDGES".  In Art, students in 3rd grade are doing a Day of the Dead project.  Our goal is to make the children more culturally aware.

I found this awesome new book through the PA Young Reader's Choice Awards program.  It is a nominated title for 2016-2017.  More information on these books and how to vote can be found their wiki space page - PA Young Readers Choice Awards OR through the Pennsylvania State Library Association webpage - PSLA.

Want to learn more about Day of the Dead - check out these two websites
 National Geographic Kids OR National Geographic

Onto the cool STEAM project...BONE BRIDGES.  I found this idea thanks to Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers.   Here is a video explaining the project.   

 

Check out the author and blog here -  Bone Bridge blogger

I gave the students 30 q-tips, 5-6 pipe cleaners, unlimited craft sticks, drinking straws, glue sticks, and scissors.  In groups of 3-5, the students had 30 or so minutes to construct a "Bone Bridge".  Many groups were wanting more time to improve on the plan.  I was so impressed to see the creativity.  Getting along with others is one of the biggest challenges...how do you disagree politely, how do you involve everyone, how to deal with disappointment when your idea fails, etc... This activity helped to shape the students as thinkers and problem solvers, but also work on collaboration skills.  

What would I change for next year?

1. Bring in tables to work on and permit the use of white glue not glue sticks.

2. Give each group a paper plate to build on to make moving the project easier

3. More time to share, measure, etc...

4. Improved display case display...more levels, better signage, etc...

Here are some of the completed Bone Bridges from the camera...I will add more pictures on Monday from the display cases!

This is what team work looks like!  Hand in Hand working together

Can you make a "Bone Bridge" at home and share your creation in the comments? 

Local Author Feature - Tina Curtis

Connections are essential in teaching...

One connection that I have made is with a local author named Tina Curtis.

She has written many books on local history surrounding Wattsburg, Waterford, and Union City.
  
My students loved doing a book club on Hannah's Heaven several years ago.  I am still hoping to do a book club with Jill's Journey.  Recently, she wrote a Cat in the Basket.

I wanted to  add her awesome new book to the Wattsburg Elementary Center.  She was kind enough to autograph it for the elementary library.

My educational aide was so excited to read the book with the students.  She quickly told fond stories of playing in the basket factory where the book is set as a child.  Plus, she made the connection to have the students in first grade make a basket out of paper and color a cat to go in the basket.  The students loved talking about this story with my educational aide.

It is awesome to see the story to come to life.

Here is more local history information and links to some of Tina Curtis' books. 
Hannah's Heaven

My daughter's basket and colorful cat.

The book's cover

UPDATE FROM THE AUTHOR:
A Cat in a Basket can be purchased At Greenfield Basket Factory on Monday-Friday 7-3:30. They are $15 and baskets can also be purchased. We have many baskets that come in Christmas colors. 
Greenfield Basket Factory

I am going to do a monthly feature on a local author.  Look for Hillary Barboni's as my November featured author!