Blogging in the Classroom: Kinder and 4th Grade Students Think, Wonder and Reflect

This year, two classes have started blogging in the classroom with a great tool called KidBlog.  Both Kindergarten and 4th grade students started blogs this spring as an opportunity to write and express their ideas and wonders for a wider audience.  Students have written about their activities at school and in their daily lives, things they wonder about, and their reflections of the day. In just over a month of blogging, the two classes have received over 2700 views!  Pretty amazing!

Kinder blog samples:

4th grade samples:

We hope you will hop over to their blogs and check them out.  One of the best things a blog author can get is some great feedback and comments.  So if you like what you see, or you have some thoughts or questions of you own, I know our students would love some comments!  (By the way, for student safety, all comments are moderated by the teacher, so your comment will need teacher approval before it can be viewed by others.)

Mrs. Morehead's Kindergarten Class

Mrs. Ganong's 4th Grade Class

4th Grade Letter Writing

Students in 4th grade were recently working on friendly letter writing.  One of Mrs. Ganong's students wanted to write to her grandparents  but their first language was Polish. Although the student can speak and understand Polish, she wasn't sure if she could write it.  She used Google Translate to help. First, she wrote in English, then pasted her work into Google Translate.  Once it translated her writing, she was able to check it over to make sure it sounded right. The whole class benefited as well, because Google Translate will read aloud the translation. It's remarkable what technology tools like Google Translate can do to facilitate communication!

4th Grade Investigates the Uses of Water

4th Grade students in Ms. Barrios' class searched for uses of water and categorized them using an online Web 2.0 tool called Padlet. Students saw how much water we use for "fun/entertainment" and decided that sometimes that is actually wasting water. They took action and decided to come up with ways to conserve water in their everyday use so they wouldn't feel so bad using "fun water" during the summer. What an awesome example of doing something with your learning! This activity is part of their "Sharing the Planet" unit where they are exploring the central idea, The availability of usable water affects people's opportunities.

Check out their work!
http://padlet.com/wall/id8man1tis
http://padlet.com/wall/63vuhykvfw
http://padlet.com/wall/ewcm57a424
http://padlet.com/wall/mk84okcmms

5th Grade Presents: Artists, Musicians & Authors That Reflect Our Values

Students in 5th grade just completed a research project as part of their How We Express Ourselves unit. The were studying the central idea Art, music and literature can express the values and influence the culture of the time. Students were asked to research an artist/author/musician that reflected their values and present to the class. Students passion came though in their presentations and we were able to learn a lot about what they value and find important.  In this example, you can see that Caleb is passionate about I.M. Pei's architecture- he even dressed up as him!

4th Grades Take Action!

4th Grade studetns are investigating the central idea, The availability of usable water affects people’s opportunities, in their Sharing the Planet unit.  Ms. Gray’s 4th grade class was inspired by a guest speaker from Round Rock Water to clean the trash from the reading garden. The speaker told the students one way to keep our water supply clean is to keep the trash out of the environment, so students decided to start in their own back yard!  Many students use the Reading Garden, so Mrs. Gray's class helped both other students and the water supply.  That's putting learning in action!

Kindergarten Investigates: WORMS!

Kindergarten students got their hands dirty ins science this week.  In their exploration of living and nonliving things, they had the opportunity to compare gummy worms and real night-crawlers   Students used their observation skills to describe both worms and make note of similarities and differences.  

5th Grade Gets Inspired by Art

5th Grade is currently in their How We Express Ourselves unit of inquiry. 

Their central idea is:  Art, music and literature can express the values and influence the culture of the time
And the lines of inquiry:
1. Art reflects the values of a time period
2. The legacy of artistic contributions
3. How artists craft their art, music & literature to convey their message

Students looked at a variety of pieces of art then wrote a creative writing piece inspired by one of the works of art.  Once students are done with their piece, they will compare their story with what actually inspired the artist to create the piece.  Have you studied these pieces before?  What message do they convey to you?  

3rd Grade Creates Cartoons- en Español!

Third grade students have been putting their language skills to use! They are writing comic strips in class using Kidspiration software to show their use of new vocabulary words.  It's pretty amazing that only after two years of Spanish, our students are writing stories in a second language!  We are lucky to have Senora Imperial- our Teacher of the Year- helping us learn both the language and the culture!

Kinder Kids Dig Into Research

Kindergarten students have been honing their research skills using nonfiction texts and Pebble Go! (one of our library databases . Students inquired into what makes their animal unique and able to survive in it's environment then wrote and illustrated a book to share their findings.

1st Grade Poetry

First grade students have been publishing their poetry!  Students have been inquiring into various kinds of poetry, including acrostics and poems with alliteration.  After students brainstormed their ideas, they used Power Point to create their Acrostic Poems and Word to publish their alliteration poems.