Best 5th Grade Science Conference Ever!!

I hosted two events; "Resources for Passing the End of Grade Assessments" and "Writing in the Content Area."  Below are two summarized versions of the Slides I presented along with additional notes to support.

All of the resources mentioned can be found HERE.

My science lessons are roughly 45 minutes to an hour so I move through those six steps at a decent pace.

In the video I mentioned Page Keeley Assessment Probes and Discovery Education SOS Strategies as great resources for kinesthetic activities to review.

To clarify what I meant by using authentic questions for the cumulative review.  I do not generate my own questions, I only use published ones so students are familiar with the language of the test.  I am not teaching to the test, I am just preparing them how the content will be presented to them.

Paper Coasters with Makey Makey and Scratch

I truly believe students take more ownership with their learning when they are a part of the learning process instead of being a spectator.  Students will retain more with project based learning than reading concepts found in a textbook and completing a worksheet.  Especially in science, students need to touch, manipulate and experiment their learned concepts to fully comprehend them.

Therefore to demonstrate the laws of motion, students created original marble paper roller coasters using a template purchased at paper rollercoasters.com.

For $20 you receive a pdf file you can repeatedly print.  Besides the template, you need marbles, lots of paper, cardstock and scotch tape to construct the coaster.  The file also includes instructions how to use the templates to build many types of tracks including straight, curves, loops, and more.

Once my class understood the concepts of Newton's Laws, they designed coasters based upon a theme eg., underwater adventure, speed freak, candy land, etc.

While each step of the process, they explained their designs applying what they have learned in science.  The project also exercised collaboration along with trial and error as students had to continuously test their coasters and make modifications throughout the project.



Besides  industrial engineering, students then learned basic coding using Scratch and wrote programs based upon their theme to supplement their coaster.  We placed conductive tape on the track with a second thin layer hovering over the first so when the marble rolls over, it will apply enough pressure to push them together to complete the circuit.

Makey Makeys are connected to the tape to run their scratch program which includes animation, music and sounds.

It was a rewarding project which tested them on many levels and they were very proud of their accomplsihements as they invited many classes to try out their coasters and were very eager to explain the physics behind their project.

Cooper at camp

Student PSA's

Student videos about animal awareness

Two teachers and I host an after school PBL group for grades 3-5  that meets once a week.  The emphasis was to generate a passion project the students can accomplish on their own.

We started by brainstorming concerns our community encounters and even thinking globally such as destruction of rainforests, famine and more.

The group was most passionate about animals, primarily pets.  They came up with many ideas including raising money for a nearby shelter, running an adoption at the school, even volunteering their time at a shelter.  As a whole they wanted to reach as many people as possible and decided on videos to be shared on social network sites due to their interest in video media and the fascination on how videos can be shared globally and the amount of views they receive.

In small groups of their choosing they used a STORY MAP GRAPHIC ORGANIZER found on DE to plan out the events of their video.

Through the writing process, they developed their skit and studied their lines.

The students filmed their own videos using an Ipad and with Greenscreen by DoInk, and IMovie, they edited their videos.  Students used ICabMobile to download background videos or found images on Google to use as their backgrounds.  Most of the videos were done directly on the Ipad.  Two groups wanted more so we uploaded them to Google Drive and downloaded them to the Macbook Pro and they worked from there.

Ultimately we shared the commercials with their parents and the groups presented their videos along with a speech they wrote to explain the project.

Here are two of the five videos we created.

Click the CAPTION of each video to view.

Animal Adoption

Guide to Owning a Dog

cooper

Properties of Matter Pinatas

Students created pinatas while learning matter, properties, mixtures and solutions.

I collaborated with the school art teacher to combine our skill sets.

I documented the project in a Google Slide because a science teacher in another school needed some project ideas to share at her school.

Click below to view the slide show.

Pinata Slide Show

Cooper and his badge of honor.

Makey Makey Science Night

I setup 3 different Makey stations to explore.

At my school we were to showcase different activities for Math/Science night.  It was a perfect opportunity to try out the Makey Makeys I bought. I first seen them through Discovery Education, (I cannot remember which one). I have seen Steve Dembo and Dennis Grice demonstrate them among others.  I was enthralled by the devices but I couldn't justify purchasing them until I had a project in mind to use them.  I finally thought of a project which I will go into detail at a later blog, so since I have them, I might as well learn how to use them along with teaching the class.

Searching on the Makey site and its affiliate Scratch, I searched for some entertaining ways to learn how and teach how they work and quickly present it for the upcoming science night.

I teamed up with our Music Teacher, Mr. Blackwood and we created three stations; Frogger, Guitar Hero, and Dance Dance Revolution.

Frogger was directly from the Makey website using play dough to run a basic game found online.

Guitar Hero was a bit more challenging however, the directions and videos to make it are on the Makey website.  Plus we followed a Youtube video from Capturing Creativity.  The online game was easy enough to find online as well.

The final one; Dance Dance Revolution I just quickly came up with when brainstorming with Mr. Blackwood.  I am sure many others have come up with the same idea and posted it on the Makey or Scratch before me.

I used conductive tape for the guitar and Dance.  To create the dance floor, tape was placed on a poster board similar to the layout of the arrow keys on a computer keyboard.  The Ground was taped very close to each of the four arrows to easily complete the circuit.

Most sites recommend using your body as the ground by holding on to it with your hand or a bracelet around your wrist.  To me that didn't seem to be a useful idea since the gamers will be moving around a lot and possibly pull the cords loose.  Instead I wanted the ground to be on the floor with the rest of the game.  To complete the circuit, I purchased protective painter booties and laced the bottom of them with the conductive tape.  Therefore, when they step on the game, they easily complete the circuit.

The night was a huge success, we had students and parents lined out the door to play.

Cooper likes Scifi

Gamification Panico Style

Grades in a Game Format

End of grade testing is upon us so it is time to get the class ready.  To make this time of year a bit more fun AND engaging, I setup a Game type scenario for the class.  I have only done it for a week and the class is very motivated.

I created a simple system to track for myself and for the class along with an easy way to convert it to grades to make the Powers that Be happy.

Instead of taking points off for assessments, classwork, etc.,  they earn points for everything they do in a positive reward system.  For example, instead of taking 10 points off for each question incorrect, they earn points for each question they correctly answered.

Each student has a character sheet which tracks their level and other accomplishments.  They can use ANY app when creating their character portrait as long as it prints so I can apply it to their character sheet.  It gives them ownership plus the application of different types of apps to develop an avatar.

Those points are accumulated under a category eg., Literacy.  I tally the points as they progress throughout the week.   Once they reach 10 points, they receive a Literacy badge.  Students earn badges in several different categories each worth the same 10 points.  Making it easy for myself and for the students to track.

Once students earn ANY 10 badges, they gain a level.  I administer a level badge to put on their character sheet to mark their progress.

I created simple posters for the tally marks and to apply the badge stickers for the class to monitor.

The badges I came up with are:  Literacy, Math, Science, HW, context clues, poetry, vocabulary, and books read.

Similar to many video games, I added an achievement system as well to add to their character sheet. They earn an achievement if they earn 10 badges in one category.  So students who earn 10 literacy badges they receive an achievement regarding Literacy.  This was added to entice students to earn badges from ALL the categories to ensure they apply themselves in all content areas.

I used a Web2.0 Badge Generator website to create the badges and download them onto my computer.  Once there, I inserted them as images to a labels document in Word and printed them.  The labels I used are Avery Laser 5160.  I created the character sheet using LucidPress.

Extrinsic rewards are exciting but not very long lasting.  Gamification easily fits into my teaching philosophy that learning is a proud achievement as accomplishment is the most effective to boosting ones confidence and competence.

Follow the LINK to my Google Drive File to download all the documents I created.

Cooper.

3 - Shake SOS Strategy

Using a Discovery Education Spotlight on Strategies (SOS) "Shake it Up Baby", my students split into groups to act out portions of an educational song.

Each group chose either a verse, chorus or bridge to perform.  They had to act out accordingly so their actions matched the instructional portion of the song.

For example, when the song mentions solids like ice have molecules that are close together and not moving, the students place their arms and legs stiffly together and do not move.



It took them only two 45 minute blocks to devise their own moves and rehearse.  As always, I uploaded the video to my Google Drive and shared it as "link only" attached to a QR code I printed and placed on our bulletin board.

I also copied the QR to my class newsletter for the parents to see.

This strategy can easily be adapted to any informational song, as long as you have the lyrics printed for the students to access.  when I had two classes in my room due to a lack of subs.   I had them perform The Water Cycle Song by Mr. Davies.

Click the TITLE to view the Shake video.

SHAKE - by Lodge Mccammon

Cooper

2 - Dr. Who Black History Month with Green screen and Imovie

At my school, the fifth grade this year were asked to perform a skit for the entire school for Black History Month.  Instead of performing a skit over and over for every class, we decided to create an Imovie using green screen tech instead.

After brainstorming a bit, we came up with the idea of creating a Dr. Who episode where the Doctor travels back in time to assist the historical figure we were assigned.

It took less than a week to produce the entire project.  I had a large green sheet that was thumbtacked to the white board from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (those coupons finally came in handy) and only one Ipad.

HOW DID WE DO IT?

Students read several different articles based upon their reading level about their topic; Matthew Henson.  We also watched a video of him using the AEIOU SOS Strategy from Discovery Ed.  

Once understood whom he was, we mapped out the story using a story map Graphic Organizer found on Discovery Ed.  Every student received a role in the episode based on their interest yet it was imperative everyone was to be filmed.  

For the green screen, we used Greenscreen by Do Ink which is very kid friendly.  For backgrounds, we mostly used Discovery Education which has the option to download many of their videos and background images. 

Others we found online and we used ICabMobile, an app that lets you download videos from youtube and other sites.  

Interesting enough, we Googled and found many effects already on a green background for easy access.  To edit the length of some of the background videos for the correct background and length, plus modify the background sound/music, we used IMovie.  Some of the special effects we used the fun app Action Movie which had the avalanche and the laser gun.

Once each section was complete, we uploaded the video using Google Drive and downloaded it to the MacBook Pro to use the full version of IMovie to splice it all together.  

Click the TITLE below the image to view the movie.

DR. WHO IMOVIE

Thanks Conni Mulligan for her fantastic seminars otherwise I would have never been able to to this.

Cooper

1 Prezi - 5th Grade Recognition Ceremony

Several years I made a slide show for the end of the year ceremony for all of fifth grade and their families.  In the past I have used Power Point.  After learning about Prezi from Christina Spencer, and reading Adam Bellow and Steve Dembo's book "Untangling the Web", I knew it was time for a change.

The class learned how to use Prezi making presentations about particular biomes in class.  After learning the basics, the students were split into groups to create one class Prezi.  Each group worked collaboratively to select images and arrange them pertaining to a particular topic presented in the slide show.

They were most interested in the concept of images within images so we decided to use one main image with each category hidden within different students throughout the presentation.

The final component was the music which the students selected and using Audacity, I combined the three songs into one track to be played.

The music is synced with Autoplay on a 4 second delay.  Click the TITLE below to view the Prezi.

5th Grade Recognition Prezi

Cooper