Dashing through December

Dashing Through December

This month has flown by and as we approach the end of the semester we have been busy in the library learning how to utilize our resources, how to follow the Engineer Design Process, how to use computational thinking, and how to code various ways. Take a look at all that we have accomplished this month!

PreK 

Our PreK students practiced decorating their gingerbread boys and girls with the shapes they have been learning in class. 

This past week they learned that coding is a series of instructions that computers and robots follow. They practiced following code like a robot or computer would in preparations for learning how to code our mouse bots. 

Kinder

Kinder listened to the story of the Gingerbread Man and worked to disguise their own gingerbread man so that no one would recognize him/her.

Next, kinder learned how to use our new mouse bots we acquired with a grant from the Education Foundation. These bots are coding directly from the top of the robot; however, students must think completely through the sequence when programming them. This aids the students in problem solving, sequential order, directions, and visualization of a solution. 

First Grade

Right after coming back from Thanksgiving break our first graders began their first STEM project using the Engineering Design Process to plan out their elf trap designs. They were inspired to create some clever designs after listening to How to Catch an Elf by Ada Wallace and Andy Elkerton. We finished this past week with the construction of our elf traps and determining if they would work as well as we hoped. I guess we will find out Christmas morning! 

                                                                      


Second Grade 

Two weeks ago we learned what call numbers were and how they are used in the library. We learned to identify the different call numbers that could be in found our library, then worked to be good library helpers by alphabetizing call numbers in the everybody section. 

This past week we participated in Hour of Code Week by learning how to code using the unplugged method of Ozobots, another piece of our Commanders in Coding grant. 

Third Grade

After returning from the break our third graders also participated in a STEM challenge inspired by the book Olive the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh. The students had to create a flying device to help Olive get back home for Christmas. They were given limited supplies and limited creation time. I was impressed by some of the results! The boys and girls were able to use part of our library as a flight testing area.

 
                    
 


This past week for Hour of Code our third graders got to meet Dash, one of the three coding robots acquired with our Education Foundation Grant. They used a block coding program to make Dash complete various activities. 

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade students go to participate in an Author Skype with Rebecca Gomez, the author of Ninja Chicks, a Hanzel and Gretel fractured fairy tale. The students listened to Mrs. Gomez read the story and then led the discussion by asking questions pertaining to writing and the life of an author. I was very proud of their questions and Mrs. Gomez later wrote me with praise of our students' questions for her. We look forward to hosting another author Skype in the future! 

During hour of code week our fourth graders learned how to code with Ozobots through the blockly program and with the use of marker coding. 

                            

Fifth Grade

After the break fifth grade continued to learn more about our catalog system and how to locate resources through various search methods.


During Hour of Code week fifth grade worked with our Ozobots and learned how to create sequences of code to command their Evo bots in block code format. 

The Rewards of Book Fair

This past week our order from use of Scholastic Dollars made from our Fall book fair came in! I am so excited to put more up to date and newer books into the hands of our students! Our students ask and I listen to fill the shelves of what they are interested in! We also were able to purchase a binding machine that will allow us to better repair our overly loved books! 

   

Holiday Book Return Challenge

This January I will be raffling off two very large candy bars! One for K-2nd and the other for 3-5. Return all of your books after the Christmas break for a chance to win! 

Be Kind

Kindness and Collaboration

With this week centered around kindness each grade level worked on a lesson which incorporated an element of kindness or collaboration. Kinder discovered that being nice to someone, even if they are not nice to you can create an impact. First grade learned about Enemy Pie and developed recipes to make friendships instead of enemies. Second grade learned of one man's dream and kindness to entertain others and began their planning for sharing the joys of Thanksgiving through their very own Balloons over Bandera parade. Third grade began their designs for our Traveling Mural Project. Here we are sharing with 9 other schools, throughout the US, our school motto and our images that represent our town and our school. In return we will be receiving pieces to create a mural, from those same schools, in our hallway. While fourth and fifth graders worked on being helpful to one another and to themselves by learning our library's catalog system, no longer will they have to wait on other to help them find books they are looking for! 

Kinder

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

2018 Project 

Fourth and Fifth Grade

Commanders of Coding

Mrs. Rardin and I are so excited about our recent grant winning! The coding bots have been ordered and are steadily making their way in to the library! Prior to Christmas break all students on Alkek's campus will learn to use the different bots and how to code with them through various means. At the beginning of the new semester we will be opening our coding club to students for participation and practice in coding before school several days and after school once a week. We look forward to all of the cool activities and the opportunity for our students to explore the use of computational thinking and computer coding. With these experiences our students will be better prepared to make elective choices at the middle school and high school level that could lead to their future careers in such technologies. 

Book Fair Bonanza

Our Scholastic Book Fair was an Arctic Blast!

This was my first book fair to run, and I will say that I am looking forward the future of our book fairs! We had an eventful start up with our truck of goodies arriving in the rain just before Halloween. Set up took the entire day with continued additions throughout the week to make the scenery just right for our arctic theme. The students then spent the remainder of the week coming in with their classes to learn the expectations of the upcoming week and got to make their wish lists in hopes to be able to buy a book from the many to choose from. Seeing the excitement on the faces of the students filled with anticipation of  the shopping days to come made all of the hard work well worth it! 

Tuesday night brought Family Math and Reading Night where families gathered to enjoy Alkek's world famous hot dogs and treats, then venture off to the classroom hallways to enjoy math and reading activities. Families were caught laughing and having a great time! Final destination for most was the book fair, where families worked together to pick out reading material to build their own home libraries. Many also tended to the wish lists of the teachers, adding to their classroom collections as well.

I want to send out a huge thank you to all of the PTO and parent volunteers for helping make this all possible! Without you it would be impossible to keep the library open for student checkouts and for book fair purchases. 

Book Fair Fairy Visits

The ever mysterious Book Fair Fairy also paid a visit, delivering some books to students during this week. We appreciate her helping out some of our students who couldn't afford to buy books at this time from the fair. I'm sure she will return with the next fair in February!

The Grade Finale!!!

Thanks to all for buying books and items at the book fair. Our grand total in sales was over $10,000 which turns into approximately $4,000 in Scholastic Dollars for us to purchase books and library items! I'm so excited to be able to fill some of our students' wish lists of reading material for the library!!!