Introducing Student News

Each week I will be choosing two volunteers to report the weekly news: 

I am so lucky to have such a sweet group of students. Kasi (pronounced K.C) will be joining us November 1st!  

We learned how to reinforce our knowledge by creating math explanations using IPADs and computers.

For a visual representation of what students would like to learn about the Revolutionary War, they worked as a group to create their own google search story.

A Trip To Colonial Times!

Our Class Field Trip to The Colonial Times Reenactment

Courtesy of Barbara Frei 

Hello Windsor Wildcat Parents!

The Heroes have been busy the last couple weeks. With so many four day weeks the time just flew by! Here are the highlights:

• We have wrapped up our Science Energy Unit! Students had so much fun exploring the various energy transfers with hands on experiments, exploring the building for energy forms, and creating Animationish Rube Goldbergs! Please stay tuned for a YouTube Video that culminates our final activity. 
• The Revolutionary War Unit is in motion! The student's excitement is contagious! As you may know, they have all been assigned a character from the families of the Revolutionary War era. This week Student's played their role by writing letters to a fictitious loved one as if they were their character. In addition, we "aged" paper to depict the era, by soaking paper in coffee. It was a messy but fun activity! 

Still a work in progress: Our bulletin board outside our Room. 

• Next week, students will be creating a google search story, asking what they would like to learn about during our unit on the Revolutionary War. Here is an example of one I created: 

The student's search stories can then act as an introduction to their final projects.

• We are integrating Reading, Social Studies and Technology in the Heroes classroom. Students are reading a Historical Fiction about the Revolutionary War. Through Edmodo, students now have the opportunity to create and share video and written responses to their readings. We are working on the appropriate way to comment on others' writing to generate a discussion of strategies and ideas. 
• In WEX (our writing curriculum), students will be creating a polished narrative piece. It will be a wonderful way for them to use their awesome creativity. I look forward to reading their stories!
• It has been a few weeks now, since we have started Words Their Way (our spelling curriculum). I am very impressed with how well students have been receptive of not only spelling words correctly, but understanding the patterns within words. 
• In math, we are also integrating technology. The students are becoming the teacher, by creating video explanations of math problems and posting them on Edmodo to share with their fellow math classmates. My goal is to have students and myself create enough videos to support students who struggle. Aligning with Common Core standards, students may also master their knowledge by explaining their process to others. 

In this video, I am modeling how to explain a math problem.