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!