Spiders in the Library

This past Friday, we had the opportunity to become spiders in the library. We had some awesome pictures of spiders and their webs to get us started with our activity. Then we watched a short clip from The Cat in the Hat Know a lot about That to learn how spiders build their webs.

We then gathered on the carpet in a large circle in order to create our very own spider webs.  Students discussed the roles that they would play in the completion of the project as well as how important it was for them to communicate with each other.  We had builders and observers.  While the builders were building, the observers were looking for patterns and shapes in the creation of the web.  They did a great job of explaining what shapes they saw as well as what made the shapes (vertices, sides, angels).  They also discovered that the shapes changed based on how whether you were using 2 hands to hold your string or one hand (it effected the number of vertices).  All we used was basic cotton twine that you can buy at the dollar store.  I started the spider web by passing the string to another student, they passed it on to someone else and we continued until the whole class had a part of the string.  Students then spent some time debriefing and discussing what they had to do to successfully create their spider web.  

Student Discourse using Weebly

I had the honor today to present a PD session about using Weebly to increase student discourse alongside two of my colleagues.  I must say that I learned so much from the process of getting ready for this session.  Our district is in the beginning stages of implementing the use of Weebly for student digital portfolios/blogs.  I had a few major take-aways from working on this process.

1.  It is essential that we provide authentic opportunities for our students to interact with each other and with the world around them. Once they know that someone is really going to read what they write, the motivation immediately increases, especially if they know that the audience includes their peers.  By using Weebly and providing opportunities to read the work of other students, our students will be able to reflect on their own writing and thinking in order to challenge themselves.

2.  We must make sure that we don't get caught up in all of the technical aspects of Weebly (or whatever web tool we are using).  There will always be things that we don't know as well as things that our students don't know.  The great thing about using a web tool is that we have immediate help via the help feature within the tool or google.  As we become comfortable admitting to our students that we don't know all of the answers, we create a true collaborative environment within our classroom.  The students drive the learning.  Ultimately, within a few months, the students will be doing the bulk of the work and will have awesome portfolios to show for it.

Here is the link to the presentation:





Our 3rd graders have had a great time setting up and starting to create their portfolios.  By the end of this week, our 4th and 5th graders will have theirs set up as well.   Here are a few shots of them working on their portfolios

Creating and Building in the Library

This year is off to a great start. Our kids are loving the library, especially the opportunity to build, create and use their imagination. We have embraced a Maker Space mentality this year and are trying to give the kids multiple opportunities to problem solve and create in the library. Our Kindergarten classes have enjoyed using all of the hands on activities that are in the library this year including Legos and other types of blocks. The students have really enjoyed sharing ideas about what they have built. Some of their stories amaze me, they add so much detail!

We have also started implementing Maker Mondays in the library.  Every Monday afternoon is set aside for Science related Maker Lessons.  Each of them have been challenged based.  The lesson is introduced as a Challenge and then the kids have to use knowledge of what they are learning in Science in order to solve the challenge and to reflect on what they did during the challenge.  

Can you Blow up a Balloon with Pop Rocks? 

This lesson was completed with 4th and 5th grade.  We discussed the states of matter and what would need to happen to cause a balloon connected to a bottle of soda to inflate.  Students made some great hypotheses and then had to reflect on why they hypothesized incorrectly or correctly.  They had a great time reviewing the states of matter and it was also great fun to use pop rocks and soda.   

Can you Create a Boat that Floats? 

With second and third grade classes, we explored the idea of sinking and floating as well as what makes some items sink while others float.  Students were then given materials including popsicle sticks, a paper bag, paper plate and tape and asked to build a boat that would float.  They worked diligently and some of their creations floated while other sunk.