Hour of Code & STREAM Night

This week was a blur as I finished up two graduate courses at the University of Richmond and helped host two events, one at each of my schools. However, the reaction from students and parents made all the planning time well worth it! At both events, Hour of Code and STREAM Night, students participated in learning opportunities that aren't part of their everyday experiences.

Hour of Code
On Tuesday we had approximately 80 of our 300 JGES students stay after school for our second annual Hour of Code. Mrs. Churchill, our librarian, hosted the event in the library and we used resources from code.org. We recommended different activities from the site based on each student's coding experience. Once everyone was checked in and logged into their computers, there was a buzz in the air. Our hour easily could have lasted two as most students were not ready to shut down once parents started arriving. The pictures below speak for themselves as students work together to write their code in a comfortable environment. Check out this video created by Mrs. Churchill for more pictuers.

STREAM Night
Staff members at HCES planned a variety of stations related to a STREAM field to engage students and their families. Each family had an opportunity to pick four of the stations that sounded most interesting to them and then were given a schedule of three stations to visit. The stations ranged from creating paper glider boats to balloon towers to coding. All of the station resources can be found here. Though the cold raining weather kept some families away, a great time was had by all! It was great to see families engage in such a creative and fun way.

Paper Glider Boat

A Pyramid

Constructing a Catapult

Constructing a Catapult

Coding

The First Grade Team Leading the Pyramid Station

Sink and Float

November Happenings, Part 2

Magnets
What does it mean when magnets attract and repel? How are magnets used in our everyday lives? These are some of the questions second grade students searched for and explored as they completed a web quest. Using this ThingLink and guiding questions, students watched videos and read to deepen their understanding of magnets and how they are used.

Watching a video on magnets

Illustrating magnets attracting

Seesaw for Schools
JGES and HCES are both piloting Seesaw for Schools which more easily allows resource teachers and specialists to connect and communicate with families. Over the last couple of weeks I've been busy meeting with teams sharing the features that are now available to them through Seesaw for Schools.

If you are a parent and are not already connected to your child's Seesaw account, please e-mail me at jmullenaux@hcps.us Seesaw allows parents to have a glimpse into what their children are doing at school. It's easy to use and free!

Then & Now
Kindergartners have been learning about the past and present. After reading a short story with me, students in Ms. Wagner's class selected something to illustrate in both the past and present. We discussed how transportation, cooking, houses, schools, and more were different in the past. Below is an example of a student's work showing transportation in the past verses transportation today. Be sure to click on the caption to hear her explanation!

Click here for recording

Passion Projects
Second graders in Ms. Davidson's class are exploring a topic of their choice through passion projects. Each child has picked a subject from erasers to dinosaurs to Texas that he or she wants to learn more about. After developing several questions about their topic, students are now in the research phase of the project. They're using resources from our library as well as a variety of online sources to find their information. Providing students with choice about their topic motivates them to read and write in their research.

Upcoming Events
Next week is Computer Science Education Week. Students at JGES are invited to participate in the Hour of Code after school on Tuesday, December 6th. Students will learn the basics of coding or further their skills if they're experienced coders using resources on code.org If you're child is interested in coding, but can't attend, check out this website!

HCES families are invited to STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) Night on Tuesday, December 6th. Everyone will have the opportunity to rotate between three of ten stations related to one of the STREAM fields. Participants should be prepared to be active and have fun! Stations range from coding to building balloon structures to learning about the aerodynamics of snowflakes.

Please contact me at jmullenaux@hcps.us if you would like to register for either of these events. Stay tuned for photos in my next blog post!