We took a break from our STEAM units to take part in some Halloween-y STEAM challenges. Kindergarten-Pumpkin Pile1st Grade-Spider Legs2nd Grade-Ghost Lift3rd Grade-Flying Ghosts4th Grade-Bone Bridges5th Grade-Creature CatchersThe students designed a device to catch as many “creatures” as they could over a given time and area, working against criteria & constraints with a team.
Kindergarten-Feet WorkUsing Dr. Seuss’s The Foot Book, students learned to identify left, right, and other position words. The students investigated, compared, and contrasted different ways we use our feet to apply force. 1st Grade-Bird Beaks
2nd Grade-Compare & Contrast PropertiesDuring our last session, the students used adjectives to describe observable properties. Using a Google Drawing, the students compared and contrasted 2 of the items and filled out a Venn Diagram. 3rd Grade-Rosie Revere-Sharing and ProofingWe continued work on our Flying Machine designs and Google Doc. The students learned how to share the Google Doc with a partner and offered proofreading suggestions. 4th Grade-Backyard VolcanoesThe students explored major volcano patterns around the world to make connections about where volcanoes occur. We used Google Maps to locate and save each volcano and note patterns. Technology skills covered: copy, paste, and saving placemarks on a Google Map. 5th Grade-Khan Academy (cont.)Each student joined Khan Academy and participated in “The Hour of Code” mission learning how to draw shapes using code. The students learned new concepts using a talk-through, a step-by-step challenges to practice newly learned concepts, and work on a project to get more practice and be more creative with the skills learned. Kindergarten-Knock Down a Wall
1st Grade-Camo HabitatTo continue our unit on animal adaptation, students chose an image of an animal that uses camouflage and designed a habitat using markers, crayons, and paper pieces. 2nd Grade-Describing Properties3rd Grade-Rosie Revere (cont.)We continued work on our Flying Machine designs and Google Doc. The students learned how to format the document and type a paragraph explaining the design. 4th Grade-Rock Cycle Presentation ReviewEach of the groups' presentations were linked to Google Classroom. The students chose 2-3 of the presentations, watched them, and then commented about what the groups did well and a way the presentations could have been improved. Because this was our first presentation, some of the groups struggled to stay focused on the essential question and keeping the presentation serious. All of the students were reminded to keep these thoughts in mind for our next presentations. 5th Grade-Khan AcademyEach student joined Khan Academy and participated in “The Hour of Code” mission learning how to draw shapes using code. The students learned new concepts using a talk-through, a step-by-step challenges to practice newly learned concepts, and work on a project to get more practice and be more creative with the skills learned.
Kindergarten-Push & Pull Online (cont.)
Learning to log in to the computers can be a tedious process, but once the students have it down, logging in will be a snap. We spent another week working toward this important goal, but once in, students had the opportunity to explore push & pull through online games.
1st Grade-Hiding in Plain Site
We continued our unit on animal adaptation by learning about camouflage. The students were the birds (predators) and searched for worms (prey). After catching the worms (colored craft sticks), students filled in a graph that showed the number of worms caught and their color. We also looked at web images of camouflaged animals and searched for them in their habitats.
2nd Grade-Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk
The students followed a Mystery Science exploration about materials that insulate and conduct. They tested different materials to determine which material would be the best for lifting a hot pan.
3rd Grade-Rosie Revere (cont.)
We continued work on our Flying Machine designs and Google Doc. The students learned how to format the document and type a paragraph explaining the design.
4th Grade-Crayons Rock (cont.)
Igneous-crayons-rocks were exposed after we peeled back the aluminum foil to see how our rocks formed after being subjected to their hot water "lava" exposure. The students continued working on their presentations in Educreations on the iPads.
5th Grade-Catch Up
The students worked toward completing any unfinished assignments in Google Classroom. When finished, they continued their progress on Code.org and were able to play coding games with Minecraft, Frozen, and Star Wars.
Kindergarten-Push & Pull OnlineLearning to log in to the computers can be a tedious process, but once the students have it down, logging in will be a snap. We spent most of our time working toward this important goal, but once in, students had the opportunity to explore push & pull through online games. 1st Grade-What if You had Animal Hair?To continue our unit about animal adaptations, we explored the book What If You Had Animal Hair? by Sandra Markle as a class. Learning to log in to the computers is important for first graders too. We spent time practicing, but once logged in, students used Acorn (an app on our laptops) to take a selfie, then use the drawing tools to add animal hair. 2nd Grade-Mad Hatter (cont.)3rd Grade-Rosie Revere
4th Grade-Crayons Rock (cont.)Igneous-crayons-rocks were exposed after we peeled back the aluminum foil to see how our rocks formed after being subjected to their hot water "lava" exposure. The students continued working on their presentations in Educreations on the iPads. 5th Grade-Getting LoopyKindergarten-The Biggest Excavator
1st Grade-Animal Adaptations: Animal CoveringsStudents investigated different animal coverings to understand that different body coverings provide different types of protection. We participated in a scientific investigation, gauging the temperature of feathers, hair, and fur at room temperature and the same coverings after sitting on ice. Each student colored a bar graph to show the investigation results. After the investigation, students searched nonfiction books for animals and charted them by covering. 2nd Grade-Mad Hatter
3rd Grade-Flight TestFor this cycle the students ran flight tests to see which type of paper airplane could fly the furthest and which could do acrobatics. The students each took turns throwing the airplane over a set of measuring tapes. They had to do some math to determine how far the plane flew. Looking at the average distances, students determined that the long, narrow planes went the furthest, while the short and wide planes were more about dips and turns. We talked about the types of planes we would see at air shows and watched the Blue Angels doing a few tricks, too. 4th Grade-Crayons Rock
5th Grade-The Copy MachineKindergarten-Cross the Finish Line1st Grade-Animal Adaptations
2nd Grade-States of Matter CollageIn this unit, students investigated different kinds of materials by their observable properties. To introduce this unit, students learned how to create a basic document in Pages including changing the font and size. Using Creative Commons, students found and classified images by dragging them to the Pages Document. 3rd Grade-Introduction to Flight
4th Grade-Rocks & Fossils Interactives5th Grade-Human Robots
My goal this cycle was to learn about and get better acquainted with the students, while still focusing on STEAM concepts. Take a Selfie
Classmate Interviews2nd & 3rd Grade Students worked with a partner to record an interview in Photo Booth. When finished, the videos were uploaded to Dropbox. Word Clouds |
Jamestown ElementaryWelcome to the STEAM Studio Blog for Jamestown Upper & Lower Elementary Schools in Hudsonville, MI. Here you will find the latest projects and concepts we've been working on in class. Ms. Bakercomes to Hudsonville with 17 years of teaching information and technology skills to elementary students. After earning a BA in Elementary Education at the University of Northern Iowa and a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa in 2000, she drew a circle on the map and chose Southwest Michigan. Archives
May 2017
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