Our first week of preschool has been very active! The students are learning new routines and finding their way around the classroom. The first week’s theme of “School” included painting school items and cutting and gluing together their own school bus. Preschoolers were also able to enjoy some fresh fruit for snack and race around the playground on tricycles.
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!
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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!
…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!
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
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
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
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
To celebrate Mother’s Day, Mrs. Lucking’s class hosted a Mommy Spa day. It was our special way of pampering the moms and grandmas we love so much. It was so much fun and each kinder had an AMAZING time helping their special guest relax.
This afternoon turned out to be a truly memorable and special time for all students to celebrate that special mom/grandma in their life.
The National Resource Conservation Service or NRCS spent 3 days this past week here at Central School doing presentations for Earth Day. NRCS spoke to each classroom about soil conservation, animal wildlife here in Nebraska, and taking care of plants/trees. Little Blue Natural Resources District donated a lilac shrub to each student to take home and plant.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Meet the new Kings and Queens of handwriting! These little kinders just finished the last letter of the alphabet and now know the correct letter formation for each letter. Whether it’s making the letter “i” with a straight line down and dot in the sky or making the letter “x” with two diagonal lines, these kinders know how to do it all! To celebrate, each kinder colored a crown and embellished it with stickers, sequins and foam letters. They were also presented with an official handwriting certificate from the Royal Duchess.
Credit: The Primary Techie
