8th grade American History students did a service learning project in class today. Each class went down to the football complex to pull weeds stuck in the chain link fence.
It’s All About Service!
7th Graders Conduct Experiments
Mrs. Winter’s 7th grade science class has been learning about experimental design. To put what they learned into action, students designed and conducted individual experiments- and in the process discovered just how easy it is to look cool wearing safety goggles! They enjoyed getting their hands messy.
How Far Away Were the Summer Olympics?
Mrs. Comer’s Enrichment classes have spent some time studying the Summer Olympic Games! The students did some research on where the Olympics have been held. They then used their Chromebooks to see how many miles away some of the cities were! You can imagine their excitement when they found out that Melbourne, Australia is 9,159 miles away from Fairbury!
6th Graders Study Carbon Dating
In sixth grade social studies, our first chapter is about studying the distant past. One topic that we discuss is how archaeologists determine the ages of fossils and other prehistoric objects. One dating method is called carbon dating. In carbon dating, we learned that all living things absorb a kind of carbon called carbon-14. When organisms die, they stop absorbing this type of carbon. After death, the remaining carbon-14 starts to decay or disappear. This allows scientists to measure how much carbon-14 remains in a fossil and they use this measurement to determine how long it has been since the living thing died. We tried an experiment with a box, pennies and paperclips to see how carbon dating works! Students recorded their findings and we compared results!
Another Great Start for First Grade
Mrs. Maschmann ‘s first grade students are off to a great start. We have been going over rules and procedures. We have also made zebras to display in the hall to go with our theme of “Wild About Learning.” We look forward to a great year of learning!
It’s Time For PTA!!!
Teachers, parents, grandparents and community members, JOIN
Fairbury PTA today!
A Competitive “Techy” Introduction
Fifth grade students in Mrs. Ruhnke’s class used Quizlet.live to get to know their new teacher. This program places students into teams and they work together to answer questions. The winning team is the first team to answer all the questions correctly in the shortest amount of time.
Common Sense Media Essential Creativity Guide
Link to Common Sense Media Essential Creativity Guide
Kids are naturally creative. Whether they’re using pen and paper or a stylus and an iPad, kids find surprising ways to build, craft, and design. Help foster their interest in art, science, music, and construction by offering them a variety of tools to inspire and delight. These hand-selected educational apps, games, and websites each have the potential to unleash creativity, especially with the support of a parent or teacher. Have fun!
Escape Summer Slump with the 4 Cs
Link to Article
by Darri Stephens SENIOR DIRECTOR, EDUCATION CONTENT
Common Sense Education
…While students are getting excited about their summer freedom, some parents and teachers might be worried about kids forgetting all they’ve learned during the school year.
This loss of academic skills over the summer months is what teachers refer to as “summer slide.” Some studies have shown kids can lose nearly two months of grade-level equivalency in reading and math over the summer break. Think about it: The brain is a muscle, and if you don’t use it, you can lose it!
But remember, though kids are taking a break from school, they can still keep learning. One way is for them to be enriched by pursuing activities that promote the 4 Cs: communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Media and technology can help kids build these skills, and summer is a great time for this kind of exploration.
We’ve put together a great list of apps, games, and websites that help kids build the 4 Cs, perfect for undercover summer learning. Share this list with your students’ parents so they can beat the summer slide!
Communication
Help kids express their opinions and emotions and connect with others with tools for video talks, podcasts, and storytelling.
TED/TED-Ed: Easily find, download, and view inspiring talks on a variety of topics
Youth Radio: A stellar take on the news from diverse kid journalists
Shadow Puppet Edu: Resource-rich video slide show creator a gem for elementary classrooms
Toontastic: Writer, actor, director: Kids play all parts in riveting storytelling tool
Collaboration
Kids can work together and take on the role of producer as they make multimedia productions.
Explain Everything: Powerhouse tool for creating stellar multimedia presentations
Educreations: Enliven lessons and presentations with easy-to-use tool
VoiceThread: Easily collaborate and create with voice, video, or image
Wikispaces: Powerful tool for creating collaborative websites
Creativity
Give kids the space to use their devices to become artists, musicians, or designers.
Paper by FiftyThree: Beautifully designed digital sketchbook for any age
Canva: Create snazzy designs in seconds with flexible, cloud-based tool
GarageBand: Amazingly powerful music workstation unleashes the musician in us all
DIY/Instructables: DIY communities empower kids to design, build, and share new things offline and online
Critical Thinking
Encourage strategy, ingenuity, and sharing of ideas with open-ended digital-creation tools.
Tinkercad: Amazingly simple yet powerful and flexible online CAD tool
MIT App Inventor: Fun programming site gets kids to build their own mobile apps
Scratch: Jump-start future programmers with adaptive sandbox tool
Minecraft: Spiraling sandbox of adventure and creation gets kids to dig deep
