2nd Grade Reptile Sculptures

Today students put the final touches on their reptiles.  They made geckos, lizards, or chameleons, and had to make theirs an original among similar sculptures.  I try hard to design the lessons in all of my art classes in such a way as to really promote the idea that even though we may be making similar works, they should be original.  Personal voice in art is something important I think even at this young age.

I will be teaching Sculpture II next semester and please keep in mind as you are helping your student plan their schedule that it is for both continuing artists as well as students that were not able to sign up for the class this semester.  The projects don't repeat and if I am teaching a technique that they have learned before, they are simply a little more experienced than the newer students.

4th Grade Geometry - Pi and the Geometry of Circles

Last week in Geometry the students did a hands-on activity where they measured the circumference and diameter of a variety of circular shaped objects.  The students worked at measuring old coffee cans, rolls of masking and duct tape, Frisbees, and hula hoops.  They then divided the circumference by the diameter and came very close to calculating Pi!

This week students used their new found knowledge of Pi to calculate the circumference and diameter of other circles.  This presented new challenges as they began using calculators to figure multiplication and division using Pi or 3.14.  Working with decimals and calculators like this can lead to issues of lack of or over confidence.  Many of the students are apt to take whatever answer comes from the calculator as correct no matter how outrageous.  We are working on estimating the answer to the problem in an effort to check the answer from the calculator.  Often students have hit the wrong keys on the calculator and by estimating they hopefully will see that some answers don't make logical sense.

After 3 or 4 successful calculations the students find this to be just as routine as all of the other work we have done.  With hard work and a cycle of success, the students are ready for increasingly difficult challenges.

Some students have asked for a challenge problem to work on at home.  Below you'll find an archery target.  Calculate the circumference of each zone of the target including the yellow or gold center.

Remember that the formula is:

C = d X Pi       and        Pi = 3.14

5th & 3rd Grade Coding - Plan for the next few weeks!

Hello!  Things have slowed down drastically in 5th Grade Coding and in 3rd grade we have hit a bit of a wall also.  Many of the students have had difficulty in advancing their programming beyond the basic concept they came up with several weeks ago.  They have great ideas but are stuck after having built the basic framework of their game.  With this in mind we are shifting to a new set of lessons planned for the upcoming weeks.

I will create small programs for the students to "remix" and fix.  Each will focus on a new set of skills that they may find helpful in writing their own programs.  My thinking is that these lessons may get them past their difficulties.  While they may not finish the project they have planned, they will gain the skills needed to finish the project.

 If your student is really interested in finishing this project, they can continue working at their own pace, on their own time, and finish when they are able.  I can continue to provide assistance to these students through the next semester, as some of these projects are quite good and deserve the chance to be seen through to the end.  I feel like these are worthwhile goals and maybe we were just over reaching for the time we had available in the semester.

Click on the picture below to link to the Scratch site for our first remix:

4th Grade Geometry & Origami

Today's lesson was chopped up a bit by having all three classes at different points in the scope of the class and a morning safety drill.  This means that each class did a little something different, but each class had time for a little geometry taught through origami.  I have a link below to an origami website with a lot of models you can make with your child.  Be sure to ask them about congruent vs. similar triangles, bisecting angles, and quadrilaterals.  You'll enjoy making the models and talking with your child about what they've been learning.

 

Origami of all Kinds! 

5th grade Coding

Today I showed the students the "Featured Programmer" page and it turned out that many hadn't seen it yet so make sure you go back and check out the entry for last week featuring his great work.

This week's Featured Programmer is...

Jaden M.

Jaden is programming what appears to be a pretty straight forward game of Tic-Tac-Toe.  However he is finding out that getting the programming to work when playing against the computer is VERY involved.  If you think about it the program needs to know what spaces are already taken, which are still available, when it's the computer's turn, and more!  If you want to program the computer to play with a strategy then the programmer needs to understand both the strategy and how to program it as well.  This all equals a lot of logic and hard work.  For that reason alone Jaden has been chosen as our Featured Programmer of the week!

4th grade Geometry & Origami

Today 2nd hour Geometry class finished a little early with the lesson and I had an opportunity to share something I really enjoy - Origami.  How do origami and geometry fit together in one class you ask...

I also shared the work of Robert Lang and I think he does a great job of explaining how the two are very good fit for one-another.  Check it out!

Robert Lang TED Talk

http://www.langorigami.com/ 

5th grade Coding

Today everyone was working on their Scratch projects and doing many different kinds of things within those programs.

I'm going to start to highlight a student or two each week and the project they are working on.   

This week's featured programmer is Noah A.!

Noah is creating "The Game of Science" that will help people to learn about the scientific method.  He has this great little frog that snatches flies out of the air.  The flies are tied to terms and ideas that you would need to know about when planning an experiment in Science class.  The goal is to "catch" all the flies by answering the games questions correctly.  

Noah's game is:

• challenging to code
• a fun idea
• educational
• unique
• AWESOME!

2nd grade Sculpture - Looking ahead

Today all the students finished their "Favorite Place" sculpture book!  They were all ready to take it home today too... but not so fast!  Next week we have conferences and these will be on display during that time.  

Wednesday conferences run from 4:00 - 5:00 & 5:30 -7:30.  

Thursday they run all day - 9:00 - 12:00, 12:30 - 5:00, & 5:30 -7:30

We even have a book fair!

Any of the 2nd grade Sculpture students that come to conferences can take home the two finished pieces they have to show.  Please join us and have the kids take you to all their classes and share the great work they are doing here each week. 

The next sculpture lesson will be a collaborative work like the ones shown below.  These go on display every year and every year we get so many compliments.  They make our building look really neat.

3rd grade Scratch Coding

Here is a link to some projects I am sharing to help you begin creating your own Scratch game or animation.  The program we worked on together in class is also here for you to look at to remember what we did.

Some of my programs are basic and some are pretty complicated.  Check them out and figure out what kinds of features you'd like to include in your project and I'll teach those in class.

4th grade Geometry - Area of Triangles

Today in class we extended last week's lesson on are to include the area of triangles.  One powerful moment for most of the students was the demonstration shown below.  This example visually shows how the formula makes sense and makes it more tangible for the students.

An extension you can try at home is to cut up some rectangles and rearrange the leftover pieces to make the triangle.

5th Grade Coding - Scratch

Today the students were working on their individual Scratch projects.  Every student in my 2nd hour came with their homework done!  Way to go 2nd hour!

The students that were ready with their homework got some extra assistance  on their project.  In 2nd hour this meant that we were able to actually create a mini game that contained bit of programming that almost all of the students needed to learn to help create their game.  They learned how to code so the program knew when a score had been made, how to keep and show the score, how to create random movement in their project and how to get precise movement as well.  This got them a good start on creating basic games.

With games in mind I wanted to share that Code.org has extended their lessons to creating a shareable Flappy Bird game based aps.  Below is a link to a game I created to try it out and the link to where you and your child can go to create their own.  You can share the link through Facebook, Twitter, through a text, or if none of those work for you you can do what I did and copy the web address and email it to someone.

Flappy Code -Lesson 1

My game!

2nd Grade Sculpture - Tunnel Book Binding & Covers

Today we took another step closer to finishing the students' sculptural tunnel books.  Depending on the progress of the class period as a whole, some students bound the book and you see their pictures above.  Students who have missed a class or are working a little too slowly worked on putting in their final details while their classmates made covers for their books.  Next week everyone should have a finished tunnel book sculpture bound with a cover and then it's on to abstract sculptures!

3rd Grade Coding - Scratch Project

Most of the students are finished with the lessons at Code.org and have moved into working on Scratch.  Their first assignment is to have the program print all of the letters in GALACTIC on the screen.  They worked to write this code out on paper using what they had learned through Code.org.  Now they are trying to translate their work into Scratch.  They figure out pretty quick that there are MANY similarities between the two and this helps them to maneuver through the free programming aspect of Scratch.

Next the students are choosing a project of their own.  Most will create some kind of simple game, however some of our advanced and dedicated coders are setting their sights high!  Quinlan is writing a game program that will help others learn about chemistry and the periodic table.  I suggested to the students that they think about writing some kind of review or educational game based on a class they took last year at GALACTIC.  Space, Spanish, and Seuss could make for a lot of cool projects that the teacher could use with this year's 2nd grade classes.  Music and Motion, Africa, Rain Forests, Engineering, and Math - the choices are HUGH!

If you are at all interested in trying your own hand at coding I strongly recommend Code.org and Scratch as some fun ways to learn a little and connect with what your children are doing here at GALACTIC.  Here are links to both sites: 

Scratch

Code.org 

Make sure to check out my other posts  about both 3rd and 5th grade Coding Class.

4th Grade - Geometry - Area notes & practice

In class today all of the students started learning about area of quadrilaterals.  This is a bit basic for some students, however we are establishing a procedure to follow when solving unfamiliar problems.  Things will get more complicated pretty quick but if the kids stick to the procedure they will feel like it's no big deal.

Here are some notes that might help and a few practice problems:

 

5th Grade Coding - Scratch Project Homework

Today in 5th grade the students began to work on their first major independent programming challenge.  Each student is choosing their own project and writing code to make it happen.  Some are doing educational games and other games just for fun.  A few are using Scratch to program animation and tell a story.  Some are art creating programs.

Here is a game I am working on coding.  Target Timer is a work in progress and there is a lot more to come as I teach the students about the possibilities of Scratch.

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/27292323/

    Target Timer

The students  have homework for the first time.  They need to make a detailed list of the things they are going to need to figure out in order to reach their project goal.  In other words, what with the program need to do in order to create the game or animation they have planned.

An example from the Target Timer game above would be that I needed to figure out:

• how the program would know if the target had been hit
• how to keep score
• how to know if the new score was better than the last
• how to get the target to change size
• how to get the target to move to a random location

The students need to bring this list next week to class so I have a point at which to begin helping them.  I'll be able to help them prioritize their list and give them something to work on while I am helping other students.

2nd Grade Sculpture - Tunnel Book - Favorite Place Sculptures

Edgar's "The Park"

Jamie's "Yellowstone National Park"

The kids have been working on this project for a few weeks and we are approaching the end.  They thought about their favorite place in the world.  The students' picked grandma's house, Chuck E. Cheese, Six Flags, the Lego Store, Jamaica, and everything in between.  Then they made a list of everything they loved about that place.  They drew sketches and began making pieces to fill in the foreground, mid-ground, and background.

Today's learning target was "I can add final details to improve my artwork."   Students finished their mid-ground and background for their tunnel book sculptures and then added small details to make their artwork interesting and engaging.  I asked the kids how details in art are like details in writing, and they gave great responses.

"Details make a story more interesting and art too."
"Details make it so I can understand the story better.  Details in sculpture make it so I can understand the sculpture better."

Next week students will make a cover or finish up these details so we are ready for assembly of the tunnel books.

Other learning targets for this project have been:

• I can plan for making art.
• We are learning to use the foreground, mid-ground, and background.
• I can add depth in my sculptures.

4th Grade Geometry - classifying triangles

One class I have always been amazed by is my 4th grade Geometry class.  These students learn middle school math in 4th grade!  We start small but by the time the end of the semester these kids are rocking some real skills - in just 17 classes.

One of the 5th & 6th grade skills we start with is classifying triangles based on their angles and the lengths of their sides.  Most of the students are doing well with this, however some need more practice.  Here is a study guide that you can work on with your student to help them master this content:

3rd & 5th Grade Coding Class

This semester in both 3rd and 5th grade I am teaching a class on coding.  Everyone starts out working through the tutorials at Code.org and students work at their own pace.  The kids really don't need much assistance in this part of the class as the people at Code.org have done an excellent job making the work engaging and understandable,  and the lessons build on one another.  While I expected the 5th grade students to be way out in front of the younger children I have found this to not be the case.  Many of our 3rd graders are keeping pace with the 5th grade class.

Code.org is accessible to everyone - go to the website, sign in, and try your hand at coding right along with the kids.  It's a lot of fun and will give you something to talk with your children about.

Learn to code here! 

2nd Grade Sculpture - Monochromatic Geometric Relief Sculptures

2nd grade sculpture students created these great works of art as their first project of the semester.
Since these works are monochromatic - one color - the students emphasized shadow to add interest.  Shape is a key design feature focusing on geometric designs of squares, triangles, or circles.  Finally, as they are intended to hang on the wall with no back to them, they are a relief sculpture.

So for 2nd grade and their first project the kids packed a lot of learning into a couple of classes.