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.