Discovery World Milwaukee Field Trip 2014

We had a great trip to Milwaukee's Discovery World today. What a great way to wrap up our invention unit and the school year! Check out the video below, made using WeVideo (super easy to use app) on the bus ride home:

Our Cart has Been Replaced with the Power Tower!

A couple weeks back I was asked by our technology coordinator if I would prefer to have a set of "towers" to hold our class set of Chromebooks on versus our big cart.  My immediate response was, "Yup!" Within a couple of days the "Power Towers" were up, but not wired.  They were a cool decoration of what was to come NEXT YEAR.  However, this weekend our technology elves were busy.  I arrived this morning to my room feeling different and a little bit empty.  Upon further inspection...I found that our computer cart was gone, the Power Tower was wired...AND FULLY LOADED!  I can't wait for my students to arrive to see our big our room just got, and hopefully more efficient as a result of our district technology elves.  

Hangouts and Prepping for our Invention Fair

We have been busy this week in our final preparations for our upcoming "Trash to Treasure" Invention Fair (next Thursday).  As you can see display boards are taking shape.  Students will have these on display, along with their invention, at our fair next week.  

Along with our display boards our building librarian / media specialist has began filming all of our fifth grader's infomercials.  Word on the street is they are turning out great this year!  Those will be played on a big screen, in the gym, at our fair.  

As it seems like it year to year, our invention fair is really coming together great.  It is hard to believe that we accomplish the creative part of coming up with an idea, send the idea home for students to work on with friends and family, research a famous inventor, write their own script for an infomercial, film an infomercial, create a display board, and soon present ALL of their items.  Not to mention, we also use the Invention of Hugo Cabret as our literacy piece all month.  We have for sure been busy.  It is great to work with a team of such hard working individuals and professionals!

Today we also had two Google Hangouts!  After attending #edCampMKE (edCamp Milwaukee) I met another educator who does an invention project and fair.  We thought..."HEY...LET'S HANGOUT!"  So we did...today!  It was great.  Each of us had seven students/groups share their ideas with the other class.  The experience was wonderful!

Our second Hangout today was with staff members at Milwaukee's Discovery World.  They spoke to our students about the inventor of the electric guitar (and Wisconsin native) Les Paul.  They also shared with our students some of the cool things they will experience on our field trip there on June 9.  We can't wait!  What a great experience!   

Google Hangout with a Patent Attorney 2014

Today we had a great opportunity to have a Google Hangout with an old friend of mine, who is now a Patent Attorney in the Twin Cities (MN) area.  This is our third year uniting for a 1 hour session.  In the short screencast (Screencast-O-Matic) below (15 minutes (not that short)) you can see how our attorney shares mostly about what a patent attorney does, what a patent is, and is able to answer a few questions.  What a great experience..as always!

During our Hangout we were also had the opportunity to have our own inventions critiqued.  Here are some of the pictures from the experience:

"The Fun Hunt"

"The One and Done"

"Light My Way"

"The Sanitation Shirt"

"The RC Turkey Decoy"

Divide Fractions with Number Lines

In math we are currently learning how to take a whole number and divide it by a fraction...actually a decimal fraction.  Today we thought about how we can break down a fraction in terms of what it equals to 1.  For example, how many tenths = 1? 10...so 10/10 = 1...got me?  

We figured out then that if 1 is made up of 10/10s, then 0.1 x 1 = 10.  

So...we can quickly then figure out that 3 x 0.1 = ___ (using the above idea that 0.1 x 1 = 10) simply multiply the answer by 3...so 3 x 0.1 = 30.  This means that 30=tenths make up the number 3.

Our final problem today asked the following:

Amber bought a 6-meter roll of ribbon.  She needs pieces that are 20 centimeters long.  How many pieces will she be able to cut from the roll?  Show your thinking.

This problem assumes something significant...that students know how much of a meter 1 centimeter equals (1/100) OR how much of a meter 10 centimeters equals (1/10).  

A couple of my students figured this problem out using a number line version by taking meter sticks and determining the answer...great way to show their thinking:

Another group of students determined the answer by using what they already knew about meters, centimeters, and newly acquired information about division (and multiplication) of fractions and decimal fractions.

This is exciting to see students really using what they have learned throughout the school year in order to solve one problem.  COOL!

Learning about Early 1900's Films through the Invention of Hugo Cabret

Those not familiar with Brian Selznick or one of his novels The Invention of Hugo Cabret may or may not know that Brian takes extreme effort in understanding and expertising his writing by thoroughly researching his topics.  One awesome aspect of the story of Hugo is learning about Hugo and Isabelle's fondness for silent films.  This could easily be passed over, unless of course you bring the films into the class.  Today we brought in a few of the films mentioned (so far):

• Safety, Last! - we watched the most famous scene (also mentioned in Hugo) where the character is trying to climb a building and has many mishaps along the way 

• The Clock Store - mentioned as a trailer prior to the start of a movie in the early 1900's:

• Le Million - the movie that Hugo and Isabelle go to watch at the movie theater (this is only the trailer): 

We had a great time watching these films.  They provided some needed perspective as to how different, but also how much alike, our lives are to those who lived in the early 1900's.  We are excited to see what movies pop up as we move along.

We are also in the process of wrapping up our famous inventor cubes.  These cubes contain information about all sorts of inventors.  They will be displayed at our "Trash to Treasure Invention Fair" on June 5.

#edcampMKE = End of the School Year Revitalization

@amyuelmen and @g5changeagent21

This past weekend I thoroughly enjoyed my #edcampMKE experience, which began with an early morning meet-up with our districts instructional technology coordinator @amyuelmen for a quick drive down to South Miklwaukee High School....of course not before a selfie (or is it not a selfie since there are two of us) for the edCamp Milwaukee's Instagram page / Picasa Web Album.

Pitch and Plan "BEFORE"

For those not familiar, edCamps are a relatively new idea of professional development.  It is professionals joining forces to create the conference on site, with no actual leader determined for sessions, but rather people chiming in.  To organize this, the edCamp organizers begin the day with a "Pitch and Plan".  The slate is literally clean.  

Pitch and Plan "AFTER"

After 30 or so minutes of pitching and planning, the slate is super messy and awesome!  This messy board is then transferred to a shared document for all to view and choose their learning direction for the day.  The best part of the choosing is that if you enter a session that does not peak your interest, you get up and go find a different session that maybe will.  The conference sessions are about you and what you want to get out of them.  

At #edcampMKE I was fortunate to be able to attend three sessions and also collaborate with colleagues and new colleagues over a multitude of ideas.

My first session choice was: #Gamification - Here is what I walked away with:

• Gamification is not all about games - that is a large part of it though - it builds around the idea of changing the landscape of a classroom to be more game based
• Gamification can be more of a classroom attitude (I think) - challenge students to score points and climb leader boards within the classroom - issue awards (badges)
• I am considering the following badge website: classbadges.com 
• To learn more about Gamification check out this video: http://goo.gl/QQYhvB 

My second session choice was: Google in Grades 4 to 6 - My take aways:

@g5changeagent21 (me)

• As a whole, our group was psyched about the possibilities that Google Presentation holds for classrooms
• Google's Research Tool can become a critical tool for students looking to add information / images into anything Google Doc related and also for citing information
• Use hashtags in Google Doc titles as a way of labeling them - try it - hashtag multiple titles, then search that hashtag - voila: #rad

Third Session choice: Lessons that Even Students Would Pay For:

http://goo.gl/srvi03

• this session was packed with professionals ready and willing to spill the beans on lessons / units they do that fully engage students into learning - whether or not they want to be
• I was able to share our invention unit with other teachers - they were able to share their invention units (we are FOR SURE going to Google Hangout at the end of May) - also learned of a grant via Kohl's Department Store for getting some cash-o-la for next year's Discovery World field trip
• excited to purchase and read Dave Burgess': Teach Like a Pirate - I think this book could have a great impact in a school as a book study - I want to set this up via Google Groups this summer for some fun, casual conversation among peers and professional development

Final Choice: Hang with Peers

• we all have great stories to share of successes and epic failures from our classrooms - we can only get stronger as teachers
• Twitter is a great place to hang out and learn from others - I either spent the day Tweeting or waiting for a Tweet - Loved using TweetDeck (kept me organized and full)
• Pizza is a recipe for delicious discussions about iPads, Chromebooks, tech integration, and life in general 

#edcampMKE was a great experience for me.  I truly enjoyed traveling there with my other Pulaski teacher friends and spending a day with dedicated professionals.  I feel revitalized!

@g5changeagent21 @MrsGeeLMS @amyuelemen @recessduty

Invention Unit: Week 1...so far...

This week marks the beginning of our first full week of May and the first full week of our "Trash to Treasure" Invention Unit.  Along with creating inventions from recycled materials, our students also are engaged into innovative ideas through various avenues.  A new piece we were able to add, thanks in part to a grant that was won by a local gas station (which donated the funds to our school), we were able to purchase 40 copies of "Discovery Kids: Inventions" magazine.  Since we are using the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret for our whole group piece, the non-fiction magazine is a supplemental component added to our small group reading.  In just the first pages students have already learned information about Thomas Edison and his "Menlo Park" invention team.  According to Edison, his team's goal was to produce one small invention every 10 days, and one big invention every 6 months.  Additionally, he shared with our students (via the magazine) that "Inventing is 1% Inspiration and 99% Perspiration."  As we dive deeper into the magazine will practice text coding, while using informational text.

Another exciting way we kicked off the week was by having a guest inventor.  This year our guest was Nils Melberg, from En Novative Technologies, Inc.  Nils and his team assist in testing soil samples to determine if particular areas have too much or too little of "something."  This ties in also with our Ecosystem unit, since we test the PH levels of our soil to determine its basic and acidity levels.  Nils and his team are responsible for creating a mechanism, The En Core Sampler, which takes a soil sample safely from the ground, without allowing it to release the contaminants (that may be in it) through evaporation.  Nils also introduced our students to an inventing acronym: SCAMPER.

S - substitute another item

C - combine two other products

A - adapt an existing item

M - magnify or minimize another product
P - put another item to a different use

E - eliminate or subtract what is not needed

R - reverse or change parts

Our invention unit is off and flying.  Many of our students have already come up with some incredible ideas for inventions in just the few days we have spent brainstorming and investigating.

Let the Innovation Begin...

Today we kicked off our 2014 (4th Annual) "Trash to Treasure" Invention Unit.  At our school this unit includes a multitude of pieces related to literacy, innovation, and FUN!

We use the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret for our textbook.  This book explores innovation from the eyes of a young boy growing up in some difficult situations in olden day Paris, France.  Throughout the unit students explore and research famous inventors.  They create their own invention, which they display at our annual "Trash to Treasure" Invention Fair.  Plus, they learn elements of persuasion through infomercials.  With those elements, they create and record their own infomercial, which is played throughout the invention fair.

Today is just beginning of a month long journey that will conclude at Milwaukee's Discovery World in early June.  LET THE FUN BEGIN!

Notice and Note: Close Reading with Signposts

If you have stumbled upon this blog post hoping to gain extensive information about "Notice and Note", close reading, and/or signposts within text, then you may want to press the back button on your screen.  However, if you are curious what this looks like in the very early stages in our fifth grade classroom, then read on.


We have been fortunate to have our district's literacy coach and reading specialist (Rhoda Wood) join our classroom for the past two weeks to teach us various signposts that author's use to help us as readers get more in tune with the character and the story, or with a non-fiction article.

We are working on signposts in text to prepare for our upcoming unit which largely focuses on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  Today we closed our mini-lessons with letting our students explore signposts within books they are currently reading.  This will hopefully be a great reading skill that will transfer over to other 

To learn some basics about signposts, click on the image to the left to see the presentation we created in our classroom.

Ecosystems...Gone Digital!

This spring I am trying to "change things up" a bit from previous school years in relation to our Ecosystem unit.  The first change I saw that needed to be made was to figure out a way to better integrate technology into daily lessons.  

Step 1: Create a Digital Packet:

CHECK!










So, with that accomplished, my next thought was, observations.  I cringe when I think of fifth graders making observations with our previous ecosystem packet.  Reason being - drawing and coloring.  The observations of the past were incredibly skewed and not accurate.  How do you provide the opportunity to make more accurate observations...TAKE A PICTURE!

Step 2: Use iPad to Take a Picture:

CHECK!





**Sigh of relief**

The next big task (not really that big) was to figure out a quick way for students to transfer images from the iPad to their Chromebook.  To do this I created a "dummy" Gmail account.  In doing so, I then put the "dummy" account on each iPad.  This in turn provided a solution for students to email themselves their group's observation picture.  Once they received their picture, they could then load it into their digital packet.

Step 3: Load Picture into Packet:  

CHECK!





The last task my students have left to do is to write some general observations (which you can see above) about their ecosystem.  

The benefit of this system for observing is critical in several ways:

1. Allows for regularly, daily observations.  In the past, this was a hindrance and not fun.
2. Integrates technology seamlessly.
3. Uses a variety of skills - tech, collaboration, writing, design, thinking, observing, etc.
4. MAKES SCIENCE REAL...ESPECIALLY IN THE 21ST CENTURY!

Check out future posts to see how this "experiment" with technology and ecosystem moves along.

Colonial Trade Signs with a QR Code Splash

To close out our unit on the 13 Colonies students did a study of one particular colonial trade.  Options were pretty much unlimited.  Some examples included: gunsmith (most popular), wig maker, blacksmith, naval store, general store, basket weaver, etc.  For this project students had to create a sign for their "store front."  With their sign, they also had to do a research project on their chosen trade.  To share their information they had to create a Google Presentation.  That said, since many of the presentations were more than one slide long, and did not really belong on their sign, students brought their 1700's sign into the 21st century by displaying a QR code somewhere on the sign.  These projects turned out awesome, on each level!

   

    

Digital Base-10 Blocks

I read, on my "Stepping Stones" mathematics lesson for today, that I needed base-10 blocks for all of my students...umm...I don't have that many base-10 blocks.

Then I remembered a great resource I have used, and mentioned from earlier in the year: McGraw Hill's Virtual Manipulatives.  They have tons of great resources for students, which are very beneficial not only in the 1:1 classroom, but also on an interactive whiteboard.  Sure enough, they have a set of base-10 blocks.  My math lesson is "saved" and will now allow each student to virtually participate.  Where were these blocks 21 years ago when I was a fifth grader!?  Great resource:

Realistic Winter Olympic Narrative Project Begins

Today we introduced our next writing piece: realistic narratives.  To increase excitement and curiosity about the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics, we have provided the theme of being an Olympic athlete attending the Olympics.  To kick things off we reviewed aspects of narrative writing.

Next we started watching some videos of the winter Olympics of the past.  

Lastly we watched some videos on NBC's Olympics website (non-YouTube), which our students can also view on their Chromebooks.  We provided a 45 minute deadline for students to determine their sport of choice and to begin their research project.  Shortly we will come back together to see what students have learned in just 45 minutes about their sports.  My guess...there will already be some mini-experts on the topics.

We'll keep you updated on our 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic narratives.

Google Presentations & Docs, QR Codes, and Goos

In Literacy we have been spending a good portion of time intertwining informational text into everyday instruction.  Following our winter break, everyone in our class did a research project of a New Year's Celebration from somewhere around the world.  We used one of the Literacy by Design guided reading titles: Encyclopedia of New Year's Celebrations Around the World.  Since the book is a level V, which is below / at level / and above the level of our students, we used it as a WHOLE group reading book.  This proved to be a success.  As we read the book as a class, we took notes together, identifying the most important information about each individual celebration.  After we completed the book, students then chose one particular celebration to zero in on and research further.  

As a class we developed a rubric for what their project's end result should look like.  Students determined that the project should be presented using Google Presentation (they have wanted to do a research project using Google Presentation all year).

This opened up the door for some other unique opportunities.  Because many of our students get the general concept of finding information on a given topic, if they search the "right" spots on the web, we spent more time modeling what a presentation should actually look like.  For example, slides should have fewer words and pictures / videos that add to the slide, using word art makes titles appear more clear, and keeping the overall feeling of a slide clean makes the views feel less claustrophobic.  We also heavily used the tool "Research" within Google Presentations (and Docs for that matter), to make citing a breeze.  I for one wish I had that tool growing up!  

Another piece we added was the use of placing a QR Code on the cover slide, so that others could easily follow along.  Students also included the "Goo" (Google shortened URL) that others could use to access their presentation.  Students were allowed to bring in their personal device during presentations, with a pre-installed QR code scanner (I recommend Kaywa Reader - but others work fine too) and permission from their parents.  This turned out to be a hit during presentations.  Students could not wait to try and scan each other's codes.  Plus, they did a fantastic job following their peers' presentations on their devices.  The process was a success. 

So that others could view our presentations, students printed their first title slide and posted it above their hallway cubby.  This makes it so that anyone with a web enabled device or a QR code scanner can view their presentation.  This will be awesome for parent-teacher conferences!

Since the previous presentations, we moved on to using informational text to formulate an opinion.  Last week students had to form an opinion to determine whether or not Punxsatawney Phil would see his shadow or not, ultimately determining our winter's fate.  On Wednesday we shared information, both about the legend and the facts, with students about Groundhog's Day, Phil, and groundhogs in general.  From this information, and researched information, students formulated an opinion that they had to stick with.  In our class, based on research, one-third of the class thought Phil would see his shadow and predict a long winter, while two-thirds predicted the opposite.  Looks like the one-third group was right...we'll see!

Today, as a wrap-up to their research essays (done on a Google Doc), students had to create a one slide Google Presentation including their general prediction, an image, word art, a "goo", and a QR code linking the slide to their Google Doc.  SUCCESS!  Rather than print the Google Doc, we will now print the one page Google Presentation  and again post it in the hallway for others to read.  

It is really beginning to be fun to see how we can melt different components of Google together to create one really unique project.  This sort of project will certainly keep my students engaged for the rest of the year, no matter the subject or genre.       

Horizontal Subtraction with a Number Line

Today in our Stepping Stones Math we used fraction strips to subtract decimal fractions to the tenth.  One unique way that we are learning to find the difference between numbers is to work horizontally.  At first this concept seemed some what foreign to our students, but the more we practice, the more it is beginning to make sense.  When you find the difference horizontally (using a number line), you can almost literally see what is in between the two original numbers.  This makes a lot of sense when you are discussing the difference in distance and time, since both in some ways are actually measured horizontally.  Cool idea...that we are continually improving at.

Post Sub Notes using Screencast-O-Matic on YouTube!

Last week I was preparing for a substitute teacher.  Like normal, I was dedicating WAY TOO MUCH TIME to creating over the top, detailed lesson plans for her, even though my sub had been in my classroom time and time again.  The main reason I leave such detailed notes is because I still want to have control even when I am gone, which I have been able to somewhat accomplish through collaborative Google Documents.  I tend to assign something using a Google Document when I am gone, so that I can pop in and out of student documents, leave notes for them, communicate an idea, or help correct something.  My way of keeping some control when at a conference, presenting, at a meeting, or sick.  That said, I thought that it was time to try something new, in an effort to keep control, but offer my sub a break (considering my classroom is largely embedded with technology).  So, with the advice of a fellow educator at our high school, I created video lesson plans for my sub and my students.  Here is how the plans turned out:

Of course I was curious to find out what my students and substitute thought...

• Substitute: "Wow...made explaining "things" pretty simple.  Students knew exactly what to do, when and where."
• Students: "That was cool."  "You were with us all day Mr. Hendricks" (is that a good or bad comment). "Will you do that again the next time you are gone?"  "It was like you never left."

So, will I do a pre-recorded lesson plan again, the next time I cannot be at school.  Definitely.  The effort was well worth my time.

**I created the video using Screencast-O-Matic, which I then published to YouTube.

Online Math Manipulatives - Pattern Blocks

With our new math curriculum students are often asked to have A LOT of "stuff," ranging from index cards to fraction dice to pattern blocks.  I try to be clever in coming up with ways to save on the amount of "stuff" I have to purchase and what not...index cards were sort of hard to avoid.  That said, I have found solutions for dice by using the following website: http://goo.gl/SMTM, which happens to create virtual dice.  This is perfect for projecting on the SMARTBoard or for students to create on their own computer.

The virtual dice led me to wonder if there were also virtual pattern block shapes, since our curriculum uses them often for comparing fractions.  Thank goodness for Google.  Within minutes I stumbled upon a great resource through McGraw Hill at: http://goo.gl/HNEh

Check out this short video of our class utilizing this great...FREE resource: